Pokemon: Neo Genesis (AaMayL/Advanceshipping, PG-13)

[cichawk]

Earthborn just letting you know, you double posted somehow.

Anyway, thanks for the happy wishes, cept my birthday is technically on Sunday, Earthborn. Friday's just my party. ;-)

Altair is really starting to get his own character, and I like him. I can understand his liking of cheese... When he was getting watched by Dawn, I thought it was strange... But I like how well you write Dawn's character, very manipulative.

Well, it took a lot of thought and development into creating him... (actually not really since he's pretty much like me when I'm in one of my various moods ie. bored)

It seems like May JUST missed them all, she went to check the centers, and Ash and his friends JUST left... Too bad. But, that gave Dawn time to get Ash into the contest as well.

Yea, I actually didn't give the fact that she just missed Ash and Brock a thought. I just kinda left her out there... missing... guess I just assumed she went to another Pokemon Center, I dunno. Ah well at least it flows. =D

I'm really wondering what Altair's ALTAIRior motive is, could he be a Pokemon Ranger?

Mmm, I shouldn't answer that, in fear of spoiling something, though I know it was rhetorical.

Now, we got to see a little side of Dawn we haven't seen before.
Poor May's having a hard time finding Ash though. I still wonder what might have happened to her.

Dawn's just trapped in that stage between childhood and the teenaged years. Can't blame her for being... curious. =P

Uh, "The Girl that Resembles May" will be revealed next chapter, and her story shall be told.

Interesting idea. However, I don't think rangers carry/own pokemon in pokeballs. He could be an exception though...

I actually didn't know what a Pokemon Ranger actually was. Had to do some research on Bulbapedia to figure it out, they seem pretty nifty.

All right, I should go work a little harder...

[GrizzlyB]

Yeah, Happy Birthday, and what you will, and sorry for taking awhile to post (if you care), the website wasn't really working for me.

Altaïr, being only human, was easily left behind of his extremely quick and agile Pokémon, and Jolteon, being the fastest of the team, easily pulled away from his five teammates to quickly finish his run.

You should probably put "by", instead of "of", or something.

Luckily for the trainer, he hadn't kicked Pikachu when he tumbled off the bed, which may have lead to a couple thousand nasty volts of electricity to shoot through his body.

Probably change "lead" to "led" and "to shoot" to "shooting". Or whatever.

It seems like I found another error when I first read it (like, right after you posted it), but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was, or if it even existed. Regardless, very few errors (what I like to see on the internet).

Not too much to really speculate on, but I'm guessing Altair's "mission" has something with him having been to Lightcrown before? I don't even know.

Oh yeah, about the last chapter, how Ash said he'd only been in one contest before, and got knocked out in the first battle round? This may be a spoiler if you haven't seen it, but he enters a contest against May after he completes the Battle Frontier. You may want to read about/watch that episode, might give you a story element. *nudge,nudge**hint,hint**wink,wink*

[EarthBorn]

Oh yeah, about the last chapter, how Ash said he'd only been in one contest before, and got knocked out in the first battle round? This may be a spoiler if you haven't seen it, but he enters a contest against May after he completes the Battle Frontier. You may want to read about/watch that episode, might give you a story element. *nudge,nudge**hint,hint**wink,wink*

Yeah, you're right GrizzlyB, I didn't spot that.
For Reference, the Episodes are "Once More With Reeling" and the battle ends in "Home is where the Start is". They're the last two episodes of Battle Frontier.
    Spoiler:- ...:

Show Spoiler

 

Also, it looks like you haven't seen the 9th movie, you can get a few plot points from there too, although it's respective season (Battle Frontier) contains little advanceshipping.
 

[cichawk]

Hey all, just a quick reply to comments/reviews and an announcement.

Yeah, Happy Birthday, and what you will, and sorry for taking awhile to post (if you care), the website wasn't really working for me.

I know I can count on you to come here to check on my errors =). Yeah the forums are a biotch sometimes.

It seems like I found another error when I first read it (like, right after you posted it), but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was, or if it even existed. Regardless, very few errors (what I like to see on the internet).

Glad to see how dedicated you are at checking for my errors, again. Mm, not many errors eh? That's good.

Not too much to really speculate on, but I'm guessing Altair's "mission" has something with him having been to Lightcrown before? I don't even know.

He's a busy boy.

Oh yeah, about the last chapter, how Ash said he'd only been in one contest before, and got knocked out in the first battle round? This may be a spoiler if you haven't seen it, but he enters a contest against May after he completes the Battle Frontier. You may want to read about/watch that episode, might give you a story element. *nudge,nudge**hint,hint**wink,wink*

Oh yea I forgot about that contest. The one I was referring to in the fic was the one official contest he entered with Dawn in the Sinnoh region, which happened to be Dawn's first too. I knew about that episode since I read a bunch of stuff on Bulbapedia and probably got that info about the ribbon and the contest from reading about her Blaziken or something. (And if you didn't recall, I did mention the ribbon in an earlier chapter.) For not watching the show past season 3 yet, I do know a tidbit here or there. I really should get back to watching my downloads... but just not enough time. =\

Yeah, you're right GrizzlyB, I didn't spot that.
For Reference, the Episodes are "Once More With Reeling" and the battle ends in "Home is where the Start is". They're the last two episodes of Battle Frontier.

Also, it looks like you haven't seen the 9th movie, you can get a few plot points from there too, although it's respective season (Battle Frontier) contains little advanceshipping.

Heh, thanks for the info but I already do know what happens in those episodes from reading them up in the past. But I haven't seen the movies or read much about them, so is there anything to know from the movies?

Oh yea, and another thing, I've read Bulbapedia's Advanceshipping page a few times so I get good references from that too. Thanks for all the suggestions and help though.

Now for the announcement. I leave for my camp tomorrow, and I really doubt I can finish chapter seven since it's turning about to be quite long and it's pretty difficult for me to write well because of the content. So I apologize in advanced if I don't finish chapter seven tonight, and hope you all have a good time reading other fics and whatnot while I'm gone.

Oh, and thank you for all the happy birthday wishes. Turn 16 tomorrow, same day I go to camp! =D

Now to let this thread fade into temporary oblivion.

[cichawk]

Hello again everybody.

Got back from camp on Sunday, and it was a blast. Won't bore you with details now though.

Anyway, I swear that I have been working on the fic a little bit since I got back, but progress has been slow. Suffering from the blues of being away from the camp and also been getting together with friends lately. Not to mention a lot of practicing for a violin trio I gotta play this Sunday. *Sigh*

Well I didn't want to post anything until I got the chapter finished, but I finally gave in and decided to post this notice or whatever for anybody is still interested in the fic.

[swampert55]

I finally gave in and decided to post this notice or whatever for anybody is still interested in the fic.

I'm still interested. I actually thought a new chapter had been posted.

so is there anything to know from the movies?

Yes, movie 9 has advanceshipping.

[Uzamaki Hinata]

Ah, I haven’t reviewed or read in like ever, my apologies, I shall get started on that soon! And just to say, I’m finally up to date!

Mm, dunno if I was actually doubting, by I certainly didn't think people would be interested in the fic so quickly. (Wait, that's called doubting isn't it?)

Sure is, but hey, I suppose it’s natural for authors to feel that way. But no need to feel like that anymore, you’ve got a great fic coming on!

Oh no, see, when I wrote "(Don't hurt me!)" (And I assume that's what you were referring too when you made that quote), I was talking to any moderators or whoever since I just admitted before that that I downloaded and watched torrents... which I'm pretty sure is illegal... Yipes!

lol!

In the unplanned future, I may decide to include Drew somewhere, to disrupt some of the peace between Ash and May. (Now I know that's not a spoiler since this is a shipping fic.) I've only planned so far so I dunno for sure yet. Same goes for other characters.

interesting, Drew seems like a good character to pull out.

Heh, well as I said before, Altaïr is based off me sort of, so you just kinda implied... hehe, nevermind.

Well, okay, just ignore that I said that then!

Glad to hear I'm hitting Ash's character correctly. Again, I'm basing a lot of the character's character from other people's fics and from the relatively few episodes I've watched. Oh, and you'll few more sorry for Altaïr in the next chapter, if you haven't already read it. =P

I know, I read about Altair’s past, so sad!

Good to hear that you like it, I just hope I can keep up the quality as time goes on, since things start becoming complicated.

Well, just ta say, so far so good! And I really appreciate you sending me the PM’s even though I haven’t been reviewing lately.

Well, I can go on and tell you how <<INSERT THE CHAPTERS I READ>> were really good, but that would be no fun. Instead, I’ll just quote funny parts from the fanfic!

Ash, Dawn, and Brock turned their hands to see Altaïr bent forward and holding his... crotch... in pain.

"She kicked me."

hah hah, I didn’t think that would happen, poor Altair.

"ARGH! Why won't he catch on? I swear, sometimes it's just impossible to screw with Ash's head when I talk about May."

Again, thumbs up for Ash, I mean, wow, could you get him any more in character?

Poor Brock!

Flareon, Vaporeon, Leafeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, and Jolteon.

