Another Month, Another Chapter.
Once again, I'm sorry it's taken me a while to finish another Chapter but work and sleep have to happen.
I'm not going to waste any more time talking and let you get to the reason you came here.
Current Teams
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Jolteon, Sandshrew, Trapinch, Skorupi, Bagon, Meowth
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Litwick, Venusaur, Deerling, Sunflora, Lilligant, Altaria
Chapter 33
Still Growing Strong
During the break between the quarter-finals and the semi-finals once again Glaceon and Pikachu came to visit May. Both Pokémon were now enjoying the attention of May, Rebecca and Nia, the three girls were sharing stories and generally chatting about everyday things though Rebecca kept asking May what sort of plans she had for her relationship with Ash. Seeing how flustered May would get from Rebecca's questions Nia decided to join in the fun, every now and then she would direct a question to Glaceon or Pikachu asking their opinions. While they spoke Nia was eating a Chesto Berry to keep herself awake until the Contest had finished at the same time she was feeding one to Glaceon. After a few minutes they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat, turning their heads in unison they saw that it was Xantel.
"Mind if I sit with you? It's a bit lonely being the only guy here. Well, apart from the dude with the green hair but I think he wants to be alone." Xantel jerked his thumb to the other side of the room where Drew was sat in the corner just staring into space.
"Of course you can." Nia said, scooting down the bench slightly to make room for him.
"Thanks, I'm Xantel Orpheus. If I remember properly you three ladies are Harmonia Rosethorn, Rebecca Hendrickson and May Maple, right?" Xantel said after pointing to each of them in turn.
"Yep, got it right." Rebecca answered.
"So what were you ladies talking about?"
"Just normal chitchat, though we are trying to get May to tell us about her boyfriend." Nia said throwing a little smirk at May. "She's keeping quiet about him all we know is his name and his reputation as a strong trainer."
"And that this is his Pikachu." Rebecca added as she scratched the Electric Mouse behind the ear earning herself a delighted squeak from the Pokémon in her lap.
"What we really want to know is all the dirty details, the sordid secret, the filthy fun…"
"Nia, stop it." May interrupted blushing brightly. "There's nothing like that."
"Yet." Nia said leaning in with a suggestive smirk. May somehow managed to blush even brighter as she looked away, pushing Nia's shoulder as Rebecca and Xantel laughed lightly.
"The boyfriend in question was the guy who came in before right? You had a call on his X-Transceiver about something." Xantel paused for a second as he remembered something. "Hey, didn't Julia say something about him being from Rota?" May jerked at the question.
"Yeah, I remember that. She said he was an Aura Guardian, I always thought they were a myth." Rebecca said. All eyes turned to May looking for an answer but May refused to look at any of them, knowing that if she did she'd let something slip. She unconsciously held onto the Manaphy pendant that Ash had won for her at the fun fair in Porta Vista, her thumb stroking the surface slowly.
"Did Ash get you that?" Nia asked, May started at the question having slipped into her own little world. She looked down and noticed what she'd been doing.
"Yeah, he won it for me while we were in Porta Vista." May stopped herself from saying anything else because she didn't want to mention actually knowing Manaphy. That adventure was a memory she only shared with a few people, not even her parent's knew about it and even fewer knew that Ash getting her to safety was the moment she accepted that she had feeling for him beyond friendship.
"Aaw, that's cute. You hold the gift he gave you when you think of him."
"Well we have proof about Aura Guardians now." Xantel said, the three girls turned to look at him and he lifted his X-Transceiver to show them a video clip of Ash fighting Riley and Lucario during his Graduation. May's eyes widened as she watched, following the end of the fight the clip went straight to the Contest and the cluster of Aura Sphere's that Ash had sent out to her. Her eyes broke away from the video once it ended and caught a glimpse of the name of the uploader as Xantel moved his X-Transceiver away. The uploader's name was 'CacturneRuleZ', May has a sneaking suspicion of who that was and made a mental note to contact Rota as soon as she could.
"Pika Pikachu Pika!" The Electric Mouse said as he leapt onto May's lap, she nodded in understanding before saying.
"Go and tell him." Pikachu gave May a quick salute and ran off to the stands to find Ash. Xantel whistled as he watched Pikachu run out of the room.
"Damn he's fast."
"You should see Pikachu in a battle, you can't even follow him he's that fast." May smiled and turned her attention back to Xantel. "So tell us about yourself."
"Well, I'm from Shalour City in Kalos. I've only been on my journey for a few years, my parents wanted me to get a high school education before going on my journey. I've got a bratty little sister called Kara and my dream is to travel the world helping all Pokémon."
"So you want to be a Pokémon Ranger?" Rebecca asked, Xantel shook his head.
"I want to be more than that, Rangers get involved when there's something big happening and they only have one Pokémon Partner. I want to be there for the big things as well as the small, my experience with a Pokémon was helping a Tentacool that had washed up on the beach trapped in some garbage. Everyone was just stood around scared that if they tried to help they'd get stung or poisoned, I saw how scared Tentacool was and didn't hesitated in helping her. I untangled her from the garbage and put her back in the ocean, I was stung a couple of times but all I cared about was helping Tentacool. A Ranger wouldn't have been called in to help with Tentacool. A few years later I was back at the beach after finishing high school just reminiscing on my childhood when I felt something tap my foot, I looked around and saw a Tentacruel a couple of feet away. It was the same Tentacool that I'd helped, I was about to start my journey so I asked if she wanted to come with me." Xantel took a Pokéball out of his pocket. "We've been together ever since."
