With a jolt, May woke up in a dark office, her face lying down on her keyboard. She slowly leveled her head and brushed the early signs of sleep out of her eyes. A quick look to the clock on her computer confirmed what she already knew inside.

“Damn it… I fell asleep, again!” she muttered and straightened herself. It wasn’t the first time May had fallen asleep while working overtime.

After defeating Drew in the Johto Grand Festival and becoming a Top Coordinator, May had decided to lay low for a while. None of her traveling partners were heading anywhere interesting anyway, so May returned to Hoenn and took up a job at the Pokemon Fashion Magazine, a magazine focusing on Pokemon clothes, accessories and lifestyle. Her years as a coordinator had given May quite a talent for bringing out the beauty in Pokemon and it wasn’t long before she was given a permanent position as a photographer and article writer. Today’s article had been a tough nut to crack, with the photoshoot in the afternoon and the deadline before midnight.

After she slapped herself in the face once, May quickly finished the last few paragraphs of her article. After she made sure there weren’t any glaring grammar mistakes left and all the lorem ipsum had been dealt with, she sent the article off to the company’s main headquarters in Saffron City, Kanto, where it would be pressed for distribution over the following week.

Yawning loudly, she shut down her computer, turned out all the lights and activated the alarms before she closed the door behind her and breathed in the fresh night air. Given that the Hoenn branch of the magazine was situated in Slateport City, the air was thick with salt and the faint smell of fish Pokemon. When May first moved to the city the smell had been terrible, but over time she had gotten used to it. As she unlocked her bike from the stand, she took out a Pokeball and released her faithful companion, Blaziken.

Back when she first started in Slateport City, she had no problem traveling on her own at night. That soon changed though, when she found a burglar trespassing in her apartment. Luckily for her, her Glaceon had been in the apartment as well and it had frozen the perpetrator solid. Still, even thinking about what could’ve happened if she had been at home herself when the burglar forced his way in… It made her shiver every time she considered it. Since then, May had always had at least one Pokemon out while traveling the streets at night. Mostly her smaller Pokemon, like Glaceon, would do the trick. Though sometimes, she longed for someone- something bigger. Someone with strong arms to defend her, to hug her and to tell her it would all be okay…

She had considered finding a boyfriend in her new city. Things weren’t that easy though… If sailors and marine biologists weren’t your type of guy, you were pretty much shit out of luck in a city like Slateport. As a result, not a day went by where May wouldn’t think about Ash Ketchum and the fond memories of their journey all those years ago.

If only she had told him at the Wallace Cup… Maybe he wouldn’t have left on that stupid exile of his…

Before long, May arrived at her apartment, good old Squirtle Avenue number 649. Slipping her keycard in, she found her apartment exactly the way she left it. She closed the door after letting her Blaziken in before setting off towards the kitchen on her left, where she immediately went about heating up some leftover pasta from the day before.

As she sat on her couch, eating her way through the leathery pasta she couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of loneliness sweep through her. She loved her job and her colleagues were very friendly. Not to mention she always had her Pokemon around. But still. Having another human being to talk to, to have fun with, to spend the endless days with, bickering about the most meaningless of problems in their lives. A soul mate…

Good one May… Your endless wishful thinking and moaning lost you your appetite. Again!

She mentally slapped herself.

Then, she looked down to the ground close to her television in the right corner of the room. Lying there peacefully were her Glaceon and Gary Oak’s Umbreon. Glaceon’s tummy had gotten a lot larger in the past 2 weeks and May estimated it wouldn’t be much longer before the two Pokemon could welcome another clutch of eggs into the world…

 The union between her Glaceon and Gary’s Umbreon had been as much of an experiment as it had been love. Back when Ash left Palet Town on his exile, May visited the little village only weeks later looking for him. In his absence, May got caught in a conversation with Gary in Professor Oak’s lab when both their Eevee-evolutions started to get along a little bit more than friendly.

Truth be told, the moment his Umbreon set his sights on her Glaceon, he had mounted her and was well underway of knotting the little Ice type. She and Gary had then decided to set up a small breeding business around the two lovebirds. Every two years they would allow Glaceon to have a litter of Eevee’s which could then be studied by Gary, before they would be given to new trainers as starter Pokemon. Both parent Pokemon didn’t mind the set-up and for May it helped to pay her bills, so she considered it a win-win situation.

Smiling at her snoozing little snowflake, May returned her attention to the television, which was suddenly filled with bright flashing lights as an old man with a large beard walked into view.

“Hold on, that beard looks familiar… haven’t I seen him before?” she wondered, grabbing the remote and turning up the volume a little. In the lower left corner, a graphic showed the man’s name to be Charles Goodshow, Chairman.

“Good evening everyone! It is with great pleasure that I can announce today, the coming of the greatest Pokemon Tournament of all! The Battle of the Champions will feature only those trainers who achieved high rankings in recent Pokemon Leagues, so you can be sure you’ll get the best there is! In just under 3 weeks, the best of the best on Pokemon training will battle it out on Vulcan Island for a chance to battle the reigning Pokemon Champion, Cynthia!”

May instantly straightened up and focused her full attention on the television. A tournament? Where the winner could face Cynthia? She turned up the volume some more, waking up both eons in the process, earning her an annoyed glare. She looked at them apologetically before focusing on the TV again.

“…and you have a chance to watch it all happen, live! This is an invitation-only tournament and contestants will receive their invitations later today. Each contestant is allowed to bring up to ten friends and family to cheer them on, but do not let this exclusivity get you down! Battle Net will be broadcasting the whole tournament to you live in Full HD! So be sure to tune in, starting the coming August 3rd, to see what I am sure will be an amazing tournament!”

A few flashy effects and pompous 3D texts later and the television was back to its usual garbage, composed of lame soaps and annoyingly loud teleshopping ads. With a blank expression, May turned the device off as she processed what she had just heard. A tournament was going to be held, and it was open only to those invited, those who had placed high in previous Pokemon Leagues… With a pang in her heart, May’s eyes shot up to a framed picture, hanging on the wall overlooking the television. It was a photo of Ash, taken back when he accepted his consolidation price in the Hoenn league, where he had finished in the Top 8.

“Achieved high rankings in recent Pokemon Leagues, hmmm? I’m willing to bet my half of our contest ribbon on it that Ash will be there!” Laughing excitedly, she raced back to the kitchen and reached for her Pokegear, the only way she knew to contact Ash. Her heart filling with hope, she sent him a strongly-worded e-mail, threatening him with all sorts of mayhem if he wasn’t coming. She then proceeded to send a similar message (though without threats) to all their old travelling companions.

“Let’s see… Misty, Max, Brock, Dawn, Zoey, and that girl from Unova… Iris was her name aaaaand, Cilan, there we go! Oh, let’s not forget Tracey, he did travel with Ash on their Orange Islands journey!” she mumbled before she happily bashed the ‘send all’ button.

It didn’t take long for the first replies to drop in…

Hello Sis,

First, could you please remember to use your personal e-mail next time? I know you love flaunting your new position to everyone, but please… all this ‘please consider the environment’ crap at the end is getting annoying…

As for the tournament, guess what! Yours truly got invited as well! I guess they saw my brilliance when I placed top 8 in Johto last year after all! What can I say? It’s been a long-time coming!

And don’t think I’m planning to go easy on Ash! Just because you had ‘feelings’ –

What?! Was that little brat insinuating that she actually felt anything for-?! But with a pang, May remember that she indeed had feelings for Ash, and that her retort was nothing more than instinct. A reminder of days long past... She continued reading:

-‘feelings’ for him, doesn’t mean I’m not going to show him everything I’ve learned since we parted ways!

It’ll be great to see you all again, I’ll meet you on the ferry!

Max

She had to admit, she hadn’t considered Max could be entering. Though, with a sense of pride, she considered her brother’s achievements ever since he started his journey 6 years ago to be quite commendable. He had done incredibly well in his first Hoenn league last year. A match between him and Ash was definitely something May looked forward to.

Suddenly, her Pokegear gave 3 bleeps, signaling more replies.

Hi May!

I’m glad to hear you’re going to try and get Ash out of his little retreat. Some civilization will do him good!

Sadly, I can’t come to the tournament myself. I’m finishing up my Degree on Pokemon Health as we speak and I’ll have to defend my thesis on August 6th.

I hope you understand that I can’t travel right now, but once I finish my education, you bet I’ll visit you guys to catch up! It’s definitely been too long!

Catch ya later,

Brock

Saddened, May switched to the next message:

Dear May,

Good to hear you’re trying to slap some sense into Ash. How he can survive up there without my cooking I’ll never know…

I’m afraid I can’t make it to the tournament myself. I have just made the finishing touches to my very own restaurant, here in Unova, and as the head-chef I can’t abandon my kitchen right in the first month!

Please send Ash my regards and know that we will be holding special dinner arrangements during the tournament’s finals. We’ll support him from afar!

Cilan

Well that’s an amazing score… 2 straight unavailables. She quickly opened the last one, belonging to Tracey.

Hello May!

Another tournament, how exciting! Of course, as professor Oak’s aide, I’ve known about this tournament for a while. But, you know… NDA and stuff…

I will be attending, but I’ll be accompanying professor Oak, Gary and Delia. Professor Oak is quite influential in the League, and he has arranged a special direct airline to the stadium. So, I guess I’ll meet you there?

Tracey

Well, she supposed that wasn’t too bad. At least he’d be there at the tournament…

She then got another reply, this time belonging to Ash, confirming his participation. With flushed cheeks and giggling a little bit, May charged into her bedroom and started packing her things. They would travel again. She would see him again, talk to him… Tell him…

She picked up her half of the ribbon she and Ash shared and beheld its slightly faded colors fondly. Smiling, she packed it in her bags. When she lied down in her bed an hour later, her mind was filled with dreams of travel, adventure and hope. Hope for another chance, and a brand new start!