First of all, sorry for the delay on the chapter a combination of writer's block and life in general have been keeping me from writing.
Secondly I know the last chapter ended a bit abruptly and only just realised why, when I posted it I'd missed off the last couple of paragraphs. I know rookie mistake to make but nothing I can do about that.
Here's the missing part of Chapter 43 and all of Chapter 44. Enjoy.
"Easy girl, easy there." Ash said gently as he slowly approached Cranidos as she bucked, trying to knock Pikachu from her back. "Pikachu, I've got this. You can get off her now." Pikachu nodded and leapt off of Cranidos, landing by May and Amaura, Ash quickly moved into the eye line of the Head Butt Pokémon. "Come on girl, calm down everything's okay, we just want to be friends."
Cranidos pawed at the ground and bellowed as she charged, Ash stayed in exactly the same spot until the last second when he dropped to one knee and wrapped the rock type in a hug as he was forced back a couple of paces. Ash grunted as Cranidos' head landed a glancing blow to his shoulder but kept his arms around her.
"I know you're scared, everything's new and strange but I want to help you, we all do, so please calm down." Ash whispered to the Head Butt Pokémon, using his Aura to get his message across. While at first Cranidos had been thrashing about to try and escape Ash's arms she had calmed down considerably. "There, isn't that better?" Ash asked as he smiled, letting Cranidos out of the hug and holding his hand out to her. Cranidos stared at his hand for a second before gently butting her head against it. "Welcome to the team." Ash stood up as May and Amaura came over with Lucario, Pikachu, Glaceon and Manaphy.
Master, your shoulder is dislocated.
"I noticed, can you help fix it?"
Of course Master. Lucario put his paws either side of Ash's shoulder and with a swift jerk popped it back into place. It is done, though I think you should ask Nurse Joy to check your shoulder.
"He will." May said, putting a hand on Ash's back and gently pushing him towards the Pokémon Centre doors.
"I.." Ash started before hissing as May poked his shoulder.
"No arguing, you're getting checked out and that's that." With that said, May marched Ash into the Pokémon Centre leaving their Pokémon to get acquainted.
(Pokémon Language Translator activated)
Cranidos looked at Amaura.
"They're some strange Pokémon aren't they." She said, Amaura nodded in agreement. Pikachu and Glaceon walked in front of the two recently revived Pokémon.
"There's a lot of stuff you two need to know." Glaceon said. "Ready for a history lesson?"
(Pokémon Language Translator deactivated)
After a clean bill of health from Nurse Joy and a couple of days relaxation, Ash and May boarded a ferry to Pallet Town which coincidentally was also the location of May's next Contest. This would be the last Ribbon she needed to enter the Grand Festival, a chance for the couple to see all of the Pokémon and Ash could get some training in for his final Gym battle in Viridian City. He'd already done some research into the Gym and found it was still ground type Gym so he was planning his team accordingly.
Once the ferry had docked Ash and May walked over a hill and stood there looking over Pallet Town as the sun shone brightly overhead.
"It's good to be home." Ash said with a smile before taking May's hand and making his way to his house.
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Feraligatr, Charizard, Gliscor, Floatzel, Greninja, Donphan, Cranidos
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Litwick, Vulpix, Spoink, Vesta, Vaporeon, Manaphy, Amaura
Chapter 44
Home again
Ash and May walked down the small hill from the port towards Pallet Town holding hands, Pikachu sat on Lucario's shoulder as Glaceon followed at May's side and Manaphy sat in the crook of May's arm watching his surroundings.
As they entered Pallet Town people started to wave and greet Ash, given his success in the various Pokémon Leagues and tournaments he'd participated in he'd become a bit of a local celebrity. His 'celebrity' status was something his Mom fully supported, given that she was the President of his Fan Club much to his embarrassment. Ash returned each greeting with his own and occasionally stopped to have a short conversation with people, asking about their family and businesses. When they asked about May some people seemed genuinely surprised to hear that Ash had gotten a girlfriend, again to his embarrassment, though they were happy for him and wished May luck.
Getting closer to his home Ash and May could see Mimey wearing an apron as he brushed the path, looking up the Barrier Pokémon smiled and waved to them.