"I understand what you mean." May said with a small smile on her face. "You're a lot like Ash, he wants to help all Pokémon wherever he goes if they need it."
"Yeah, but that's part of his job as an Aura Guardian right?" May shook her head.
"Ash has been like that since I met him before he became an Aura Guardian."
The four Co-Ordinators just chatted for a few more minutes before an announcement was heard.
"The match-ups for the semi-finals will be revealed in five minutes, can everyone please return to their seats." Julia's voice echoed throughout the Contest Hall. May looked at Glaceon and stroked the Fresh Snow Pokémon's head.
"Time for you to go back to Ash." She said, Glaceon jumped from Nia's lap into May's and licked her trainer's cheek. May giggled at the tingling chill on her face, "I'll see you later okay." Glaceon nuzzled May's neck quickly and dropped to the floor, she walked out of the room giving May one last parting look before disappearing as she walked into the corridor.
"You and Glaceon are really close." Nia said, holding back a small yawn as she took a small Chesto Berry out of her handbag.
"I raised her from an egg, we've always been close. Nearly as close as I am with Blaziken." May replied. There was a small lull before Xantel spoke up.
"Nia," He said, "If you don't mind me asking, why do you eat so many Chesto Berries?"
"My parents are Berry Farmers and do a lot of research which I helped out with, all that work meant my sleep patterns are all over the place." Nia held another yawn back, putting the back of her hand over her mouth. "Chesto Berries are the only thing that keep me going during the day but when night comes around you can't stop me." She gave him a lazy smile before she popped the small Chesto Berry into her mouth.
Julia's voice came over the speakers again announcing the first battle of the Semi Finals a couple of minutes later.
"The first pair of Co-Ordinators battling it out for a place in the Final are May Maple and Harmonia Rosethorn. Can our Co-Ordinators please come to the stage."
May and Nia looked at each other, a fire present in both of their eyes and a half smile half smirk on their lips. They stood up in unison and nodded to each other once before leaving the room and making their way to the stage.
"Er…What did I just see?" Xantel asked, looking at Rebecca.
"The look of friends about to give it everything they've got." Rebecca turned around on the bench to face the TV that hung on the wall, Xantel moved on to the bench next to her. "This should be a good battle."
May and Harmonia walked onto the stage waving and smiling at the crowds. The audience applauded as soon as the two Co-Ordinators appeared and started cheering when they met in the centre of the stage and shook hands. They smiled at each other and exchanged a quick nod then May and Nia turned, walking back to their appointed boxes at opposite ends of the stage.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time for our first semi-final battle." Julia said before looking to May and Nia. "Co-Ordinators release your Pokémon." May sent out Venusaur and Nia's Carnivine appeared in front of her. "We have the timer set for five minutes so let the battle begin!" Julia quickly left the stage and the timer started.
"Carnivine, Energy Ball and Leaf Tornado." Nia said, Carnivine formed an orb of green energy in front of her mouth and summoned a swirling vortex of green energy and viridian leaves. Once the Energy Ball was fully formed the two attacks were thrown at Venusaur, who had been waiting for May's command.
"Vine Whip on Leaf Tornado!" The Princess of Hoenn said, a multitude of dark green vines sprouted from under Venusaur's leaves and battered the incoming leaves away at high speeds, letting the Energy Ball continue forward. "Snack time." Venusaur opened her mouth and swallowed the Energy Ball as soon as she could. Nia's jaw dropped slightly at the sight, there was a few seconds of silence before Venusaur's flower burst into vibrant green energy and she roared loudly. Erika and Pamela looked at each other in surprise and both quickly wrote down what they'd just seen even though it was unlikely that they would've forgotten it.
"Carnivine Nature Power and Round!" Nia shouted, she wasn't sure what had happened but she knew that in a battle of strength Venusaur had Carnivine beat, she needed to think carefully to win this battle. Carnivine waved one of her leaf-like arms and three orbs appeared in front of her, one light blue, one yellow and one reddish orange. Nature Power had given her Tri Attack, the Bug Catcher Pokémon sang a note sending blue, green and red rings into the three orbs combining the two attacks so that a third of each ring possessed a portion of the power from the orbs. The rings flew through the air towards crackling with lightning, burning with fire and freezing with ice towards Venusaur.
"Seed Bomb." May said calmly, Venusaur launched a volley of glowing green seeds at the incoming rings blowing them up in a display of fireworks. The flashes of light distracted both trainer and Pokémon leaving them unprepared for an incoming Hyper Beam and Magical Leaf combination from Carnivine. A thick screen of smoke clouded Venusaur's side of the field as Carnivine allowed the recoil from Hyper Beam to propel her into the air to recover. "Venusaur!" May shouted into the smoke, there was a minute of silence before she heard the barely audible sound of something moving through the air. The sound steadily grew louder and louder until the smoke started to disperse and everyone saw Venusaur spinning her vines around and around. May gave a silent thanks to Ash's Torterra for helping Venusaur learn to withstand attacks until the time to counter came.
"Carnivine stay out of reach!" Nia shouted to her Pokémon. Carnivine stretched her body out more to get as much air as possible holding her up but Nia started to worry as a devious little smile crossed May's lips.
"Keep spinning your vines." May said as she shifted in her stance slightly, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. "Poison Powder and Sweet Scent." A combined cloud of purple and green powder flowed out of Venusaur's flower and was quickly sent into the air towards Carnivine thanks to the spinning vines.
