May vs. Drew! Rivals Forever!

The gang and Brandon were back at the Pokémon Center. They were telling Brandon and Scott about their recent adventure before arriving at the Battle Pyramid.

"I have to admit that you all were lucky to see the Sea Temple. I wish I had the chance." Brandon admitted.

"It was amazing." Max said.

"Beautiful is more like it." May added.

"At least Manaphy and the Sea Temple are safe from anyone trying take it." Brock said.

"That's a good thing too." Scott agreed.

"You luckily had the help of a Pokémon Ranger. I can't believe Phantom was after Manaphy." Brandon commented.

"You've met Phantom before?" Alain asked.

"Yeah, I caught him looking around in one of the ruins that I was exploring. Unfortunately I was unable to apprehend him at that time." Brandon explained, ashamed.

"I actually have a few photos of the temple." Ashlyn changed the subject. Then she took out her Rotom Phone and pulled up the folder with the photos.

Rotom floated over to Brandon and he gently held the phone. He looked surprised at the photos.

"Amazing. You even got a photo of the Sea Crown." Brandon commented.

"It's magnificent, right?" Ashlyn asked.

Brandon nodded, "Yeah." He let Rotom float back over to Ashlyn who put Rotom back in her pocket.

"So what are you going to do now, Brandon? Scott?" Max asked.

"I'm going to look for Regice." Brandon replied.

"For me, I'm going to look for more trainers to compete in the Battle Frontier." Scott added.

"What about you, Ashlyn?" Brandon asked.

"Well I want to do some Aura training before I head to the Sinnoh region." Ashlyn answered.

"Aura training? Are you an Aura Guardian?" Brandon questioned, surprised.

"Yeah, I found out a little bit after we started out on the Battle Frontier." Ashlyn responded.

The gang explained when they visited the Rota Kingdom; releasing Sir Aaron's Lucario who was sealed inside his staff, finding out that Ashlyn is a descendant of Sir Aaron, Tesla and Meowth being taken by Mew, their journey towards the Tree of Beginning, the visions of the past, the encounter with the three Legendary Golems, the tree attacking the gang, being revived which made Mew very ill, the truth about Sir Aaron's sacrifice, Mew and the Tree were healed and Lucario's sacrifice.

"That's incredible." Brandon commented, "Although I'm sorry about Lucario's sacrifice."

"At the very least, he knew why he was sealed away, and he's reunited with my ancestors." Ashlyn assured him.

"That's a good thought, Ashlyn." Scott agreed.

Then Nurse Joy announced that Brandon and Alain's Pokémon were healed.

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Brandon and Alain picked up their Pokémon from the front desk. May also picked up two Pokéballs from the front desk.

"Who did you bring over, May?" Max asked.

"Skitty, Beautifly, come on out!" May released the two Pokémon.

The two Pokémon appeared and trilled happily at seeing the trainer again.

"Hey you two." May greeted them as she picked up Skitty and Beautifly perched on her head.

"It's been a while since we saw these two." Brock commented.

"Yeah." Max agreed.

"Well, I'm going over to the contest hall." May said.

"What for?" Max asked.

"I just want some time to myself." May replied, "I'll be back later."

Then May headed off to the contest hall with Skitty and Beautifly.

"May seems to be struggling." Brandon stated.

"Yeah." Ashlyn confirmed.

"It would seem that the defeat at the Kanto Grand Festival had really gotten to her." Scott added.

"Hey Ashlyn, maybe you could battle May to lift her spirit!" Max suggested.

"I don't know about that, Max," Brock said, "Ashlyn is the one who May lost against in the Kanto Grand Festival."

"She's also stronger than her so it wouldn't be a fair match for her." Alain added.

Max realized that Brock was right. "So what can we do?" he asked.

Then Ashlyn had an idea. "Maybe we should ask Drew for help!" She said, "he lost to May in the Grand Festival, so maybe he would know what to do."

"You know what, that is a great idea, Ashlyn." Brock agreed.

"Yeah, Drew can help." Max agreed.

"Is Drew a rival of hers?" Brandon asked.

Ashlyn nodded, "Yeah. I have a good feeling that he'll be able to help her."

At that moment, a Roselia was at Ashlyn's feet.

"Roselia!" Roselia chirped.

"Roselia?" Max asked.

"Wait a minute, that's Drew's Roselia." Ashlyn realized.

"Then that must mean he's here." Alain added.

"You called for me." Drew walked up to the gang.

"Hey Drew!" Max greeted.

"Drew, it's nice to see you." Ashlyn greeted.

"Likewise, Ashlyn. So what do you need me for?" Drew asked.

The rest of the gang told him about May feeling down and seem to be struggling what to do next.

"I see. Don't worry, I'll help her." Drew assured them.

"Thanks, Drew." Max thanked him.

Drew went off to talk to May.

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A few minutes later, May and Drew were doing a contest battle. With a little encouragement from the others, May and Drew decided to battle each other. Brandon and Scott decided to be judges as well while Nurse Joy offered to be the announcer. The one thing that brought the mood down was that Harley was here too. Luckily, he assured them that he wasn't here to cause trouble. Fortunately, he was telling the truth, but Ashlyn was going to keep her eyes on him. Everyone else in the Pokémon center and sat in the seats with Ember and the others and Harley joining them.

Then Nurse Joy announced the battle to begin.

May sent out her Beautifly and Combusken and Drew sent out his Roselia and his newest Pokémon Butterfree. May started by telling her Combusken to use Fire Spin and Beautifly controlled the flames with Psychic. Roselia broke the Fire Spin apart to smaller flames with Petal Dance. Beautifly used Psychic to send the smaller flames back towards Roselia and Drew's Butterfree. But then Roselia used Magical Leaf to counter the flames. Next Drew's Butterfree used Gust, and the flames and leaves struck Combusken and Beautifly.

May moved in with telling both her Combusken and Beautifly going after Drew's Butterfree. Drew ordered his Butterfree to use Psybeam on Combusken, but Combusken dodged it and hit Butterfree with Sky Uppercut.

"Use Petal Dance Roselia!" Drew ordered.

May ordered Beautifly to use Gust, but the petals broke through the gust and struck Beautifly. Beautifly was still nowhere strong enough yet to beat Drew's Roselia. May went in by telling her Combusken to use Overheat, but Drew's Butterfree used Protect to protect it and Roselia from the attack. Finally Drew ordered his Roselia to use solar beam and his Butterfree to use psybeam. The two attacks hit Beautifly and Combusken directly and they fainted. So Drew was the winner of the match. May thanked her Pokémon for battling so hard.

"I see everything now," May realized as she watched Drew and Roselia bow to the audience, "and it's thanks to Drew."

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May and Drew were outside the Pokémon center near a cliff that had a fence on the edge.

"Drew, I want to say thanks." May thanked him, "that battle made me understand that I still have a lot more growing to do and you were right I do need to find my own battle style. The battle styles I've been doing recently are based on other people's battling techniques especially ones I picked up from Ashlyn's Pokémon battles. So I'll find my own battling style and I will also get new Pokémon friends to pick up new techniques."

Drew was happy to know that May understood what she had to do now. "I look forward to seeing your new battling style, May." he said.

May smiled, "So what are you going to do now?" She asked.

"The Johto region. To compete in the Pokémon contests there. I think Solidad is going to do the same." Drew replied.

"It's pretty there right now." May commented.

"How touching!" Harley appeared behind May and Drew which caused the two to step back from the weirdo.

"It's Harley!" May gasped.

"It's dangerous! Two kids talking alone!" Harley teased.

May waved her hands in front of her in panicked tone, "Come on! We were just talking! Really!"

"Joke! I was just pulling your leg!" Harley admitted, "And this is an incredible conwickedink I'm going to Johto as well."

"Huh?" Drew and May blinked in confusion.

"How cozy." May said.

"And the next Grand Festival trophy will have my name on it!" Harley declared, "Last one there is a rotten egg! So ta!"

Then Harley ran off, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

May placed her hand on her forehead, "I'm getting another one of my Harley headaches now." She sighed.

"I think I'm developing one as well." Drew admitted sheepishly.

"So you're probably going to head out right now, right?" May asked.

"Yup. So will I see you there in Johto?" Drew asked.

May nodded, "I'll be there, Drew." She confirmed.

"Alright, see you then, May." Drew said before he turned around left. He gave a wave to May as she waved back, watching him until she could no longer see him.

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With new confidence and wisdom, May finally realizes a new way to her coordinator skills along with a new path on becoming Top Coordinator.

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Pokémon Caught: Shiny Arcanine (Sonia)(F), Magmar (Fuji)(M), Hisuian Zorua (Yuki)(F), Sprigatito (Fleur)(F), Aipom (Shantae)(F), Aipom (Luffy)(M)