"Mime Mime Mr Mime!" Mimey shouted as he tapped a window with his broom handle. Delia opened the front door to see what the commotion was about and squealed as she laid eyes on the couple. She ran up to them and grinned as she stood in front of them, hugging them both. Gardevoir followed her out of the house and closed the door gently before walking towards the couple.
"Aaw, you look like a family." She teased as she pulled back from the hug knowing that Ash and May would turn red.
"Family, family." Manaphy chanted happily. "Mama, Papa, Manaphy family!"
"Gardevoir, how are you feeling?" Ash asked as the Embrace Pokémon as she stood beside Delia, before his mother could jump on the fact Manaphy had called him 'Papa' while also wanting to know how her health was.
"I am well, since taking my medicine I haven't had any headaches though I've had to retrain myself in the control of my abilities." Gardevoir replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Since you and Lucario removed the Aura build-up from around my scar it has allowed me to access my psychic abilities fully and with more ease." Gardevoir smiled at Lucario before continuing. "However the increase in my power meant I have needed to relearn how to control it with the same precision as before. I am close to regaining my former level of skill, it shouldn't take long for me to reach it."
"That's good to hear. Is there anything we can do to help?" Gardevoir shook her head.
"This is something I have to do on my own."
"Professor Oak has been coming by every few day to check on Gardevoir." Delia said. "He told me about the injury and that it damaged a small section of Gardevoir's brain. He reached out to some of his colleagues and from what I can understand about the explanation he gave me is that the damage should heal eventually, something about the healing characteristic of psionic based cerebral synaptic structures and empathic convergences of positive reinforcement between hemispheres."
"Huh?" Ash replied.
"You'd be better asking Professor Oak to explain it, he has a better understanding then I do or maybe Brock, he still comes by every couple of weeks to see how things are going." Delia smiled. "Now let's get inside and have some tea, I want to hear all about the adventures you've been on."
They all walked into the house and while Ash put his backpack down and shrugged his jacket off May followed Delia to the kitchen, a minute later he heard his mother laughing. Curious he went to investigate, entering the kitchen he found Manaphy standing on the counter as May showed Delia something on her X-Transceiver.
"What's so funny?" He asked. Delia and May looked at him and were about to answer when Manaphy spoke up.
"Papa!" This sent both Delia and May into a round of hysterics, the pair of them folding over and holding their stomachs much to Ash's confusion. Walking over and sneaking a peek at May's X-Transceiver he saw a picture of him looking down at Manaphy in his arms with shock written into his features. He sighed and took Manaphy from May's arms and walked back to the living room, he sat in an armchair and set Manaphy on his knee. Gardevoir sat on the couch and smiled at Manaphy, waving to the Seafaring Pokémon.
"Mana?"
"Don't ask, women are weird." Ash replied as he kicked off his trainers, Pikachu jumped from Lucario's shoulder and curled up on a cushion while Lucario simply dropped to the floor in a meditative position. A few minutes later the sounds of laughter from the kitchen stopped and the giggling women came out to join him. Delia sat in a chair opposite Ash while May chose the couch, sitting on the end closest to Ash.
"So tell me, what actually happened when you were on Seafoam Island?" Delia asked causing an awkward silence to fill the room. "I'm waiting for an answer young man." She prompted when no-one answered.
"It was just a blizzard mom, freak weather that's all." Ash replied.
"I take it Lorelei didn't mention that I'd called then?" The memory of Lorelei telling him about the conversation with his mother came to the forefront of his recollection at that moment.
"…Oh yeah, er…It's classified?" He said nervously. The look Delia gave him told him that classification be damned she was going to make him talk, one way or another.
"Ash Ketchum, you will tell me what happened and not leave out a single detail. I wanted to call May's parents and let them know what had happened to their daughter but I had to keep it a secret because I was asked too. Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret like that is? Not being able to tell people you consider friends that their daughter is in hospital in critical condition." Ash tried to sink into his chair to avoid the glare his mother focussed on him. "Now. Speak."
"Something's going on with the Legendary Pokémon, they're lashing out and I'm one of the few people that can stop them."