"Dodge with Feint Attack." Carnivine faded out of sight and reappeared away from the cloud of glittering powder but at a lower height then previously. Nia risked a glance at the screen to check the points, May was slightly ahead thanks to swallowing the Energy Ball at the start and countering her attacks. "Grass Whistle." Carnivine moved one of her hands to her mouth and produced a soothing music, Venusaur's vines started to slow the spinning and her eyelids drooped.
"Solar Storm!" May shouted to snap Venusaur out of the sleepy daze she was slipping into. The Seed Pokémon's eyes snapped wide and her vines picked up speed, carrying Carnivine into a position above her flower, the green energy that was coating her flower flowed to the centre and fired out at the same time the Venusaur launched the Solar Beam and Petal Blizzard. Solar Beam was a mixture of pale yellow and light green as it shot towards Carnivine with light blue heart-shaped petals twirling around it.
"Vine Whip!" Nia screamed, two dark green vines shot out from under Carnivine's leaf like arms and wrapped around one of the rafters. Reeling in the vines quickly Carnivine barely managed to evade Venusaur's attack, her lower vines had been hit and were coated in scratches and light burns. Nia wasn't sure what to do next as Venusaur turned to direct her flower at Carnivine again but before anything else could happen the buzzer sounded ending the battle. The audience clapped and cheered for both Co-Ordinators.
"That was a wonderful battle." Julia said walking back onto the stage as May and Nia went to their Pokémon. Carnivine lowering herself from the rafters and Venusaur turning to face May. "The results have been verified and the winner of our first Semi Final is May Maple." As Julia had been talking May and Nia met in the middle of the stage and shook hands smiling causing audience to applaud even louder than before. "Commiserations to Nia and well done on a match hard fought. Now let's hear what the Judges have to say."
"Venusaur showed great strength in taking that Hyper Beam full on without flinching and Carnivine combinations were a pleasure to see." Mr Contesta said.
"I'm sure I speak for both Pamela and myself by saying the Venusaur swallowing Carnivine's Energy Ball and receiving that power boost was an inspired move." Erika said, "Carnivine using the recoil from Hyper Beam to distance from Venusaur was a good way to protect herself."
"I agree with Erika, taking the energy from Carnivine's attack and using it is a technique I think I might steal from you along with your final combination May, if that's alright." Pamela added with a smile, "And grace with which Carnivine move in the air almost made me believe she could be part flying type."
"And there you have it, our Judges have spoken giving well deserved praise to both our Co-Ordinators and their Pokémon." Julia announced, "We'll now go straight into our second semi-final match. Can Xantel Orpheus and Rebecca Hendrickson please come to the stage."
May and Nia returned their Pokémon and walked back to the tunnels they'd used to get to the stage after shaking each other's hands again with a smile. As May got to entrance of her tunnel she could see a figure walking towards her, a couple more steps and she realised it was Drew with his head down. May just kept facing forward and started walking past with him on her right into the tunnel but Drew grabbed her wrist with his right hand and spun her towards him. May's head snapped to look at him and saw he was about to kiss her, Ash's self-defence training came to the front of her mind as planted her right foot and spun on its ball. She broke Drew's grip on her right wrist and as his left arm came around she grasped his wrist with her left hand, her right moving to grab his upper arm. As May's left foot settled on the ground, she dropped slightly so her left shoulder was under his left armpit and using her momentum pulled the green haired Co-Ordinator off balance, making it easier to throw him over her hip. As soon as May felt Drew's weight going forward she let go of her hold on his and moved away, walking into the tunnel without looking back as she heard Drew land flat on his back on the stage and the audience laugh.
"Maybe Miss Maple should change her nickname to the Warrior Princess of Hoenn." Pamela said in a humorous tone, drawing more laughter from the crowds. May allowed a small smirk cross her lips as she kept walking, maybe this will teach Drew a lesson she thought.
In the stands Leaf was trying to keep Ash calm, as the raven haired trainer glared daggers at Drew and looked on the verge of jumping down to the stage and beating him to a pulp.
"Ash, chill out." Leaf said, with a hand firmly on his shoulder. "May can take care of herself, I know you want to go and play the hero but sometimes a girl want to do something that makes her feel powerful. I can tell you know after that May probably feels invincible."
"I guess you're right." Ash said, settling back into his seat. Pikachu and Glaceon had leapt from Ash's lap and started growling, sparks crackled across the electric type's body and the Fresh Snow Pokémon's fur bristled and sharpen as it turned into icicles. Ash coated his hands in a thin layer of Aura before placing them on Pikachu's and Glaceon's backs, letting the Aura calm them. Once the Pokémon had calmed Leaf picked up Glaceon and started to stroke the ice type.
"So what's the story with the May and the clown?" Leaf asked as Pikachu jumped on to Ash's lap. Ash's hand fisted as he tried to keep himself calm.
"He's one of May's rivals, Drew was always belittling May for her Co-Ordinating style saying it was too much like a Trainer because she was training with me." Ash looked down at Pikachu as he spoke, gently stroking the electric type. "Drew kept saying that if May wanted to become a 'real' Co-Ordinator then she should travel with him to learn how."
"But she chose to stay with you didn't she." Leaf stated, Ash nodded in answer anyway.
"Yeah, I kept training with her to help her get stronger and that's one of the things that makes May unique as a Co-Ordinator, she has their creativity but her Pokémon have more strength in their attacks." Ash's face darkened slightly as he paused for breath. "After we travelled through Hoenn and Kanto, May wanted to go to Johto for their Contests and I was heading for Sinnoh for the Pokémon League. I…I wanted her to come to Sinnoh with me but she wanted to go on a journey on her own, I think she wanted to prove to Drew that she could do be a good Co-Ordinator without other people helping her." Leaf nodded as Ash spoke, letting him go at his own pace. "We met up again for the Wallace Cup in Sinnoh." A smile crossed his lips. "It was like we'd never been apart, we just fell into similar roles like we had in Hoenn but closer than before. It was sad seeing her go at the end but it made me want to train harder."