Are Glaceon and Leafeon evolutions of Eevee?

Altaïr then took off his boxers, leaving him completely naked under the shadow of the tree. Dawn immediately felt a surge of exhilaration and guilt as she watched him perform the feat.

"Wait, why am I watching him... since when was I... how..."

Man, here I was thinking, “Holy crap Dawn, what the hell do you think you’re doing!?” XDD Naughty girl.

Ash immediately turned crimson at Brock's words, but tried his best to maintain his composure.

"W-What are you talking about?" Ash managed to stammer.

aw, so cute.

Ash began blushing as he tried to think of a snappy comeback to say to Brock, but his brain failed him.

too bad for Ash, he just can’t win.

"Uh, beats me." Ash said faking confusion. He turned his head to where Pikachu sat on his shoulder and gave him a soft, "Thanks, it was beginning to feel weird being dragged around by her..."

evil peoplez!

Wellz, anyway, that’s all I have to quote I guess. But hey, those were awesome chapters, I can’t wait to read more!

Oh yeah!

Happy Belated Sixteenth birthday! Woo hoo for sixteen year-olds! And, you’re like the.... I dunno, I lost count... but I know so many people who are born in August, and coincidently, they’re all turning sixteen. I guess it’s a popular month, no?

EDIT: I tried to put this up a few weeks ago, but sadly never got to it.

[cichawk]

Thank you to all you readers for being patient with me. I'm still not quite in sync with my daily routine since it's been changed dramatically after camp. I spend a lot of time talking to my friends from camp on AIM and Skype during the nights, so I don't always get a lot of time to write. But I am still devoted to writing as much of this fic as I can... until I drop dead.

Anyway, also thank you to all those people who showed their support after my return. It really means a lot to see your comments and words of encouragement after so long. Also, glad to see Uza-chan is back on track and also leafy-the-hedgehog making a post in this thread.

Ok, on to the show.

--------------------

Foreword

Well, here it is finally. It's actually not everything I planned on writing in this chapter, but after reading over it a few times and checking the word count, it was becoming somewhat lengthy to me, so I decided it was finally time to put it up. That, and also there hasn't been an update in like, forever. I was becoming really angsty from not putting up a new chapter in so long.

So, we finally learn something about our mysterious character that resembles May in this chapter. Flashback in this chapter as well. (Denoted by the ***'s)

--------------------

Chapter 7 - Gifts and Curses

The day was beginning to get hot as the sun shined brightly overhead in the sky. Altaïr had exited Stacy's after registering for the contest and was now ambling down the sidewalk at a slow pace. As he walked, the sun beat down on his untidy black hair, making his head extremely hot and uncomfortable. After several more minutes of mindless wandering, he approached an ice cream parlor.

Altaïr brought his hand up to his chin, thinking hard for a moment. "I want ice cream." he finally concluded as he made his way to the door.

Entering the parlor, Altaïr saw a long line of customers lined up in front of the counter that sold ice cream. He sighed as he made his way to the back of the line, but as he did so, something caught his eye. Or rather, somebody.

He spotted a familiar looking girl, who wore a red bandanna and had long strands of brown hair at the sides of her head, sitting at a table in the corner with her back turned to everyone else. Altaïr also noticed that the girl seemed to be shaking, so he deliberated whether or not he should approach her to see what the matter was. After much debate, he made up his mind and left his place in line to begin walking up to the shaking girl. As soon as he was a couple feet behind her, he spoke.

"Excuse miss, I uh, couldn't help but notice that you seemed a little... down in the dumps here in this corner." Altaïr said in a soft voice so he wouldn’t surprise the young girl.

The brunette stopped shaking at the sound of his deep voice, but didn't turn around. Altaïr heard her take a deep breath and then she spoke.

"You're the first one to care..." the girl said faintly.

Altaïr could tell that her voice slightly cracked, which confirmed his suspicion that she had been crying. He continued conversing with the sad girl.

"Well, since I'm the first to care..." Altaïr paused to summon up the courage he needed to ask what he wanted to ask. "-do you want to confide the reason why you're distressed with me?"

The girl pivoted her head in Altaïr's direction with slight surprise as she considered his unusual proposition. She couldn't get a good view at him without showing her red eyes, however, so she turned her head back towards the wall.

"No, I'm fine. I just need to be alone right now," the girl said as impassively as she could.

"I understand." Altaïr turned around and began to head back to the line to get ice cream, but before he could make it, a voice rang out in his direction.

"Wait! Uh... I think... I could actually um... use somebody to talk to..." the girl blurted out loudly, surprising herself at her own sudden change of heart.

Altaïr turned around and cracked a smile at the girl who was now facing him. When the young girl got a good glimpse at the teenaged boy for the first time, her sapphire eyes that were red from crying widened slightly, and her mouth hung somewhat agape. Several people had begun to watch scene as the girl had just nearly yelled across the parlor, and the bandanna-wearing girl began to blush as the people stared at them with interested eyes, making comments about the situation where the girl could hear a word here or there such as "couple" and "cute." This caused the girl to blush even more heavily but Altaïr however, took no notice of the watchers, and continued to talk to her like nothing was going on.

"Well, we can't have a proper conversation if we don't know each other's names. Name's Altaïr."

"That's a... unique name..." The girl commented.

"Er, thanks... but... I'm interested in your name too." Altaïr gave the girl a warm smile to encourage her.

"Oh, uh, m-m-my name is..."

Altaïr waited patiently.

"May."

There was silence for several seconds, before Altaïr broke it.

"May, that's a pretty name. Nice to you meet you."

"Nice to meet you too... Altaïr..." It could be clearly seen by everyone in the parlor that May's face was crimson.

"How about we talk over some ice cream? My treat."

--------------------

"Why do I feel... different... around this guy?"

The two teenagers had sat down at the table May had been at and were now enjoying their delicious ice cream treats. Altaïr had got a simple cup of French vanilla and strawberry ice cream while May got a banana split, or rather Altaïr 'accidentally' bought a banana split and insisted that she had it, claiming he was slightly allergic to bananas. They sat across from each other on high table with stool chairs, which on the back of the chair was where Altaïr hung his black fleece jacket and backpack due to the heat of the day. They slowly ate their treats as they waited for the other to speak.

"I can't really understand what I'm feeling right now... but something tells me that... he's the one I need to talk to..."

May gazed down at her half eaten banana split and tried to process her thoughts, but she was interrupted when Altaïr spoke to her for the first time after he had bought her the banana split.

"Enjoying it?"

May looked up at the source of the voice and attempted to give him a smile, but failed as she just twitched her mouth in several ways.

"Yeah, thank you for being so generous and buying it for me," she tried to say sweetly, but failed as well, as her voice just sounded like a whisper.

Altaïr just gave her a small smile of his own and nodded, before going back to finishing his own ice cream.

"Why does he care so much about me anyway? He doesn't know me at all... or does he?"

She began to ponder that thought and tried to remember if she had ever seen him. She thought about his tall and lean, but strong, body, his unkempt hair, his kind, handsome face...

Altaïr, sitting across the table, had finished his ice cream and was waiting patiently for May to speak first. Eventually, May looked up again and saw the young man staring at her.

"He's got... nice eyes... but they seem to be black... like his hair... black like Ash's..."

At the thought of Ash's name she looked away from Altaïr and blushed off to the side. Altaïr raised an eyebrow but he didn't speak or make any motions. He wanted to make sure she was ready.

"Why does Altaïr want to keep me company?... Most people would be suspicious, but for some reason, I trust him."

May couldn't hold her thoughts and emotions in any longer.

"Ohh! I feel like my head is about to explode!" she said through closed eyes while rubbing her forehead.

"You can't keep everything you have bottled within you; you have to let it out sometime."

May calmed herself down at his words and thought of what she should say to him for several seconds. Finally, it hit her.

"Altaïr... have you ever..." she tried to find the right words so it wouldn't seem too awkward. "-cared for somebody, like a lot?"

Altaïr looked at the young girl puzzledly at first but caught on to what she was saying.

"...Yes..."

"Then you understand that when you lo-I mean, care for someone a lot, you want them to care for you back... forever... right?"

Altaïr nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

"Well, there was this boy..."

"He did something to you," Altaïr interrupted, but quickly looked away and apologized for his rudeness.

"It's all right, and you're right..." May looked at her banana split sadly, which was now almost gone.

Altaïr remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"The boy's name... is Drew."

"What did this Drew do to you?"

"I..."

May looked away as she felt tears welling in her eyes, but she held them in. However, she couldn't hide them from Altaïr before he had noticed and he gave her a concerned look as he reached over and gently held her hand.

"You don't have to tell me anything if it hurts too much to talk about," he said softly.

The girl was a bit taken aback by his action, but on the inside, she felt a bit warmer and confident.

"I-I think I'll be ok..." May murmured, still letting him hold onto her hand.

Altaïr nodded and retracted his hand, leaving May slightly disappointed, as she liked the feeling of his warm grasp.

"He's so... caring... and sweet... like another boy I know..."

May got her mind back on track as she continued with her tale.