"And I'm not going to stand back and let Ash take everything on himself." May interrupted. "I can't just watch him take the risks when I can do something to help. What happened was my idea and it falls entirely on my shoulders, Articuno caused the blizzard but we couldn't reach her to help so I flew Unfezant and jumped on to Articuno's back to force her closer to the ground, after that Ash and Manaphy dealt with what was affecting Articuno."
"Why didn't Ash do that?"
"His legs were stuck in a block of ice, he couldn't move. I saw a chance and took it, what happened is my fault and I accept the consequences of my actions." May met Delia's eyes and held their gaze unflinchingly. A minute passed before Delia sighed and let out a short chuckle.
"Ash has a habit of surrounding himself with girls that have nerves of steel. I'm glad to see he's found someone who isn't afraid to speak her mind and put him in his place when he needs it." The couple both flushed red, after letting them stew in embarrassment for a minute Delia changed the subject. "May, why don't you go and call your parents? They'll want to know how you're doing, especially after what happened. What did you tell them anyway?"
"I told them that the blizzard came in and I got separated from everyone after grabbing my things. I wandered around trying to find someone and collapsed because of the cold. I said Ash found me, took me to the hospital and didn't leave my side until I was released." May rose from her seat. "You're right Mrs. Ketchum, I should call home and let them know where I am. I'll be back in a minute." Pecking Ash's cheek lightly May left the room to call her parents.
"Marry that girl." Delia said.
"What?" Ash replied, unsure he's heard his mother correctly.
"If that girl doesn't have a ring on her finger by this time next year I'll tell every news outlet in the world that the famous Ash Ketchum wet the bed until he left on his journey."
"B-But that's not true, I never wet the bed. They'd never print a lie like that."
"Ash, how can you still be so naïve? The people reporting on the world don't care about the truth, they only care about what sells and causes drama so they have more to report on." Delia smirked at the look of shock on her son's face. "Besides something good might come from it, you might get an advertising contract with the people who make adult diapers."
"Mom, I'm still not sure how I feel about May. I mean, yeah I like her but I…"
"Stop right there young man." Delia held up a finger. "You know how you feel, you're just overthinking it and worrying yourself." Ash picked up on the unspoken 'for once' in his mother's tone. "From what I managed to trick Adam into telling me, you were close to realising in Celadon, so how is it you still haven't said it yet?"
"A lot of important stuff has happened since then and Leaf didn't help much, teasing us all the time."
"How is she anyway? It's been so long since she left on her journey and unlike you she doesn't come home between journeys."
"She's still the same, just louder and a bit of a perv. She's the lead Gym Assistant in the Celdaon City Gym, don't say anything to anyone but I think Erika might be training Leaf to take over the Gym one day." Ash smiled internally, thinking he'd managed to escape that awkward conversation.
"Well, it's nice to hear that she's doing okay. Now back to the topic at hand, May."
"Just…just give me some more time." Delia fixed Ash with a studious gaze before slowly nodding a few seconds later.
"Okay, you've got time but remember what I've said. You more then anyone should know, I don't bluff." She waited until Ash nodded in understanding. "Now that's been dealt with, how many Ribbons does May have?"
"Three, she entered the Contest at Seafoam but things happened and no-one won. She's entering the Contest here in a week, we're going to spend the time training and getting everything perfect."
"I'm sure she'll have everything the way she wants it, if she can travel with you then she can survive anything." Ash opened his mouth to argue but when how dangerous his travels have gotten at times flashed through his mind he had to concede the point.
A few minutes later May came back into the room and took her seat again, Manaphy jumped from his place on Ash's knee to May's lap and hugged her.
"Can I ask how a Legendary Pokémon became my first grandchild?" Delia asked with a grin. The next hour was filled with a retelling of how they saved the Sea Crown from Phantom and Ash became King of the Sea, along with Delia tearing strips off Ash for once again nearly getting himself killed. What followed that was even more embarrassment for Ash as his mother brought out his baby pictures, when Ash tried to stop her she told him it was tradition to show baby pictures to your son's first girlfriend.
After an hour of cringe-worthy stories from Ash's childhood, he was allowed to escape the torture and go to Professor Oak's Lab to see his Pokémon. As they neared the Lab May started pulling on Ash's arm to get him to walk faster so she could check on Wartortle, she'd been getting regular updates from Professor Oak but wanted to see Wartortle herself.