"What happened next?"
"We saw each other a couple more times after that, my mom would threw a little party for when I came home from Unova and Kalos inviting everyone I'd travelled with before that. After that I went on my training journey, I kept in touch with everyone but didn't actually see them during that time."
"How long were you training for?"
"Three years."
"So how did you meet May again?"
"I'd just started on this journey and when I got to the Viridian City Pokémon Centre Pikachu ran over to her. May said she was on her way to see me in Pallet Town because she had a favour to ask."
"What was the favour?" Leaf asked, a grin stretching across her face when she was Ash start to blush.
"Drew had been bothering her for a while, trying to make her his girlfriend. May told him she already had a boyfriend and when he asked who…" Ash trailed off
"She said you." Leaf finished, Ash nodded and went on to tell her what had happen in Pewter City meeting Drew and most of everything else leaving the majority of Rota and Maiden's Peak out along with Mewtwo's rampage and the reason they were went to the Power Plant. While had been talking a message came through on his X-Transceiver from Adam, Ash looked opened the text and chuckled at what it said.
"What's so funny?" Leaf asked. Ash just tilted his X-Transceiver so that Leaf could see the message herself.
'Remind me not to upset May and watch your back, I think you've taught her too well. The others want to know how she did that, should I tell them?'
Leaf giggled as Ash quickly typed a reply.
'Tell them it was for exercise.'
While Ash and Leaf had been talking Drew had gotten up from the floor, dusted himself off quickly and stormed off the stage barging past Xantel as he walked into the tunnel.
"Well, that happened." Julia said, "Now on with the Contest and our next semi-final between Rebecca Hendrickson and Xantel Orpheus." Rebecca and Xantel walked up to each other and shook hands before turning and walking to their respective ends of the battlefield, Xantel's Abomasnow appeared before him at the same time Rebecca released Lily, her Leafeon, who skipped lightly in place.
"Begin!" Julia said stepping off the stage. Rebecca was expecting Abomasnow to use her ability but the Frost Tree Pokémon didn't move.
"If you're expecting a snow storm then you're going to be disappointed Abomasnow can't use her ability twice on the same day unless it's already snowing. I told her to keep it in reserved for the final but she didn't listen." Xantel said after seeing the confusion on Rebecca's face and received a small blast of snow to his face from Abomasnow. "Yeah, I love you too." He replied as he wiped the frosty slush from his face.
"Lily, Aerial Ace into Iron Tail." Rebecca called, starting the battle. Lily shot forward with white streams of energy flowing around her as her tail hardened and took on the appearance of being made of metal.
"Focussed Blizzard!" Xantel countered, Abomasnow opened her mouth and launched the attack but instead of it spreading out widely it stayed in a focussed barrage of ice and snow. Abomasnow aimed the fast moving ice attack at The Verdant Pokémon's incoming attack.
"Dodge it." Lily spun dropping lower to the ground, underneath the ice attack, and raised her tail to split the lower part of the Blizzard creating a shimmering curtain of frost in her wake. Lily kept making her way to Abomasnow until she was close enough to attack. Lily shouldered herself into Frost Tree Pokémon's stomach before pirouetting in the air and sending her tail into the underneath of Abomasnow's jaw knocking the grass and ice type's head back. The focussed Blizzard followed Abomasnow's head and after lightly coating Rebecca and the audience in snow flew into the air, nearly touching the ceiling.
"Headbutt!" Abomasnow moved with surprising speed and grabbed Lily's tail, raising the grass type up as her head swung forward, slamming into Lily's side sending the Verdant Pokémon tumbling through the air and rolling across the ground. "Now Ice Punch."
"Grass Knot." Lily's eyes flashed green as grass sprouted in front of Abomasnow's feet causing her to trip. "X-Ace." Lily pushed herself back to her feet and dashed forward using Aerial Ace as a light blue cross formed before her. Lily crashed the combined attack into Abomasnow's head stopping her fall forward, forcing the Frost Tree Pokemon to change direction and be thrown backwards. Finishing the manoeuvre in a flourish landing back on the ground with a somersault. "Sunny Day and Synthesis." Lily sent an orb into the air and started to glow as she recovered her energy.
Abomasnow hit the ground with a thud but rose to her feet again with only a slight hesitation, she was swaying gently due to ache from the impact affecting her balance.
"You okay Abomasnow?" Xantel asked, the grass and ice type shook her head a couple of times before nodding and settling into her stance. "Alright then let's take advantage of this sunlight, Natural Gift!" Abomasnow reached into her thick fur and pulled out a Cheri Berry.
"Lily, go now!" Rebecca shouted, Lily shot at Abomasnow leaving a small cloud of dust behind her. The Verdant Pokémon leapt us and snatched the Cheri Berry out of Abomasnow's hand, jumping over the dual type Pokémon's head and landing behind her. "Natural Gift!" Lily ate the Cheri Berry and her eyes flashed red as a circle of flames erupted underneath Abomasnow. The Frost Tree Pokémon roared in pain as the buzzer sounded, both Co-Ordinators looked at the screen to see the results.