"Well, I... I liked Drew. I liked him a lot. You see, we're both Pokémon coordinators and we're rivals as well. Before I met Drew, I traveled with a group of friends, one of them being my brother. But when I met him... I dunno, I didn't like him much at first, because he was always so harsh when he criticized me, but as time went on, I realized he was always trying to help me, and he told me that the reason why he was always so harsh was because he really cared about me a lot and he wanted me to be best I could."

May looked off to the side sighed.

"And he really did mean it... I could see it in his eyes when he told me that. So that was when I fell for him, over... another boy... one of the ones I traveled with."

Altaïr only nodded slowly, not wanting to interrupt the girl for a single word.

"I continued traveling around with my group, watching the... other boy... compete in gyms while I competed in contests, where I saw Drew again and again. As time passed, I began to think about him constantly, wanting to see him all the time... and that wish came true when my friend that was the trainer cleared the Battle Frontier. After a non-official contest that he and I competed and tied in, Drew came up to me without the others knowing, and asked me if I wanted to travel with him to Johto to compete in the contests there. I eagerly agreed of course... and immediately told my friends and brother that I would be leaving for Johto, but I left out the part about Drew asking me. And... that's the last I ever saw them, since we all had separate paths to take..."

Altaïr sat quietly and made no sound while May took a small breather.

"So it was just me and Drew in Johto, and we were happy being alone with each other. Over time, we could tell that we liked each other... a lot... so we started... a relationship.

May stopped and blushed at how she was being so open to a total stranger, but his dark captivating eyes captured her, and she moved on.

"We... did things together... and... even kissed several times..." May felt herself getting extremely warm but as she looked up at Altaïr again, she saw his understanding facial expression, which soothed her.

"We were happy together... but one day..." the coordinator began feel the tears coming back as she recalled the past, and this time, she actually grabbed the boy's hand as she let the tears out.

"I-I thought he loved me! H-He even said so himself!" May was now sobbing heavily as she held Altaïr's hand close to her chest. He was startled by her action as his hand was now very close to her breasts, but he made no effort to pull way.

"O-One day, at a c-c-contest... we met a-another... g-girl... a b-beautiful one too..." May paused to control her sobbing so she could speak more clearly.

"At first, I didn't think... much of it. Drew and the... girl hit it off well, like she... and I did too, so I thought he was just being... friendly. But as we went to... more contests, Drew seemed to be drifting away from me... he wouldn't... be as intimate with me as often... and our conversations grew shorter. I also... saw him talking with the other girl a lot when we met up at contests." May let out of heavy sigh as she regained complete control of her breathing.

"I thought they just talked about contest things, since she was a great coordinator and Drew had already talked about contests plenty of times with me, so I let go of my suspicion and acted like nothing was wrong. I was so stupid... so foolish..."

May's eyes began to narrow in anger, surprising Altaïr as he stared into them, but the anger left her eyes almost as soon as it entered, replaced by the sad, defeated look once again.

"I was too naïve... I couldn't see what was going on behind my back until it was too late. If I had found out earlier, it probably won't have hurt as much..."

May finally let go of Altaïr's hand and looked down into her nearly empty bowl, with a look of many emotions on her face.

"I found them together in..."

********************

May walked down the long hallway quickly as she searched for her boyfriend, Drew, who had told her that he would be gone for only about 10 minutes. The hallway was lined with many doors that lead to the dressing rooms for the coordinators who were participating in the contest. Drew had been gone for over 20 minutes and May was starting to get worried, so she had left her own room to see where he might have gone... or what might have happened to him.

"It's not like Drew to go against his word... I'm starting to get worried."

The young girl wandered the halls, peaking into a few open dressing room doors, but didn't find her sweetheart in any of them.

"Maybe he just got caught up in a conversation with somebody... most likely about contests... most likely with... her."

May instantly felt a pang of guilt as she thought of her new friend in that manner. "No, she'll never try anything on Drew... she's too sweet... if he is with her then they're probably just having a friendly conversation." However, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious at the possibility of the two doing something more, no matter how hard she tried to put that idea out of her head.

The coordinator continued to amble through the hallway until she had finally reached the double door that would take her back to the contest hall lobby. She looked left and right at the two dressing rooms on both sides of her, and noticed that the door on the left was slightly open. She signed as she considered checking that one last door, but decided against it as she thought Drew was no where in the vicinity, but as May began to walk towards the double door, she heard giggling coming from the open door.

"Oh Drew, you're so bad!" a female voice giggled out.

"I know..." a male voice sneered.

May's eyes widened as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "It... can't... be..." May managed to stutter.

She stood in front of the door, shocked, for several seconds, before she did the only thing she could think of doing. She pushed the door in with all her might and caused it to slam against the wall. What she saw broke her heart.

Inside the room, Drew was laying on top of the girl on a couch, locking his lips with her as he made out with her noisily and passionately. The sound caused by the slammed door hadn't even affected their activity, and they continued their intense kissing without noticing May. May was so stunned and could only manage to whisper one word. "Drew..."

Despite saying it quietly, Drew somehow heard May say his name and he broke away from the girl and looked up, seeing May standing at the doorway. His jaw dropped since he had just been caught cheating on his girlfriend. "May... I..."

But before he could make any sort of explanation, May sprinted out the doorway and left the contest hall in a matter of seconds, leaving Drew and the terrible crime she had seen him commit behind. As she ran, her brain was flooded with emotions.

"How could he... why did he..."

The same questions ran through the innocent girl's mind as she replayed the event she had just witnessed in her head over and over again. When May finally did stop running and regained her psyche, she looked around and saw she had run deep into the forest.

"I just... want to be lost in here forever..."

--------------------

Two days had passed and May was a total mess as she had remained in the forest ever since she had viewed her boyfriend, or rather ex-boyfriend now, cheating on her with one of her friends. The girl's hair was in disarray, her face dirty, and her clothes soiled. Her only sources of food had been whatever snacks she carried in her yellow fanny pack which was not at able to supplement her fully.

May's eyes were also completely bloodshot from crying, which was what she did the majority of the time. She kept asking herself why Drew did what he did; she thought he loved her, and he had even said so himself a number of times.

"Is it me? Was I a bad girlfriend... or am I not pretty enough... or did he just get... bored of me?" May felt the tears coming back as she thought over the questions she had asked herself a million times.

"It must be... because she's a better coordinator..." she concluded like she did every time she went through the process, and she began to cry quietly to herself again.

Being out alone in the forest two days has done a number of the girl's physical and emotional health, and she was on the verge of insanity and collapsing from exhaustion, whether she knew it or not. The disheveled girl dragged her feet as she walked at a painstakingly slow pace, just wandering with no destination.

"I just... want to die..."

At that last thought, she collapsed.

When May woke up, she found herself staring at the ceiling of a building. The sight confused her and she struggled to remember what had happened. Suddenly, all her memories came flooding back to her and she jolted into an upright position and observed her surroundings. She was lying on a small cot in a small room with wooden walls and a door. There was absolutely nothing else in the room except a small gas lamp beside her. May made an attempt to get off the cot but discovered her legs weren't responding so well, and then felt the empty feeling in her stomach.

"How long has it been since I last ate?"

May let her head fall back onto her pillow and continued staring at the ceiling. After several minutes, she could feel herself dozing off but before she could she heard the door open. The weary coordinator sat up again and saw a dark figure standing at the door. May felt slightly anxious at the sight of the figure but as soon as it stepped into the light of the lamp, she sighed and felt more relieved. The figure turned out to be an elderly woman carrying a tray with a steaming bowl and cup. As the old lady approached May, she could smell the alluring scent of soup and heard her stomach screaming for food.

"Here child, eat this slowly," the old woman smiled at the young girl and placed the tray on her lap.

May looked at the soup and hesitated for a moment but her stomach was begging for food, so she finally gave in and picked up the spoon. She took a small spoonful of the soup and slurped it, enjoying it immensely. May then began to pick up more spoonfuls of soup and began to devour it at a quicker pace.

"Slow down there child, if you eat too quickly after being starved you can kill yourself!"

That stopped May, and she put down her spoon to let herself digest some of the food. She looked up at the old woman and thought about what she should say to her, finally coming up with two simple words.

"Thank... you..."

The elderly woman simply nodded and smiled and then left the room. May was alone once again and she began to feel cold on the inside. She tried to push the feelings into the back of her mind as she resumed eating her soup, this time more slowly. After finishing the soup, she began to drink the hot tea, which rejuvenated her, as well as made her slightly drowsy. Before she knew it, May was fast asleep once again.

-------------------
May awoke to find the room dark. This time, the coordinator remembered where she was and quickly hopped off the cot without any problem. The soup the nice old lady gave her yesterday had successfully returned a portion of May’s strength to her. She felt her way to the door and slowly opened it. May peeked into the next room, which appeared to be the living room, dining room, and kitchen of the house, or rather, cabin, as the entire place was made of wood.

“Uh, hello?” May called into the dimly lit room. Nobody replied.

The girl slowly opened the door the rest of the way and entered the main room of the cabin, which was rather small. She began to explore the area until she eyed something lying on the table. It was a note, and it was addressed to May.

“Dear My Guest, if you are reading this, then I have already gone into town and won’t be back until nightfall. Feel free to help yourself to whatever food you need, and to use the phone if you need to call anybody, as you are probably on a Pokémon journey so you probably need to be on your way soon. I was just glad I could help you out before any harm could befall you."

“I wonder why she didn’t write her name…”

May looked around the cabin and spotted a simple non-video telephone in the corner. Since she had left her PokéNav in her dressing room at the contest hall, it was her only form of communication now. She thought about calling somebody but she then realized that she didn’t know who to call. Calling her parents would only make them worry about her, and she wasn’t ready to return home if they asked her to, especially under the circumstances. She couldn’t call her friends, as she had no idea where in the world they were. May was about to give up on calling anybody until one person hit her. She swiftly picked up the phone and tried to remember the number of the person. Finally remembering after several moments, she dialed the number and waited.

The voice of a Pokémon answered the phone.

“Mime?” The Pokémon cheerfully said.

“Hey Mimey… this is May. Is… Ash’s mom there?” May asked hesitantly.


“Mr. Mime!” May heard the Pokémon calling for Delia, Ash’s mom, in Pokémon language and soon, another voice spoke through the phone.

“Hello?” said the voice of a woman this time.

“Hi Mrs. Ketchum… this is May.”

“Oh hello May! It’s been a long time, how are you?” greeted Delia cheerfully.

“Not… so well,” answered May sadly.

“Oh, what’s wrong dear?” Delia put on a look of a concern, though May couldn’t see it since she wasn’t using a video phone.

For some reason, May entrusted Ash’s mom with all the events that had happened since she left for Johto. She felt somewhat guilty about telling everything to Delia instead of her own mom, Caroline, but at the moment, she didn’t want tell her own mother; it would only cause her to worry and she would most likely tell May’s father, Norman, which was the last thing May needed. If Norman knew that May was spending time with a boy, alone, on her Pokémon journey, he would probably have May back at the gym before she could even explain anything else, as well as have a ‘friendly’ meeting with the lucky boy.

“May, if you ever need a safe place to stay, you know you can always come to my home,” Delia told May.

“Thanks Mrs. Ketchum, but I actually think I know what I want to do next now.”

“Really? What would that be?”

“I want to meet up and travel with Ash again,” May said softly.

“Oh, May, I think that’s a great idea! I think Ash would like that very much,” Delia exclaimed, with a slight hinting tone in her voice. May missed whatever she hinted however.

“Yeah… but I don’t know where Ash is right now…”

“After Ash returned home and battled Gary, he traveled to the Sinnoh region, and currently he’s traveling with Brock again, as well as a new girl named Dawn. She’s a coordinator like you too.”

May felt a pang of jealously upon hearing the fact that another girl was traveling with Ash. She tried to shake it off but only felt more jealous and hurt.

“Oh… a new girl? What’s she like?” the coordinator asked sheepishly.

“I don’t really know May, I’ve only seen her over the video phone a couple of times when Ash makes his weekly calls, but she seems like a nice girl.”

“I wonder… if Ash still cares about me…” May felt a small tear form at the ends of her eyes but she fought to hold them back.

“No, no more crying. I will be strong now. I want… to be with Ash again… and I will.”

All of a sudden, May felt a new spirit within her that was determined to embark on this journey. She didn’t know where it came from, or why she was feeling that way, but she was bent on finding Ash at that moment, no matter what it took.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from the phone she still held to her ear.

“The last time I heard from Ash, which was actually last night, he said he was on the road a city called… Lightcrown I think? You may want to start your search for him there.”

May felt herself light up at the new information. “Really? Then I think that’s where I will head to… right now! Thanks for being here to talk with me.”

“It’s no problem May. Feel free to call again if you need someone to talk to or if you need an update on where Ash may be.”

“Thanks again, Mrs. Ketchum, but if Ash calls, could you keep the story of me searching for him a secret? I want it to be a surprise when I finally catch up to him.”

“Sure thing May, you go on now!”

“All right, bye!” and with that, May hung up the phone and ran back into the small bedroom to collect her belongings. But as she began to open the front door, she realized she still had no idea where she was. May sighed and plopped herself down on a couch to wait for the old woman to return. She checked the clock which read 6:57, so she said to herself that it wouldn’t be long until the old woman returned.

-------------------

Afterthought

Alright, so that's the chapter you've all been waiting so long for. Again, I apologize for the long time gap.

So since there was a flashback in this chapter, I wanted to make sure everything was consistence with things from previous chapters. If any of you all still remember past chapters and find something inconsistent, please tell me.

Contestshippers who are reading this fic probably didn't like the way Drew is being portrayed in this fic, but hey, it is and Advanceshipping fic. I just found Contestshipping to be a very believable ship so I decided to wiggle that in, only to destroy it so Advanceshipping can shine. I'm evil, no?

But wait, what's with May warming up to Altaïr so quickly? Hm, I wonder...

Haha no i won't say any more about that. You'll all just have to wait for more of the plot to unfold to understand some things. I feel a lot of stuff is pretty predictable though. But let me just say that the true plot has not be uncovered yet.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Comment, review, whatever, I'm just glad I'm back to writing this fic, though at a slower pace.

-CICHawk

[GrizzlyB]

Finally, it's been, like... forever. But then again, you did plan your absence, so, whatever. I don't really feel like nitpicking today, so I leave you only two possible errors I noticed.

"He's so... caring... and sweet... like another boy I know..."

May got her mind back on track as she continued with her tale.

I assume you meant to switch the italics. I mean, it'd be weird if she said that to Altaïr...

May instantly felt a pang of girl as she thought of her new friend in that manner.

Guilt, possibly?...

So, about the story, yeah, sucks to be May. But, apparently, life's good for Drew. Maybe. Guess we might find out, eh? And about the new girl. Not that I care overly about them, though. Do what you want.

Altaïr seemed to be acting differently towards May, but I suppose it could be viewed as being alike to him helping Ash, Brock, and Dawn, too. Is it inherent in his nature to aid people in distress? Seems that way.

Also, it seems as though, Ash, Brock, and Dawn don't appear in this chapter. Weird. Hope the next one comes out soon. I've been suddenly busy as well, with football practice and school starting soon, so I know how all that goes (this was the first time I've checked back here in about four days. Coincidence? I think not).

[EarthBorn]

Contestshippers who are reading this fic probably didn't like the way Drew is being portrayed in this fic, but hey, it is and Advanceshipping fic. I just found Contestshipping to be a very believable ship so I decided to wiggle that in, only to destroy it so Advanceshipping can shine. I'm evil, no?

Well, this is actually really realistic. From my character perception of Drew (no offense to Drew fans, I do not dislike him anyway), something like this is quite possible with him.

I wonder what May's reaction is with when Altaïr tells her in passing about Ash . Or something.

All-in-all, nice having you back after a long time.

[Lord Zant]

Wow, the "Girl who resembles May" is really starting to sound like May now, unless it is a different Drew, Ash, Mimey, Delia, and so on. ;p

Altair is seeming much warmer then I originially thought him to be, even to a complete stranger. (Although you seemed to hint that he knew her from somewhere.)

Yay for the shunnung of Drew, I love to strongly dislike that guy.

Don't worry about the time, it's not a problem. I am going through that myself, what with getting two puppies...

I didn't see any grammar mistakes, so good job there.

Nice to have you back, keep on writing at your leisure.

[cichawk]

And of course, my next tradition, replying to all of your wonderful replies to this thread.

So, about the story, yeah, sucks to be May. But, apparently, life's good for Drew. Maybe. Guess we might find out, eh? And about the new girl. Not that I care overly about them, though. Do what you want.

Currently I don't know where I'll put Drew back in the story, or how I'll make him act when he comes back. Pretty sure sometime in the late-ish future he may be around though.

Altaïr seemed to be acting differently towards May, but I suppose it could be viewed as being alike to him helping Ash, Brock, and Dawn, too. Is it inherent in his nature to aid people in distress? Seems that way.

Well, all the reason more to read more and learn more about his character. =) But let me tell you that even though he seems to have no flaws at the moment, he does have flaws. Character flaws are an important part of any character.

Also, it seems as though, Ash, Brock, and Dawn don't appear in this chapter. Weird. Hope the next one comes out soon. I've been suddenly busy as well, with football practice and school starting soon, so I know how all that goes (this was the first time I've checked back here in about four days. Coincidence? I think not).

I think it was time May deserved a chapter to herself heh. But yea, I wanted the chapter to be more focused on May and what had happened to her recently. The others will be back soon. Hm, I think you could sense a disturbance in the atmosphere and that drove you to come check the forums. =P

Well, this is actually really realistic. From my character perception of Drew (no offense to Drew fans, I do not dislike him anyway), something like this is quite possible with him.

Ya I know right? Kinda the player arch-type thing. I haven't really seen him in the anime at all though, so I still can't really judge him completely. (Haven't even heard his voice before.)

I wonder what May's reaction is with when Altaïr tells her in passing about Ash . Or something.

Somewhat confusing sentence for me, but I think I get what you mean.

Wow, the "Girl who resembles May" is really starting to sound like May now, unless it is a different Drew, Ash, Mimey, Delia, and so on. ;p

Oh I only wrote her name like that in the foreward 'cause I still hadn't released her name in the fic yet. But now that I have, you can just call her May. =)

Altair is seeming much warmer then I originially thought him to be, even to a complete stranger. (Although you seemed to hint that he knew her from somewhere.)

Yea, I'll say the same thing as I said above about his character here, as well as he's also somewhat of a reflection off of me, though I don't really do things for strangers all the time...

Yay for the shunnung of Drew, I love to strongly dislike that guy.

Haha somewhat of a hater I see?

Alright I think I got it all. Anyway, Bioshock comes out today and I reserved it. Can't wait! (I know I'm a nerd shuddup.)

[swampert55]

“I wonder… if Ash still care about me…”

Shouldn't that be plural?

mysterious character that resembles May

What's the point? We know she is May anyway, or this wouldn't be Advanceshipping.

Alright I think I got it all. Anyway, Bioshock comes out today and I reserved it. Can't wait! (I know I'm a nerd shuddup.)

So? I reserved Diamond.

Haha somewhat of a hater I see?

That holds true for me.

I'm evil, no?

No, Contestshippers are evil. :P

[cichawk]

Foreword

I'm back again, with the next installment to Pokemon: Neo Genesis.

Well this chapter continues off from the flashback from chapter seven, and continues a little bit more before going back to real time. The days might seem to be advancing really slowly but I have my reasons to write all this stuff. =) Anyway, enjoy.

--------------------

Chapter 8 - Detour

A few hours had passed when the elderly woman finally returned from her trip into town. She carried several bags in her arms and set them down in the kitchen before realizing that several cabinets and drawers were open. She glanced around the room and spotted the young coordinator dozing on the couch, with a plate containing half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of her on the low coffee table. The woman smiled at how peaceful the girl looked as opposed to how she was just that morning, and began putting her groceries away.

May snored lightly as she slumbered on but when the old woman accidentally dropped a spoon while she was preparing more soup for her, May stirred and opened her eyes.

“Wha-What time is it?” the tired girl mumbled.

“Oh hello dear, I’m sorry to wake you. And it’s 9:12 pm right now.”

May bolted up from the couch when she heard that.

“What? It’s been more than three hours since I last checked!” she ran into the room with the cot and frantically began looking for her belongings, then ran back out into the main quarters.

“Hold on there, what’s the big rush?” the old woman looked curiously at the seemingly deranged girl.

“I have to get to the Sinnoh region right now! I can’t explain everything now but I just need to find someone there.”

The brunette began to run to the door until she remembered the reason why she had not left for Sinnoh earlier that day. She blushed and turned back towards the old woman.

“Um, well, that is, if I knew how to get there…” May said sheepishly.

The elderly woman smiled at May and walked to wear she stood by the couch.

“Well, we’re currently in the woods east of Olivine City, which happens to be a port city. You can go there and catch a boat to Sinnoh, but not today, since you’ll never make it in time for the final 9:30 boat. I think you should just spend one more night here before you continue your journey.”

May opened her mouth to make a retort, but she then realized that the woman was most likely correct. She also knew that it would be very difficult for her to make her way through the woods in the dark. The defeated girl closed her mouth and resigned to sitting back down on the couch.

“But why did you want to get to Sinnoh so quickly?” the old woman questioned on.

“It’s…” May debated whether or not she should lie or tell her the truth, but then she figured that it wouldn’t cause any harm to tell the truth. “It’s about a boy…”

The old woman’s eyes seemed to flash when she heard that. Then she smiled and sat down next to the young girl.

“The first boat that goes to the Sinnoh region departs at 8 am tomorrow morning, so you will probably need to wake up at 7:30 to catch it.” The woman then put a small hand on May’s shoulder. “You should do all you can to find the one you love,” she said compassionately.

The coordinator looked at the old woman with bewilderment. “Do I really… love him?”

“Anyway, you should probably get some rest right now. If you need to wash up, the bathroom is the door on the other side of the cabin.”

“Thank you Miss… actually, I don’t think I know your name.”

“Just call me Kat, that’s what everybody calls me.”

“Ok, thank you for all your hospitality Kat. I wish I could stay longer but…”

Kat interrupted May with a smile. “I understand. I would do the same in your position.”

********************

“And so I left early the next morning, making it to the port in time to catch a boat to Canalave City. From there, I traveled to Lightcrown, looking for Ash.”

Altaïr, who had been listening silently to the girl’s tale, nodded slowly as he contemplated on what he should say to May under the current circumstances.

“I got here yesterday but I’ve had no luck in finding him yet. I’ve asked a couple Pokémon Centers if he’s checked any Pokémon into them, but they all don’t have any records of him.”

“Have you tried the Pokémon Center in the very center of Lightcrown yet?”

May looked at Altaïr strangely for a moment, before replying, “No... I haven’t had a chance to go that far into the city yet. Why did you ask that?” She looked at the tall teenager suspiciously.

“Well, here goes nothing.”

“I’ve been traveling with Ash for a couple days now, as well as Brock and Dawn.” Altaïr was somewhat afraid of how she would react next.

The brunette that sat in front of him seemed to go into a momentary state of shock when she heard this. Altaïr gave a sigh of relief and figured he might as well go on.

“So uh, yeah they stayed in the Pokémon Center I mentioned while I slept outside of the city last night. We’ll be here for a couple of days since Dawn entered the local contest that some department store is hosting. And… I sorta got dragged into doing the contest too.”

May shook herself out of the shock and prepared herself to become flooded with emotions for the boy she supposedly loved, but they were absent. For some reason, the news that Ash was in Lightcrown City didn’t delight her as much as she had thought.

“Ash is here… he’s really here… and I’ve found someone who knows where he is… but why don’t I feel the way I should feel?” May looked down at the table as she sorted through her thoughts and feelings.

Seeing how May didn’t seem like she was going to speak, Altaïr continued on.

“When I last saw them… uh… oh yeah, Dawn had dragged Ash with her to go dress shopping for the contest. I guess we were gonna meet up outside the city to continue training… not sure where though.”

May stared into space as she tried to understand what was going on at the moment. She then looked at Altaïr and felt her face become warm. Altaïr didn’t notice however as he got up from his stool and put on his jacket and backpack.

“If we go back to the Pokémon Center, we may run into them. You want to see them again right?”

May’s face returned to its normal color as she was brought to reality.

“Huh? What was that?” the coordinator said confusedly.

“I said, if we head back to the Pokémon Center, we might run into them.” Altaïr raised an eyebrow at the spaced out girl.

“If I go with him… I’ll see Ash again... but why do I not feel the urge to find him all of a sudden?” May then remembered what Altaïr had said earlier concerning Ash. “He’s with Dawn right now… maybe, maybe Ash doesn’t feel the same way I feel about him. After all, he did go shopping with her…”

As May stood before the tall boy, she began to glance at his physical features. Altaïr, who had turned around and began walking towards the entrance of the ice cream parlor, was oblivious to her observing of him. The young girl stared at the older boy as he walked away from her and felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. When she realized what she was doing, she blushed to herself.

“Have I… no, I couldn’t have. I just met him. He’s just kind of... cute, if not on the handsome side, that’s all.” But May’s actions were telling otherwise. “Maybe… I could just spend some more time to get to know Altaïr, before I find Ash and Brock… and Dawn.”

Altaïr had already made it to the door of the parlor while May still stood by the table they had been seated at. Noticing that she was still not with him, he turned around and looked dumbly at the girl.

“Um, are you coming?”

May finally noticed that he had made it all the way to the door without her and she put on an embarrassed look as she trotted up to join him. When the two walked outside into the hot day, May decided she would try her plan.

“Hey, Altaïr?” May said innocently.

“Yup?” Altaïr replied with his usual impassiveness, while looking at the road ahead.

“Um…” May hesitated for a second. “I’ve been thinking… or rather wondering…” She stopped again to think of the right words to say, but decided that it was better that she just be blunt about it. “Do you know if Ash has the same feelings for me as I do for him?”

Altaïr didn’t turn his head towards the coordinator, but she could tell that his facial expression had change, though she couldn’t read it.

“No.”

May waited for him to say more but he seemed to have no intention to. Slightly annoyed as the boy that seemed so caring minutes ago was now like a rock to her, she continued talking.

“Do you think… you could… ask him about it?” May cringed slightly as she awaited his reply.

Altaïr remained silent a while longer as the two walked down the busy city street, but after a minute, he gave her his answer.

“I will.”

At first May thought she had misheard Altaïr, but when she looked up at his face, he was looking down at her with a wry smile. She gathered the courage to speak once again.

“R-Really? You’d do that for me?” she said somewhat bewildered.

“Yup.”

May then decided to ask the question that had been in her mind the entire time since she had met him.

“But… why? Why are you doing this all this? Why do you care… about me so much?”

Altaïr halted without warning, causing May to take a couple steps ahead of him before she noticed and turned around.

“It’s not that I care for you so much…” May felt a small stab to her heart as he said this, but Altaïr wasn’t done. “It’s because I… I can’t explain it, but I just feel like I need to help… to aid people in need... to bring happiness…”

The pain that May felt in her chest dissolved instantaneously as she caught a glimpse of something in the boy’s right eye, but it disappeared as soon as it came. Altaïr shook his head slightly and he began to walk down the sidewalk again, with May following by his side.

“He wants to bring happiness? What does that mean?” May peered out of the corner of her eye at the teenaged boy, and felt the same feeling in her stomach as she did back in the parlor. “I wonder…”

“So where will we meet tomorrow once I get Ash’s… testimony?” Altaïr asked.

May saw this question as the perfect opportunity to try something out. “How about we meet at a restaurant and you’ll tell me what he said… over some dinner?” May smiled sweetly.

“Ok, I guess that’ll work. Got any idea which restaurant?”

“Oh, I passed a really nice looking restaurant when I was exploring the city. It was called the Spotlight Café, and it was somewhere on the east side of the city.” May tried to make her invitation sound as casual as she could.

And it worked, as Altaïr didn’t seem to think twice about it. “Alright, we’ll meet there tomorrow. Time?”

“How does 6:00 sound?” May said while trying to stifle the giggles that were trying to force their way out of her mouth.

“Sounds good, see you then I guess.” With that, Altaïr turned away from her at an intersection and began walking north.

With Altaïr gone, May finally let out the giggles that she had been holding in.

“Hehe, this is almost like a date! This is gonna be a lot of...” Suddenly, a realization finally hit her. She stopped giggling and put on a dismayed expression.

“Oh no… I think I…”

--------------------

Altaïr ambled down the street silently as he thought to himself.

“This is all getting too complicated. I can’t… I can’t let this distract me from my mission.”

As he walked absentmindedly, Altaïr wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings and began to wander off the main street. He stared at the ground with his hands in his jacket pockets as he trekked north towards the edge of Lightcrown City. Before he knew it, he had wandered into a run-down section of the city.

Altaïr looked up and saw the decrepit buildings around him. Many of the buildings were abandoned and had their windows and doors boarded up. The streets were littered with trash and glass, like there had been a riot in that part of the city. The air smelled of gasoline and rot, and the air seemed cooler, giving the place a ghostly feel. Altaïr took one last look around before he decided he should keep moving, and perhaps get out of the area, until he heard a scream.

He quickly spun toward the direction of the high-pitched scream and ran. As he ran further, he could hear the laughs of several men in an alleyway. Preparing himself for what he may encounter, he turned into the alleyway but stopped short of where the men stood.

There were five men that formed a semi-circle around something at the dead end of the alley. At first Altaïr couldn’t make out what or who it was, but when one of the cackling men shifted his position to the left, he could see a white beanie cap on the ground. Upon closer inspection, he could see whose head the beanie cap sat on.

“Damn,” he mumbled to himself. “Why do I always have to play hero.”

--------------------

Afterthought

Cliffhanger. =) You all can probably figure out who the victim is, but lemme just say there's gonna be some... action... in the next chapter.

Now that I'm looking back at what I've written so far, this fic would actually pass as more of a normal non-shipping fic if I left out some things and didn't write the ship in my title. From the original fantasy in my head, I didn't really imagine any shipping or anything, but once I started reading shipping fics, that inspired me to write and so I took my original idea that i was fantasizing and added romantic elements in it... kinda. I still have yet to create any real romance scenes though. Hope that doesn't end up too badly. =P

-CICHawk

[EarthBorn]

That was ... nicely done.
I didn't quite expect May's reaction to be like that, but I guess it's OK really. I was expecting more excitement from her side, but you complicated emotional tangle makes it seem ok.

Guess that May's mind is all fuzzy and distorted right now anyway.

But Dawn here seems to be in trouble, and I wonder if this trouble is in any way associated with Altaïr's mission at Lightcrown.

Keep it going!

[cichawk]

That was ... nicely done.
I didn't quite expect May's reaction to be like that, but I guess it's OK really. I was expecting more excitement from her side, but you complicated emotional tangle makes it seem ok.

Guess that May's mind is all fuzzy and distorted right now anyway.

But Dawn here seems to be in trouble, and I wonder if this trouble is in any way associated with Altaïr's mission at Lightcrown.

Keep it going!

Yes May is going throughout a lot of emotional problems right now. Typical of a girl her age no? But of course since this is an Advanceshipping fic, we all know who the winner is gonna be... not that Altaïr is really trying to win anybody... or is he? ;-) Heh no I will not tell you what his motive for everything is, but it will turn up eventually.

Also can't tell you about his mission. =P

Hope you all don't mind me putting off Advanceshipping for a while. Again, (for like the fourth time) I've stated in the beginning in my fic that this piece will be a somewhat slow progression, and that there will be shippyness where there should be shippyness. And as I've stated in my afterthought, this story wasn't originally set to be shippy, but reading shipping fics has inspired me to write fics in the first place so I decided to weasel it in, and I hope I'm doing an ok job at it.

[Lord Zant]

He quickly spun toward the direction of the high-pitched scream and ran. As he ran further, he could hear the laughs of several men in an alleyway. Preparing himself for what he may encounter, he turned into the alleyway but stopped short of where the men stood.

There were five men that formed a semi-circle around something at the dead end of the alley. At first Altaïr couldn’t make out what or who it was, but when one of the cackling men shifted his position to the left, he could see a white beanie cap on the ground. Upon closer inspection, he could see whose head the beanie cap sat on.

“Damn,” he mumbled to himself. “Why do I always have to play hero.”

Uh-oh. I bet somebody is gonna miss his "date"... And wasn't Ash with Dawn?!?

May sure was... Odd this chapter. Not bad, just odd...

And what's with Altair? His RIGHT eye? ONLY? Dude, he is one mysterious guy. He certainly has mood swings, like going from helpful little guy to brick wall. Still has me biting my nails...

Like I hinted earlier, I am worried about Ash's current condition. He WAS with Dawn, who seems to be getting mugged. Did he leave her? Or did they already finish with him...?

EVIL cliffhanger, you are WAY too good at those.

I will lap up anything else you put out...

[swampert55]

Sorry for being late, couldn't get on SPPf yesterday.

This is gonna be a lot of.”

Um, what's that supposed to say?

I can’t… I can’t let this distract me from my mission.”

Maybe he is a Pokemon Ranger?!

not that Altaïr is really trying to win anybody

Yeah, I kind of feel bad for him.

[cichawk]

Alright, next chapter done, but let me use this space to reply to some things.

Uh-oh. I bet somebody is gonna miss his "date"... And wasn't Ash with Dawn?!?

The "date" is tomorrow. Things will be explained this chapter.

May sure was... Odd this chapter. Not bad, just odd...

She's just going through the motions.

And what's with Altair? His RIGHT eye? ONLY? Dude, he is one mysterious guy. He certainly has mood swings, like going from helpful little guy to brick wall. Still has me biting my nails...

Well I originally meant that part to make it seem like May was to his right and she could only see his right eye, but then I read back and she had already walked in front of him and turned around, thus she could see both her eyes. Oh well, people can get something in just one eye can't they?

Anyway, he's just full of mysteries no?

Like I hinted earlier, I am worried about Ash's current condition. He WAS with Dawn, who seems to be getting mugged. Did he leave her? Or did they already finish with him...?

Read the next chapter now. =) (Or when I put it up after this.)

EVIL cliffhanger, you are WAY too good at those.

Mm I didn't mean it to be that evil, I just felt like that would be a good place to stop.

Um, what's that supposed to say?

Woops, supposed to have ... at the end. Added it.

Maybe he is a Pokemon Ranger?!

Maybe, maybe not. =)

Yeah, I kind of feel bad for him.

He's just a busy man, not enough time for him for girls. =P

Alright, time to put chapter 9 out. It'll take however long I take to add italics and however long the forums will take to respond. (Been kinda slow.)

[cichawk]

Man, I'm so tired. Cross country takes quite a bit out of me. Practices have been going on for a while but I finally decided to drive down (with my shiny new license) on Tuesday and today for practices, and lemme tell you they're not easy for me. For me, my athletic ability in running are totally polar. I'm like, top hurdler on the track team from grades 9-11, but the worse cross country-er... ever, since I've been last to finish my work outs and runs. Oh well, can't be best at everything now can I.

But really, I'm quite tired. I was trying to begin reading 1984 for my summer reading (school starts next Tuesday and I still have 3 books including 1984 to go.) but after about 10 pages I literally fell asleep and my mom woke me. Went to brush my teeth and came back to do my business here. After this, if I'm not too tired, I'm gonna watch the third Pokemon movie since I just finished the third season. (Which was boring as hell, too many filler episodes.) Anyway, enough about my boring personal life.

Note: Made some slight changes to the text thanks to swampert55 for catching some inconsistencies.

-----------------

Foreword

Alright, here's the next chap. Continues from that evil cliffhanger I left you guys on in chapter 8. Not as much action toward the end of the chapter, but a lot of insight on the characters there.

Enjoy.

------------------

Chapter 9 - Cerberus

“’Ey girl, we don’t wanna ‘urt you, we just wanna 'ave some fun, so why don’tcha just quit strugglin’,” said a large burly man with a sinister grin.

Dawn whimpered as she lay frightened on her side on the ground. Her clothes were soiled from being thrown around by the thugs and she had several scrapes and bruises on her face and limbs, if not on the rest of her body as well.

“L-L-Leave me alone! I have Pokémon that can take care of you guys!” Dawn threatened with the last bit of courage she had as she attempted to stand up, but failing.

The five men guffawed loudly again and each pulled out a Pokéball.

“’Ets see ‘ow your Pok’mon stand up to us fives’,” laughed the burly man.

The five thugs released their Pokémon, revealing a purple slime Pokémon, a black dog Pokémon with a red underbelly and snout, a purple ghost Pokémon with eyes the shape of diamonds, a black crow-like Pokemon with red eyes, and finally, a menacing looking Pokémon that resembled a blue lion with long black fur that covered most of his body, with a four-pointed star on his tail.

“Let’s see you try and fight us off,” sneered another man, who was skinny in comparison with the other man and wore a black doo-rag on his head.

The Pokémon began to approach the terrified coordinator when a voice spoke out.

“Oh yes, that really shows how strong you guys really are, quintuple-teaming a girl,” said a deep voice from behind the five thugs with a slight mocking tone.

The thugs whirled around to see Altaïr standing at the end of the alley, with a deadly look on his face. Dawn gasped and gave both a look of shock and glee as her savior had just arrived.

“You know who you’s dealing with here?” sneered a shirtless man covered from waist to neck with tattoos.

“Mm, nope.” The teenaged boy’s satirical answer made the tattooed man steam.

“You lil’ b*stard! You’s dealing with members of the King’s Men! The biggest and mos’ powerful gang here in Lightcrown!” the man spat.

Altaïr’s eyes widened slightly when he heard this, but not in surprise. He contemplated on what he should do next until the tattooed thug ordered his Pokémon to attack.

“Luxray! Give ‘em a spark!”

Luxray gave a mighty roar and began to charge Altaïr at full speed, but Altaïr was ready. He quickly jumped back to create some more space between him and the charging Pokémon while he hit the button of his teal Pokéball, releasing his own Pokémon.

Glaceon materialized out of the white light and immediately sprung into action, effectively countering the attack by ducking down and headbutting Luxray from his underbelly as he began to pass over Glaceon. The electricity around Luxray dissipated when the Glaceon’s attack connected.

The Gleam-Eyes Pokémon gave a cry of pain as he somersaulted in the air once before landing on his side.

“Luxray, don’t let that punk show you up! Thunder Fang!”

The Pokémon stood up and electricity began to gather at Luxray’s fangs as he built up power for the attack. But before he could take one step, Glaceon had aimed his cap endings at Luxray’s direction and he fired two large Ice Beams from each ending. In a split second, everything in the alley, except Dawn, was frozen solid.

Dawn, hearing the battle around her go quiet, uncovered her eyes with her dirty hands and saw a tall figure stand over her with an arm outstretched. She smiled and grabbed it, pulling herself up from the ground. Dawn stared into the trainer’s eyes passionately while still holding the hand she had used to pull herself up. Altaïr broke her gaze and examined the wounds on her body. Without saying a word, he let go of her hand and motioned for her to follow him.

--------------------

Altaïr led Dawn to a fountain at the center of a city square and began rummaging through his backpack. He soon brought out a first-aid kit and a small piece of clothe, and dampened it in the fountain. Still without saying a single word, he brought the clothe up to where there were scrapes on the girls knees and he began to clean them off. The young coordinator expected to feel stinging at the place where the clothe made contact with her scrapes, but surprisingly, there was none. She could only feel the soft clothe rubbing against her wounds. After he had finished on her knees, Altaïr worked his way up and eventually reached her face. Still being delicate, he stroked the piece of clothe against the cut on her forehead and washed the blood off in the fountain. Finished with the cleaning, he opened the first-aid kit and pulled out some bandages and band-aids as well as a small unlabeled bottle.

“This may burn a little,” Altaïr saying his first words to Dawn since they last saw each other.

The coordinator nodded and braced herself for the pain that was imminent.

Altaïr opened the unlabeled bottle and stuck his pinky finger inside, taking out a small amount of what looked to be green-colored goo. He slowly went down to Dawn’s knees, being careful not to look up in case she suspected him of foul play, and rubbed the green goo on her wounds.

Dawn took a sharp intake of breathe as she felt a burning sensation stronger than she had anticipated at the spot where Altaïr applied the goo.

“Relax, it may burn more than other remedies, like alcohol, but it’ll help you out in no time. This medication was created by Leafeon for minor cuts and scrapes and it speeds up your healing in a way where there’s also no scarring. Everything should heal in a day, in time for the contest, so you don’t have to worry about showing up with a bunch of bandages all over you.”

Dawn let the air she was holding in while he was applying the medication out so she could relax like he had told her to.

“He’s so thoughtful, thinking about how I would look at the contest with all these wounds… I guess I have to thank Leafeon sometime as well for this wonderful medicine.”

Altaïr had applied Leafeon’s medicine to where there were wounds on Dawn’s legs and he began to bandage them up tightly, but not to the point where blood flow would stop. When he finished, he began to work up and once again, and eventually got to her face again as well. The cut on her forehead wasn’t very deep, but it would still leave a mark for a week or two without the medication, so he reached for the bottle and fingered out some more of the green goo. Dawn, knowing that the burning sensation would now be in her head, braced herself more readily, but not before getting a mischievous idea in her head. As Altaïr leaned in to get a better view of her forehead, Dawn leaned in as well and her lips made contact with Altaïr’s. Before Altaïr could react in any other way besides widening his eyes, the blue-haired girl had already pulled away, and looked at him as nothing had happen, besides blushing. Altaïr, who usually always had a cool composure and never showed any sign of embarrassment to the group before, tinted a very slight red, before shaking his head vigorously and returning to his first-aid work.

“Tee hee, he’s such a guy.”

--------------------

“I wonder where Dawn and Altaïr are,” pondered Ash aloud. He was standing beside Brock in an open field with tall hedgerows around it, as was the same with the rest of the area to the north of Lightcrown. Pikachu sat on his usual roost of Ash’s shoulder.

“Maybe they just can’t find us with all these tall hedges around. There are quite a lot of these things around here. Guess that’s why this place was a recommended training spot since the hedges provide privacy,” rationalized Brock. A thought suddenly hit him and he turned towards the trainer next to him with eyebrows raised.

“Wasn’t Dawn with you?”

“Oh, yeah, after we went shopping, Dawn said she wanted to explore more of the city, but I said I had to… run some errands, so we split.” Ash gave Brock a sheepish look.

“More like, you ditched Dawn, eh Ash?” Brock nudged the trainer playfully. “What’s wrong Ash, I think she has a little crush on you.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want her to!” Ash said rather loudly, turning heads of a couple of passersby. They looked at him weirdly and walked on as Ash blushed and pulled Brock to a more secluded area.

“What’s holding you back then?” Brock questioned, knowing full well what the answer was even if Ash didn’t tell him.

The flustered trainer began sputtering unintelligible words while Brock smirked. Pikachu merely chortled at his trainer’s plight.

Before Ash could make a bigger fool of himself or spill anything that Brock didn’t already know, a voice shouted out at them.

“Ash! Brock!”

The two males and Pokémon spun around and saw Dawn, who was now bandaged in many places, walking with Altaïr on the path that led to their hedgerowed sector.

Ash, Brock, and Pikachu saw the bandages and band-aids and swiftly ran up to the new arrivals. Questions began to pour out of their mouths.

“What happened to you?”

“Are you hurt bad?”

“Pika, pikachu?”

“Where did you find her, Altaïr?”

“Do you need something to eat or anything?”

Dawn held up her hands to silence the interrogators.

“How about we sit down first? I’m a bit tired now.” suggested Dawn with a smile.

Everyone agreed and they all took a seat at the portable table Brock had set up. Starting from where she and Ash split up, she told her story. After Ash had left, she carried her shopping bag with her dress back to the Pokémon Center and set out to explore the city some. After exploring some more shopping districts in the city, Dawn checked her Pokétch and saw the time was around 4:30, so she decided to call Brock with her PokéNav that she, Ash, and Brock had picked up on their adventures in the Sinnoh region, in case they lost touch with each other. Brock told her to meet him in the fields to the north of Lightcrown, so she quickly made her way up. However, being the poor navigator that she was, she accidentally stumbled into the abandoned sector of the city and was soon confronted by the five thugs Altaïr took care of. They asked her if she’d like to come to their club and she immediately ran. The five thugs chased her and cornered her in the alley and physically tormented her. However, after several minutes of the pushing and hitting, Altaïr showed up and rescued her. Dawn then told Ash and Brock about how he took her to the fountain and tended to her wounds, but left out the part where she kissed him.

“So after he finished, we quickly made our way here, avoiding that terrible part of the city of course.”

Ash and Brock sat stunned as the coordinator concluded her tale. Altaïr however, stared directly at Ash, and clenched his fists.

“So you abandoned her?” he asked Ash calmly.

“What?” Ash looked at the glowering teenager confusedly

“You left her alone in a big city to go do some… errands?” Altaïr said with more intensity while spat out the last word with force.

“Whoa wait, I didn’t-.”

“Do you know what kind of people live in a big metropolis like this?” Altaïr began to raise his voice.

This began to unnerve the four other occupants, as they had never heard Altaïr raise his voice in anger before in the short amount of time they had known him, even during the times when Ash picked arguments with him.

“But-.”

“Save it, just be more careful next time.” Altaïr seemed to calm down right after he said that, and he seemed to be his normal, quiet self again.

Ash however, looked down at the table dejectedly. “He’s right, just because I wanted to create some space between me and Dawn, doesn’t mean I can just abandon her like this, especially when there’s so many unknown things in the city.” Pikachu looked at his trainer sadly with drooped ears, as he knew how Ash must have felt after Altaïr’s revelation.

Dawn looked at Altaïr, who was on her right, then at Ash, who was on her left, then back to Altaïr.

“Altaïr… he’s actually angry at Ash for leaving me… does that mean he...?” Dawn was unable to finish her unspoken sentence as Brock decided it was time to break the tension.

“So…” Brock said rather loudly to get everyone’s attention. “-how about we have a small snack and you two get to some more contest training?”

The coordinator studied Altaïr and Ash one more time before letting the topic in her head go.

“Sure, that sounds great!” Dawn cheerfully agreed.

Altaïr however, got up from his seat and began to walk toward the entrance to the practice area through the hedgerows.

“Uh, where are you going?” Brock asked skeptically.

“To train… alone. Why do you think I camped out alone last night?” Altaïr said while still walking away.

The others looked at him with questioning eyes. Altaïr sensed that they couldn’t think of the answer by themselves so he shrugged and turned around. He looked directly at Dawn as he stopped walking.

“Can’t let you know all of my contest strategies, can I Dawn? Who knows, we may go up against each other during the contest.”

The last statement struck Dawn particularly hard as her mouth fell slightly agape. She had thought that of the probability of having to face Altaïr in a battle several times before, but hearing that come out of his mouth seemed to subdue her spirit momentarily. She knew that no matter what kind of battle, normal or contest, she could not defeat someone like Altaïr.

Altaïr turned back towards the direction he was walking in and exited the scene. Dawn shivered slightly as she replayed his words in her mind.

“But why am I afraid of a sudden?” she asked herself. “The reason why I asked him to enter the contest is so there would be a better chance to win the prize… but now I’m afraid of facing him and losing, even though he could probably make it all the rest of the way and win…”

The anxious coordinator looked over the table at Ash, who was now enjoying some rice balls Brock pulled out of his bag.

“Maybe I just don’t want to seem… weak… to either of them.”

--------------------

The idea of facing Altaïr in battle disturbed Dawn, but it did not take her focus off her training. If she was to stand a chance at the possibility she would face him, she would have to rely on her contest battling skills rather than the skills used in traditional battling. And if they both made it to the finals, which Altaïr most likely would in her mind, they would have to face off anyway.

“It’s funny… how I’m not really believing that I can make it all the way to the finals… after making a big scene about the contest and prizes that day… Have I lost my confidence, because of a battle that I wasn’t even in?”

Ash, though not an experienced coordinator, offered to help Dawn and give her suggestions, as he had watched and mentored a certain someone in the past who had been quite successful in her own coordinating career. But his shouts of encouragement and suggestions were drowned out by Dawn’s own thoughts once again.

“I need to believe in myself more… that I can make it to the finals… that I will eventually have to face Altaïr, and that I will somehow prevail against him.” She paused her thoughts to give her Pokémon another order. “If I told Ash how I was feeling right now, he would say the exact same thing to me.”

Being as dense as he can be sometimes, Ash did not notice how Dawn didn’t seem to be hearing him at all, so he kept shouting from the sidelines as Dawn performed her appeals over and over again. Pikachu however, noticed that Dawn was completely oblivious to the outside world and completely absorbed in her training. The Pokémon sighed as he listened to his trainer yell more unheard words at the coordinator.

“Yeah! That was a great move, Dawn! You’re sure to impress the judges with that.” Ash said with encouragement.

But under the cheerful exterior, Ash still felt guilty about leaving Dawn alone in the city and he constantly degraded himself in his mind for doing that. Being Ash’s first and closest Pokémon, Pikachu could feel his feelings of depression and self-anger as well.

After a long training session, Dawn’s Pokétch showed that the time was 7:28, so she decided it was time for her and her Pokémon to take a break and have dinner. Brock, who was on top of things, had already begun to prepare dinner, which would consist of foot-long sub sandwiches.

“Just tell me what you guys want on it, and you’ll have it!” Brock said jovially.

“Mm, whatever Ash is having I’ll have.” Dawn was still focused on her training and thinking of ways to improve her appeals even when training was done for the time being.

“Eh, just make me anything,” Ash said dejectedly, as he still felt guilty about the events that occurred earlier that day.

Brock just looked at his two younger companions strangely and wondered what their deal was, as it was always strange for Ash to be indifferent about food and Dawn seem to be completely out of it.

Dinner was eaten in silence, and Dawn was back to training soon after. Altaïr had not joined them for dinner, which was not all that surprising due to his slight animosity to stay with the group ever since the first night in Lightcrown.

As the sun set and things began to turn dark, the threesome decided it was time to head back to the Pokémon Center. Dawn had practice battles with Ash that evening, and now the trainers and their Pokémon were all quite exhausted. Making their way back to the Pokémon Center located in the center of Lightcrown, they chatted about the events that day and Ash apologized over and over for his screw up to Dawn.

“Oh, hehe, it’s all right Ash, at least Altaïr was there to save me,” Dawn said with an emphasis on Altaïr’s name.

Her attempt to play at Ash failed as he merely grunted and apologized again, and said how he should have still been there for her. Dawn sighed and decided she wasn’t going to get Ash to say or do anything interesting tonight.

They returned to their rooms in the hotel-like Pokémon Center and crashed on their bunks. Dawn quickly took the bathroom first and prepared for a good nights sleep after waking up early in the morning. Ash and Brock decided they would take their showers in the morning, as Dawn would most likely take a good amount of time in the bathroom, so they dozed off to sleep first. Pikachu once again claimed the empty bunk above Dawn’s bed and got cozy with the sheets there. It was to be a peaceful night, for them at least.

-------------------

Afterthought

So it may seem like I'm shafting Ash and Brock a little bit, in more favor of Altaïr, but I'll just say that he's really the central character for this part of the saga. Eventually, he will be absent for a while and the spotlight will be back on our original heroes. I'm taking a longer than I expected to write this part though.

As I write the chapters with Ash in them, I tend to forget one important aspect that follows him around: Pikachu. So I always have to go back through the chapter and give Pikachu some lines depending on the situation and have him visible somewhere in the text. I'm not sure how good a job I am at doing it, but if you guys are noticing that Pikachu just sort of pops in and out here and there, please tell me. That's something I probably need to work on then to improve the coherence of my story.

Another thing, I planned to to chapter title explanations at the afterthoughts of each chapter a while ago, but I just kind of forgot, so I'll just compose a list right here.

Chapter 1 - Newcomer - Well, kind of self explanatory. Ash, Brock, and Dawn have a newcomer in their lives.

Chapter 2 - Friend or Foe or Rival - Confusing around Altaïr's diplomatic stance with the gang.

Chapter 3 - Dogfight - Well, I didn't want to just right 'Fight' or 'Battle', so I just kind of came up with this cheesy line.

Chapter 4 - History Maker - Title derived from the song "History Maker" by Delirious, a Christian band. Chapter explains Altaïr's history.

Chapter 5 - Dare - Somewhat derived from the song "Dare" by Gorillaz. Didn't really mean to do that but I noticed it after a while. Dawn's challenge (or rather begging) that Altaïr competes in the contest was kind of a dare in my mind.

Chapter 6 - Training Wheels - Well, better to say that then just 'Training', no?

Chapter 7 - Gifts and Curses - Derived from the song "Gifts and Curses" by Yellowcard. (my favorite band.) Kind of an abstract title here. I guess May's just had her share of gifts but then turn out to be curses.

Chapter 8 - Detour - Well, couple of people made detours here, and not just physically.

Chapter 9 - Cerberus - Was really having trouble with this title, but I did some thesaurus work and found that this title fit really nicely. Cerberus was that three-headed dog that guards the gate to hell, am I right? Well Altaïr was kind of like a guardian or whatever in this chapter, and also, some of you note that he has several personalities kind of, so that's kind of symbolized by a three headed dog.

Well, I hope you all found that somewhat intriguing. Sure woke me up a little bit. Time to watch the third movie.

-CICHawk