Smirking Ash waited for May to pull his arm again and lunged forward, picking her up and putting her over his shoulder. He made sure he had a good grip on her legs before sprinting towards the Lab laughing as May yelled at him while beating her fists against his back. Their Pokémon looked at each other and shook their heads before following the couple while Gardevoir carried a bewildered Manaphy in her arms.
Arriving at the top of the Lab's step Ash put May down and grinned at her.
"You can stop telling me to hurry up now."
"I'll get you back for that." May threatened although her pout made her look adorable instead of angry.
"Are you saying you didn't like me carrying you?"
"No, I'm not saying that…just give me some warning next time." May blushed and looked away. Ash just smiled and as their Pokémon reached them, knocked on the door. When the door opened they found Professor Oak's Dragonite on the other side, smiling at them the dragon type stepped back and allowed them to enter the building with Lucario closing the door behind them.
"Hey Dragonite, where's the Professor?" Ash asked, Dragonite hummed and pointed towards the research library. "Thanks." Dragonite nodded and shuffled his way through the Lab towards the ranch. Approaching the research library Ash was about to knock when he heard the Professor's angry voice through the door.
"I'm not asking for excuses, I want to know how the information that should be confidential managed to get into the hands of unscrupulous people like them! You assured me that nothing would be made known until it was ready to be made public and even then only the people who could be trusted would be told about it." The Professor sounded beyond furious. "My Lab is also my home, it holds well over a thousand Pokémon belonging to extremely powerful Pokémon Trainers. I can't have people breaking into my home and place of work because you're incapable of keeping secrets just that, A SECRET! Anyone coming here could've stolen Pokémon or been killed by them when they were just defending both my home and theirs." There was a few seconds of silence. "That won't change the fact that the information is out there now, just pass this message on to all of your employees. 'The Lab of Professor Samuel Oak is defended by an army of Pokémon who will attack first, second, third and if there's anything left after that then questions will be asked.' Make sure they pass that message onto everyone they know and that's not a bluff." There was a bang and then silence.
Ash exchanged a look with May before lightly knocking on the door and easing it open.
"Professor?" He asked hesitantly. Poking his head around the door Ash found Professor Oak slumped into an armchair with his head in one hand, it was the first time that Ash looked at the Professor and thought he actually looked old. "Is everything alright?" He felt May slap him lightly on the back of his head.
"Of course it's not alright." She said, stepping around him and into the room. "Is there anything we can do to help?" Professor Oak looked up and smiled tiredly at them.
"Thank you for the offer but there isn't anything anyone can do now. All we can do is hope my warning stops it happening again."
"Stop what from happening again?" Professor Oak sighed at the question and began to explain.
"Someone at the patent office leaked the information about Meowth's Transfer Capsule. There's been six attempts to break in to the Lab to either steal the blueprints or a prototype within the last week and a half, only two managed to get past the Pokémon and into the Lab but thanks to the security measure Meowth built into his workshop they were unable to get in and set off the alarm. Meowth's been locked inside his workshop since then cataloguing everything he's used to make sure nothing's missing and running security sweeps on all of the Lab's computers to make sure they haven't been hacked." Seeing the looks on both Ash and May's faces he smiled again. "I know you both want to do something but there really isn't anything we can do except hope."
"Can't we just say it doesn't work?" Ash asked.
"Of course we could but then…That may actually work, say the Transfer Capsule is a failure and file a fake blueprint. We could then file the real patent with the Pokémon League itself, that way only the people we could trust know about it." The elderly man rubbed his chin. "Yes, that may solve the problem." Seeing Oak's eyes start to glaze over as he drifted into thought Ash and May excused themselves and made their way out to the ranch.
Pikachu and Glaceon ran ahead of their Trainers and working together shot an Ice Bolt into the air, setting off a small fireworks display. Seconds later a dull rumble could be heard followed quickly by a tremor in the ground, Pikachu and Glaceon quickly sought safety at the feet of Lucario and Gardevoir as a dust cloud approached with alarming speed.
Ash scooped May up in his arms and started running away from the dust cloud but wasn't fast enough to stay ahead of it for too long, the couple were caught in the excited stampede of their Pokémon and were being carried away until Gardevoir intervened. The Embrace Pokémon lifted the couple out of the throng of happy Pokémon with Psychic and deposited them on their feet next to her.