"The Co-Ordinator moving onto the Final is…..Rebecca Hendrickson." Julia announced. Xantel returned Abomasnow after thanking her for all her hard work as Rebecca scooped Lily up in her arms and spun in circles happily, her dress billowing out around her as she twirled. Once Rebecca had stopped spinning she made her way to the centre of the stage and shook hands with Xantel.
"Good match." Rebecca said smiling as she shook Xantel's hand.
"Yeah, I didn't see that last move coming." Xantel replied as he reached to pet Lily's head. "You're a tough one, you little thief." Lily gently butted his hand in annoyance, before nuzzling into it.
"We will have a ten minute break and then the Final will take place. The battle you've all been waiting for, Contest Royalty collide. It's Rebecca the Contest Queen versus May the Princess of Hoenn." Julia said into her microphone as Xantel and Rebecca left the stage.
When they re-entered the Co-Ordinator's room Nia has changed out of her Contest dress as was wearing a soft lavender sweater dress, black stockings and white trainers, there was a hoodie hanging off the back of her chair as she pestered May. Nia's hair had been taken out of the rocker side sweep and was now down, her black locks reaching just past her shoulders.
"Oh come on, please. How was Venusaur able to get the power up without taking any damage? You can tell me, I'll take it to the grave I swear." Nia pleaded, May giggled at the fact that she'd unintentionally found a way to keep her new friend awake without using Chesto Berries.
"Sorry but it's not my technique." May said, "Ash came up with it." Nia shot out of her chair and grabbed May's hand.
"Let's go talk to your beloved, I must know the secrets of the technique." Nia proclaimed as she started marching towards the door, basically practically dragging May behind her.
"Nia, don't you think it'd be better to wait till the Contest's ended?" Xantel asked as he stood in front of her.
"And Ash isn't my beloved." May muttered as she tried to dislodge Nia's hand from her own. The excited Co-Ordinator's head snapped round to look at May with a suggestive smile.
"Not yet he isn't, you need to jump him if he's as dense as he sounds." Nia said with a suggestive wink causing May's face to erupt in an almost volcanic red from embarrassment causing Nia to cackle hysterically.
"Oh, leave her alone." Rebecca said, swatting Nia's arm lightly as she walked past and sat next to May. There was a few seconds of silence between the two finalists before Rebecca broke it. "Are you nervous too?"
"Is it that obvious?" May replied as she continuously straighten the folds in her dress.
"Only because I'm nervous too." Rebecca smiled as she tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear. "Julia is right, we're the only people in the Contest Circuit with royal nicknames. This is a big match. Sorry, that probably didn't help, it's made me feel more nervous now."
"Pika!" A muffled squeak came from the doorway, when everyone looked they saw Pikachu running into the room with a piece of paper in his mouth. The electric type ran up to May and jumped onto her lap before taking the piece of paper out of his mouth and holding it out to her.
"Pikachu? What are you doing here?" May looked from Pikachu to the paper and back. "Is that for me?" Pikachu nodded happily, May took the paper and gave the Electric Mouse a scratch behind the ear. Unfolding the paper May saw it was a note from Ash, reading it silently she smiles and felt her nerves fade into nothingness. Reaching into her bag, May pulled out a pen and quickly wrote down a reply before folding the paper carefully and giving it back to Pikachu. "Thanks Postmaster Pikachu, now I have a delivery for you to make. Can you give this to Ash for me?"
Pikachu gave May a salute and jumped on her shoulder to nuzzle her cheek, making her giggle, before leaping back to the floor and racing out of the room. May looked at Rebecca with a new fire in her eyes, all her nervousness forgotten as she pumped her fist.
"Let's give this everything we've got, I'm not going to lose this Contest." She said in a tone that proved beyond any doubt that she was ready for the battle.
"Well neither am I. Time for the Queen to show the Princess how it's done." Rebecca challenged.
"Damn, what did that note say?" Nia whispered as she leant towards Xantel.
"No idea but I don't think I want to battle this version of May." He replied, causing Nia to nod in agreement.
In the Stands
Pikachu weaved between people's legs as he made his way back to Ash, narrowly avoiding being kicked as someone stretched their leg out as he was passing them. As he neared his destination Pikachu saw that Glaceon had curled up on Ash's lap so he jumped into the air landing lightly on Leaf's legs.
"Pika." Came is muffled squeak. Ash reached over and gave the electric type a quick scratch before taking the paper out of his mouth.
"Thanks buddy." Ash said, "May was nervous wasn't she?" Pikachu nodded, Ash opened the piece of paper and read what May had written. He smiled with a light blush on his cheeks as he folded the paper again and put it in his pocket.
"What did you write to her and more importantly what did she write back?" Leaf asked having failed to read the note while Ash held it.
"Not telling." Ash replied, "You can't make me tell like you used to." Leaf smirked.
"Want to bet?" She said slyly, her hands shot out towards Ash but he knew what was going to happen and reacted before she could, catching her wrists and stopping her arms where they were.
"Ah ah ah, no tickling. I put up with enough of your tickle torture when we were kids, it's not happening now. " Ash grinned as Leaf pouted at her attempt to extract the information from him had failed.
"Aaw, come on tell me, please?" Leaf said giving Ash a pair of shimmering puppy dog eyes. Ash squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away from her.
"No, not going to fall for that either."
"All right then, I guess I'll have to read it myself." Ash opened one eye, turning his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye.
"What do you mean?" Leaf smirked and leant away from Ash, slipping her wrists out of his grasp. She didn't say anything and just waved a slip of paper at him holding it between her index and middle finger. Ash's eyes snapped wide and his head spun to look at her fully, he fumbled at his pocket finding that the piece of paper was missing. "But….How?"
