A New Friend
In the Olivine City Pokémon Center, May was lying on a bench, impatiently waiting for her Pokémon.
"Here you are, May", Nurse Joy called out."Your Pokémon are fighting fit."
May quickly got up and ran over to the the nurse. "Great! Thank you, Nurse Joy!" May said delighted and received her poké balls.
"Where are you off to now, if I may ask?"
"I'm taking the ferry to Cianwood City."
"Oh, then I suggest you should pay the Safari Zone a visit. It's really close to the city."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy! I'll keep that in mind", May smiled and bowed. "I have to go now, the ferry will leave any second."
She waved goodbye and ran out of the Pokémon Center, and she just managed to get on board the S.S. Aqua before it set sail. She exhaled in relief and leaned against the wall.
"A-are you May!?" someone exclaimed.
"Huh?" May looked around for whoever had called her name.
A girl, not much older than herself, approached her. She had long light brown hair with two orange balls in it, and was wearing a white dress with and orange ribbon. Her eyes were dazzling.
"Oh my goodness, it is you!"
"Y-yes", May stuttered, feeling her cheeks becoming warm.
"I'm Jasmine", the girl said. "I'm the Olivine Gym Leader. And I'm a coordinator."
"The Gym Leader!?"
"Yes, and I'm a big fan of yours! I heard people calling you the Princess of Hoenn. I saw you competing in the Wallace Cup in Sinnoh."
"Oh, that's nice", May smiled gently. "But, what are you doing out of the Gym?"
"I have to go to Cianwood to get some stuff for my Ampharos. And to get some vacation."
"Oh, what's with your Ampharos?" May asked.
"I don't know, but she'll be fine. Do you want to grab a bite with me? My treat!" Jasmine smiled.
"Oh sure!" May felt drool in her mouth.
There was a big all-you-can-eat buffet with the most amazing food May had ever laid her eyes upon. She took a little of everything and kept eating even when she was more than full. Jasmine was amused by her appetite.
"Wow, you're as big of an eater as a Munchlax", she giggled.
The two talked for hours about contests and other coordinators.
"You beat Zoey, you know. She's one of the best in Sinnoh", Jasmine said with excitement. "Bummer you didn't win the Wallace Cup. Dawn's a tough one."
"I know! Dawn really impressed me. She and Piplup are just an amazing team", May said in between bites. "I will win next contest though."
Jasmine nodded. "Say, you know the Drew, don't you?"
May wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Well, yes."
"Did you know he's called the Prince of Hoenn?"
"Th-the Prince?" May was surprised. She had never heard nickname before.
Jasmine sniggered. "Yes, I think it's because he's so handsome. Every young girl coordinator has a crush on him. But I've heard he has his eyes on someone else."
"Really?" May said and tried not to blush. "Huh..."
"Hm, you know. They call you Princess of Hoenn, and him Prince of Hoenn..." Jasmine said thoughtfully.
Silly nicknames, May thought.
Finally, they arrived at the port of Cianwood. It was huge!
"Do you want to accompany me to the shop?" Jasmine asked.
"Sure!"
They walked into the city, and May was mesmerized by all the shops. She really wanted to take some time to shop, but Jasmine seemed to be in a hurry, so she pushed the urge back.
After twenty minutes of walking, Jasmine exclaimed: "There it is!" and pointed at a pharmacy.
"A pharmacy?"
Jasmine didn't respond, and started running to the store, and May followed her in. Behind the disk stood a strange looking old man with round sunglasses, a funny mustache and a green hat.
"Well, greetings, young Jasmine! What brings you here?"
"Sir, it's Sparkle. She hasn't been herself lately, and I think she might be sick again."
"Hm, that sounds awful. What's with her?"
"Well, she doesn't want to lit up the lighthouse, she's really angry towards me at times and she throws up every morning."
The pharmacist nodded and lowered his head. Jasmine looked really worried.
"Hmm, young Jasmine. Sounds to me like your Ampharos is about to lay and egg."
It went silent for a while. Neither Jasmine nor May knew how to respond at first. Finally Jasmine said quietly: "She's pregnant?"
"You could say that... Or you could say she's Pregg-nant, hoho!"
Jasmine looked at May with eyes of confusion.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that", May said.
"Egg-sactly", the man chuckled.
"Yes, that's... excellent", Jasmine said with a troubled voice.
"You mean: egg-cellent?"
"Sir, will you please stop that?"
"M-egg me!"
"Please, I'm begging you."
"Did you say you're begging me?"
"Sir...Do you have any... uh, tips for a pregnant Pokémon?" May asked to help.
"Aaah, a pregg-nant Pokémon in need. Yes, well here are some egg-strodinary tips, for egg-sample-"
"Sir, please, STOP THE EGG PUNS!" Jasmine yelled.
Both May and the old man stared at the frustrated Gym Leader.
"Egg-scuse me?"
"Okay, bye." Jasmine turned around and left the store, with May behind her.
Outside, Jasmine sighed heavily. "I guess I have to get back to take care of my Ampharos... I should take the one tonight..."
"Okay", May said quietly.
"Sorry about the outburst."
"It's fine."
"He's was so annoying..."
"Yeah... But he really was something egg-stra, wasn't he?" May giggled.
"Stop that!"
May laughed. "Just kidding! Hey, you want to go down to the beach and practice some combinations?"
"I'd love to!"
They found a spot down at the beach where they could practice where there weren't too much people.
"Should I go first?" May asked.
"Go for it."
"Alright", May picked up a poké ball and threw it high up in the air. "Go, Blaziken!" Her Blaziken jumped out the poké ball. "Blaziken, dive and use Blaze Kick!"
Blaziken pointed its face down against the ground and let gravity take its course. Coming down it spun in a rapid speed in the air, fired up its right leg and landed in the sand. The Blaze Kick's power struck the sand and the water and surrounded Blaziken in a circle of fire and heat.
"Now, Blaziken, use Sky Uppercut at the ground!"
Blaziken's right hand lit up and it directed it down causing sand and water to whirl up which put the fire out. It rose up again and screeched to the sky.
"Whoa!" Jasmine gasped.
"Awesome, Blaziken!" May praised her Pokémon. Blaziken seemed proud of itself. "You're up, Jasmine!"
Jasmine nodded and took a poké ball.
"Steelix, let's go!" she shouted and threw it.
Steelix popped out with a roar. It was the biggest Steelix May's ever seen. Jasmine pointed at the ocean.
"Use Iron Tail!" Steelix tail lit up and hit the water, making a huge wall of water. "Now Screech!" Steelix used Screech at the water wall, and the sound waves broke it down.
May clapped with enthusiasm. "Wow, awesome!"
Jasmine bowed. "Thank you!"
"Oh no, my Chikorita!" someone yelled.
"Corsola!" another one screamed.
"My Magneton!"
"What's that?" May said.
May and Jasmine saw a mob of people further away on the beach, all trying to run after the motorboat that was speeding away into the sea. They run to the group.
"They took our Pokémon!" a girl cried out.
May looked over at the boat. She could make out a woman with blonde hair and green-haired man that were on the boat.
"That's... Cassidy! And Hutch!"
"Who?"
May didn't respond. She called her Wartortle out of the poké ball, got on it's back and soon enough they were chasing after them. Wartortle could swim faster than any boat and they were closing in on them-
"May!" she heard Jasmine yell behind her. She was sitting on the back of a Lanturn and soon they caught up to May and Wartortle. "You're not doing this alone, you know!"
Soon enough, Cassidy and Hutch discovered that they were being followed.
"Oh, no! They're coming this way! Do something, Hutch!"
"Excuse me, but the name is Butch! Will you ever learn?"
"Shut up and stop them."
"Fine!" Butch called out a Sharpedo. "Sharpedo, use bite on the Wartortle!"
The Sharpedo swam in high speed towards May, ready to bite.
"Wartortle, use Ice Beam!" Wartortle froze the Sharpedo solid. "Now, tackle it!" Wartortle sped up, tackled the block of ice with Sharpedo in it and sent it flying back to the ship, hitting Bucth in the head.
"Bluargh!" Butch cried.
"Urgh, you're useless", Cassidy sighed and called out a Flying type Pokémon that May's never seen. "Mandibuzz, Steel Wing on Lanturn!"
The Mandibuzz was diving in for an attack towards Lanturn.
"Lanturn, Electro Ball!" Jasmine exclaimed. Lanturn's front orb shone yellow and released a ball of lighting towards the bird, but it dodged, and hit Lanturn with it's Steel Wing, knocking Jasmine into the water.
"Ha! Mandibuzz, Aerial Ace!" Cassidy commanded. Mandibuzz was going in for another attack.
"Lanturn, Dive!" Jasmine screamed, and her Pokémon managed to dodge Mandibuzz just in time, who couldn't stop its attack in time and accidentally dove into the ocean. "Yes, now use Tackle!"
Underwater Lanturn tackled Mandibuzz and send it back to Cassidy. She called her Pokémon back in rage.
"Wait, where did the other one go?" Butch asked.
"Huh?"
"Over here!" May said. They twirled around. She had managed to climb on board when they weren't looking.
"Eh?"
"Wartortle, Water Gun!"
"Lanturn, Electro Ball!"
"EH!?"
A combination of the Electro Ball and Water Gun made a big blast that sent Cassidy and Butch flying. Jasmine and Lanturn had caught up to the boat again and climbed on board.
"Let's return to the shore", she said.
"Yeah, but how do we get back?" May asked.
"Oh, I can manage a motorboat."
Jasmine turned the boat around and drove it back to the beach, where all the trainers were cheering. Everyone got their Pokémon back, including a breeder, who gave Jasmine tips about Sparkle.
"Feed her some Poké Puffs", he told her and handed her a small box of delicious looking cakes.
"What's that?" Jasmine asked.
"It's this treat from the region Kalos. Pokémon love them! I think it will make your Ampharos feel a lot better."
"Great, thank you!"
"You can have some, too", the breeder said to May and handed her a box of Poké Puffs as well.
"Oh, thank you!"
"It's the least I can do for you! You saved my Chikorita after all."
They went back into the city after that, grabbed some dinner, shopped some equipment. May bought herself some new clothes and shoes, as well as a bandana. The hours flew by, and before they knew it they found themselves back at the harbor just as the sun was about to set.
"I guess this is goodbye, then", May said sadly.
"Yeah, for now at least." Jasmine handed her a small piece of paper. "That's my phone number. Call me anytime you want!"
May smiled. "Thank you, Jasmine..."
"I had a great time with you! Good luck at your next contest."
Jasmine gave May a hug, then she went on board. The ship set sail, and Jasmine ran up on deck to wave goodbye. May waved and waved until the boat was out of sight and stayed at the port to quietly watch as the sun set. She smiled, grasping the small piece of paper, happy over the new friend she just got.