"Thanks Gardevoir." Ash said once Gardevoir had released them, he stepped forward and whistled sharply drawing the attention of all the Pokémon. "We're happy to see all of you too but we've got some stuff to do, firstly.." Ash let his Pokémon out of their Pokéballs as May did the same. "While you're here we want you to guard the Lab this is Professor Oak's home as much as yours so if anyone tries to break in here, give'em hell. Secondly, I've got one Gym Battle left to win before I can enter the Pokémon League so we need to train hard for that but before then May's got her next Contest right here in Pallet so we're focussing on that first." Ash then stepped back to let May speak.
"The theme is colours, so we need to make this bright and vibrant. I've got a few ideas but if you think of something that work on it, team up and trade ideas if you want to just do your best and have fun doing it." There was a bit of shuffling from the assembled Pokémon before Wartortle popped out of the mass of bodies. "Wartortle!" May squealed as she dashed forward, catching the Turtle Pokémon as she leapt into her arms. "How are you doing? Is your shell healed?" Wartortle looked a bit depressed before nodding slowly. "That's great, but why aren't you happy?"
Wartortle wriggled out of May's arms and slowly turned round, while her shell had healed there were still cracks where Sharpedo's teeth had been and glittering remnants of her Everstone shone in the daylight.
"We all did what we could to help but this is the best we could do for Wartortle." A voice said behind them, turning round the couple found Tracey walking towards them. "Brock said the cracks may heal completely with time but there's no guarantee and as for the Everstone, we've got no way of getting the leftover pieces out. From what Nurse Joy and Professor Oak have said the Everstone pieces will still stop Wartortle from evolving but if she ever changes her mind and wants to evolve, she won't be able too without surgery to remove the parts of her shell where the stone's embedded."
"Well, that's okay." May said kneeling in front of Wartortle. "Those cracks will heal and the Everstone will make you look even prettier then you already are." She stroked one of Wartortle's ear as she smiled. "Do you want to be in this Contest or rest a little longer?"
"…Tortle." May's smile slipped but she recovered it quickly.
"That's okay, you've been through a lot. When you're ready to compete again, just let me know. Okay?" Wartortle nodded slowly without meeting May's eyes. May slowly stood and started to outline some of her ideas for the Contest, Ash and Tracey helped where they could and so did their Pokémon as they started to try out May's ideas.
The following day a pattern was set, Ash and May would wake up early to do their exercises before having breakfast with Delia, they would then go to the Lab and train for both May's Contest and Ash's upcoming Gym battle. Some of the other Pokémon at the Lab would join in to help or at times just to have some fun, Ash would spend some time getting to know his newer Pokémon and training them for the Pokémon League, he would try to get Aerodactyl to warm up to him but the Fossil Pokémon would just roar and snap at him whenever he got too close. Ash was slowly managing to get closer but it would be slow going to gain the Fossil Pokémon's trust and friendship, hopefully before the League but only time would tell. While they were at the Lab Professor Oak would ask to take a few scans and measurements of Manaphy, while he was a little reluctant at first the Seafaring Pokémon soon came to love the attention as well as the treats Professor Oak gave him for doing well.
The morning of their third day in Pallet Ash and May were coming back from their morning run and found a Pelipper with a satchel across it's body landing in the garden with a parcel held in it's beak. Placing the parcel on the porch in front of the door Pelipper pecked the doorbell and with a flap of its wings took off into the air. Jogging up to the door Ash bent over to pick up the parcel as the door opened.
"It's about time you learnt to worship me." A voice said, Ash took hold of the parcel and straighten up to find himself eye to eye with Gary.
"What are you doing here?" Ash asked, tucking the parcel under his arm.
"I'm back to help Grandpa with some stuff, he said you were back in town so I thought I'd drop by and see how your training was going." Gary rubbed a finger under his nose. "Thought you might want tips from a pro."
"What was the furthest you got in your last League again?" May asked teasingly, Gary coughed into his fist and tried to laugh it off.
"Ashy boy just got lucky, anyway how's your training for the Contest?"
"It's going okay, I'd like Wartortle to take part in it but she's still trying to deal with what happened."