"Didn't you ever wonder how I always managed to get money for ice cream when we were kids?" Leaf's eyes shone with a mischievous light. "You know my dad…wasn't the most law abiding person, I was bound to pick up a trick or two." Glaceon lazily raised her head, knowing that whatever was written on that piece of paper was between Ash and May took action and frozen it so Leaf couldn't open it. "Oh, now that's just not fair." Leaf huffed as she passed the frozen piece of paper back to Ash.
"What am I meant to do with this now? He asked, Leaf just shrugged in response. Glaceon nudged Ash's arm, he moved his hand and the paper towards her and watched as the Fresh Snow Pokémon breathed gently on the paper causing the ice to dissipate into small sparkles of energy. "I didn't know you could to that." Ash said as he stroked Glaceon's back, making sure to keep a firm hold on the paper in case Leaf tried to steal it away again. Swapping it to his other hand, Ash put the paper in the pocket furthest away from Leaf placing a small Aura Shield around it to be sure.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. The Final of the Celadon City Contest, Contest Royalty are about to battle it out for right to claim the Flower Ribbon as their own. Please welcome onto the stage our Finalists, winner of last year's Johto Ribbon Cup and the Ribbon Cup of Hoenn the year before, The Contest Queen Rebecca Hendrickson." Julia announced. The audience cheered as Rebecca strutted onto the stage soaking in their encouragement and praise, she waved and blew kisses smiling widely at everyone as she turned around to take it all in. "Our other Finalist is a name we all know, she gained her title from the people of Sinnoh early on in her Co-Ordinating career. She's regularly place high in Grand Festivals since her debut and is the first person to win Rota's Aura Ribbon, she is The Princess of Hoenn, May Maple." The audience grew louder as May walked onto the stage, waving shyly at first before letting the atmosphere take her and waved to everyone. May easily picked out where Ash and Leaf were from the display Pikachu and Glaceon were putting on for her with their attacks, blowing a kiss in their direction May then turned and met Rebecca in the centre of the stage. Instead of shaking hands as was customary May and Rebecca gave each other a quick hug and a smile before going to their ends of the battlefield.
"Finalists, release your Pokémon." Julia said, Venusaur's roar rumbled as she appeared in a shower of white pixels and Lily growled back when she landed lightly on the ground. "We have five minutes on the clock, so without further ado let the battle for the Flower Ribbon begin!" Julia quickly left the stage and as soon as she was off the battlefield May made the first move.
"Venusaur, Energy Bomb!" Venusaur tilted her flower so it pointed towards Lily and fired out a ball of green energy with a bubbling purple orb of sludge at its core.
"Lily dodge and use Sunny Day." The Verdant Pokémon skipped out of the way and fired an orb of blinding white light into the air. The Energy Bomb exploded as it hit the ground leaving a small crater filled with steaming sludge.
"Block it." May said, Venusaur adjusted her aim and fired another Energy Bomb, it collided with the Sunny Day creating a blast of pale green light and a light rain of sludge, Lily did her best to dodge the raining poison but couldn't avoid it all. Her once pristine light tan fur not spotted with purple blotches, Rebecca was thankful though that Lily hadn't been poisoned by the attack. While Lily had been running and diving around the field to try and evade the poisonous rain, Venusaur had simply stayed in place seemingly enjoying the droplets of sludge as they hit her. "Power Whip." Several vines sprouted from underneath Venusaur's flower, glowing purple and lashed towards Lily.
"Leaf Blade." Rebecca countered. Leafeon ran forward with the curl on her head and her tail glowing green, twirling and pirouetting through Venusaur's vines knocking them aside when she needed too. Once she was close enough to Venusaur Lily struck with the Leaf Blade on her head, knocking the Seed Pokémon's head down before flipping backwards and landing her second Leaf Blade from her tail under Venusaur's chin.
Venusaur took the attacks without flinching thanks again to training with Ash's Torterra and waited for May to give the order to counter attack. As Lily start to land from her flip May made her move.
"Take Down." Golden energy enveloped Venusaur as she surged forward, ramming her head into Lily. The Verdant Pokémon was sent tumbling through the air and skidding along the field, with a cloud of dust following her path. Lily got to her feet fairly quickly, due to the close proximity of the attack Take Down wasn't at full strength because Venusaur didn't have a run up to power it.
"Hidden Power." Orbs of pink energy formed around Lily and spun in a circle quickly before being launched at Venusaur.
"Razor Leaf!" May countered, Venusaur fired out a cluster of leaves at the incoming attack. The first wave of leaves shredded through Hidden Power, disintegrating at the same time, and the second wave was coated in the floating particles of energy before continuing on their way to Lily.
"X-Ace!" Lily weaved her way through the Razor Leaf at incredible speed and slammed a glowing blue cross into Venusaur's head. "Echo Echo!" While she was at close range, Rebecca wanted to hit Venusaur as hard as Lily could. Blue waves of sound pounded into Venusaur's head, Lily added a makeshift Scratch attack by using Sand Attack on Venusaur's head.
"Magical Leaf!" May shouted, she'd taken a second to look at how her points were doing and saw that they were about level with Rebecca's. Not wanting to risk losing the Ribbon she decided to go on the offensive once more. Multicoloured leaved threw Lily off Venusaur's head and into the air. "Vine Whip!" Several dark green vines flew at Lily grabbing her and held her in mid-air. "Sakura Baku!" May yelled as she flung her hand out. Venusaur launched her attack, a flurry of glowing, razor sharp pink petals. As soon as the petals made contact with Lily's body she was surrounded by small explosions. The timer turned to zero and a buzzer sounded, Venusaur ended her attack and slowly lowered Lily back to the ground, gently placing the Verdant Pokémon into her trainer's waiting arms.
