Here's Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen!
Well, first of all, I think May didn't come to tell Dawn, I believe she said that she had to tell Drew that she was responsible.
I caught that error and it's been changed. Thank you.
They May and Drew reunion was much more intense that what I had expected!
And, to say the least, much better than I had anticipated ^^ Great job !
I'm glad you liked the confrontation. It's one of the more popular scenes on fan fiction dot net and for me, it came out better than I would have imagined.
But even though May is feeling true love, I sense a bit of blindness and enclosure in her...she seems to categoricaly refuse everything that is thrown her way and wants everyone to accept her vision of things...
like when she says that they're over, what does that have to do with him loving her ? He can love her, not her problem...
That would be a big character flaw on the part of May as far as thinking that she's right and everyone else should think the way she does. As far as Drew, well May's trying to tell him that even though he may still have feelings for her, it's pointless to follow through with them, because she can't love him back.
You really portrayed Dawn as an insecure, scared
shitless child...you're compelled to feel compassion for the girl
She has perhaps the greatest dynamic in this entire story. Look for a shocker in upcoming chapters and see how she can rise up from her current angst.
Things will become too much for the girl and she'll just say enough.
And yeah...I just thought of one thing...Norman and Caroline's only two children both turned out being homosexual...man, they really are very understanding...and that's an euphemism xD
The next chapter goes deeper into this.
Kelly is quite the strategist, but nevertheless, we'll see how she piles the pressure on them xD
Even though her work deals in nutrition, she will try and use psychology to get her former student to confess. Whether it will work or not is still up in the air.
And now, enjoy chapters fifteen and sixteen and please stay tuned because we have two very good battles coming up in the not too distant future!
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NOTE: The flashback in this chapter starts with the end of the one shot ‘Giving of Yourself’ and expands upon that.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4127100/15/All_Roads_Lead_to_the_Grand_Festival
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 15- Who Needs Grandchildren?)
As the tandem of Kelly and May leave, their parents are left behind as well, to dwell and recollect.
Norman turns to the father of his daughter’s girlfriend and wants to know, “They sure do make a great team, don’t they?”
“Indeed,” Erik answers. “You made a great call making Kelly May’s trainer. I wasn’t too sure of it because well…Kelly’s not much of a battler and, no offense meant to her, she never will be. You can tell with her…coordinating is a hobby. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“But she doesn’t need to be a great battler or coordinator, Erik,” Norman reminds his fatherly counterpart. “That’s the great thing. As an Academy professor, she motivates people in Rustboro City everyday, and I wanted someone to motivate my girl to give it her all. Believe me, if I wanted someone who was skilled at coordinating, I would have this person with May right now, but Kelly brings in more than just skills as a trainer. She’s counted on to be a leader, so there was no problem with that, but even that’s not what was most important. The thing that stood out for me the most and caused me to recruit Kelly for the job was an important factor of…trust.”
FLASHBACK
Opening the door to the house, the first thing that Kelly and May notice is the dozen red roses sitting in a glass vase in the middle of the kitchen table. A card is leaning against the vase with the name ‘Caroline’ monogrammed on the outside. The sign of long lasting love that her parents show make May confident that she can share even a portion of that same type of commitment with Kelly. Looking off to the other room, May sees her father sitting on the couch with a glass of some drink on the coffee table. It appears that he has been expecting his daughter for some time.
“Come on, May. Kelly,” Norman insists. “Have a seat. Your mother said that you had something to tell me.”
As both May and Kelly sit down together, they hold each other’s near hand and look to each other, affirming what they are about to announce. Seeing as Norman is her father, she begins by elaborating what she needs to let out. “You see, dad, earlier today, I had all of those valentines, and you told me that once I chose someone, I’d break a lot of guys’ hearts.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Norman confirms.
“Well,” May continues, choking a bit on that last word as she holds back a chuckle, “I think after I tell you this, it’ll be clear that I’m breaking every guys’ heart. That’s why Kelly is here, because…she’s my Valentine, and her gift to me is herself, and mine is myself. What I’m trying to say is…”
“No,” Norman interjects thoughtfully, “I think I know. I think I get it.”
May has to hold back her laughter as she once again thinks to herself, ‘Daddy, you still have no idea. You’ll never get it, but that’s okay, because a lot of times, I don’t get it. At least that’s one thing that we have in common.’
Regaining her composure, May is determined to make her statement to her father, barring all consequences that could result. “Dad,” she begins again, looking into the eyes of her favorite guy now and forever, “Kelly and I, we are…a couple. We have been a couple for almost two years. I’m…I’m a lesbian. Now, I know you might think that this came as a result of Drew, but I want you to know that Drew had nothing to do with this. I’ve just always felt this way.” Looking in the direction of her belle she continues, “I can’t explain it, she’s just amazing, and I also want you to know that I never intended to keep this from you and mom forever. I just needed some time.”
Unlike many times when teens her age, older and younger come out, May is all but certain that her father will not react negatively to this news. After all, he found out that his only son is gay, and Norman remains an incredible influence in Max’s life, and helps his son’s boyfriend Harley out whenever he can with coordinating. Even with all of this, May has to hear from her father that this is okay. With that, the girl would be on cloud nine.
His face isn’t showing any emotion at the moment. He’s opening his mouth. “You two are in love,” he tells May and Kelly. The top coordinator breathes out deeply and wipes the sweat off of her brow, relieved that her father is fine with her girlfriend. “No, honestly, I can tell that you two are in love, because you can’t explain it, but you don’t need to, because I’ve seen it.”
“Your mom had talked to me about it one night when you had a sleepover. She said that she could tell the way you looked at each other during breakfast and…even though she said not to tell you about this, it’s pointless to keep this secret now. One day, she did catch you two kissing.”
Kelly and May both gasp upon learning that both Norman and Caroline knew about them for a long time. Each one knows that since having sleepovers as a couple, even though the two have not had sex, they have always made it a priority to show their affection for one another.
May has to hold back her laughter once again. It seems that no matter how hard she and her girlfriend try, they just can’t seem to keep their emotions in check, especially when they’ve been away from each other for longer than a spell. “What can I say?” she asks her father rhetorically. She honestly doesn’t know what to say, though.
“So, I’ve known about this for a while now,” Norman reiterates. “Of course, I’m fine with it. I’ll love you and Max as long as there’s breath in my body, no matter what. Just be sure to take care of each other. Oh, and Kelly?”
“Yes sir?” Kelly responds marking her first time speaking in this exchange.
“You’re parents know about this, right?”
“Yes, sir. They do.”
Nodding a few times, Norman replies, “Okay. Again, all I’m concerned about is your happiness and your safety, May. The world won’t be as kind as your mom and I are, but with everything that happened with…him, you probably know that. But like I said, be there for each other. It’s like this old proverb that I heard once that can apply to any couple claiming to be in love; ‘Times will get tough, and the important thing to know is how to act when it happens. So fight when you have to, keep peace when you need to, but no matter what, always love.’ If this is all that you say it is, you should have no problem doing that. Okay?”
“That was beautiful, dad,” May compliments. Kelly agrees with her girlfriend and at the non-verbal request of Norman, the two walk up to him while he stands up, and all thereof them share a group hug in the living room.
Unbeknownst to the three, there is a set of eyes looking from the hallway leading to the bedrooms. It’s Caroline, who has just gotten up from her nap after she heard some conversation. Getting up, she found what she hoped to see; a pact and unity between friends, family and loved ones has been sealed this Valentine’s Night.
Love, in its many ways, shapes and forms, is in the air, and this mother couldn’t be much happier for her child and her love than right this moment.
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Some hours pass, and some souls are sleeping. As they sleep, these souls dream and hold fast to the people nearest to them in their dreams.
Other times, though, all we are left with are two pillows, just like Norman.
Thinking that he was holding onto his wife, he is left confused and wonders how in the world his wife’s skin could possibly feel like down feathers. Opening his eyes, he is given his answer; his wife is not even in there with him.
Shaking the sleep out of his eyes and the rest of his body, Norman gets out of the bed wearing his blue and black striped pajamas, opens the door to leave his bedroom and searches for his better half.
He doesn’t have to look around his house for long to find Caroline, who is standing by the open door of May’s bedroom, one would assume to watch her daughter while she’s sleeping.
A call of “I wondered where you were,” breaks Caroline from her present thoughts. She turns and is reintroduced to a familiar pair of lips.
It’s a quick return, as Caroline pulls away and prompts her husband to look at May’s bedroom. Listening to his wife, Norman looks at the bed, and cannot believe what he is watching. It’s May tucked under the covers, but right next to her in the bed is Kelly. Both girls are clothed in their own pajamas, and both have their arms around each other as they rest.
While Norman continues to just look at the scene before him with his bottom lip quivering and his medium-brown eyes glossing over with the initial indication of tears, Caroline says, “I heard your conversation with Kelly and May earlier. It takes a real man to love their children no matter what and not be ashamed to show it.”
Though Caroline expected that her gym leader would thank her for the compliment, she does not expect him to say, while pointing to the scene in the bedroom, “No one can ever tell me that that’s wrong.” Norman than wraps his arms around the loving frame of his wife, crying his eyes out, which is something that he hasn’t done since he was younger.
He declares while in this position, “My little girl is growing up, dear. I hate it, but I love it at the same time because…I know I did the best I could. She’s ready, and she has great friends and family to keep her and Kelly in check. People may ask me one day, ‘Norman, if you had the choice to have two gay children or no children at all, what would you choose?’ I’d choose my children each and every time. Who gives a damn, really? What does it matter?”
“Gay or not, I have the greatest children in the world, who in turn have the greatest partners that either could ask for. They’re saving themselves for when the time is right. I can trust Harley, and now I know I can trust Kelly. And that’s all that should matter.” And then, Norman says something that he never thought would come out of his mouth, “Who needs grandchildren anyway?”
With all the strength that she can possibly muster, Caroline actually lifts Norman a couple of inches up so that he’s now standing back on his feet and gives him a hug while she chuckles at that last comment from her husband. In response, she claims, “I’ve heard that they can be noisy.”
Through his tears, Norman is able to muster a chuckle from his system. His wife has always possessed a way with words, and though he’s crying, they are nothing but tears of joy, which he will gladly shed knowing that his daughter could not be happier on this fourteenth of February.
All signs and arrows point to love, which not only trumps all, but is the greatest gift of them all, as well.
END FLASHBACK
“Of course,” Julia chimes in. The reason why her daughter was chosen above anyone else is as clear as crystal. “It all makes sense now.”
“The next day,” Norman further elaborates, “we had breakfast together and what not. I got Kelly alone and told her that I know about her and May sleeping in the same bed together. She said, just like I thought she would, that she and May haven’t done anything. I told her I believed her and though I would have preferred you asked me first, I’m fine with it. I said to her ‘I have something more important that I want you to do for me and May,’ and I asked her to train May for the Grand Festival.”
“Initially, as you might expect, she didn’t really take to the idea and she used the same excuses that you mentioned. But as I explained to her, something is telling me that you’re the one for the job. I told Kelly that May trusts you and will listen to you. I’m a bit saddened to say that she’s getting to that age where she might not listen to everything I say, but like I told Kelly, you hold her heart. At this point, she still wasn’t convinced, but I finally got her to agree to it when I said I’d let her stay and train May over the next month.”
“And let’s give credit where credit is due, dear,” Caroline interrupts. Turning to Erik and Julia, she says, “Thank you both for allowing Kelly to stay with us and travel with May for this length of time. I know how you feel. I have trouble letting my kids go, but I know eventually, they all have to.”
“Here, here,” Julia agrees.
“With what we’ve just seen in just this past half hour,” Erik compliments, “I know that it was time well spent. You’re right, Norman. They do make a great team.” That much Erik says to his wife and the Maples, but he thinks, ‘and they’re gonna remain a great team when they get married.’
“I don’t know about you guys,” Caroline adds, “but I want to see some more! What do the kids say? I’m…I’m pumped up for this! This is off the hook! Tight! All that and a bag of chips! Did I get that right, Norman?”
While the Marins teasingly laugh at Caroline’s attempt to be ‘hip’, Norman answers his wife with a simple, “You’re asking the wrong guy, honey. I haven’t been hip since leisure suits went out of style.”
“Oh, Norman! I’ve got you beat!” Erik brags. “Caroline just really likes the Grand Festival so far and wants to see some more. That’s all she said.”
“Really?” Norman asks confused. Turning to his significant other, he inquires, “Honey, why didn’t you just say that? You had me here scratching my head wondering what language you were speaking.”
Once more, Norman’s small case of absent-mindedness comes to play, causing the proud parents, sans Norman, to laugh up yet another storm.
It’s ironic, seeing as there is not a cloud in the sky on this sensational Saturday morning.
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(Chapter 16- The Future is Now)
In the backstage area of the Slateport Stadium, upcoming coordinators go about their final activities before attempting to qualify for the second round. Over 300 coordinators throughout the pokemon world migrate to this city and form the epicenter of the Hoenn region. It is the dream of every coordinator, young and old, to get to this point.
Going beyond this point is what coordinators hope for night in and night out.
Backstage to do her appeal in just a few minutes is one of the most popular young veterans in all of the sport. Thirteen-year-old Sandra Van Hollen is standing nearby the tunnel which serves as the entrance to the main arena floor. She is that rare but effective combination of style and substance in her white blouse with a black faux leather jacket, a knee-length plaid skirt and dark blue croc style shoes. In her mind, she is all ready to go do her appeal, but in the mind of another person, that is just not the case.
“Let me just check your face one more time,” says a tall, thin and dapper mother named Savannah Van Hollen, who is Sandra’s mother.
“Mom! For the last time,” Sandra responds with whining, “I’m fine! If you check my face, then you’re gonna want to check my outfit and then check my shoes, and then my pokeballs to see if they’re in place, and after you’re done with all of that, you’re gonna want to go back to my face! How much more ready can I possibly be for this?”
“I understand, dear,” Savannah concedes, “but this will be the first time that you and I will be competing in a Grand Festival together. I would really like for us to go to the second round, and…I want you to be at your best like I’m gonna be. Your pokemon aren’t going to be the only ones who are judged in this appeal.”
Rolling her eyes, Sandra is implicitly trying to let her mother know how perturbed she is at the moment. “Mom, I know that. This will be my third Grand Festival. I should be an expert on this whole thing by now. What to do, where to go, how to conduct yourself, the whole nine yards. I’ve got it! When I was eleven, I did pretty darn well all by myself in the Kanto region. I got to the quarterfinals the next day. I was ranked amongst the top twenty-five of coordinators in all the regions in my very first year! If I’m not ready now, I never will be ready!”
“Sandra Van Hollen?” shouts one of the male producers of the Grand Festival, “You’re on in thirty seconds. Okay?”
“No problem,” said the coordinator, who was quite anxious to get this over with. Unfortunately, she felt that her mother was holding her back for some reason. “Mom, once more, I will be fine. Don’t worry about me here. Just concentrate on your appeal, because if you don’t make it through, our plan to go to the second round together is dead. I have to go now.”
Sandra leaves her mother with those final lasting words before she makes her way to the tunnel entrance and walks out in front of a near-capacity crowd. As the tens of thousands of people cheer for the second generation coordinator as she walks to the main stage to begin her appeal, there is only one person in the entire arena that will admit to being downtrodden.
‘She shows so much of that fire and determination that I had at her age,’ Savannah wonders. “I just wish that she could slow down some,” she speaks for however many people are in the backstage area. As Sandra makes her way onto center stage, she listens for the public address announcer to call her name before she happily receives the chants from the audience once again. Savannah is watching all of this from a television screen backstage. “My goodness, she’s growing up so fast. It’s like I’m living my childhood all over again. I know I have to tighten the reins at times but…she does make some great points. I just wish this wasn’t so hard to watch at times.”
It had been Savannah’s dream to be a top coordinator and Grand Festival champion for many years, but when she became pregnant at the age of nineteen with her only daughter, those dreams were deferred as all of her efforts and planning now had to be focused on her child along the way.
But plans have a way of changing at the blink of an eye.
Savannah and the man who she had Sandra with had planned on taking care of their baby together without any concerns. After all, they were in love and despite this coming sooner than they and their family would have wanted, they accepted the choice they had to live with. His name was Connor Jackson, a young officer of the law for Mauville City.
Things were going fairly well for the young couple when one night while working on a call of some stolen bicycles, one of the alleged criminals took out a gun and shot Connor several times in the chest and once in the head. Though he suffered no gunshot wounds to his chest, the one shot to his head proved to be an unlucky one as he tragically died from the blood loss.
The loss of her partner put her in a grave state of depression for several months. Here she is a teenager, pregnant and the father has recently passed away. Her future appeared to be very bleak but a conversation with her mother set Savannah straight. She claimed that while Connor is no longer here, a piece of him still is in his child on the way.
These words from her loving mother along with some counseling were able to turn her mood from negative to positive in time for the arrival of her child. Sandra Connor Van Hollen came into the world some months later giving her reason to live every day from that day forth to the fullest.
As Sandra grew, she got a hold of a tape lying around of her mother in her coordinating days. Savannah caught her watching it and instead of being angry, she sat down and explained the entire situation saying that it was her dream to be a great coordinator, but that that’s all in the past now.
Always being one to cheer up and reassure her mother when she needs it, Sandra suggested that she could still be a great coordinator if she wants to. She told her mom that just because she has a child, that doesn’t mean that she has to give up on her dreams. Initially, Savannah didn’t want to hear a bit of it, but when her parents whispered the same sentiments, she sought to continue her career while at the same time being the best mother she can for her daughter.
Through the many groups and organizations she is a part of, the bond between the two is strengthened and the memory of Connor Jackson remains alive in the two as they both wear memorabilia in his honor. While Sandra wears his badge as a necklace, Savannah keeps Connor’s nametag in her pocket. Through this tragedy nearly fourteen years ago, this family has been made much stronger in its bond. It’s enough to make a proud mother cry, which Savannah is near tempted to do while watching her daughter at work.
“Savannah,” a voice softly calls while tapping the young mother on her shoulder, “are you okay?” She doesn’t even need to turn around to know that the concerned person asking about her is Drew. Before she turns to meet the coordinator, she inconspicuously wipes a single tear from her face.
Quickly turning to her side, she indeed sees the coordinator from LaRousse and her mood is quickly changed to a positive one. She smiles as she knows the great reputation that Drew has crafted over the years and the influence he has been for her at times. It is no surprise that he has always been a popular figure with many of the ladies and female fans of pokemon coordinating, including the group that Savannah represents in the ‘Mothers for Pokemon’.
“Forgive me if I say that you looked very down over there watching Sandra do her appeal. I wouldn’t know, of course, but is it…tough watching your child knowing that she’s doing so well in her craft?”
“I’ll admit that at times, it’s tough,” she says. “My girl is like a rock star in this business and she’s only thirteen. I was just like that in my day and at her age. I lived fast, and that has its consequences. Knowing what I know now, it’s my job to keep her from all of that. But it’s hard, my goodness is it hard.”
Shrugging off her apparent sadness for now, Savannah places her focus back onto Sandra, who has just wrapped up her appeal with her Marshtomp to rave reviews from the five judges.
“It seems like Dawn and I are gonna have some competition for the second round tomorrow,” Drew quips as the judges now flash Sandra’s score up on the big screen. She really did impress getting two nines from both Contesta and the Slateport City Nurse Joy and a perfect ten from Suziko and the other two Joys, placing her grand total at forty-eight. She is all but a lock to be one of the twelve competing tomorrow.
“Speaking of Dawn, where is she?”
“She went to lie down for a bit. You might have heard she had a bit of an accident and suffered a mild concussion.”
“I did. Will she be alright to compete in the Grand Festival?”
“She should be, and for precautionary reasons, the officials are gonna give her the last appeal of the night. I asked her if she’d like to see me do my appeal from backstage and she…Dawn said she’d think about it.”
“I’m here!” a third voice sounds out. Coming from a door leading to the backstage area is Dawn Berlitz looking none the worse for wear after leaving the hospital less than two hours ago.
Giving a quick kiss to Drew on the lips, Dawn explains, “I asked the front desk to give me a wake-up call at 9:35 a.m. so that I could see your appeal. Glad I’m not late.”
“Me too,” Drew answers as a young teen makes her way back through the tunnel in the opposite direction. Everyone in the area either applauds Sandra’s efforts or they say hello to her if they haven’t already done so. Savannah gives her daughter a big hug congratulating her for performing so well under pressure.
“Yeah, you’re really giving the old guard a run for their money,” Dawn says.
“She could end up as one of the best, just like your mom, Dawn.”
Dawn is a bit ticked off that her mother Johanna is being mentioned by Drew of all people, but she doesn’t let Drew know this at all.
Through the current silence, Sandra says to her mom, “Well, all I really care about right now his how you do, mom. Come on. Let’s grab something to eat before your appeal.”
“Okay, Sandy,” Savannah retorts. “Let’s go, and Drew? Good luck in your appeal. You too, Dawn.”
Both coordinators thank Savannah for her support as she and Sandra leave the backstage position by heading for the nearest direction.
“Those two are great, aren’t they Drew?”
“They certainly are.”
“So you start your appeal,” Dawn looks at her watch and sees that in just a few minutes, Drew will be on stage. “You start any minute now.”
“Drew Emerson?” the same producer that called Sandra calls to Drew, “You’re on in thirty seconds.”
“That’s my cue, Dawn. Wish me luck,” he says, leaving his girlfriend with a kiss and like Sandra before him, he goes through the tunnel, receiving more cheers and applause than Savannah’s daughter did.
Despite many of the unspoken problems that she has had with her boyfriend over the years, watching Drew coordinate has always been a real treat for her ever since first meeting the expert trainer.
As Dawn watches the emerald-haired one being introduced to the crowd, she hears the voice of an angry woman asks, “Where’s Drew? The producers said he was here.”
Turning around, the young Berlitz immediately regrets the action.
“Solidad,” she irks out of her mouth like bitter medicine. She looks up to her face and then notices the stroller that she’s pushing and the young baby with a blue hat over its head inside. She is immediately confused by all of this.
Coming to her own conclusion, she asks “You had a baby?” Solidad nods in response. “What—how? What happened? And who is he?”
Solidad tends to this boy, who appears to be sleeping, and she doesn’t say a word to the young lady closest to her. Dawn notices a small tuft of green hair poke out of his hat. Everything around her seems to stop for a second as the second generation coordinator fears that the absolute worst is true.
“Solidad?” she timidly asks once again while the older woman tends to her child. “Who is he?”
After getting up from stroller level, Solidad levels with Dawn and explains, “This is Damien Donovan.” After a pause, Solidad adds what she likely thought that the teen coordinator wanted to know. “My son with Drew.”
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