"Huh? What are you talking about? What happened?" May quickly recapped the attack on their ship during the trip to Seafoam Islands.
"Hmm, so she's depressed about her shell and probably ashamed that she wasn't strong enough to protect you from those Sharpedo." Gary rubbed his chin. "You might need to talk to someone who knows more about water Pokémon or psychological issues, they might know a way of helping Wartortle out of her funk."
"Misty would be happy to help and maybe Sabrina could help too, might need to make a trip to Saffron City but that's not much of a problem." Ash said. "I'll give them a call once we've showered."
"We?" Gary asked in an innuendo laced tone, making both Ash and May turn slightly red. "This mean Ashy boy's finally growing up?"
"Yes, I have a girlfriend now. Something you've never had, so if you'll excuse me I need a shower." Ash retorted as he moved past Gary, leaving the younger Oak with a look of shock on his face. May followed Ash into the house and left Gary staring into the distance as he mind tried to compute what had just happened. After greeting the couple Delia saw Gary standing in the doorway, approaching his and waving hand in front of his face, she didn't get a reaction.
"When you come back to earth, close the door." She said, patting his cheek lightly and putting a Burn Heal into his hand before going back to the kitchen to finish cooking breakfast.
Sitting at the table Ash looked at the parcel he'd picked up in confusion.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Delia asked as she put a plate stacked high with food in front of him.
"It's from Riley." He replied, "He usually hand-delivers things, wonder why he posted this." Ash opened the brown paper wrapping and caught a letter as it fell out. Unfolding the piece of paper Ash started to read aloud. "Found this thanks to our friend in the Tree, think you'll make better use of it then me. Still researching your problem, nothing solid yet though. Riley. P.S. Tula's still planning revenge for your jab at her height when you next come to Rota. I advise greeting her with fruit mints, good luck."
"Why are you making fun of someone's height Ash?"
"She's weirdly tall and calls me Squirt."
"That's no excuse, you'll apologise next time you see her."
"But mom…"
"No buts, you will apologise to her. Also, once the Contest has ended you'll be telling me everything you've kept from me about Rota and how you're an Aura Guardian."
"Yes mom." Ash sighed, knowing he wouldn't dissuade her. He looked down at the parcel before slowly opening it, inside was a small black lacquered box with Rota's crest etched into the lid in the same blue colour as his Aura. Carefully lifting the box out of the parcel Ash eased the lid off to reveal a small round stone sitting on a black velvet cushion. The stone was orange with a blue and red swirl inside it, Ash gently lifted the stone up and held it up to the light.
"Ash, is that…?" May started.
"Yeah, it's a Mega Stone. Lucarionite, I just need to get a Keystone now." Ash replied, smiling as the Mega Stone shone brightly.
"Couldn't you borrow mine?"
"Keystones can't be transferred, they kind of bond to the first person who touches them." Ash shook his head. "I'll find one eventually, don't worry." He placed the Mega Stone back into it's case and closed it. "This just reminded me of something, it might help you in your Contests. I wasn't going to use them until I got to the League but you might be able to use them now." Ash quickly ran upstairs before May had a chance to ask what he was talking about. A couple of minutes later Ash came back holding a box and placed it in front of May. As she opened the box Ash started to explain.
"While I was training I went through a challenge and with each one I passed I was given something that let's Pokémon use really powerful attacks. They're called Z-Crystals." Ash gave May a quick explanation about how they were used and promised to show her when they got to the Lab to start training. Gary eventually got over his shock and walked into the kitchen, unable to completely wipe the look of shock from his face as they all ate breakfast. While they ate Ash and May told Gary about some of the things that had happened since they'd last seen him, laughing at Gary's irritation that they'd won a night in Kanto's most exclusive nightclub when he'd been trying for a couple of years to get in. Gary in return told them about some of his research and how Misty had helped him with understanding water type Pokémon better.
Once they'd finished their breakfast and gotten ready for the day Ash and May walked hand in hand to the Lab with Gary following them. Just like the last time Professor Oak's Dragonite let them in and after telling Oak that they were there, leaving Gary with his Grandfather, went out into the ranch to find their Pokémon already deep into their training.
All of May's Pokémon were putting on colourful displays of varying sizes and degrees while Ash's were using mock battles to work on their weak points. Having called Misty and Sabrina for help with Wartortle, Misty was able to give them some suggestions that could help while Sabrina teleported herself to Pallet Town to draw her own conclusions on what Wartortle was going through. When asked about her Gym Sabrina simply said that during the last few weeks before the month break between when the Gyms closes and the League started it was rare that anyone attempted to challenge her Gym. Plus if anyone did turn up at the Gym one of her Gym Assistants could call her and she'd Teleport back for the battle before returning to Pallet Town.
Sabrina came to the conclusion that Wartortle was dealing with a couple of things, one being her inability to properly protect May and the other was her appearance, much like they'd already deduced. Wartortle had always taken pride in the way she looked and the crack in her shell had damaged her self-image, given time she would adjust but how much time was anyone's guess as no two people or Pokémon take the exact same time to deal with their problems.
The little time that Ash and May had outside of working towards their next challenge was spent together, going on the occasional picnic and evening strolls. During one of their walks they ran into Sian and Donna, Sian was still hoping to get her final Ribbon while Donna was there to support her and check out the possible competition. They'd all trained together a couple of times, only the basics and nothing to do with their Contest tactics though. It wasn't due to them thinking the other would steal their ideas but more to do with wanting to be on a level playing field and be surprised by what happened in the moment.
Ash also received an angry call from Lorelei for not contacting her after May's appointment on Cinnabar, once the former Elite had vented her frustrations upon Ash and calmed down with May's help they told her what had happened and that May was back to perfect health. Lorelei had them tell her all of the details and once she was satisfied bid them luck before ending the call.
With every day filled with Pokémon training and small dates time flew by for both Ash and May, before they knew it the day of the Contest had arrived and May had a problem. The Appeal she'd trained to perfection was Flaffy using differing amounts of electricity to make the ball on her tail light up in different colours along with a variety of other moves. The problem was Flaffy had fallen ill during the night and couldn't perform, all of her other Appeals were only half formed and couldn't be perfected in the short time available.
"I'm going to pull out of the Contest." May said as she knelt next to Flaffy, stroking the Wool Pokémon's head gently as she lay on a bed in the Professor's Lab.
"You still need two Ribbons and there's not long left before the season closes for the Grand Festival. If you don't compete then you mightn't…" Ash started before May interrupted him.
"I know that Ash!" She snapped. "But I haven't worked on any other Appeal as much and I don't want to leave Flaffy alone while she's sick."
"Tortle." The assembled people and Pokémon turned to Wartortle. "Wartortle War."
"She wants to take Flaffy's place in the Contest." Meowth said as he walked past the room while writing on a clipboard, not stopping any longer then to provide the translation as he returned to his workshop.
"I will stay and look after Flaffy." Gardevoir volunteered. "You really should take part in the Contest Mistress May, Flaffy would want you too."
May looked between the two Pokémon and smiled.
"Okay, I'll do it." She looked at the clock on the wall. "There's no time to see what you've got planned Wartortle, but I trust you so I know you'll do you're best and look beautiful while you do it." She stood up and nodded. "Let's go." Returning Wartortle she picked up her bag, grabbed Ash's hand and ran out of the room, hoping to reach the Contest Hall before the sign in closed.
Lucario volunteered to stay with Gardevoir and help Flaffy with Heal Pulse while May and Ash ran to the Contest Hall, entering her name with only a minute to spare. May pecked Ash's cheek, scratched Pikachu's chin and stroked Glaceon's head before dashing off to the changing room to get ready. Ash and Pikachu walked to the stands with Glaceon at their heels. Looking around for an empty seat Ash caught sight of Donna waving him over, having saved a couple of seats. As Ash started to make his way over Sabrina appeared at his shoulder.
"An unexpected challenger kept me longer then I thought she would, I trust I'm not late for the Contest." She said, returning her Alazakam.
"No, right on time. Come on, a friend's save us some seats." Ash replied before leading the Psychic to the seats as the lights started to dim.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Julia and I welcome you to the Pallet Town Contest where the winning Co-Ordinator will be awarded the Pallet Ribbon." Julia held up her hand and the scoreboard showed an image of the Ribbon, the centre was shaped like an artist's palette with the ribbon behind it being thick stripes of red, blue, yellow, green and white. "I'd like all of you to give our judges a huge round of applause, say hello to Mr Sukizo, Mr Contesta and our special guest judge Kanto's flying type Elite, the Angel of the skies, Warren."
As the audience applauded Mr Sukizo and Mr Contesta walked to their seats as they usually did taking their seats quickly, Warren however didn't. He was a tall man with almost shining short blonde hair and perfect whiter than white teeth, he wore a light grey suit with a white shirt and pale blue tie with a matching pocket-square in his breast pocket, a pin was stuck to his lapel showing a pair of wings like those a pilot wears, his shoes were polished to perfection. There wasn't a single fault in his appearance, instead of going straight to his seat he walked up to Julia and took one of her hands in his, kissing the back of it and saying a few words to her. Julia blushed as she took her hand back and nodded, flashing her a perfect smile Warren turned his attention to the audience and waved as he took his seat with the other judges.
"Before the Co-Ordinators come to the stage Warren has asked me to deliver a message for him. If Ash Ketchum is here, would it be possible for you to meet with Warren once the Contest has ended. He feels left out that he's the only member of the Kanto Elite Four that hasn't met you." A ripple of laughter ran through the audience as Warren made a show of appearing upset and wiping away imaginary tears. "Now, let's meet the Co-Ordinators that have this Ribbon in their sights."
May walked onto the stage first wearing a blue strapless summer dress, a white shawl was draped over her shoulder and a white bow was in her hair. A few Co-Ordinators later Sian came out dressed in a pair of green khaki shorts and a beige vest top, her long red hair tied back in a loose ponytail. The last Co-Ordinator to appear was Drew, he wore a bright white suit with a black shirt and silver tie and cufflinks, a black pocket-square could be seen in his breast pocket and his ever present rose in his lapel.
"Everyone here is hoping to claim the Palette Ribbon but who will? There's only one way to find out, let the Contest begin." Julia waved her arm towards the scoreboard as the pictures of all the Co-Ordinators appeared, the pictures then turned over and started to shuffle around. "Our first Appeal will be performed by…"
"If I may interrupt for a moment." Mr Contesta said, standing from his seat. "There is something I must do before the Contest officially begins. A few weeks ago the Contest on Seafoam Islands had to be abandoned due to unexpected weather conditions thanks to the untimely appearance of Articuno." While he spoke Mr Contesta left his place from behind the Judges bench and walked on to the stage. "After some discussion with my fellow Judges at the time and the Contest officials we have come to a decision, due to her actions in protecting not just the Co-Ordinators taking part in the Contest but also the audience. I would like to award Miss Maple with the Seafoam Ribbon for her brave actions which in turn put her in a critical condition." Mr Contesta stopped in front of May and held out the ribbon, it had a golden centre shaped like a wave with sea blue ribbon tied behind it. "Congratulations and I'm glad to see you've recovered from your ordeal, for such a promising Co-Ordinator to have to end her career like that would be a disaster." He took one of May's hands and placed the ribbon in it before stepping back and clapping, his applause was joined by Warren and Mr Sukizo along with Julia, the other competing Co-Ordinators and the entire audience. May tried to hand the ribbon back, reasoning that she hadn't won it but Mr Contesta stood by his decision. Smiling, May thanked him and clipped the ribbon to her dress, she beamed as she felt some pressure lift from her shoulders now she only needed to earn one Ribbon before the Grand Festival.
As Mr Contesta returned to his place on the Judges bench Julia calmed the audience down.
"Now, how about we get this Contest underway? Our first Appeal will be performed by Lisa, can the other Co-Ordinators please leave the stage and return to the waiting room." Julia said, the chosen Co-Ordinator stepped forward as everyone else filed off the stage, while up in the stands Ash was still grinning at May earning the Seafoam Ribbon. Eventually Pikachu slapped Ash across the face with his tail as the grin was starting to look weird.
The Appeals went by with their usual impressive displays until it came to May's turn. She walked onto the stage, stopping in the middle and threw her Pokéball into the air.
"Wartortle, take the stage!"
That's the end, again I'm sorry about the long wait hopefully the next one won't be as long.
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer