DarkWobbuffet
BEEEEAAAARR!!!
Hey guys, thought I'd putup my first (and only 
) Advancedshipping fic onto this site. This story takes place a little after Ash gets his seventh badge in the Hoenn region. Hope you like it. ./'
---
"Alright! We finally made it!" May shouted with glee as she and her comrades, Ash, Brock, Max and Pikachu, had arrived at Twilight Spring City, a large neon city known for it's great hotels, casinos, shows and even a Pokémon Coordinator Contest House. "And I just know I'm going to win this contest!" May said with glee, "With Beautifly I can't lose!"
"Don't be too sure about that sis… You've been getting way too cocky lately, and that could be your downfall right there." Max muttered, earning him a smack upside the head by his big sister.
"Hot damn, I'm gonna score me a girl tonight!" Brock declared, striking a pose.
"Just hope you don't repeat the wasabi incident like last time…" Ash told his squinty-eyed friend.
"I told you never to bring that up again…" said Brock, whose face paled.
"Well, well…" said a snotty, familiar voice from behind the group, "Fancy meeting the lot of you here…"
Everyone turned around to see the green-haired, purple-clothed contest rival of May known as Drew.
"Drew? What're you doing here?" May said frowning at her long time rival. Drew just smirked and flicked a strand of hair from the front of his face.
"Same reason you're here I suppose: to enter the contest of this area." Drew stated.
"Hey, don't you already have the five necessary ribbons to enter the Grand Festival?" May asked.
"Yes I do," Drew said, "but that isn't going to stop me from adding more to my collection. Besides, what better way to prepare you for the festival then to see my abilities as I defeat you?"
"What?!?" May yelled loudly, making Ash, Brock, Max and Pikachu back away in fear.
Drew just walked past Ash, May, Brock and Max, whispering "If you'd rather not face humiliation, you‘d best prepare yourself..." to May as he passed her by.
"That creep!" May said, clenching her fists as fire brewed around her. "I'm going to enter that contest alright, and I'm going to knock Drew and his stupid Roselia on their stupid fancy-pants rears!!!"
"We're doomed, aren't we?" Max asked. All four of them were in chibi form, shaking and scared of May's outrage.
"Yep." Ash and Brock agreed.
"Pika pika…"
---
"Welcome all trainers to the Twilight Spring City Coordination Contest!" an announcer stated from his booth in the said Contest House of Twilight Spring City, "The coordinators look ripped and ready to show off their Pokémon's skills, but just who will win this year?"
"What stupid question is that? I'll be the one to win of course!" yelled out Jessie of Team Rocket as she stood along side her Dustox.
"In your dreams Jessie, me and Beautifly are going to take that ribbon!" May stated. Her Beautifly flapped its wings wildly as if to agree with May.
"You're both wrong, I'm going to be the winner!" Drew declared, with his Masquerain next to him.
The three coordinators slammed their heads against each other's angrily, fire brewing through their eyes and red blood vein marks popping up all around their heads.
"Boy, May's really been aggressive today…" Ash said from the spectator seats.
"Guess because this is her last ribbon, and her bitterness against Drew isn't helping apparently." Brock pointed out.
"Neither are the remarks Max has been making." said Ash.
"I have a concussion…" Max whined.
---
"Beautifly, use Silver Wind!" May shouted to her flying bug. Beautifly obliged and flapped it's wings at it's opponent, Drew's Masquerain. The wind turned a bright silver and shot straight towards Masquerain, but Drew shouted "Masquerain, use Water Pulse!" Masquerain spewed out a pulsating blast of water from its mouth, which cut straight through the silver wind and slammed into Beautifly.
"Beautifly!" exclaimed May as her butterfly Pokémon slammed to the ground, "Try and get up!" Beautifly slowly struggled to its feet in an attempt to continue the match, but that was when the timer went off, signaling the end of the match.
"Time's up!" the announcer said, "And judging from the scores, it seems Drew is the victor of this Twilight Spring City Coordination Contest!"
May was in so much shock she fell to her knees, while Drew just smirked hearing the crowd cheer wildly from his victory. Drew waved to his public as Masquerain landed down on his shoulder. As Drew was presented his ribbon, May picked up Beautifly and ran out of the arena.
"No… she lost…" Ash said in near silence.
---
May sat on a bench near the contest house, her Beautifly in her arms and sporting a sad and apologetic look on her face.
"Beautifly, I'm so sorry I let you down… I was so positive I was going to win, but it looks like my brother was right, my overconfidence did lead to my defeat…" she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Beauuuuu…" Beautifly said, wiping the tear from her cheek with its wing. May just smiled and hugged her insect Pokémon.
"Well well, sulking in defeat are we?" asked an annoying arrogant voice. May narrowed her eyes, looking over at Drew, who was walking over to her.
"Drew, what do you want?" May asked.
"Well I was just checking on you two, thought I'd see how much of an impact I made on you." Drew snickered, "Looks like I did quite well."
"Leave me alone Drew," May said, "I'm not in the mood for this..."
"Hmph, if you're going to be like this every time I beat you, what chance do you think you'll have at the Grand Festival?" Drew asked, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe you should just quit now and go back home…"
May just said nothing, holding Beautifly to her face.
'Maybe I should...' May thought, 'If I can't beat Drew now...'
"HEY!" yelled a new voice. May and Drew looked over and saw Ash, standing there looking very angry. "What the hell you think you're doing Drew?!?"
Drew just smirked and flicked a strand of hair from his eye. "Just trying to spare Ms. May here any more humiliation. Now, why don‘t you be on your way?"
"Like hell I will! You don‘t have the right to talk to May like that!" Ash yelled, taking a step closer to Drew, looking him right in the face.
"You wish to make something of it?" Drew said, glaring at Ash.
"Damn right I do!!" Ash yelled, grabbing Drew by his shoulders and forcing him into a wall behind them. May gasped at this sight.
"I'm sick of the way you treat her! Apologize to her, now!!" Ash yelled at Drew. Drew was a bit shocked by Ash's sudden actions, but covered it up by smirking again.
"Hm, and what would you do if I didn’t? Beat me up and have your trainer's license revoked? I should notify the police of this assault right now!" Drew shrugged.
There was silence between the three humans and the insect Pokémon. Ash just muttered to himself and let go of Drew. May just sat there, unable to say or do anything from seeing Ash's sudden outburst.
"Heh… so you understand then." Drew said, dusting himself off.
"No..." Ash said, "If I can't fight you, then I demand to battle you!" he shouted, holding up a Pokéball.
Drew was a bit taken back by Ash's demand, but snickered. "You and me, battle? If you couldn't beat me with your Taillow back in Fallarbor Town, what chance do you think you have now that I'm stronger?"
"Because I've gotten stronger too! And so have my Pokémon!" Ash answered, his face full of rage over the green haired boy.
'I've never seen Ash like this before...' May thought.
"Heh... if you insist." Drew said, taking out a Pokéball and spinning it on his finger. "Just remember, I don't intend to lose." He then grabbed the ball and tossed it open. "Go Roselia!"
Ash took the Pokéball he had been holding and tossed it open as well. "Go Swellow!"
"Ro-sel-eea!"
"Sweeeel!"
In bursts of red light, out of their Pokéballs emerged the Grass/Poison typed rose Pokémon Roselia and the evolved blue bird named Swellow. Swellow narrowed his eyes at Roselia, who did the same in return. The two had quickly recognized each other, and knew what was to happen.
"So, your bird has finally evolved," Drew asked, "About time. However, it's still no match. Roselia, use Magical Leaf!"
"ROS!"
Roselia grinned and swung her rose tipped arms around, releasing a large amount of sparkling leaves towards Swellow. Swellow flew up into the sky to avoid the attack, but the leaves homed in on Swellow and blasted him hard.
"What th-" Ash exclaimed.
"Heh, you should have known that no amount of speed can escape the homing power of Magical Leaf, now Roselia, use Poison Sting!" Drew shouted. Roselia complied and fired out a barrage of purple needles towards Swellow.
"Use Wing Attack!" Ash yelled. Swellow's wings glew bright and smacked the needles away. Drew narrowed his eyes and yelled, "Give him another Magical Leaf!"
"Not this time! Use Aerial Ace Swellow!" Ash shouted. As Roselia threw out another barrage of sparkling leaves, Swellow shot straight at the rose Pokémon. The wind around Swellow spiraled sharply and cut straight through the Magical Leaf, then the blue swallow smacked his beak straight into Roselia.
'Hmph… I wasn't expecting an Aerial Ace, looks like I'm going to have to step things up.' Drew thought. "Now give that bird your Magical Leaf again!" Roselia once again emitted a wave of sparkling leaves at Swellow.
'Hm? What's he trying to do?' though Ash, 'Swellow can just slam right though those leaves with Aerial Ace and make contact with Roselia ag-' suddenly, Drew's plan came obvious to Ash. 'I know what he's planning!' Ash looked up to Swellow, who nodded. Ash then shouted, "Swellow, use Aerial Ace!"
"Sweelow!"
'Heh heh… just as I thought.' Drew thought to himself as he watched Swellow dive bomb through the leaves straight at Roselia, then shouted, "Now's your chance Roselia, Endure the hit and use Stun Spore!"
"Rooooozee…" Roselia snickered as it braced itself for the impact, ready to fire out the deadly powder. Swellow grinned slightly and slammed right into Roselia, and the rose Pokémon fired out its Stun Spore technique. However, much to Drew, Roselia and May's surprise, Swellow had vanished.
"Huh? Where did that bird go?!" Drew asked. Then out of nowhere, multiple Swellow appeared in a circle around Roselia.
"Oh! Swellow used Double Team to evade the attack!" May realized.
"Right," Ash said, rubbing his nose with his finger, "I had a feeling you'd try the same move to beat me as last time, so me and Swellow formed a counter to it."
Drew clenched his fists, looking at all the Swellow. 'Which one could be the real one? … Ah no matter. I know how to stop this.' Drew shouted, "Roselia, use Solar Beam!"
Roselia snarled, it's roses glowing brightly and gathering solar energy, focusing on the Swellow in front of it. Roselia then fired out the beam of light straight at the Swellow. Upon contact, the Swellow disappeared.
"That wasn't the real one, move in a circle and get them all!" Drew commanded. Roselia nodded and slowly moved 360 degrees, hitting each Swellow clone along the way, and each one disappeared as the beam hit them.
"Ash, you gotta do something quick!" May yelled, filled with worry for Swellow and it's trainer.
"Relax May, I know what I'm doing." Ash said with an innocent grin.
"ROOOOOOOS-EL-IA!"
Soon Roselia's Solar Beam had wiped out all but one Swellow. "That's gotta be the real one, give it all your power now!" Drew yelled out. Roselia let out its war cry loudly as its Solar Beam grew brighter then before and blasted the Swellow. When the light dissipated, Roselia fell to its knee, gasping for breath.
"It's over, I won." Drew said with a smirk. His smirk then changed to a look of shock when he saw the Swellow wasn't there!
"Rose?!?" Roselia exclaimed.
"Huh? Where'd it-" Drew's question was cut off by Ash yelling, "Now Swellow, use Double-Edge!"
"SWELL!"
In confusion, Drew, May and Roselia looked up to see that the real Swellow was high in the sky above them.
'Damn it!' Drew thought, 'He used those clones to distract me and Roselia from seeing him fly out of range of the attacks!'
Swellow dive-bombed straight down at Roselia, his entire body glowing a bright white and slicing through the air around him.
"Stop it Roselia, use Solar Beam!!!" Drew yelled. Roselia aimed upwards at Swellow and tried to power up a Solar Beam attack, but it was too tired to do so.
"Sorry Drew, but it looks like Roselia wore itself out from its last attack!" Ash pointed out.
“Sweell-ow!”
"No!" Drew shouted as Swellow slammed into Roselia, sending it flying and crashing down to the ground in front of Drew's feet, it's eye turned to spirals.
"This match is over. We have won." Ash said. Swellow landed down to his side and said, "Swell-ow!"
Drew fell to his knees, in complete shock of his loss. He snarled and shouted, "Roselia, return!" recalling Roselia into it's Pokéball. He stood up, clenching his fists in anger at the boy in front of him.
"Now, apologize to May…" Ash demanded.
Drew snorted and muttered something that sounded like, "Sorry…" then turned and left. Under his breath, Drew said to himself, "Make no mistake Ketchum, you'll pay for this humiliation..."
Meanwhile, Ash grinned and pet Swellow's head. "You did great Swellow, thank you."
"Sweel!!"
"Um… Ash, Swellow…?"
Ash turned and saw May standing in front of him with Beautifly still in her arms. "T-Thank you for what you did. It really means a lot to me…"
Ash grinned innocently and rubbed the back of his head. "No problem May, that arrogant pretty boy needed to be taken down a notch anyway!"
“Sweelow!" Swellow said in agreement, spreading his wings with a smile.
"Well anyway, let's get back to our hotel. I bet Brock, Max and Pikachu are wondering where we are." Ash said, recalling Swellow. May nodded and recalled Beautifly. The two then headed off to the hotel they were staying at, unaware three figures; two humans and a Pokémon, had saw the whole thing. The three of them snickered and snuck off.
---
Soon enough, Ash and May arrived at the Palm Grande Hotel where they were staying overnight. Upon reaching their rooms, they were surprised to see Brock, Max and Pikachu weren't there. Ash looked around the room and noticed a note on a table in his room.
"Hmm... 'Dear Ash and May, Me, Max and Pikachu went downtown to the shopping pavilion to buy supplies for our journey. We'll be back in a few hours. ~ Brock …' Oh well, I'll just tell May and make some instant noodles or something." Ash said, walking out his room to May's. He knocked on it and within seconds May answered.
"Did you get a note?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," May answered, showing him a similar note written by Max, "I didn't bring any food with me though. Do you have any?"
"I'm sure Brock left us something." Ash said, walking back into his room to check. Within a minute he walked back out with his face paled white. "He took all the food with him..."
"Gah!" May squeaked, "Now what'll we do?!?"
"Guess we'll just have to find a restaurant to eat out at." Ash suggested, rubbing the back of his head.
"That sounds nice..." May said, blushing slightly. 'It's almost like we're going out on a...'
"Okay... let's go..." Ash said, his face also blushing. 'I hope she doesn't think I was trying to ask her...'
The two looked at each other and sweatdropped. They both gave off embarrassed laughs, then headed on out of the hotel.
---
Ash and May slowly walked down a sidewalk, looking with awe at all the lights, buildings, and structures that made Twilight Spring City what it was known for. Suddenly, a burst of water fell down from the sky and splashed Ash.
"Ack! What the hell?" Ash exclaimed, then looked over at a nearby fountain that was shooting out small bursts of water.
"Heehee, you look like a drowned Ratatta." May giggled as she handed Ash her handkerchief.
"Thanks May." Ash said with a smile, using the handkerchief to dry himself off as best as he could.
"So where should we eat?" May asked, looking around at all the stores, restaurants, hotels and casinos on the street. Ash looked around, trying to think of a place, when he saw something that caught his eye.
"Oh hell yeah! A Burger King!" Ash exclaimed, pointing to the fast food restaurant that was about a block away.
"Aw comon Ash," May pouted, "Let's eat somewhere nice. It's going to be a while before we reach a town like this again!" Her gaze then turned to a fancy French restaurant across the street.
"Oooh! How about that place!" May said happily. Ash turned to see the restaurant and sweatdropped.
"Gee May… I dunno…" Ash said, his thoughts of eating a Double Whopper and fries over-coming his judgment.
"Please?!?" May asked, looking at Ash with big sad eyes and a lip quivering pout. Ash practically melted at this unbelievably cute sight and sighed.
"Okay, you win May. We can eat there." Ash said smiling. May squealed and grabbed Ash's arm, yanking him to the restaurant.
---
Drew sat on a couch at the Twilight Spring Pokémon Center, impatiently awaiting his Roselia's revival. He drowned out the music that was playing on the overhead and collected his thoughts. Soon enough, Nurse Joy had emerged from the treatment room with Roselia in its Pokéball.
"Well Drew, your Roselia is ripped and ready for battle again." Joy said with a smile, then a look of discontent, "Though I must recommend you not battle with it so harshly in the future, it was completely exhausted from it's last battle."
"Uh, thanks Nurse Joy… I'll keep that in mind…" Drew said, and then presented Joy with a rose. "For you Miss Joy, thank you."
Nurse Joy blushed at the sight of the rose, and accepted it. "Uh, thank you Drew. Have a good night!"
Drew just smirked to himself, then turned to leave, only to see a familiar face of his coming through the front door.
"Nascour? Is that you?" Drew asked, upon the two making eye contact.
"Drew? What brings you here?" Nascour asked, "No wait, let me guess, the contest house. Did you win?"
"You know me better then that, of course I did." Drew chuckled, showing off his ribbon.
"Ah, congratulations. So how would like to catch up on old times?" the young man asked.
"Sure, in fact… while we’re at it, I have a favor to ask of you…" Drew said, an idea running though his head…
---
"Greetings sir and madam, what may I get you tonight?" the waiter of the French restaurant asked to May and Ash, who were now seated at their table and going over their menus.
"I dunno…" Ash muttered, not making heads or tails of what everything was on the menu. "Everything is written in French."
"Would you like to have it translated by me?" the waiter asked. Ash looked up at May and blushed.
"Nah, that won't be necessary…" Ash lied. "I'll have the um… Jopueti Le Frourmas."
"…sir, you just ordered the name of our chief." The waiter said. Ash facefaulted as May just giggled.
"He'll just have what I'm having." May said smiling to the waiter.
"Wei madam." The waiter said, taking Ash and May's menus.
"No thanks, I went before I sat down." Ash said, causing the waiter to sweatdrop and May to burst out laughing.
"What?" Ash asked with a clueless expression on his face.
There was silence between Ash and May as they waited for their meals. Ash looked up at May and blushed slightly. His gaze averted away when she looked up at him.
"So Ash… what do you think your plans are after you compete in the Hoeen League?" May asked, breaking the ice.
"I dunno really…" Ash said, folding his arms behind his head. "I’ll probably head back to my hometown for a little bit, then maybe go to the Oore region. From what I heard it’s kinda barren aside from a few small cities, but it’s got a nice official league stadium. How about you?"
May just shrugged. "Can't say exactly. Maybe I could see if any more contest houses are open in other regions or something…"
More silence.
"Listen Ash…" May spoke up, "I want to thank you for everything you've done for me over the course of our journey. I probably wouldn't have made it this far without you as my mentor and friend."
"Heh, no prob May-May." Ash said, giving her a thumbs up, then his face paled, realizing what he had just said. 'Did I just call her May-May?!?’ he thought, blushing brightly.
'Did he just call me May-May?' she thought to herself blushing. Thankfully, the awkwardness was broken when their waiter presented them with their meals, along with appetizer plates of escargot.
"Thank you and enjoy your mea-" the waiter's gesture was interrupted by Ash freaking out.
"SNAILS!" Ash yelled, "There's snails on our plates!!!" Ash quickly grabbed his spoon and attacked the snails, causing much commotion in the restaurant.
'Never a dull moment around him.' May thought to herself, smiling as snail goo flew around everywhere.
---
"Man, ya gotta wonder when the last time the health inspector checked that place out. What a dump." Ash said as the two were walking back to the hotel.
"Yeah, too bad we got thrown out." May said, sipping a strawberry shake.
"Sorry again about that May, I know you had your heart set on that place."
"Nah, it's okay. Burger King was good after all." she replied smiling.
'Gawd I love it when she smiles.' Ash thought, '…did I just think that?'
"OH!" May squealed, pointing at a nearby building. It was a video arcade called "Coin Get!" and in the front was a Dance Dance Revolution machine, where a couple were dancing on. A large TV screen was at the top of the building, showing a CG picture of the dancers going with the rhythm.
"That looks like fun Ash! Let's try it!" May said happily. Ash backed away a bit and sweatdropped.
"I dunno about that May, I've never be- Whaa!" his statement was cut off by May again grabbing his wrist and pulling him to the arcade.
"Comon Ash! It'll be fun!" May giggled.
"Arceus help me…" Ash whimpered.
---
Ash stood on the dance floor of the board, shaking nervously, as May inserted 100 yen into the Dance Dance Revolution machine and started going through the music choices. Coming to a title called "Challenger!", she flashed a cat-like grin and selected it.
3…
"Wait May!"
2…
"What's wrong Ash?"
1…
"I CAN'T DANCE!"
GO!
The music started up and the arrows began scrolling up the screen, Ash panicking a storm.
Ikukkyanai yarukkyanai
Makekkonai tomaranai saigo made
Hitori ja nai samishikunai madamada
Wakuwaku bouken owaranai...
May, not giving it a second thought instantly started, her feet hitting practically every button that lit up. Ash meanwhile, was scrambling like crazy for the buttons, missing each one by a second.
Kirari asahi ore no taun
Kyou mo genki ka? Kimi
Yaruki genki ryukku ni tsumete
Ore wa kyou mo chikau yo
Pinchi to chansu ura-omote
Katsu mo makeru mo ore shidai
Tsuyosa yasashisa mabushii egao
Mune no MAP de mitsukeru ze
Motto motto takaku
Mezase ore wa charenjaa!!
As the two of them danced, (well in Ash's case, spazzed) they were unaware that a few people had gathered to watch.
Ikukkyanai yarukkyanai
Makekkonai tomaranai itsu datte
Sasaetai mamoritai kimi ga kizutsuita toki wa
Furimukanai utsumukanai
Hekotarenai akiramenai shinjiteru
Aseranai awatenai itsumo
May na yume mezashite...
Makka na yuuhi sora o someru
Mada shiranai Pokémon
Tsukareta ashi arukidaseba
Ippo yume ni chikai yo
Porori namida shoppai keredo
Nagashita kazu dake tsuyoku naru
Kizu mo itami mo wasureru keredo
Daiji na MEMORII kie wa shinai
May had chosen that time to see how Ash was doing, and giggled a bit to see that he wasn't getting any buttons. She grinned and took his wrist with her hand. Ash stopped what he was doing and looked at what she had done. Blushing, Ash looked up at her. May gave him a wink and said, "Here, just do what I do."
"Easy for you to say!" Ash said, "I suck at dancing! I got more left feet then an Spinarak!"
"Just follow me Ashy-boy!" May said, then turned back to the screen, her hand still on his wrist. Ash's eyes widened at what she called him, but he obliged and studied her movement carefully, trying to mime her motions.
Goron to nekoronde miru sora ga suki
Ryoute ippai hirogeyou
Ashita e to kaze ga fuiteku
Yuuki no tobira akeru kagi wa
Itsumo bokura no te no naka sa
Dekoboko jarimichi kettobashite
Iku ze Minna tsuite koi!!
Soon enough Ash found himself doing well enough to follow the dance like May without making TOO much of a fool of himself. Both still unaware of the crowd that was gathering around them…
Motto motto atsuku
Moero ore wa charenjaa!!
Ikukkyanai yarukkyanai
Makekkonai tomaranai itsu datte
Sasaetai mamoritai kimi ga kizutsuita toki wa
Furimukanai utsumukanai
Hekotarenai akiramenai shinjiteru
Aseranai awatenai itsumo
May na yume mezashite...
Finally the song ended. May and Ash waited anxiously to see what their ratings were. May was delighted to see she scored a 92%, and Ash just face faulted to see he scored 7%. The crowd surprisingly clapped loudly for both of them. Ash just chuckled and shook May's hand.
"I gotta admit, that was fun." Ash said.
"Told ya!" May said with a wink.
"Comon, let's head back to the hotel… my feet hurt now." Satoshi whined.
"Ah you big baby, okay!" May giggled.
---
Ash and May were walking down a road in the park, taking a shortcut to the hotel.
"Jees, can you believe there are no people in this park? I thought a busy metropolis like this would be packed everywhere." Ash pointed out to May.
"Yeah, it's like some kind of plot contrivance in a poorly written fan fiction story."
Deciding to take a quick break, the two of them sat down on a park bench, looking up at the stars.
"Hey Ash, I got something I've been meaning to ask you…" May spoke up.
"Shoot."
"When you yelled at Drew, I've never seen you so angry… not even at Team Rocket. What happened back there?" May asked.
Ash gulped a bit and looked away nervously. "Well… I-I guess it's because I know what you’ve have to go through with Drew…"
"You do?"
"Yeah, back when I first started my journey and was going through the Kanto region, I had a friend-turned-rival named Gary Oak. He's the grandson of Professor Oak and we used to be great friends… But shortly before we became trainers something happened… he started becoming more and more competitive and snooty towards me, much like Drew is to you. Seemed like every time we met after that he came down on me with insults that broke down my pride little by little…" he said clenching his fist.
"And now, whenever I see Drew ragging on you, it makes me think about how mad I was from Gary's taunts… and a good friend like you shouldn't have to deal with a jerk like him." He finished.
"Wow Ash…" May said, "I never realized-"
May's sentence was interrupted by a familiar voice saying, "Hello you two…"
Ash and May quickly turned to see it was Drew, with his typical arrogant smirk.
"Drew? The hell do you want?" Ash asked, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"What‘s with temperment? A young man can‘t go for a nice walk in the park without being judging by a country boy such as yourself?" Drew chuckled.
“Country boy?! Why I outta-!!” Ash exclaimed standing up.
“Ash calm down! “ May said, grabbing his arm. “What are you really here for Drew?” she then asked as Ash reluctantly sat back down..
“Actully, I’d like to request a rematch from tonight’s battle. I’m interested in studying your strength.” Drew said, smiling slightly snidely.
"Not now Drew, we're tired. Can we do this tomorrow?" May groaned, unsubconsciously leaning on Ash's shoulder. Ash saw what May did and he blushed feverishly.
“Yeah, we’re beat and my legs hurt. I’ll kick your *** tomorrow.” Ash said, trying his hardest not to slip his voice from the feeling of May on his shoulder.
"No…" Drew said, his expression changing to a much more serious expression pulling out a Pokéball. "Tonight we're settling this now Ketchum… This is going to be a true double battle."
"But it's 2 against 1. Aren't we going to be at an unfair advantage?" Ash asked suspiciously.
"Whoever said it was 2 against 1?" Drew asked as Nascour emerged from behind a nearby tree.
"So, this is your rival Drew?" Nascour asked, getting a good look at May, "She's definitely a cute one…"
“And you are?” Ash asked, narrowing his eyes coldly.
“Nascour, one of the top coordinators in Johto. A pleasure to meet you two. Just don’t think I’ll take such young children lightly though.” the man said, flicking a strand of hair away from his face.
Ash fumed and pulled out a Pokéball. "Okay May, you ready to teach these two a lesson?"
May nodded and pulled out a Pokéball of her own. "Let's do it."
With that, Ash and May tossed open their two Pokéballs, revealing their Hoeen starter Pokémon Grovyle and Combusken. Grovyle glanced up at his trainer's opponents and smirked slightly, shrugging his shoulders as if to dismiss them. Combusken pulled off a few battle poses but wound up tripping over herself. She quickly got up to her feet sweatdropping while Grovyle rolled his eyes.
"My, intimidating." Nascour said, "Shall we show these two just what it means to be a trainer?"
"Yes, let's." Drew agreed.
"…this is going to end with you two kissing isn't it?" Ash asked, his eyes turned to dots.
"Hmph, I choose Roselia!" Drew shouted, tossing open his Pokéball, revealing his rose handed Pokémon.
"And I choose, Salamence!" Nascour said, tossing open his Pokéball containing a large blue dragon. Salamence roared loudly upon being released, surprising Ash, May, Grovyle and Combusken.
"Woah, I wasn't expecting a Pokémon like that!" Ash said with wide eyes.
The Salamence glared down at Grovyle and Combusken. The fire type chicken Pokémon was so freaked out from its fierce expression that she hid behind Grovyle. Grovyle meanwhile just stood there, glaring up at the Salamence. Memories shot through his head, remembering another battle he had with a dragon Pokemon…
“Grooooov…”
(flashback)
"Now Altaria, use your Sky Attack!" the legendary dragon trainer Drake shouted. His Altaria's body covered with dragon flames and shot straight down at Grovyle at blinding speed. Unable to avoid the attack, Grovyle was slammed into, sending him to the ground out cold.
(end flashback)
Grovyle clenched his fists as rage shot through his body. He threw his head back and released a loud screech, his face growing even fiercer then he ever had before. Salamence was surprised by this and backed up a bit.
"Hey Salamence, you're supposed to be the intimidating one!" Nascour shouted, "Now take those two down, use Dragon Breath!"
"Roselia, use your Poison Sting!" commanded Drew.
Salamence and Roselia obliged and fired out their attacks towards Grovyle and Combusken. Grovyle sneered and leaped out of the way as Combusken quickly ducked down, covering her head with her arms. Grovyle ran at Salamence, weaving left and right to avoid the dragon's streams of blue fire.
“Quick Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!” Ash yelled.
“VY-LE!”
The green gecko then leaped into the air with his wrist leaves glowing bright green. Before Salamence could react, Grovyle somersaulted in mid air and came down on the dragon's back. His Leaf Blade attack hacked into Salamence‘s back almost like a saw blade. The dragon roared in pain as Grovyle backflipped off Salamence and shot forward with a Quick Attack, slamming into the dragon hard.
"Roselia, stop that Grovyle with your Magical Leaf!" Drew said.
Roselia, who had been busying fighting off Combusken, smacked away the chicken with a Poison Sting then fired off it's homing leaves right into Grovyle, knocking him to the ground on his back.
"Now finish it with Aerial Ace!" Nascour said. Salamence came straight down at Grovyle, who was slowing getting up.
"Not so fast, Combusken, give that Salamence a Double Kick!" May shouted.
“Bus-ken!”
Combusken charged past Grovyle, leapt into the air, and came down on Salamence with her feet. However the big dragon was too much for her, and knocked Combusken down beside Grovyle. Salamence then slammed into Grovyle and Combusken with its Aerial Ace technique, sending the grass gecko and fire chicken flying.
"Now finish it!" Nascour said, "Use Dragon Breath!"
"Roselia, take them down with Sludge Bomb!" Drew said.
The rose and dragon Pokémon went their combination attack down on Grovyle and Combusken. Before the attacks could impact however, Grovyle opened his eyes wide and growled. Lifting up Combusken in his arms, Grovyle leapt out of the way of the attacks and landed to the ground, skidding to a halt. He set Combusken down and started up his Leaf Blade attack. He looked down at Combusken and the two nodded.
"Right, that's it!" Nascour said in anger, "Salamence, use your Hyper Beam on that Grovyle!"
"Roselia, give that chicken your Solar Beam!"
Combusken quickly grabbed onto Grovyle's head leaf as the gecko Pokémon started swinging her around his head. After enough swings, Grovyle thrusted his leaf forward and Combusken let go. The trajectory sent Combusken flying through the air and she fired an Ember blast down on Salamence and Roselia. Roselia's type disadvantage against fire attacks sent it flying back and caused its Solar Beam to fire off harmlessly into the air.
Salamence picked that time to fire out a Hyper Beam straight at Grovyle, but the gecko Pokémon lashed his head leaf down on the ground, the impact sending him into the air. His Leaf Blade attack kicked in and he spun like a tornado right down into Salamence, causing a huge cloud of dust.
Ash, May, Drew and Nascour stood there in shock as the smoke cleared. Grovyle and Combusken were standing at each other's backs ready to fight more, but Salamence and Roselia were laying on the ground with their eyes turned to spirals.
"Grovyle you were awesome!" Ash exclaimed. Grovyle just folded his arms and smirked.
“Grov…”
"You did it Combusken!" May squealed, hugging her chicken.
“Cooom-bus-ken!”
"I-It's impossible…" stuttered Nascour, "How could they possibly…"
"Forget it…" Drew yelled recalling Roselia. "Let's leave."
"Right…" Nascour muttered, recalling his Salamence. The two turned and walked off, but Drew stopped and looked to Ash and May.
"We‘ll see each other soon enough, don‘t think it‘ll be so easy next time…" Drew said, then left.
"Yeah, and yer mom was a three-legged toadstool!" Ash shouted back at Drew.
May smiled, looking to Ash as he yelled out to the green-haired boy. She glanced up at the moonlit sky, but then something caught her eye. "Ooh! Look!" she said, pointing up into the night sky. "A shooting star!"
Ash looked up into the sky as well and squinted at the object soaring over head. "Uh, May… I don't think that's a star…"
"Prepare for trouble, we're shooting through the sky!" Jessie of Team Rocket said as she and her comrades, James and Meowth were flying through the air.
"Make it a double ham sandwich on rye!" James said in the most random fashion possible.
"We thought we could steal bigger twerp's Pokémon team,"
"So we worked together this great little scheme!"
"Of course it turned out we were all out of luck,"
"Cause we got blasted off by his pineapple duck!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket's shooting high over the hills,"
"This time we’ll be sending that guy our hospital bills!"
"Meooooowth! Remind me to take my pills…"
"Woooooobbufffeeeet!" Wobbuffet said as he and Team Rocket shot over the horizon.
"Hoo-kay, that was odd." Ash said, then turned to May. "I think I'm ready to go back to the hotel now…" he said while yawning.
"Yeah, good idea…" May said. The two recalled their Pokémon and left the park.
---
Soon the two of them reached their hotel rooms. Ash and May just stood in the middle of the hallway, both slightly blushing.
"Well, I gotta go into my room and chew Max out for ditching us…"
"Yeah… I gotta do that with Brock and Pikachu too…"
There was silence between the two, then May sputtered a bit, then started giggling.
"What?" Ash asked.
"Hee hee… you called… you called Drew's mom a three legged toadstool…" May answered, her laughter becoming more strained.
"Hey yeah…" Ash said, starting to laugh, "I did!"
The two started breaking out into uncontrollable laughter.
"Y-Yeah, I guess I didn't put my brain on straight this morning!" Ash said.
There was silence.
"That made no sense whatsoever!" May said laughing like crazy.
"Yeah!" agreed Ash as the two of them continued to laugh. After about 5 minutes of this the two of them calmed down.
"Oh-- hee hee-- oh man my sides hurt…" May said. "Well, guess I'll see you tomorrow Ash…"
"You too May…" Ash said smiling.
May then leaned forward and gave Ash a kiss on the cheek, causing his face to flush as red as a tomato.
"Good night..." May said with smile as she walked into her room.
Ash stood there, smirked slightly, and walked into his own room.
---
Well hoped you like it. Feel free to leave comments. Flames will be fed to my Ninetales.
) Advancedshipping fic onto this site. This story takes place a little after Ash gets his seventh badge in the Hoenn region. Hope you like it. ./'---
"Alright! We finally made it!" May shouted with glee as she and her comrades, Ash, Brock, Max and Pikachu, had arrived at Twilight Spring City, a large neon city known for it's great hotels, casinos, shows and even a Pokémon Coordinator Contest House. "And I just know I'm going to win this contest!" May said with glee, "With Beautifly I can't lose!"
"Don't be too sure about that sis… You've been getting way too cocky lately, and that could be your downfall right there." Max muttered, earning him a smack upside the head by his big sister.
"Hot damn, I'm gonna score me a girl tonight!" Brock declared, striking a pose.
"Just hope you don't repeat the wasabi incident like last time…" Ash told his squinty-eyed friend.
"I told you never to bring that up again…" said Brock, whose face paled.
"Well, well…" said a snotty, familiar voice from behind the group, "Fancy meeting the lot of you here…"
Everyone turned around to see the green-haired, purple-clothed contest rival of May known as Drew.
"Drew? What're you doing here?" May said frowning at her long time rival. Drew just smirked and flicked a strand of hair from the front of his face.
"Same reason you're here I suppose: to enter the contest of this area." Drew stated.
"Hey, don't you already have the five necessary ribbons to enter the Grand Festival?" May asked.
"Yes I do," Drew said, "but that isn't going to stop me from adding more to my collection. Besides, what better way to prepare you for the festival then to see my abilities as I defeat you?"
"What?!?" May yelled loudly, making Ash, Brock, Max and Pikachu back away in fear.
Drew just walked past Ash, May, Brock and Max, whispering "If you'd rather not face humiliation, you‘d best prepare yourself..." to May as he passed her by.
"That creep!" May said, clenching her fists as fire brewed around her. "I'm going to enter that contest alright, and I'm going to knock Drew and his stupid Roselia on their stupid fancy-pants rears!!!"
"We're doomed, aren't we?" Max asked. All four of them were in chibi form, shaking and scared of May's outrage.
"Yep." Ash and Brock agreed.
"Pika pika…"
---
"Welcome all trainers to the Twilight Spring City Coordination Contest!" an announcer stated from his booth in the said Contest House of Twilight Spring City, "The coordinators look ripped and ready to show off their Pokémon's skills, but just who will win this year?"
"What stupid question is that? I'll be the one to win of course!" yelled out Jessie of Team Rocket as she stood along side her Dustox.
"In your dreams Jessie, me and Beautifly are going to take that ribbon!" May stated. Her Beautifly flapped its wings wildly as if to agree with May.
"You're both wrong, I'm going to be the winner!" Drew declared, with his Masquerain next to him.
The three coordinators slammed their heads against each other's angrily, fire brewing through their eyes and red blood vein marks popping up all around their heads.
"Boy, May's really been aggressive today…" Ash said from the spectator seats.
"Guess because this is her last ribbon, and her bitterness against Drew isn't helping apparently." Brock pointed out.
"Neither are the remarks Max has been making." said Ash.
"I have a concussion…" Max whined.
---
"Beautifly, use Silver Wind!" May shouted to her flying bug. Beautifly obliged and flapped it's wings at it's opponent, Drew's Masquerain. The wind turned a bright silver and shot straight towards Masquerain, but Drew shouted "Masquerain, use Water Pulse!" Masquerain spewed out a pulsating blast of water from its mouth, which cut straight through the silver wind and slammed into Beautifly.
"Beautifly!" exclaimed May as her butterfly Pokémon slammed to the ground, "Try and get up!" Beautifly slowly struggled to its feet in an attempt to continue the match, but that was when the timer went off, signaling the end of the match.
"Time's up!" the announcer said, "And judging from the scores, it seems Drew is the victor of this Twilight Spring City Coordination Contest!"
May was in so much shock she fell to her knees, while Drew just smirked hearing the crowd cheer wildly from his victory. Drew waved to his public as Masquerain landed down on his shoulder. As Drew was presented his ribbon, May picked up Beautifly and ran out of the arena.
"No… she lost…" Ash said in near silence.
---
May sat on a bench near the contest house, her Beautifly in her arms and sporting a sad and apologetic look on her face.
"Beautifly, I'm so sorry I let you down… I was so positive I was going to win, but it looks like my brother was right, my overconfidence did lead to my defeat…" she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Beauuuuu…" Beautifly said, wiping the tear from her cheek with its wing. May just smiled and hugged her insect Pokémon.
"Well well, sulking in defeat are we?" asked an annoying arrogant voice. May narrowed her eyes, looking over at Drew, who was walking over to her.
"Drew, what do you want?" May asked.
"Well I was just checking on you two, thought I'd see how much of an impact I made on you." Drew snickered, "Looks like I did quite well."
"Leave me alone Drew," May said, "I'm not in the mood for this..."
"Hmph, if you're going to be like this every time I beat you, what chance do you think you'll have at the Grand Festival?" Drew asked, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe you should just quit now and go back home…"
May just said nothing, holding Beautifly to her face.
'Maybe I should...' May thought, 'If I can't beat Drew now...'
"HEY!" yelled a new voice. May and Drew looked over and saw Ash, standing there looking very angry. "What the hell you think you're doing Drew?!?"
Drew just smirked and flicked a strand of hair from his eye. "Just trying to spare Ms. May here any more humiliation. Now, why don‘t you be on your way?"
"Like hell I will! You don‘t have the right to talk to May like that!" Ash yelled, taking a step closer to Drew, looking him right in the face.
"You wish to make something of it?" Drew said, glaring at Ash.
"Damn right I do!!" Ash yelled, grabbing Drew by his shoulders and forcing him into a wall behind them. May gasped at this sight.
"I'm sick of the way you treat her! Apologize to her, now!!" Ash yelled at Drew. Drew was a bit shocked by Ash's sudden actions, but covered it up by smirking again.
"Hm, and what would you do if I didn’t? Beat me up and have your trainer's license revoked? I should notify the police of this assault right now!" Drew shrugged.
There was silence between the three humans and the insect Pokémon. Ash just muttered to himself and let go of Drew. May just sat there, unable to say or do anything from seeing Ash's sudden outburst.
"Heh… so you understand then." Drew said, dusting himself off.
"No..." Ash said, "If I can't fight you, then I demand to battle you!" he shouted, holding up a Pokéball.
Drew was a bit taken back by Ash's demand, but snickered. "You and me, battle? If you couldn't beat me with your Taillow back in Fallarbor Town, what chance do you think you have now that I'm stronger?"
"Because I've gotten stronger too! And so have my Pokémon!" Ash answered, his face full of rage over the green haired boy.
'I've never seen Ash like this before...' May thought.
"Heh... if you insist." Drew said, taking out a Pokéball and spinning it on his finger. "Just remember, I don't intend to lose." He then grabbed the ball and tossed it open. "Go Roselia!"
Ash took the Pokéball he had been holding and tossed it open as well. "Go Swellow!"
"Ro-sel-eea!"
"Sweeeel!"
In bursts of red light, out of their Pokéballs emerged the Grass/Poison typed rose Pokémon Roselia and the evolved blue bird named Swellow. Swellow narrowed his eyes at Roselia, who did the same in return. The two had quickly recognized each other, and knew what was to happen.
"So, your bird has finally evolved," Drew asked, "About time. However, it's still no match. Roselia, use Magical Leaf!"
"ROS!"
Roselia grinned and swung her rose tipped arms around, releasing a large amount of sparkling leaves towards Swellow. Swellow flew up into the sky to avoid the attack, but the leaves homed in on Swellow and blasted him hard.
"What th-" Ash exclaimed.
"Heh, you should have known that no amount of speed can escape the homing power of Magical Leaf, now Roselia, use Poison Sting!" Drew shouted. Roselia complied and fired out a barrage of purple needles towards Swellow.
"Use Wing Attack!" Ash yelled. Swellow's wings glew bright and smacked the needles away. Drew narrowed his eyes and yelled, "Give him another Magical Leaf!"
"Not this time! Use Aerial Ace Swellow!" Ash shouted. As Roselia threw out another barrage of sparkling leaves, Swellow shot straight at the rose Pokémon. The wind around Swellow spiraled sharply and cut straight through the Magical Leaf, then the blue swallow smacked his beak straight into Roselia.
'Hmph… I wasn't expecting an Aerial Ace, looks like I'm going to have to step things up.' Drew thought. "Now give that bird your Magical Leaf again!" Roselia once again emitted a wave of sparkling leaves at Swellow.
'Hm? What's he trying to do?' though Ash, 'Swellow can just slam right though those leaves with Aerial Ace and make contact with Roselia ag-' suddenly, Drew's plan came obvious to Ash. 'I know what he's planning!' Ash looked up to Swellow, who nodded. Ash then shouted, "Swellow, use Aerial Ace!"
"Sweelow!"
'Heh heh… just as I thought.' Drew thought to himself as he watched Swellow dive bomb through the leaves straight at Roselia, then shouted, "Now's your chance Roselia, Endure the hit and use Stun Spore!"
"Rooooozee…" Roselia snickered as it braced itself for the impact, ready to fire out the deadly powder. Swellow grinned slightly and slammed right into Roselia, and the rose Pokémon fired out its Stun Spore technique. However, much to Drew, Roselia and May's surprise, Swellow had vanished.
"Huh? Where did that bird go?!" Drew asked. Then out of nowhere, multiple Swellow appeared in a circle around Roselia.
"Oh! Swellow used Double Team to evade the attack!" May realized.
"Right," Ash said, rubbing his nose with his finger, "I had a feeling you'd try the same move to beat me as last time, so me and Swellow formed a counter to it."
Drew clenched his fists, looking at all the Swellow. 'Which one could be the real one? … Ah no matter. I know how to stop this.' Drew shouted, "Roselia, use Solar Beam!"
Roselia snarled, it's roses glowing brightly and gathering solar energy, focusing on the Swellow in front of it. Roselia then fired out the beam of light straight at the Swellow. Upon contact, the Swellow disappeared.
"That wasn't the real one, move in a circle and get them all!" Drew commanded. Roselia nodded and slowly moved 360 degrees, hitting each Swellow clone along the way, and each one disappeared as the beam hit them.
"Ash, you gotta do something quick!" May yelled, filled with worry for Swellow and it's trainer.
"Relax May, I know what I'm doing." Ash said with an innocent grin.
"ROOOOOOOS-EL-IA!"
Soon Roselia's Solar Beam had wiped out all but one Swellow. "That's gotta be the real one, give it all your power now!" Drew yelled out. Roselia let out its war cry loudly as its Solar Beam grew brighter then before and blasted the Swellow. When the light dissipated, Roselia fell to its knee, gasping for breath.
"It's over, I won." Drew said with a smirk. His smirk then changed to a look of shock when he saw the Swellow wasn't there!
"Rose?!?" Roselia exclaimed.
"Huh? Where'd it-" Drew's question was cut off by Ash yelling, "Now Swellow, use Double-Edge!"
"SWELL!"
In confusion, Drew, May and Roselia looked up to see that the real Swellow was high in the sky above them.
'Damn it!' Drew thought, 'He used those clones to distract me and Roselia from seeing him fly out of range of the attacks!'
Swellow dive-bombed straight down at Roselia, his entire body glowing a bright white and slicing through the air around him.
"Stop it Roselia, use Solar Beam!!!" Drew yelled. Roselia aimed upwards at Swellow and tried to power up a Solar Beam attack, but it was too tired to do so.
"Sorry Drew, but it looks like Roselia wore itself out from its last attack!" Ash pointed out.
“Sweell-ow!”
"No!" Drew shouted as Swellow slammed into Roselia, sending it flying and crashing down to the ground in front of Drew's feet, it's eye turned to spirals.
"This match is over. We have won." Ash said. Swellow landed down to his side and said, "Swell-ow!"
Drew fell to his knees, in complete shock of his loss. He snarled and shouted, "Roselia, return!" recalling Roselia into it's Pokéball. He stood up, clenching his fists in anger at the boy in front of him.
"Now, apologize to May…" Ash demanded.
Drew snorted and muttered something that sounded like, "Sorry…" then turned and left. Under his breath, Drew said to himself, "Make no mistake Ketchum, you'll pay for this humiliation..."
Meanwhile, Ash grinned and pet Swellow's head. "You did great Swellow, thank you."
"Sweel!!"
"Um… Ash, Swellow…?"
Ash turned and saw May standing in front of him with Beautifly still in her arms. "T-Thank you for what you did. It really means a lot to me…"
Ash grinned innocently and rubbed the back of his head. "No problem May, that arrogant pretty boy needed to be taken down a notch anyway!"
“Sweelow!" Swellow said in agreement, spreading his wings with a smile.
"Well anyway, let's get back to our hotel. I bet Brock, Max and Pikachu are wondering where we are." Ash said, recalling Swellow. May nodded and recalled Beautifly. The two then headed off to the hotel they were staying at, unaware three figures; two humans and a Pokémon, had saw the whole thing. The three of them snickered and snuck off.
---
Soon enough, Ash and May arrived at the Palm Grande Hotel where they were staying overnight. Upon reaching their rooms, they were surprised to see Brock, Max and Pikachu weren't there. Ash looked around the room and noticed a note on a table in his room.
"Hmm... 'Dear Ash and May, Me, Max and Pikachu went downtown to the shopping pavilion to buy supplies for our journey. We'll be back in a few hours. ~ Brock …' Oh well, I'll just tell May and make some instant noodles or something." Ash said, walking out his room to May's. He knocked on it and within seconds May answered.
"Did you get a note?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," May answered, showing him a similar note written by Max, "I didn't bring any food with me though. Do you have any?"
"I'm sure Brock left us something." Ash said, walking back into his room to check. Within a minute he walked back out with his face paled white. "He took all the food with him..."
"Gah!" May squeaked, "Now what'll we do?!?"
"Guess we'll just have to find a restaurant to eat out at." Ash suggested, rubbing the back of his head.
"That sounds nice..." May said, blushing slightly. 'It's almost like we're going out on a...'
"Okay... let's go..." Ash said, his face also blushing. 'I hope she doesn't think I was trying to ask her...'
The two looked at each other and sweatdropped. They both gave off embarrassed laughs, then headed on out of the hotel.
---
Ash and May slowly walked down a sidewalk, looking with awe at all the lights, buildings, and structures that made Twilight Spring City what it was known for. Suddenly, a burst of water fell down from the sky and splashed Ash.
"Ack! What the hell?" Ash exclaimed, then looked over at a nearby fountain that was shooting out small bursts of water.
"Heehee, you look like a drowned Ratatta." May giggled as she handed Ash her handkerchief.
"Thanks May." Ash said with a smile, using the handkerchief to dry himself off as best as he could.
"So where should we eat?" May asked, looking around at all the stores, restaurants, hotels and casinos on the street. Ash looked around, trying to think of a place, when he saw something that caught his eye.
"Oh hell yeah! A Burger King!" Ash exclaimed, pointing to the fast food restaurant that was about a block away.
"Aw comon Ash," May pouted, "Let's eat somewhere nice. It's going to be a while before we reach a town like this again!" Her gaze then turned to a fancy French restaurant across the street.
"Oooh! How about that place!" May said happily. Ash turned to see the restaurant and sweatdropped.
"Gee May… I dunno…" Ash said, his thoughts of eating a Double Whopper and fries over-coming his judgment.
"Please?!?" May asked, looking at Ash with big sad eyes and a lip quivering pout. Ash practically melted at this unbelievably cute sight and sighed.
"Okay, you win May. We can eat there." Ash said smiling. May squealed and grabbed Ash's arm, yanking him to the restaurant.
---
Drew sat on a couch at the Twilight Spring Pokémon Center, impatiently awaiting his Roselia's revival. He drowned out the music that was playing on the overhead and collected his thoughts. Soon enough, Nurse Joy had emerged from the treatment room with Roselia in its Pokéball.
"Well Drew, your Roselia is ripped and ready for battle again." Joy said with a smile, then a look of discontent, "Though I must recommend you not battle with it so harshly in the future, it was completely exhausted from it's last battle."
"Uh, thanks Nurse Joy… I'll keep that in mind…" Drew said, and then presented Joy with a rose. "For you Miss Joy, thank you."
Nurse Joy blushed at the sight of the rose, and accepted it. "Uh, thank you Drew. Have a good night!"
Drew just smirked to himself, then turned to leave, only to see a familiar face of his coming through the front door.
"Nascour? Is that you?" Drew asked, upon the two making eye contact.
"Drew? What brings you here?" Nascour asked, "No wait, let me guess, the contest house. Did you win?"
"You know me better then that, of course I did." Drew chuckled, showing off his ribbon.
"Ah, congratulations. So how would like to catch up on old times?" the young man asked.
"Sure, in fact… while we’re at it, I have a favor to ask of you…" Drew said, an idea running though his head…
---
"Greetings sir and madam, what may I get you tonight?" the waiter of the French restaurant asked to May and Ash, who were now seated at their table and going over their menus.
"I dunno…" Ash muttered, not making heads or tails of what everything was on the menu. "Everything is written in French."
"Would you like to have it translated by me?" the waiter asked. Ash looked up at May and blushed.
"Nah, that won't be necessary…" Ash lied. "I'll have the um… Jopueti Le Frourmas."
"…sir, you just ordered the name of our chief." The waiter said. Ash facefaulted as May just giggled.
"He'll just have what I'm having." May said smiling to the waiter.
"Wei madam." The waiter said, taking Ash and May's menus.
"No thanks, I went before I sat down." Ash said, causing the waiter to sweatdrop and May to burst out laughing.
"What?" Ash asked with a clueless expression on his face.
There was silence between Ash and May as they waited for their meals. Ash looked up at May and blushed slightly. His gaze averted away when she looked up at him.
"So Ash… what do you think your plans are after you compete in the Hoeen League?" May asked, breaking the ice.
"I dunno really…" Ash said, folding his arms behind his head. "I’ll probably head back to my hometown for a little bit, then maybe go to the Oore region. From what I heard it’s kinda barren aside from a few small cities, but it’s got a nice official league stadium. How about you?"
May just shrugged. "Can't say exactly. Maybe I could see if any more contest houses are open in other regions or something…"
More silence.
"Listen Ash…" May spoke up, "I want to thank you for everything you've done for me over the course of our journey. I probably wouldn't have made it this far without you as my mentor and friend."
"Heh, no prob May-May." Ash said, giving her a thumbs up, then his face paled, realizing what he had just said. 'Did I just call her May-May?!?’ he thought, blushing brightly.
'Did he just call me May-May?' she thought to herself blushing. Thankfully, the awkwardness was broken when their waiter presented them with their meals, along with appetizer plates of escargot.
"Thank you and enjoy your mea-" the waiter's gesture was interrupted by Ash freaking out.
"SNAILS!" Ash yelled, "There's snails on our plates!!!" Ash quickly grabbed his spoon and attacked the snails, causing much commotion in the restaurant.
'Never a dull moment around him.' May thought to herself, smiling as snail goo flew around everywhere.
---
"Man, ya gotta wonder when the last time the health inspector checked that place out. What a dump." Ash said as the two were walking back to the hotel.
"Yeah, too bad we got thrown out." May said, sipping a strawberry shake.
"Sorry again about that May, I know you had your heart set on that place."
"Nah, it's okay. Burger King was good after all." she replied smiling.
'Gawd I love it when she smiles.' Ash thought, '…did I just think that?'
"OH!" May squealed, pointing at a nearby building. It was a video arcade called "Coin Get!" and in the front was a Dance Dance Revolution machine, where a couple were dancing on. A large TV screen was at the top of the building, showing a CG picture of the dancers going with the rhythm.
"That looks like fun Ash! Let's try it!" May said happily. Ash backed away a bit and sweatdropped.
"I dunno about that May, I've never be- Whaa!" his statement was cut off by May again grabbing his wrist and pulling him to the arcade.
"Comon Ash! It'll be fun!" May giggled.
"Arceus help me…" Ash whimpered.
---
Ash stood on the dance floor of the board, shaking nervously, as May inserted 100 yen into the Dance Dance Revolution machine and started going through the music choices. Coming to a title called "Challenger!", she flashed a cat-like grin and selected it.
3…
"Wait May!"
2…
"What's wrong Ash?"
1…
"I CAN'T DANCE!"
GO!
The music started up and the arrows began scrolling up the screen, Ash panicking a storm.
Ikukkyanai yarukkyanai
Makekkonai tomaranai saigo made
Hitori ja nai samishikunai madamada
Wakuwaku bouken owaranai...
May, not giving it a second thought instantly started, her feet hitting practically every button that lit up. Ash meanwhile, was scrambling like crazy for the buttons, missing each one by a second.
Kirari asahi ore no taun
Kyou mo genki ka? Kimi
Yaruki genki ryukku ni tsumete
Ore wa kyou mo chikau yo
Pinchi to chansu ura-omote
Katsu mo makeru mo ore shidai
Tsuyosa yasashisa mabushii egao
Mune no MAP de mitsukeru ze
Motto motto takaku
Mezase ore wa charenjaa!!
As the two of them danced, (well in Ash's case, spazzed) they were unaware that a few people had gathered to watch.
Ikukkyanai yarukkyanai
Makekkonai tomaranai itsu datte
Sasaetai mamoritai kimi ga kizutsuita toki wa
Furimukanai utsumukanai
Hekotarenai akiramenai shinjiteru
Aseranai awatenai itsumo
May na yume mezashite...
Makka na yuuhi sora o someru
Mada shiranai Pokémon
Tsukareta ashi arukidaseba
Ippo yume ni chikai yo
Porori namida shoppai keredo
Nagashita kazu dake tsuyoku naru
Kizu mo itami mo wasureru keredo
Daiji na MEMORII kie wa shinai
May had chosen that time to see how Ash was doing, and giggled a bit to see that he wasn't getting any buttons. She grinned and took his wrist with her hand. Ash stopped what he was doing and looked at what she had done. Blushing, Ash looked up at her. May gave him a wink and said, "Here, just do what I do."
"Easy for you to say!" Ash said, "I suck at dancing! I got more left feet then an Spinarak!"
"Just follow me Ashy-boy!" May said, then turned back to the screen, her hand still on his wrist. Ash's eyes widened at what she called him, but he obliged and studied her movement carefully, trying to mime her motions.
Goron to nekoronde miru sora ga suki
Ryoute ippai hirogeyou
Ashita e to kaze ga fuiteku
Yuuki no tobira akeru kagi wa
Itsumo bokura no te no naka sa
Dekoboko jarimichi kettobashite
Iku ze Minna tsuite koi!!
Soon enough Ash found himself doing well enough to follow the dance like May without making TOO much of a fool of himself. Both still unaware of the crowd that was gathering around them…
Motto motto atsuku
Moero ore wa charenjaa!!
Ikukkyanai yarukkyanai
Makekkonai tomaranai itsu datte
Sasaetai mamoritai kimi ga kizutsuita toki wa
Furimukanai utsumukanai
Hekotarenai akiramenai shinjiteru
Aseranai awatenai itsumo
May na yume mezashite...
Finally the song ended. May and Ash waited anxiously to see what their ratings were. May was delighted to see she scored a 92%, and Ash just face faulted to see he scored 7%. The crowd surprisingly clapped loudly for both of them. Ash just chuckled and shook May's hand.
"I gotta admit, that was fun." Ash said.
"Told ya!" May said with a wink.
"Comon, let's head back to the hotel… my feet hurt now." Satoshi whined.
"Ah you big baby, okay!" May giggled.
---
Ash and May were walking down a road in the park, taking a shortcut to the hotel.
"Jees, can you believe there are no people in this park? I thought a busy metropolis like this would be packed everywhere." Ash pointed out to May.
"Yeah, it's like some kind of plot contrivance in a poorly written fan fiction story."
Deciding to take a quick break, the two of them sat down on a park bench, looking up at the stars.
"Hey Ash, I got something I've been meaning to ask you…" May spoke up.
"Shoot."
"When you yelled at Drew, I've never seen you so angry… not even at Team Rocket. What happened back there?" May asked.
Ash gulped a bit and looked away nervously. "Well… I-I guess it's because I know what you’ve have to go through with Drew…"
"You do?"
"Yeah, back when I first started my journey and was going through the Kanto region, I had a friend-turned-rival named Gary Oak. He's the grandson of Professor Oak and we used to be great friends… But shortly before we became trainers something happened… he started becoming more and more competitive and snooty towards me, much like Drew is to you. Seemed like every time we met after that he came down on me with insults that broke down my pride little by little…" he said clenching his fist.
"And now, whenever I see Drew ragging on you, it makes me think about how mad I was from Gary's taunts… and a good friend like you shouldn't have to deal with a jerk like him." He finished.
"Wow Ash…" May said, "I never realized-"
May's sentence was interrupted by a familiar voice saying, "Hello you two…"
Ash and May quickly turned to see it was Drew, with his typical arrogant smirk.
"Drew? The hell do you want?" Ash asked, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"What‘s with temperment? A young man can‘t go for a nice walk in the park without being judging by a country boy such as yourself?" Drew chuckled.
“Country boy?! Why I outta-!!” Ash exclaimed standing up.
“Ash calm down! “ May said, grabbing his arm. “What are you really here for Drew?” she then asked as Ash reluctantly sat back down..
“Actully, I’d like to request a rematch from tonight’s battle. I’m interested in studying your strength.” Drew said, smiling slightly snidely.
"Not now Drew, we're tired. Can we do this tomorrow?" May groaned, unsubconsciously leaning on Ash's shoulder. Ash saw what May did and he blushed feverishly.
“Yeah, we’re beat and my legs hurt. I’ll kick your *** tomorrow.” Ash said, trying his hardest not to slip his voice from the feeling of May on his shoulder.
"No…" Drew said, his expression changing to a much more serious expression pulling out a Pokéball. "Tonight we're settling this now Ketchum… This is going to be a true double battle."
"But it's 2 against 1. Aren't we going to be at an unfair advantage?" Ash asked suspiciously.
"Whoever said it was 2 against 1?" Drew asked as Nascour emerged from behind a nearby tree.
"So, this is your rival Drew?" Nascour asked, getting a good look at May, "She's definitely a cute one…"
“And you are?” Ash asked, narrowing his eyes coldly.
“Nascour, one of the top coordinators in Johto. A pleasure to meet you two. Just don’t think I’ll take such young children lightly though.” the man said, flicking a strand of hair away from his face.
Ash fumed and pulled out a Pokéball. "Okay May, you ready to teach these two a lesson?"
May nodded and pulled out a Pokéball of her own. "Let's do it."
With that, Ash and May tossed open their two Pokéballs, revealing their Hoeen starter Pokémon Grovyle and Combusken. Grovyle glanced up at his trainer's opponents and smirked slightly, shrugging his shoulders as if to dismiss them. Combusken pulled off a few battle poses but wound up tripping over herself. She quickly got up to her feet sweatdropping while Grovyle rolled his eyes.
"My, intimidating." Nascour said, "Shall we show these two just what it means to be a trainer?"
"Yes, let's." Drew agreed.
"…this is going to end with you two kissing isn't it?" Ash asked, his eyes turned to dots.
"Hmph, I choose Roselia!" Drew shouted, tossing open his Pokéball, revealing his rose handed Pokémon.
"And I choose, Salamence!" Nascour said, tossing open his Pokéball containing a large blue dragon. Salamence roared loudly upon being released, surprising Ash, May, Grovyle and Combusken.
"Woah, I wasn't expecting a Pokémon like that!" Ash said with wide eyes.
The Salamence glared down at Grovyle and Combusken. The fire type chicken Pokémon was so freaked out from its fierce expression that she hid behind Grovyle. Grovyle meanwhile just stood there, glaring up at the Salamence. Memories shot through his head, remembering another battle he had with a dragon Pokemon…
“Grooooov…”
(flashback)
"Now Altaria, use your Sky Attack!" the legendary dragon trainer Drake shouted. His Altaria's body covered with dragon flames and shot straight down at Grovyle at blinding speed. Unable to avoid the attack, Grovyle was slammed into, sending him to the ground out cold.
(end flashback)
Grovyle clenched his fists as rage shot through his body. He threw his head back and released a loud screech, his face growing even fiercer then he ever had before. Salamence was surprised by this and backed up a bit.
"Hey Salamence, you're supposed to be the intimidating one!" Nascour shouted, "Now take those two down, use Dragon Breath!"
"Roselia, use your Poison Sting!" commanded Drew.
Salamence and Roselia obliged and fired out their attacks towards Grovyle and Combusken. Grovyle sneered and leaped out of the way as Combusken quickly ducked down, covering her head with her arms. Grovyle ran at Salamence, weaving left and right to avoid the dragon's streams of blue fire.
“Quick Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!” Ash yelled.
“VY-LE!”
The green gecko then leaped into the air with his wrist leaves glowing bright green. Before Salamence could react, Grovyle somersaulted in mid air and came down on the dragon's back. His Leaf Blade attack hacked into Salamence‘s back almost like a saw blade. The dragon roared in pain as Grovyle backflipped off Salamence and shot forward with a Quick Attack, slamming into the dragon hard.
"Roselia, stop that Grovyle with your Magical Leaf!" Drew said.
Roselia, who had been busying fighting off Combusken, smacked away the chicken with a Poison Sting then fired off it's homing leaves right into Grovyle, knocking him to the ground on his back.
"Now finish it with Aerial Ace!" Nascour said. Salamence came straight down at Grovyle, who was slowing getting up.
"Not so fast, Combusken, give that Salamence a Double Kick!" May shouted.
“Bus-ken!”
Combusken charged past Grovyle, leapt into the air, and came down on Salamence with her feet. However the big dragon was too much for her, and knocked Combusken down beside Grovyle. Salamence then slammed into Grovyle and Combusken with its Aerial Ace technique, sending the grass gecko and fire chicken flying.
"Now finish it!" Nascour said, "Use Dragon Breath!"
"Roselia, take them down with Sludge Bomb!" Drew said.
The rose and dragon Pokémon went their combination attack down on Grovyle and Combusken. Before the attacks could impact however, Grovyle opened his eyes wide and growled. Lifting up Combusken in his arms, Grovyle leapt out of the way of the attacks and landed to the ground, skidding to a halt. He set Combusken down and started up his Leaf Blade attack. He looked down at Combusken and the two nodded.
"Right, that's it!" Nascour said in anger, "Salamence, use your Hyper Beam on that Grovyle!"
"Roselia, give that chicken your Solar Beam!"
Combusken quickly grabbed onto Grovyle's head leaf as the gecko Pokémon started swinging her around his head. After enough swings, Grovyle thrusted his leaf forward and Combusken let go. The trajectory sent Combusken flying through the air and she fired an Ember blast down on Salamence and Roselia. Roselia's type disadvantage against fire attacks sent it flying back and caused its Solar Beam to fire off harmlessly into the air.
Salamence picked that time to fire out a Hyper Beam straight at Grovyle, but the gecko Pokémon lashed his head leaf down on the ground, the impact sending him into the air. His Leaf Blade attack kicked in and he spun like a tornado right down into Salamence, causing a huge cloud of dust.
Ash, May, Drew and Nascour stood there in shock as the smoke cleared. Grovyle and Combusken were standing at each other's backs ready to fight more, but Salamence and Roselia were laying on the ground with their eyes turned to spirals.
"Grovyle you were awesome!" Ash exclaimed. Grovyle just folded his arms and smirked.
“Grov…”
"You did it Combusken!" May squealed, hugging her chicken.
“Cooom-bus-ken!”
"I-It's impossible…" stuttered Nascour, "How could they possibly…"
"Forget it…" Drew yelled recalling Roselia. "Let's leave."
"Right…" Nascour muttered, recalling his Salamence. The two turned and walked off, but Drew stopped and looked to Ash and May.
"We‘ll see each other soon enough, don‘t think it‘ll be so easy next time…" Drew said, then left.
"Yeah, and yer mom was a three-legged toadstool!" Ash shouted back at Drew.
May smiled, looking to Ash as he yelled out to the green-haired boy. She glanced up at the moonlit sky, but then something caught her eye. "Ooh! Look!" she said, pointing up into the night sky. "A shooting star!"
Ash looked up into the sky as well and squinted at the object soaring over head. "Uh, May… I don't think that's a star…"
"Prepare for trouble, we're shooting through the sky!" Jessie of Team Rocket said as she and her comrades, James and Meowth were flying through the air.
"Make it a double ham sandwich on rye!" James said in the most random fashion possible.
"We thought we could steal bigger twerp's Pokémon team,"
"So we worked together this great little scheme!"
"Of course it turned out we were all out of luck,"
"Cause we got blasted off by his pineapple duck!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket's shooting high over the hills,"
"This time we’ll be sending that guy our hospital bills!"
"Meooooowth! Remind me to take my pills…"
"Woooooobbufffeeeet!" Wobbuffet said as he and Team Rocket shot over the horizon.
"Hoo-kay, that was odd." Ash said, then turned to May. "I think I'm ready to go back to the hotel now…" he said while yawning.
"Yeah, good idea…" May said. The two recalled their Pokémon and left the park.
---
Soon the two of them reached their hotel rooms. Ash and May just stood in the middle of the hallway, both slightly blushing.
"Well, I gotta go into my room and chew Max out for ditching us…"
"Yeah… I gotta do that with Brock and Pikachu too…"
There was silence between the two, then May sputtered a bit, then started giggling.
"What?" Ash asked.
"Hee hee… you called… you called Drew's mom a three legged toadstool…" May answered, her laughter becoming more strained.
"Hey yeah…" Ash said, starting to laugh, "I did!"
The two started breaking out into uncontrollable laughter.
"Y-Yeah, I guess I didn't put my brain on straight this morning!" Ash said.
There was silence.
"That made no sense whatsoever!" May said laughing like crazy.
"Yeah!" agreed Ash as the two of them continued to laugh. After about 5 minutes of this the two of them calmed down.
"Oh-- hee hee-- oh man my sides hurt…" May said. "Well, guess I'll see you tomorrow Ash…"
"You too May…" Ash said smiling.
May then leaned forward and gave Ash a kiss on the cheek, causing his face to flush as red as a tomato.
"Good night..." May said with smile as she walked into her room.
Ash stood there, smirked slightly, and walked into his own room.
---
Well hoped you like it. Feel free to leave comments. Flames will be fed to my Ninetales.