May squealed loudly, "Michelle!!!! It's you."
Michelle did a running jump, "Ah! May? Oh sweet Mew!"
Max, "There they go."
May fell back on Honchkrow as she caught the other teen, "It has been too long Elle."
Michelle, "Three months too long. I missed you ~"
Gou chuckled, "Well, they are lively."
Michelle got up, "Oh my sanity!!! I thought you were pulling my leg when you said Ruby and Ash were travelling with you. They really are travelling with you."
Chimchar, "Chim chim char. Chimchar."
Lucario, -You can say that again. They really do look like a female Ash and Gary right now.-
Molly, "I think it is cute."
Ash, "Not my fault I miss my childhood friend and will jump him if I see him next time."
Gou coughed, "Wording Ash."
Ash threw him a raspberry, "Tomato tomato."
Ruby laughed, "I think they are more like Wallace and Steven."
Michelle, "What? You are pulling my leg. Us like Wallace and Steven?"
Ruby, "I live with them, you know. They are more of my parents than my actual biological ones."
Michelle nodded, "Yeah, I think I get that. My parents also only care about my results, May's parents are more of a mom and dad to me. Funny isn't it?"
Ash, "We are in the middle of training. Want to join us?"
Michelle, "May I? What sort of training?"
May smiled, "Terrain training. We are training our Pokemon to get used to the terrain around here. Come, join us Michelle."
Michelle, "Uhh... If that is okay I will."
Gou, "I don't mind at all."
Max, "Yeah, join us for lunch too."
Molly, "A friend of May is a friend of ours."
Ruby, "Agreed, it will be fun to battle someone new."
Ash, "Agreed! New battle partner means new ideas."
May, "See it is fine. Join us, I missed you."
Michelle nodded, "Since you insist I will."
Gou chuckled seeing the red ears the purple haired girl had but did not comment on it as she called her Salamance for battle. Ruby grinned and called for his Magnezone and they started to battle. Michelle had three Salamance with her, her starter was a normal Salamance, a shiny Salamance and an albino. Eevee and Abra were very excited to see another shiny and albino Pokemon who were the same category of Pokemon. Michelle was pretty excited as well to have a challenge after being on the road without a proper battle and challenge. Ruby, Ash and Gou gave her quiet the challenge when it came to battling and the lunch after was bliss. May showed off what she learned to cook using campfire, the pan fried vegetables with omellets and the charcoal baked bread. Ruby had helped her with the flame control to make sure she was not burnt but aside from that May did most of the cooking.
Michelle, "May, if you are still single after the end of your Hoenn journey, date me."
May turned red, "That... Uhhh... I will think about it. I want to travel and earn money before I date anyone. You know what I mean?"
Michelle gave a quiet sigh, "Yes, I understand what you mean. I am doing the same thing right now. Travelling and earning money I mean."
May gave a smile, "Once I feel confident with the amount I earn, I will take you out on a proper date. How bout that?"
Michelle, "Deal! I will dress pretty like a doll for you."
May giggled, "I look forward to it."
Ruby, "They forgot we exist, didn't they?"
Gou, "Yup!"
Ash held Max's shoulder, "Calm down Max. They are not dating yet."
Max was fuming, "That is my sister she is hitting on."
Molly was smiling holding him too, "You can do your protective brother act when she actually starts dating. You will just make May angry otherwise."
Max deflated, "Fine!"
May, "Bye Michelle, we should meet up again soon."
Michelle, "Definitely, it was nice meeting more of May's friends. See you around everyone. Let's go Salamance."
May watched her go, "I am glad we ran into her. I missed my friends."
Max, "Sure friends."
May, "Hey, what does that mean?"
Max sighed, "You don't get it, huh? That's okay, it is a little brother's perogative to protect their sisters."
Ash, "Easy brother Knight. May is not dating anyone yet."
May, "Thet's right.... Wait, why would I date anyone right now? I barely traveled anywhere and the world is so big."
Gou, "Agreed! Travel and earn money first, date later."
Ruby, "Anyway, I received an invite to Togepi festival. Or rather Ash and his Togetic did."
Ash paused, "Uhh... Togetic as well? That is oddly specific, like what reason? Why?"
Max looked curious as well, "Togepi festival not Togetic."
Ruby, "Yes, it surprised me too."
May, "It sounds interesting, should we attend? We do not have to if you are feeling uncomfortable about it."
Ash, "To be honest I am more curious rather than wary. I know Togetic has multiple fans after all. Who sent the invite?"
Ruby, "The invitation was sent by Princess Sara. She is a huge fan of your Togepi and had been following your news everytime it appeared."
Max, "That name sounds familiar."
May, "Oh I know why. She is the one who exposed the corrupt Colonel and had him arrested for trying to steal the Togepi from their natural habitat and smuggle them."
Max, "Umm... I thought that one was about the Colonel trying to forcefully take over the Kingdom?"
Ruby, "Both, he did both."
Molly, "What? That's crazy."
Gou, "And here I thought we had crazy adventures. Apparently not!"
Ash. "Let's go check it out then shall we?"
Ruby, "Oh and I believe Misty received an invite too."
Ash, "Right, Togetic had given one of her eggs to her. She got really close to Drew's Togetic just like Milotic."
May, "Awww! How romantic ~"
Max, "It's sweet. Togetic mate for life, don't they?"
Molly, "Yes, they do. It is really romantic."
Ruby, "Speaking of Mirage Kingdom. It has it's own Shadow gym and a wild gym."
Ash's eyes twinkled, "Really both a shadow gym and a wild gym?"
Ruby smiled at the enthusiasm, "Yes, the shadow gym, we will have to solve a few riddles to get there. As for the wild gym, it is in the middle of the dessert so instead of money, they exchange goods."
Ash, "Right! I better prepare some then. Dried fruits and I think I will make some of those easy bake biscuits too. Plus, medical supplies, you never know when someone might need it."
Gou deadpanned, "You are going to leave those stuff there even though you win, aren't you?"
Ash, "I mean if they are in the middle of the dessert... Think of it as a donation."
Max, "I get it, I will prepare something too. I may not be legible to challenge an official Gym yet, but wild gyms are a different matter."
Kirlia, -We can battle a Gym leader?-
Breloom, "Loom bre."
Charmender, "Char charmender."
Mareep, "Maaaaar."
Houndour barked, "Ourrrrrr."
Max, "Okay, okay, we will pull straws to see who fights to make it even, alright?"
Ash, "Looks like I am not the only one excited."
Molly, "I will battle too. Mudkip, Lotad and Shroomish have been training hard the last few months."
May, "Honchkrow and Ponyta looks interested too. Count me in."
Taillow flew on to Ash's shoulder, "Taillow."
Treeko, "Ko tree."
Chimchar pumped his fists, "Chimchar."
Absol rubed his head against Ash's thigh, "Sol."
Eevee barked, "Vui!"
Abra, -Us too, Meema, please.-
Phanphy, "Phan."
Ash, "Of course, guys. We will make a draw too. Though we could just book our battle twice to let everyone battle. But you should know that once you have registered as battle ready, we will have to follow the limited pokeball rule, right?"
Phanphy nodded, "Phan phanphy."
Eevee paused, "Vui.... "
Abra, -If it will help us join the battle training and make us stronger. We will do it.-
Ash, "Alright, Taillow since you are the first Pokemon I caught in Hoenn, you are the Captain of the Hoenn battle team."
Taillow puffed up, "Taillow."
Ash, "Treeko, you are the Vice Captain. Let's work hard."
Treeko smirked at him, "Treeko!"
Gou, "Fine! I will do it too. Not like we are deprived of money. But if we are doing this we are stopping at Mirage Kingdom's Pokemon centre first."
Ruby, "You will love it. It is designed very tastefully."
Ash, "Great then! Let's go to Mirage Kingdom next."
Ruby led the way out of the rock terrain and reached a very much used highway which lead to the Kingdom directly. The ocassional, truck with goods and bus filled with tourists passed by them taking photos of their Pokemon. While it was a little irritating especially with the sun beatig down on them, they endured it. Diance and Ralts did seem to enjoy waving at the enthusiastic tourist at least so that was one good thing from travelling across the hot highway. After three hours they reached the outskirts of the Mirage Kingdom and entered a village. The village folks were kind and offered them cool drinks with dates and fruits for snacks. The group relaxed for a bit then looked around for the inn where they spent the night. The inn keeper was a sweet old lady who worked with her grandson to keep the inn running. The young lad was very enthusiastic to meet new Pokemon especially grass types. Ruby made a mental note to send one of his own grass type Pokemon's poke egg to the kid as a birthday gift. He had a feeling the little one would be spoiled with love.
Ash pulled his pokeball out, "Togekiss, welcome back."
Togekiss appeared, "Geeee."
Lucario, -It is wonderful to see you again, dear sister.-
Diance, "Ance."
Ralts, -Hello.-
Gou, "Whew! Even though the nights are cold, day time is seriously hot."
May was waving her hand fan, "You can say that again."
Molly adjusted her wide hat, "At least, there is no sandstorm blowing on our face today."
Max, "Agreed! Last night was something else."
Ash, "Let's not jinx ourselves guys."
Ruby, "Come on! We can reach the main Kingdom by evening if we hurry. Then, we can go shopping for stuff we need."
Gou, "Sounds like a plan."
May, "I need a new dress. I am planning on getting something traditional and shiny."
Molly, "I will help. I want to dress up too."
Max, "I will have to get new medical supplies as well. The ones I have are half used and specific to my Pokemon."
Ash, "We should get medicine used for Pokemon based on the typing. That way it can be used by every Pokemon with that typing. Say what Pokemon are normally found in this desert."
Ruby launched into an explanation and explained it was mostly Sandshrew, Trapinch, Baltoy, and Cacnea. There are Togepi found as well but it was pretty rare and only the Royal family was known for becoming their partners. Speaking of family, they were making a quick stop at the Mirage Airlines to pick up the girls. They waited for a while and soon enough the four girls appeared. Misty had a very visible tan on her, while Chloe had her hair in a thick braid, Melody was sporting new shorts and tank top and Serena had short hair like the anime. Ash, Gou, Max and Molly greeted them very enthusiastically then introduced them to Ruby and May who were very happy to finally meet them in person. Togekiss approached the group and nuzzled the Togepi in greeting getting a happy trill from him.
Misty, "He was very excited to see his mom again."
Ash, "I can tell. How have you girls been?"
Melody, "We have been so - so, you could say."
Chloe drawled, "Aside from the winged trio entering Jhoto to pester Misty here and pissing off the land trio. We are doing ok."
Gou, "Yikes! At least they have not battled yet."
Serena, "Only because Misty terrified them with her temper. But how long that will last will depend."
Misty grumbled, "I should have worn a disguise when I met them. Now, they know how I look and smell so they can track me easily."
Ash laughed, "Well, consider it a lesson learned."
Misty whined, "Shut it!"