Hello Readers,

I'm really sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out but I've had a case of writer's block so this might not be up to scratch but it's the best I can do.

Chapter 39

Cruising for Contests

They'd been on the ship a few days, alternating between training and enjoying themselves either by sunbathing or spending time using the vessel's facilities. May's usually pale skin had started to take on a slight tan, her skin wasn't as dark a tone as Ash's but it was a noticeable difference to her normal skin tone. They'd chosen to take a ship that was taking a longer route to the Seafoam Islands so May could have time to train without worrying about other Co-Ordinators seeing what she had planned.

It was the last day of the short cruise and the last night the couple would be spending on the ship. They were asleep in their room when suddenly a siren sounded startling them both awake as the ship shook violently and swayed to the side causing Ash to fall out of his bed with Pikachu following him as May, Litwick and Glaceon slid into the wall next to her bed leaving Lucario to use his Aura to grip onto the floor. Ash rolled across the floor with Pikachu held protectively in his arms, stopping when they hit May's bed.

"What's going on? Is it a storm?" May asked as the ship righted itself. She helped Ash up while Lucario went to look out of a window.

This is no storm Mistress May, the ship is under attack from sea Pokémon. The Aura Pokémon said answering her question. Without having to say anything Ash and May had the same thought, immediately picking up their Pokéballs and running out of their room to the main deck of the ship to help out, forgetting that they were in their pyjamas. Ash ran on to the deck wearing a pair of shorts while May followed him in a pair of her own shorts and a large t-shirt, they each released all their Pokémon and May returned Litwick to her Pokéball so the young Candle Pokémon wouldn't be hurt. Litwick had started training but wasn't anywhere near ready for a battle of this magnitude. On the deck in front of them were a number of Tentacruel and Starmie with more Pokémon joining them by the second.

Pikachu was straight into the fight using Volt Tackle to bounce between the water types before any of them could attack. The Mouse Pokémon used his tail to springboard off a Tentacruel and used Thunder to take out as many of the attacking Pokémon as he could but the attack veered off and landed on a group of Chinchou and Lanturn. Pikachu grumbled under his breath before switching tactics moved to the other side of the ship only to find another group of the water and electric types there, changing his plan once more Pikachu smirked as an idea came to him. He made his way to the centre of the attacking water Pokémon and used Thunder. The electric attack was drawn to the Chinchou and Lanturn but it took the straightest path which was through the other Pokémon, while the attack wasn't enough to knockout so many of the water Pokémon it did weaken a number of them. As the attacking water types closed in on Pikachu he jumped into the air bouncing off some of them and landed on the back of Talonflame who had been coming in to help.

"Pika." The electric type thanked the fire and flying type, Talonflame cawed in reply as she veered around, dodging her way through Water Guns, Hydro Pumps and an assortment of other attacks to get back to Ash and the other Pokémon.

"Meganium, Razor Leaf." Ash said, the Herb Pokémon nodded and the petals around her neck ruffled as a volley of sharp leaves flew out. The attack struck the mass of Water Pokémon on the deck and stopped their advance, albeit briefly.

"Lilligant, help out with Magical Leaf." May called out as she ducked under a Bubblebeam. Lilligant answered by jumping next to Meganium and twirling around, sending out a flurry of rainbow coloured leaves. The combination of the two attacks was starting to slowly force the Water Pokémon backwards but the sheer number of opponents made it hard to keep them back for long. Ash and May gave their other Pokémon directions on how to help out, their fire type Pokémon were using other moves to take out their opponents and having to work harder on their agility to evade the super effective attacks that came at them. Their water Pokémon deflected attack where they could but Ash and May could tell that whatever had gotten to the attacking water types was trying to get to their own Pokémon, May returned Kabuto and Omanyte when she saw them start to turn on Glaceon. Lucario and Pikachu worked as a team to stop as many of the water Pokémon as possible by combining their attacks, that way the Chinchou and Lanturn wouldn't be able to influence Pikachu's electric attacks as much.

May took a minute to look around them and saw something out in the ocean, a reddish light pulsing away, at first she thought it might've been a buoy but they were still a good distance out from land so it couldn't have been. It took a minute for May to fully realise what it was, she pushed her Pokéballs into Ash's hands and ran for the side of the ship. She took a second to look below her for any attacking Pokémon before climbing onto the railing and diving into the water.

"May!" Ash shouted but before he could get to her a Tentacruel blocked his path, forcing him to jump back and hide behind an air vent to evade a Poison Sting. May's Pokémon immediately tried to go after her but the attacking Pokémon wouldn't let them go anywhere. A number of other travelling trainers had joined the battle against the water Pokémon but they were still outnumbered and in the wrong type of battlefield, they couldn't cut loose with powerful attacks because of possibly damaging the ship and the water types had the field advantage, especially with Chinchou and Lanturn stopping any electric attacks from hitting.

With May

May fought her way through the waves and the cold as she swam towards the light, it was something she wouldn't, couldn't forget, something she never thought she'd see again. As she drew closer to the light it confirmed her suspicions, floating in the water just a short distance from her was Manaphy. May had to stop her approach when a trio of Sharpedo fins started to circle her, she bobbed in the ocean paddling lightly to keep her head above the water. The near dark was only pierced by the light of Manaphy's antennae, she couldn't be sure but with that small amount of light May thought she could see a crazed look in the Seafaring Pokémon's eyes.

"Manaphy, why are you doing this?" May shouted and for the first time Manaphy's attention turned to May. A tilt of his head in confusion was his only reaction to her presence. The idea of him not knowing her had tears pricking at the edges of May's eyes. "Don't you remember me? It's May, it's Mama." She choked out, kicking her feet slightly to try and get closer to Manaphy. The Sharpedo closed in around her making her once again stop moving.

"Ma…Ma?" Manaphy said slowly.

"That's right, Mama. Mama love you." May replied, Manaphy let out a low groan and held his head. The Sharpedo around May growled and swam closer to her, nearly scratching her with their rough scales. "Please remember me." A tear rolled down her cheek but the seawater quickly washed it away, no longer caring about the Sharpedo, May moved to get past them so she could get to Manaphy. The Sharpedo turned and launched at her with Bite attacks, May closed her eyes and held her arms up to fend them off.

"WAAARR!" A cry came out from behind her, May's eyes snapped open as Wartortle slammed into one Sharpedo with Aqua Jet and batted the other two away with Aqua Tail. May took advantage of Sharpedo's absence and quickly swam to Manaphy, taking the small Pokémon into her arms and holding him to her chest.

"It's okay now, Mama's here." Manaphy struggled in May's arms, his flailing antennae hitting her in the face but she refused to let go as she continued to try and comfort Manaphy. Wartortle was doing her best to keep the Sharpedo away from May but it was hard work and was taking all of her experience to keep up with the three Pokémon. The Turtle Pokémon withdrew her arm to avoid a Crunch attack and felt it bump against something inside her shell, it was her Everstone she'd asked May to get her one so she could stay as she was, dodging another attack Wartortle thought about the situation she was in. She was fighting three very strong and fast Pokémon while protecting May at the same time, she was doing okay right now but sooner rather than later she's get tired and there was no way of knowing when help might come. A combination of Rapid Spin and a carefully timed Aqua Tail forced the Sharpedo further away and when Wartortle came out of her shell again she was holding the Everstone in her hand. She stared down the Sharpedo as she smirked and let the Everstone fall out of her hand.

"WARTORTLE!" She screamed as white light enveloped her, she felt herself grow taller and wider, her shell getting thicker and two sections opening up, the gently grating of her new cannons sliding out of her back, she lamented the shortening and hardening of her fluffy ears and tail.

May watched as Wartortle disappeared in the light of her evolution and hugged Manaphy tight to her chest. She knew how much the Turtle Pokémon loved the way she was, taking particular pride in the appearance of her tail and ears making sure they were always in pristine condition. May felt loved by Wartortle's choice to evolve to protect her. As she was the water type change May felt Manaphy slowly stop struggling and looked down at him.

"Ma..ma?" Manaphy said softly sounding confused before smiling. "Love you Mama." He called out happily and hugged May.

"I love you too Manaphy." May replied as she felt happy tears collect in her eyes. "Why did you attack the ship?"

"Mana?" May pointed towards the ship to show what she meant when she noticed that the light around Wartortle started to flicker and die away.

Wartortle felt something touch her foot and her evolution started to slow down before it began to reverse, the cannons shrank back into her shell, she grew smaller, her shell thinned, her tail and ears grew and softened. As the light of the evolution faded Wartortle saw what had happened, one of the Sharpedo and swam after the Everstone, pressing it against her foot to cancel out her evolution. Once she was back to her normal size the Sharpedo with the Everstone moved quickly and bit into her shell, shattering the Everstone so fragments were embedded in her shell. Wartortle used Rapid Spin to throw the Sharpedo away and give herself some space to breath, she floated there staring at her opponents and put on a brave face. The energy the failed evolution had taken out of her was too much and Wartortle could barely keep herself above the surface of the water never mind stop the two Sharpedo that were charging towards her. Knowing what was about to happen Wartortle summoned the last of her energy to use one last attack but stopped when a strange song filled the air. The Sharpedo stopped their charge and calmly stared past Wartortle, turning around the Turtle Pokémon saw that the song was coming from Manaphy.

Back on the Ship

Ash and the other Trainers were managing to hold the Water Pokémon at bay for now but they were being attacked from all sides and the ship was rocking violently from side to side. There were fears that it would capsize, Ash and Pikachu were determined that they were not going to be trapped on a sunken ship…again.

Pikachu had taken to fighting a group of Gyarados that had appeared alongside the ship, jumping from one to another delivering Thunderbolts and Thunders to each of the Atrocious Pokémon, Lucario was spinning a Bone Rush between his paws to block attacks from hitting the fire type Pokémon and Talonflame was in the air distracting the Mantine that glided overhead. The other Pokémon were doing everything they could to help out but things were looking grim, some the Trainers that were helping had been injured from various attacks, a few were poisoned, some paralyzed, a couple burned and nearly all of then soaked to the bone.

Even though they needed every available Pokémon to fight Ash had helped Wartortle to get off the ship and go after May. He had Feraligatr use Strength to throw Wartortle and increase the power of her Skull Bash attack which finished off one of the Gyarados and also got her off the ship so she could aid her Trainer. Ash took a few precious seconds to survey the battle so far, he cleared his throat and used the commanding voice that Riley had made him practice.

"Everyone, listen up!" He shouted over the clamour of battle. "If we're going to get through this we need to be organised. Anyone with Pokémon that know physical electric attacks we need them at the front, grass types backing them up with everything they've got and other Pokémon need to use attacks that are super effective against any secondary types the water Pokémon have. Any Trainers that are injured, get to the back and let the Pokémon with healing moves help you out but keep guiding your Pokémon as much as possible. We can win this, so let's get too it" The Trainers looked at Ash blankly for a second before doing what he said, they shared healing items and had any Pokémon with healing moves at the back to help any Pokémon that took heavy damage as well as the injured Trainers. "We need to knock out the Chinchou and Lanturn as soon as possible too." As some of the Trainers started to focus their attacks on the water and electric type Pokémon one spoke up.

"Some of the Goldeen and Seaking have Lightning Rod as an ability."

"Try and knock those out quickly too." Ash replied before turning back to the battle directing his and May's Pokémon.

Seeing the battle start to slowly go in their favour now the Trainers were organised and had a plan, Ash spared a glance out to sea, where May had swam off too, and saw a bright light which he immediately recognised as an evolution. He figured that it was Wartortle and a quick flash of Aura vision confirmed it, he turned his attention back to the battle at hand, once the ship was safe he could go check on May and find out what the cause of this attack was. After a short while Ash noticed that some of the water Pokémon had stopped and looked confused.

"Everyone stop!" Ash shouted over the noise of the battle, the Trainers and their Pokémon gradually ended their assault and saw why Ash had stopped them. The water Pokémon weren't attacking anymore and had started to retreat from the ship. Now that it was quiet everyone notices a haunting voice singing, the Trainers and their Pokémon looked around to try and locate the source of the song but Ash, Pikachu, Blaziken and Glaceon all recognised it. "Feraligatr, do you still have enough energy to go and bring May back to the ship?" Feraligatr grinned as his head bobbed to his internal soundtrack, he walked to the rails at the edge of the ship and jumped over. Ash moved to one of the lifeboats and started to lower it when a sailor rushed over.

"What are you doing with that boat?" He asked.

"My girlfriend is out there and this is the only way she's going to get back on the ship." Ash replied, not even looking at the sailor as he continued to lower the lifeboat. "Either help me or move out of the way." Lucario came over and started to help while Blaziken jumped into the boat so she could start warming May up as soon as she got out of the water.

A few minutes later Ash saw Feraligatr swimming back to the ship with Wartortle at his side and May holding onto his back with one arm, her other holding something to her chest. Once Feraligatr and Blaziken had gotten May and Wartortle into the lifeboat Ash and Lucario quickly pulled it back up, within a couple of minutes May was back on the deck of the ship and their fire type Pokémon huddled around her as soon as her feet touched the floor. Ash guided May through the throng of Trainers, passengers and crew members back to their room so she could dry off properly.

Once Ash had shut the door he ran to the bathroom and grabbed some towels, rushing back into the bedroom to find May stood in place shivering even though she was surrounded by their fire type Pokémon. He passed one towel to Blaziken to start drying May's torso as he knelt down and began to rub her legs, getting rid of the water and warming her up at the same time. Ash focussed his attention on the towel and not on how May's wet clothes stuck to her shapely body. A blush sat on Ash's face as he helped dry May off, he could hear Pikachu snickering alongside him and made a note to get back at him somehow.

"Mama?" Ash looked up and saw Manaphy nestled in May's arms looking up at her face. He could hear the worry in the Seafaring Pokémon's voice and tried to reassure the little Pokémon.

"Don't worry Manaphy, May's going to be fine." Ash smiled as Manaphy looked at him but his head snapped to the side when he heard Pikachu hiss. "What is it buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he growled, from between the beds a Vaporeon hobbled into view before collapsing.

"Meganium, help Vaporeon with Aromatherapy and Synthesis." A single vine came from the petals around Meganium's neck and snaked towards Vaporeon. The Bubble Jet Pokémon fired a weak Ice Beam at the vine but the attack fizzled out before it made contact. May took a shaky step away from the fire types and approached Vaporeon.

"D-Don't w-worry, we wo-won't hurt yo-ou." She stammered as chills continued to wrack her body. Everyone stayed in place, simply watching what May was doing. She dropped to her knees clumsily as she was next to Vaporeon, her hand slowly reached out to the Pokémon. "Pl-Please trust us, w-we jus-just want to he-help you." Vaporeon didn't react only watching as May's hand got closer and gently caressed the frills on the Bubble Jet Pokémon's head. Meganium took this as the time to help and carefully placed her vine on Vaporeon's side as she started to glow with a pale green light which flowed down the vine and coated Vaporeon as well, while a fragrant scent filled the air. The fire Pokémon quickly ran to May again and let their excess heat flow into her as Blaziken and Ash continued to dry her off.

After a few minutes May placed Manaphy on her bed and made Ash turn around as she changed out of her damp clothes and into a dry pair of sleeping clothes. Once she had changed she released Litwick from his Pokéball and noticed that Manaphy was holding his head and moaning lowly.

"Manaphy? What's wrong?" She asked gently, kneeling down to look the Legendary Pokémon in the eye and carefully put a hand on his head. Manaphy screamed out causing May to put her hand back quickly. Ash and May noticed that Feraligatr, Wartortle, Omanyte, Kabuto and the wild Vaporeon were starting to growl and glare at the couple and the other Pokémon.

"Feraligatr, return." Ash said holding up the Big Jaw Pokémon's Pokéball, recalling him in a flash of red light. May did the same with her Pokémon, leaving them a wild Vaporeon to deal with. May quickly pulled a Netball from her bag and threw it at the Bubble Jet Pokémon as it lunged at Glaceon, the brunette turned her attention back to Manaphy knowing that if Vaporeon escaped from the ball Glaceon and the other Pokémon could handle it. Ash knelt next to May and held a hand out towards Manaphy, letting his Aura assess what was happening. "Manaphy's affected by the same thing Mew was, I can help and I think you should too."

"But I can't use Aura like you."

"You don't need too, I can do it for you. Just put your hand on top of mine." Ash placed his on Manaphy's head, letting his Aura coat the Seafaring Pokémon, May did as Ash asked and watched as the Aura covering Manaphy thickened and glowed brighter. May felt a drain on her strength and through Ash she could experience the feeling that he'd tried to explain to her that the Legendary Pokémon were suffering from. The fear, worry and sickness all bundled up in something that seemed to grate and burn her nerves was almost too much to take but May forged through it. "May, I need you to focus on Manaphy. Use everything you feel for Manaphy to pull him out of this." May closed her eyes and brought the full strength of her willpower to bare, launching it at the wall of pain and worry, she poured all her feeling into it, how she felt when Manaphy first called her Mama, how much she loved him, the pride she felt when he fought back against Phantom and her happiness at being able to see him again, to hold him in her arms, to tell him just how much she loved him Focussing her all into this May fell into a sort of trance, picturing herself reaching out to Manaphy.

A little while later, May felt Ash move his hand away and opened her eyes. She saw Manaphy sleeping peacefully on the bed and smiled.

"Did it work?" She asked with tiredly.

"Yeah, he'll be fine when he wakes up." Ash replied, May nodded and picked the Seafaring Pokémon up gently so she didn't wake him.

"Why do I feel so tired?" She asked quietly with a yawn.

"You're not using Aura so it took a lot out of you. Get some rest and you'll be fine, I'll look after the Pokémon." May's eyes drooped as she nodded again and lay down on the bed, falling asleep the second her head hit the pillow. Litwick gently nudged May's arm and the brunette scooped the Candle Pokémon into her arms alongside Manaphy. Ash watched May sleep for a minute before letting Wartortle and Feraligatr back out of their Pokéballs to heal them from the damage they got during the battle.

"Pika." Ash turned and looked at his partner, the Mouse Pokémon was stood on his back legs and holding a Netball in his paws. "Pika-Pikachu."

"Where did you find that?" Pikachu pointed at May. "It's May's?" Pikachu nodded. Ash took the Netball and was about to open it when he noticed the centre button was red. "This should've gone to the lab, we must be out of the teleport system range." He put the Netball on top of May bag and began to treat the various injuries the Pokémon had gotten during the battle. Feraligatr had been on the front line and taken a lot of hits but thanks to his thick scales he mostly just tired although he did need to have a little Antidote thanks to a Tentacool getting a lucky shot between his scales with a Poison Sting. Meganium used Synthesis and allowed the excess water on her body to be absorbed, she hadn't taken much damage during the attack fighting at range and healing the injured Pokémon. Pikachu, Talonflame and Lucario had been in the thick of the battle with the Big Jaw Pokémon and were in a similar state as well as being soaked to the bone. Talonflame's ability had helped her dry out quickly and perched on the end of Ash's bed getting some much deserved rest, Pikachu and Lucario settled for drying themselves of with towels while Combusken used a weak Heat Wave to rid her feathers of water and Marshtomp just let it soak into his skin.

Blaziken did the same as Combusken and used Heat Wave to dry herself off, Vulpix had Blaziken use the attack on her causing her ability to activate and allow her to radiate the heat out to help the other Pokémon dry off. Lilligant stood close to the Fox Pokémon and let the water evaporate, she, like May's other Pokémon, had similar injuries as Pikachu and Lucario suffering mostly from fatigue rather than injury. Glaceon had chosen to curl up at the end of May's bed and get some sleep, her coat was free of water as it froze upon contact then falling off as she moved. Kabuto and Omanyte were completely fine as they hadn't fought for very long, Ash remember that May had returned them early in the battle when they started to turn on Glaceon. It must've been Manaphy's influence because they don't know May very well yet they couldn't fight off the effects. Ash thought as he worked on the most injured Pokémon there. Wartortle had numerous injuries from battling three Sharpedo on her own, not to mention the fragments of her Everstone lodged in her shell. After half an hour Ash moved away from Wartortle and sighed.

"I've done what I can but you really need to go to a Pokémon Centre, I couldn't get all of the Everstone bits out of your shell and if I did you might evolve. I know you don't want that so it's best if we let Nurse Joy take a look at you when we get the Seafoam." He said. Wartortle turned to look at Ash and nodded.

"Tortle Wartort." She replied.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just sorry I couldn't help you out there. Get some sleep, you've more than earned it." Wartortle hopped off the Ash's bed and curled up on the floor with the other Pokémon. Ash stretched and let out a low groan as his joints popped, he was sure that he'd pulled something during the battle but he was too tired to check himself out and got into his bed. Pikachu jumped up and lay on the pillow next to Ash's head, the other Pokémon found various places in the room to lie down and let the exhaustion from the battle finally hit them, all of them falling asleep within a minute of closing their eyes.

The Next Day

After waking up, returning their Pokémon and May realising she'd caught the Vaporeon from the night before she and Ash left their room to get breakfast with Lucario, Pikachu and Glaceon following them while Litwick and Manaphy were nestled in May's arms. The appearance of the Seafaring Pokémon grabbed the attention of everyone they passed but a warning growl from Lucario and sparking cheeks form Pikachu stopped them from getting too curious. Once they'd eaten a message came over the ship's speakers notifying all passengers that they would be arriving at Seafoam Island in a few hours, with that Ash and May returned to their room once more and made sure that they had all of their possessions stowed away in their packs. The time remaining before they docked the couple spent talking about the Contest which prompted May to ask an important question.

"Do you think Wartortle will be okay to compete?"

"I don't know, we'll just have to wait until Nurse Joy has taken a look at her." Ash replied. "Just to be on the safe side you should probably come up with another Appeal."

"But I've spent so long on this Appeal, what else can I do?" May sighed, Manaphy just looked up at her.

"Love you." He said smiling up at her.

"Love you too." May said stroking the Seafaring Pokémon's head. "The Contest is tropical themed, I can only think of the Alolan dance that I had but Wartortle is the only water Pokémon I have that has the experience needed for her part."

"Well, think of it like this, what else is tropical?" Ash asked.

"Bird Pokémon, palm trees, surfing, sun,…" May started to list but Ash cut her off.

"I might have something that could work but we need to wait until we get to Seafoam to try it out."

"Mana!" The two trainers looked at Manaphy who started to fire small streams of water into the air, catch them in his mouth and fire them into the air again.

"Is Manaphy juggling?"

"I think he is." May said, she patted the Legendary Pokémon on the head and smiled at him. "Are you saying you want to help me in the Contest?"

"Mana love you."

"That's sweet of you Manaphy but I can only compete with Pokémon I've caught. As much as I want you to be with me all the time I can't catch you, the sea Pokémon need you." Manaphy shook his head and hugged her.

"Mana s-st-sta-staa, Mana staa-ay, Mana stay Mama."

"What about the sea Pokémon?"

"Manaphy Mana Phy." May looked at Ash in confusion.

"Do you know what that means?"

I can translate for you Mistress May. Lucario said, Manaphy said that there is a new Prince.

"Mana Mana. Phy Manaphy Ma Phy Mama."

That is why he followed his heart to find his 'Mama'. Could someone explain to me why a Legendary Pokémon is referring to Mistress May as his mother? I am quite confused. Pikachu jumped onto Lucario's shoulder and gave the Aura Pokémon a quick recap about what happened when they went to the Temple of the Sea and another of the many times Ash nearly died. May, however, ignored that and looked down at Manaphy.

"You really want to stay with me?" She asked.

"Mana stay, Mana love Mama. Mana love May." Tears formed in May's eyes as she lifted Manaphy into a loving hug and rubbed her cheek to his.

"Mama loves you too Manaphy. Mama loves you." Ash and the Pokémon just stayed silent letting May and Manaphy enjoy the tender moment for as long as they wanted. After a couple of minutes an announcement was made telling the passengers that the ship was docking and to make their way to the disembarkation points. May held Manaphy and Litwick in her arms as Ash and the Pokémon stopped anyone getting too close to the Seafaring Pokémon, they quickly made their way to the Pokémon Centre and booked a room for their stay while handing their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy for a check-up and for Wartortle to have her shell looked at. Due to Manaphy crying when Nurse Joy tried to take him into the treatment room May had to go through with him, leaving Ash to sit in the waiting room.

He walked over to one of the Vid-Phones and dialled the number of Professor Oak's lab, telling him what happened during the trip to Seafoam and asking for an Everstone if he had one spare. Hearing that Wartortle had come close to completing her evolution into a Blastoise only to have it reversed peaked the Professor's interest along with the fact that one of the Sharpedo seemed to understand that the Everstone could stop Wartortle's evolution.

"Given the injuries to Wartortle's shell she will need time to rest, do you think May would send her to the Lab and allow me to run a few tests to see if she has been affected in anyway by the reversed evolution?" Oak asked, Ash shrugged.

"I don't see why not, we'll have to see what Nurse Joy says when she's finished her examination though. May wants to use Wartortle for the Contest, she's spent a lot of time perfecting her Appeal and if Wartortle can't perform then May need to think up a new Appeal fast, the Contest is only a few days away."

"I'm sure you and May will be able to come up with something, I can see the gears in your head ticking away already. I'll have a look around and see if I have an Everstone laying around for Wartortle. Give May my best."

"I'll be calling back soon Professor, I want to swap my team a little. After what happened on the ship I think they deserve the rest. How's Gardevoir doing?"

"She's a lot better now, her treatment is nearly finished and she is in higher spirits. Once Brock has given her the last of her medicine she needs to visit Nurse Joy in Viridian City for a check up to see how the treatment has worked. After that Gardevoir might be able to start battling again or she might need to have more treatment, we'll just have to wait and see." Professor Oak paused to take a sip of coffee. "Lucy had to go back to the Battle Pike as her holiday time ended, Adam and Cynthia are still here and helping out where they can. Cynthia has travelled to the Pokémopolis ruins a few times but nothing as exciting as the time you went has happened. Adam has helped out a lot around the lab, he has a certain way with Pokémon even the more antisocial Pokémon seem to like him, it's almost the same way that you have with Pokémon."

"I know, I think it might be something to do with all the time Adam spends in the wild." Ash and Professor Oak spoke for a few more minutes before ending the call, leaving the young Aura Guardian to sit and wait for May to come back with their Pokémon.

An hour passed and finally May walked out with Nurse Joy, she smiled when she saw Ash but it didn't reach her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked as he got up to meet her.

"Wartortle's shell was badly cracked, she'll be alright but she can't battle or train for a while. She's out of the Contest, I think I might try a different Contest I'm not really in the mood to compete right now." Ash put a hand on May's arm.

"May, there's only a few contests left before the season finishes and there won't be enough time to try and find two Contest for you to compete in." Ash pulled May into a hug and kissed her forehead. "I'll help you as much as you need me too, besides I haven't shown you my idea yet have I?" He grinned and separated from May, picking up his Pokéballs and walking over to the transfer machine. "Come on, we've got work to do."

May watched him walk away and a small smile grew on her lips, she took her Pokéballs and was about to follow him when she heard Nurse Joy speak.

"Hold on to him, he's a keeper." The pink haired nurse said before she turned and walked back to the main desk.

"That's what I'm going to do." May whispered to herself, Manaphy squirmed in her arms to get her attention and pointed in Ash's direction when she looked down at the Seafaring Pokémon. She nodded and followed Ash's path to the transfer machine reaching it just as he finished attaching the last Pokéball to his belt. May swapped a few of her Pokémon around including Wartortle so she could rest comfortably at the Lab while she healed. May sent Wartortle back to the Lab for rest along with Lilligant, Omanyte and Kabuto bringing Delcatty, Spoink, Nidorina and keeping her newly captured Vaporeon. Ash swapped out Meganium, Feraligatr, Talonflame, Combusken and Marshtomp, getting Venusaur, Torkoal, Seismitoad, Unfezant, Crawdaunt and Kingler in exchange.

Once they were finished Ash and May went in search of a secluded area so no-one would oversee May's training. After about an hour of searching, with aerial support from Unfezant they found a cove to use.

"So what's your idea Ash?" May asked, the raven haired trainer just grinned as he opened a Pokéball.

"Set the stage." He said.

Day of the Contest

It had been four days of hectic hard work but by working together Ash and May had managed to get another Appeal refined enough for the Contest. On the second day they ran into Sian and Donna, they had come for the Contest too but it was only Sian competing Donna had already won her five Ribbons while Sian only needed one more. When Sian and Donna had seen Manaphy they instantly fell in love with the Seafaring Pokémon but it took a while before Manaphy felt comfortable enough to leave May's arms in their presence. A couple of times Donna tried to pick Manaphy up causing the small Pokémon to start crying, followed by May cradling him like a baby and singing softly to calm him down.

The morning of the Contest found the group of four and their Pokémon making their way to the designated area of the beach being used for the Contest. A few set of stands had been set up on the beach with a small hut acting as the Co-ordinator's waiting room and changing rooms. The Judges boxes were stationed underneath a large T.V screen and planks had been laid out to mark the boundary lines of the battlefield. Sian gave Donna a hug before going to get ready while May pecked Ash's lips and handed Manaphy to him.

"You be good now, okay?" May said bending over to be at eye level with Manaphy.

"Mana stay Papa." The Seafaring Pokémon smiled as he looked up at Ash's shocked face.

"Papa?" Ash said looking down at Manaphy shocked before turning his gaze to May who just gave in a flirty wink as she stuck her tongue out at him. Not saying anything else May turned and followed Sian to get prepared for the Contest.

"Let's go and get some good seats." Donna stated, snapping Ash out of his shock. "Come on, we haven't got all day, Papa." Donna grinned devilishly as a blush crept across Ash's cheeks. They made their way to the stands with the Pokémon following them as Manaphy happily chanted Papa in Ash's arms.

In the Co-ordinators hut

"So how long did it take you to teach Manaphy to call Ash Papa?" Sian asked from her changing booth.

"A couple of days, I'm just glad Ash didn't notice. The look on his face just now was priceless." May replied from her booth. "I should've taken a picture, Ash's mom will want to see it." A hand appeared over the top of May's booth holding a camera, taking the camera May saw that the last picture taken was Ash holding Manaphy, a look of stunned surprise on his face.

"You're welcome." Sian said. "I thought you might've wanted to capture the moment so I came prepared, I'll send you the picture later." May passed the camera back. "It was cute and I can see why you did it, with you being Mama it makes sense for Ash to be Papa. Are you going to get your children to call you that?"

"…"

"You're blushing aren't you?"

"…No."

"You're a bad liar May."

"…Shut up Sian."

In the Stands

Ash and Donna had found a pair of seat in the front row of the stands and sat waiting for the Contest to begin. While they waited they spoke about what they had been doing since the last time they'd met, Donna told Ash about the Contests she and Sian had taken part in while Ash recounted his Gym Battles and May's Contests.

"So am I going to hear the story about how a Legendary Pokémon started calling May 'Mama' or what?" Donna asked. Manaphy was sat happily in Ash's lap entertaining himself by waving his antennae around while Pikachu and Glaceon batted at them.

"It's a really long story and you wouldn't believe it if I told you. Just call it 'right place, right time' and leave it at that." Ash replied.

"No, I want to know the full story." Ash looked at Lucario for help but the Aura Pokémon just shrugged and sat down on the sand in seiza.

"We'll have to see if we have time after the Contest, cause it's starting right now." Donna turned her attention away from Ash and saw Julia walk to the centre of the battlefield.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Seafoam Contest. My name is Julia and I'll be your announcer for today, please welcome our judges. Mr Contesta, Mr. Sukizo and former Elite Four member Lorelei Prima." The judges walked to their seats, waving to the audience as they went, Mr. Contesta and Mr. Sukizo were wearing suits as usual while Lorelei wore her trademark outfit, a short black skirt with black belt and golden buckle, small blue blazer and low cut red vest top. Her frameless glasses reflected the sunlight and even though she was walking across the beach she wore a pair of shining black stilettos, somehow keeping perfect posture and balance not wavering an inch as she all but strutted to her seat. Mr Contesta held her chair out for her and pushed it in as she sat, Lorelei politely thanked him and turned to the audience waiting patiently for the Contest to begin. "Our Judges are here and raring to get started so let's begin, welcome to the stage our first Co-Ordinator."

I know it's only short but I wanted to get something out sooner rather than later. I'm going to put a poll up letting you decide whether May captures Manaphy of just carries him around like May did with Togepi, so let me know what you think.

Ash's Team

Pikachu

Lucario

Venusaur

Torkoal

Seismitoad

Unfezant

Crawdaunt

Kingler

May's Team

Blaziken

Glaceon

Litwick

Vulpix

Delcatty

Spoink

Nidorina

Vaporeon

Manaphy