"Now it's time to see if the Contest Queen continues to reign or has the Princess stolen her crown." Julia said as she walked to the centre of the stage, May and Rebecca joined her seconds later. They all turned to look at the screen, Rebecca's points were just under the quarter full mark and May's were sitting halfway between the half and quarter marks. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of the Contest and the Flower Ribbon is the Princess of Hoenn May Maple." The Contest Hall erupted in applause and cheers, Julia let the audience continue for a minute before speaking again. "Before we award the Flower Ribbon, let's hear from our Judges."
"This was a marvellous display of grass type Pokémon and the beauty they are capable of." Mr Contesta said, "I can safely say I've never seen a battle between two grass type Pokémon like this before. Both Co-Ordinators and with Pokémon should be immensely proud of their performances today."
"There is little I can add to Mr Contesta comments apart from the fact I'd like to offer all the female Co-Ordinators that made it to the battle rounds a place in the Gym. Apologises to the male Co-Ordinators but the rules laid down at the Gym's founding do not allow male Gym assistants." Erika added with a smile.
"I've been a member of the Kanto Elite for the last three years, I trained under Erika for nearly 6 years and an exclusively grass type Pokémon Trainer since I started my journey but I can say without a doubt that I've learnt a few things watching these two Co-Ordinators during this Contest. There is one question I have to ask though," Pamela said, "May, what was that last move you used?" Julia held her microphone out for May to speak into.
"It's a combination of Petal Dance, Razor Leaf and Seed Bomb." May answered, "I've been working on it with Venusaur for a couple of months now, it was really tricky to get it right." Pamela nodded in understanding as Julia brought the microphone back to her own mouth.
"All our Judges are impressed with our competitors and I'm sure all of you are too." Julia said to the audience who cheered in response. Rebecca took a few steps back knowing what was coming next. "Now it's time to award our victor with their prize."
Mr Contesta, Erika and Pamela stood from their seats and walked onto the stage in front of May, Erika held a small wooden box as Mr Contesta started to speak.
"May Maple for your victory here today and the truly remarkable display of beauty your Pokémon showed I congratulate you and award you with the Flower Ribbon." Erika opened the wooden box, revealing the Ribbon which Pamela took it out and presented to May.
"Along with this Ribbon, you have a night out at Sirens for you and one other person whenever you want all expenses paid." Pamela said as May took the Ribbon out of her hand. "Maybe you can bring your Aura Guardian boyfriend, I'd like to meet the guy who won you over." Pamela winked, causing a light blush to cover May's cheeks.
"Pamela, behave yourself." Erika said softly giving the grass type Elite a playful swat on the arm. Pamela grinned and looked at the Gym Leader.
"Yes, Miss Erika." This caused Erika to smile too.
"That's the end of the Contest ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming here today and I hope you all enjoyed the show." Julia said as the crowds applauded, May turned to walk off the stage when Pamela lightly tapped her on the shoulder.
"Would you be able to come to my dressing room with your boyfriend in a few minutes?" She asked.
"Sure." May answered a little confused as to why Pamela wanted to see her and Ash but before she could ask why the red haired elite was gone. May returned Venusaur and walked back to the Co-Ordinators room with Rebecca, giving Leafeon a scratch under the chin to say sorry if she'd been hurt too badly during the battle. Getting changed quickly May met Ash and Leaf out in the lobby of the Contest Hall before walking with both of them to the Judges rooms. Leaf was on her way to see Erika and walked a little further down the corridor to get to the Gym Leader's room.
May knocked on Pamela's door and was answered by a quiet hello, which surprised May due to how different it sounded to the Pamela that she'd seen during the Contest. Ash and May walked into the room and found Pamela sitting at a dressing table looking at a botanical textbook, she was wearing a pair of small, black wire rimmed glasses with her long luxurious red hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Oh, you're here. I didn't expect you to be so quick, please sit down." Pamela said in a quiet and quite shy voice as closed the textbook and took off her glasses gesturing to the couch that took up one wall of the dressing room. As Pikachu walked past Pamela hesitantly reached out to stroke him. "May I?" She asked, Ash nodded and Pikachu leapt up onto Pamela's lap surprising her slightly before she started to stroke his fur
"When a member of the Elite Four says they want to talk to you, you don't keep them waiting." Ash said making the grass type Elite smile. As he and May walked over to the couch Pamela watched them and could see a look of confusion on May's face.
"You're wondering about my change in attitude aren't you?" Pamela asked, directing her question to May. "The person you saw on the stage is just an act, as an Elite I have to have a certain attitude that puts me apart from the others in this region. Jeff is quite easy going but he has a set of rules that he lives by, Arthur is over confident which sadly is how he is on and off the battlefield, Warren is very business-like and can be a charmer so I made a flirty, party girl for my attitude. It's the way I used to be before I trained with Erika so it's easy for me to keep that appearance up when I need to without worrying about it slipping away." Pamela held up a hand as Ash opened his mouth. "I know what you're going to ask, I know I could've just stayed the way I am but I like the performance I put on, it's a way to have fun during the boring press conferences and some of the public appearances I have to do. Plus it's a bonus when I get to shoot down sleaze balls like the one who tried to kiss you May." Pamela giggled, "Though I think you did that well enough yourself."
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you want to see us?" Ash asked.
"Well, I wanted to tell you and May a little more about my club but there is another reason." Pamela paused to think about how to phrase what she wanted to say. "I wanted to meet you Ash. I've heard about you from Jeff and Arthur painted you as a monster after you sent him running, that's something we're never going to let him live down. I wanted to make my own opinion of what sort of person you are, from first glance I can tell you're not a monster though I can see you are fiercely protective of the people close to you as well as your Pokémon."
"How can you tell that?" May asked.
"I own Sirens with two other people, one of them has a diploma in Psychiatry so I've picked up a thing or two over the years." Pamela paused again but before she could continue the door of her dressing room burst open and Leaf jumped in.
"Pamela!" She squealed happily as she bounded towards the slightly startled Elite. "Can I come to Sirens tonight? Pleeeaassseee." Pamela sighed and shook her head.
"Leaf, I'm in the middle of talking to May and her boyfriend. Couldn't you wait till they'd gone?"
"It's fine, I know them." Leaf said as she bounced on the balls of her feet waiting for Pamela's answer to her question. Pamela looked at Ash and May for confirmation of Leaf's statement.
"We do know her." Ash said, "I've known her since we were kids but May's only known her for a few days."
"See, so can I come, can I, please?"
"You just want to see your 'Aunt' don't you?" Pamela said with a slight laugh in her tone.
"No, not just to see her. I want to see all of you together again, it's been ages since all three of you have been at the club together."
"You do remember what happened the first time don't you?"
"Yes, she does." Erika said as she entered the room, nodding a greeting to Ash and May. "I still haven't fully forgiven her for what she did to those poor hyacinths."
While the three grass type users were talking May nudged Ash.
"Who's Leaf's Aunt?" She asked.
"I don't know, her mom and dad are only children as far as I know." Ash replied, he took a few seconds to think, "I do remember a woman who came round every now and again, I never actually saw her properly though. I think she was a family friend."
"Alright you can come." Pamela said to Leaf, "But you have to promise that you'll behave. I don't want a repeat of last time."
"That wasn't my fault, that guy started it."
"He might've but you didn't need to finish it but nearly destroying the DJ booth, that's a point you can't bring your Pokémon with you. People like that guy is why we hired Dorrance, he's the bouncer for a reason."
"That's not fair, Tropy is just protective, he didn't mean to cause that much damage."
"He might be protective but an Air Slash powered Leaf Storm is a bit excessive."
"Okay, I'll leave my Pokémon at the Gym." Leaf pouted, Pamela turned back to Ash and May smiling apologetically.
"Sorry about that, now where were we?"
"You'd just said that you picked up a bit of psychiatry from your friend." May said.
"Ah that's right there was something else I was going to tell you, well more specifically Ash." All eyes turned to the raven haired trainer.
"Me?" He asked.
"Yes, we have something in common Ash." Pamela turned and picked up her purse, opening it she pulled out a small sphere and showed Ash. It was a G-Men Communication Sphere. "I recognised your name when Julia said it from Jeff's and Arthur's stories but also from Lance, because you're coming to Sirens there's something you should probably know about it. All the people working there are former criminals." Pamela paused to let that sink in before continuing. "I was a…rather aggressive Eco-Protestor until Miss Erika set me straight, Dorrance our bouncer was hired muscle for a lot of criminal enterprises, Leaf's 'Aunt' was a cat burglar and it's a similar story with everyone else. We've all reformed though, I started Sirens because I wanted to give people like me a second chance because no one else would."
"Besides they're all afraid of Pamela and her friends so there's nothing to fear from any of the people who work there." Leaf said.
"They're not afraid of us, they just know appreciate that we've given them a way out of the darker part of their lives." Pamela corrected, "Besides I'm sure Lance has a couple of agents watching the club to make sure."
"I understand, if Lance trusts you then I can too." Ash said, "You didn't have to tell us that though."
"I know but I wanted too. May, what do you think about this? Do you still want to come to Sirens?"
"I sure do, Ash owes me and Leaf a night of dancing." May answered with a smile as Ash paled, he'd forgotten about that. A few more minutes were spent with idle chitchat before May dragged out of the Contest Hall and back to the Pokémon Centre to get ready for their night out. While they were getting ready a couple of calls came in one from May's parents and the other from everyone gathered in Pallet Town congratulating her on her victory.
A few hours later and they were ready, Ash was wearing a simply combination of a white shirt and jeans while May had chosen a pair of skinny jeans that showed off her legs, a dark pink crop sleeve t-shirt, her Manaphy pendant and she let her hair out of its usual style so it flowed down her back in gentle waves.
"Come on Ash, time to dance." May said pulling the young Aura Guardian through Celadon City until they arrived at the club.
The outside of the building was mostly black with highlights of light green vines and hot pink kisses. The name 'Sirens' was shining in deep red neon stylised writing. As they approached the doors, they burst open as a woman wearing a red and black checked shirt over a white sports top and the bottom of the checked shirt was tied in a knot showing of the woman's flat stomach. She also wore denim shorts and a pair of black and red knee length boots. She had pale skin, blue eyes and her blonde hair tied up in two bunches, she skipped out and grabbed both Ash and May by the arm.
"You're the couple from the Contest right?" The woman asked.
"Yes we are." May replied, "I'm May and this is Ash."
"Nice to meet you I'm Harley, one of the owners. Pammi told me you guys were coming and to look out for you." Harley started tugging at Ash and May's arms, pulling them into the club. "Welcome to Sirens!"
Sakura Baku = Cherry Blossom Explosion
That's all I've got for now, I hope you liked it.
Let me know what you think.
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer