Chapter 22

"That still doesn't explain why you haven't answered any of our calls," said Lance frowning.

"I already told you I am sorry okay?" said a tired Ash.

Not too long ago Ash entered his room. He was so tired he wanted to crash on his bed right away. Before that, he decided to check out his phone. He opened it and his eyes grew wide in shock. He missed several calls from the HQ, from some agents, from Sabrina and finally from Lance himself. He quickly called back, only to receive a ton of bashful words from the callers.

"Alright. I will let it go this time, considering there are more important matters in our hands," said Lance as Ash sighed in relief sitting on his bed.

"So according to our investigation," Lance started in a business like tone as Ash listened.

"We have doubt that these hunters might be a part of Team Cosmos."

Ash immediately shot up.

"What?? How can you be sure?" Ash exclaimed wildly.

"It's just our doubt. But it might be right too. This particular organisation is hard to track down as you know. They are known to sabotage and ambush wealthy foundations, take what they need and destroy all evidences," said Lance still frowning.

Ash was worried. He heard about this new rising criminal organisation too. They never made any public appearances like the others. They stay secluded and at the same time, cause havoc as well. KDA has been trying to locate them for the past four months, but still no clue.

If those hunters who were spotted in Kalos, in specifically, near the academy, were really a part of them, then Ash knew it meant trouble.

"You are thinking what I am thinking, right?" Lance asked guessing Ash's thoughts.

Ash nodded. "There could be a possibility their next target is the academy itself," he said.

"Yes. Precisely. We will have to look into this matter deeply. Meanwhile, stay on your guard and keep a close look around your surroundings," Lance said in a cautious tone.

"I always do."

"Good. Now, since two of the hunters are still injured and the other one is.... dead," Lance said with a slight change of tone.

"I....

".....which I don't want to know why," Lance said interrupting Ash as he sighed.

"So it will be a while before the interrogation starts," he said in a concluding tone.

"Ok then. I will talk to you soon," Ash said and finally cut the call.

He quickly changed his clothes and did his nightly routines. Pikachu was already asleep. Ash made himself comfortable on the bed and soon enough, drifted to sleep as well.

***

Ash woke up in time in the morning. He stretched himself a bit and got up to take a shower. He had a lot of things in his mind, but didn't dug into any of them. He finished his shower and got out to see Pikachu awake, running around in the kitchen for ketchup.

Ash just sighed and put on his jeans. Just as he was about to put on his T-shirt, there was a knock on the door. Wondering who could it be, he went to open it without putting on shirt.

The door opened to reveal a familiar brunette who was standing there shiftily.

She smiled and was about to greet Ash, but stopped noticing his muscular figure up so close. She stared blankly at it.

Ash was surprised to see May in the boy's dorm. He blushed a bit but shrugged it off.

"Oh hey May! What brings you here?" Ash asked casually, not noticing he was shirtless.

May looked away from Ash turning red. Ash was confused.

"Anything wrong?" he asked. May, still looking away pointed at Ash's shirtless body with her finger.

It took a minute for Ash to understand what she was referring to.

Ash looked down and immediately turned red in embarrassment. He quickly put on his shirt.

"Oh-u-umm, s-sorry about that," Ash muttered as May looked at him again.

"Why don't you come in first?" Ash asked politely. May nodded and went inside his room as Ash closed the door.

The brunette sat on the bed as Pikachu finally came out from the kitchen, with ketchup all over his face. Ash glared at the mouse for its indecent behaviour whereas, May shrieked, thinking it was blood all over his face.

"Like seriously?" Ash scolded. "How many ketchup packets you finished this time? And Arceus just look at yourself," he kept scolding it as the rodent shrugged and licked the stuff off his face.

May looked relieved at first then giggled at the scene

.

"Some things never change," she said as Pikachu took notice of her. He gave a cute 'pika' and jumped onto her lap as May giggled and petted the mouse pokemon.

Ash gave a sigh before he spoke.

"So May? What brings you here?" Ash asked getting right to the topic.

May looked a bit nervous as she shifted her leg. She gathered up some courage and spoke, "I need a favour."

Ash rose an eyebrow. "Favour? Well then...what can I do for you?" he asked in a helping tone.

"Well um you see," May fiddled with her fingers. "I was invited to a dance party in the Snowbelle City," she started.

Ash gave a nod and gestured her to continue.

"And...the thing is you're supposed to come with a..... date....so umm..I thought.... you know.."

Ash had a wild thought in his mind. Was May trying to take him to the party as her...date? She could take anyone else with her but why him?

'Maybe being a Champion is not always fun. Another tiring day for you Ash,' he thought with a sigh.

"So would you li--"

" You want me to come as your date?" Ash said bluntly causing May to blush madly.

"NOO," she said without thinking at first, but recollected herself. "I-I mean ye-yeah," she said quietly later on.

Before Ash could give his answer, May interrupted.

"It's fine if you can't, I don't mind," May said with a fake smile as she got up to leave.

Ash and Pikachu sweatdropped at the brunette's hypertension attitude. May was about to leave when Ash spoke.

"I never said no, did I?"

May turned around and looked at him with hope. Ash smiled.

"Of course I will be your date May."

Before he knew it, he was embraced with a tight hug by the girl. Ash calmly hugged her back.

"Thank you so much Ash you are the best," she said in a single breath.

Ash chuckled. He broke the hug, much to May's reluctance and looked at her.

"When are we leaving?" he asked.

"In an hour," May said smiling brightly.

Ash stared at her dumbfoundedly. What if he rejected her? How could she have found another date in such a short time? Then something hit Ash.

'It seems like I fell for her act,' Ash thought, but decided not to ask her anything about it.

"Umm May?" asked Ash.

"Yeah?" May looked at him sweetly.

"I don't really have anything formal to wear,"

Ash admitted sheepishly.

She smiled.

"I know you don't. So I already got it covered," May said as she dragged Ash out of his room. Pikachu sighed and followed them as well.

***

The Lumiose Airlines flew towards Snowbelle city. The tickets were already sent with the invitation. Ash and May were given a seat in the business class in their own private area.

May changed into a beautiful red dress which reflected modernity. It was a perfect fit for her. Her hourglass figure shaped out with the dress.

"So Ash, how do I look?" May asked with a wink, making a pose with her hands on her hips.

Ash's mouth was slightly agape before he looked away with a visible tint of red.

"I-it looks gorgeous on you," Ash said truthfully.

"Oh thank you Ash, you're looking handsome as well," May said with a squeal and sat beside Ash.

Ash was wearing a black tuxedo. He wasn't used to wearing formal clothes, but he had no choice. According to May, he was looking like a devil, which Ash had no clue what she meant.

Even poor Pikachu was insisted to wear a small suit just like his trainer. Pikachu didn't approve but everyone thought he looked cute, which he actually did, so he went along.

The journey lasted like two hours or so, before the plane prepared for landing.

After all the checking and stuff, they headed off towards the exit. A private car was waiting for them outside the airport. The couple noticed it and greeted the driver, before getting in the car.

The climate of this city is cold usually. But today a warm sun could be seen in the sky, which was clear too. The weather was perfect for sightseeing or hanging around.

The car finally reached the stop. The driver told them to get the hell out of... *cough*

The driver informed them that they've reached their destination. Ash and May thanked him and got off.

They were standing in front of a beautiful castle. It was gigantic and the layers of ice on it made it shine brightly in the sunlight.

"Woah.." Ash said with an impressed look.

"It's so beautiful," May said admiring the building.

Many people were arriving there as well. They were all celebrities or important in some way.

"Shall we go?" Ash asked like a polite gentleman but cringed mentally at his own words.

"Yes please," May said smiling brighter than the sun and put her right arm around Ash's left arm, before going inside.

The inside was magnificent. The interiors of the castle had some pretty unique designs. Huge corridors ran along with many beautiful paintings on the walls. The ball room was huge and it was decorated too. There was a dance floor along with a battlefield as well. A slow music was playing in the background. People were talking and getting acquainted with each other.

Ash was feeling a bit uncomfortable. He looked around for any familiar faces.

"Good to see you have made it here May," a matured and gentle voice said as they looked towards the person.

He was a tall handsome man wearing a white cape with a similar color hat. He had cyan colored long hair and eyes.

"Wallace! It's so good to see you," May exclaimed happily.

The Champion of Ever Grande smiled and said, "The pleasure's all mine," he said with a little bow.

Ash was standing a few feet away from them. He hated formalities. It was cringe. And he really wasn't in a mood to talk to Wallace, though it would be nice.

"So, who is the lucky person who got the chance to be the Hoenn Queen's date? " Wallace asked as May blushed a bit.

"Oh he's righ- huh?" May looked to her side, but much to her surprise, Ash wasn't there.

She looked behind her and saw Ash looking a bit distant on his own. She felt bad, thinking he might be upset of her talking to Wallace and forgetting him.

"He-hey Ash," she called as the boy turned to look at her. Ash was a bit surprised to see her with a sad and worried expression.

'Maybe I shouldn't have left her along like that,' Ash thought as he walked to them.

Wallace was stunned when he heard the name. His once calm demeanour was now a shocking one. He looked at the boy, no a guy, who was just as tall as him, muscular, and features that can even rival him.

He just stood there staring at him.

Ash was nervous, but shook it off as possible.

"Nice to see you again, Wallace," Ash said in his casual tone.

The Champion broke out of his trance.

"A-ash?" he said in disbelief. Ash just gave a nod. There was now a smile on his face.

"How have you been? It's so great to see you too," Wallace said stretching out his hand. Ash shook it.

"Yeah been good. Thanks for asking," Ash said with a light chuckle.

May was surprised. Wallace never behaved like how he was doing with Ash.

"Young man I've wanted to meet you a long time ago, but you seem to just disappear," Wallace joked.

"Yeah well, I never stay in one place I guess," Ash said with a smile.

Wallace nodded. "I would like to have a battle with you sometime. For now, I will take my leave." Wallace said and walked away from them.

There was a silence between them for a moment.

"Sorry Ash/May huh?" Both of them looked at each other in confusion.

"What are you apologising for?" May asked first.

"Well I think I made you upset leaving you alone soo..." Ash trailed off.

"And I thought you were upset because I payed attention to Wallace," May stated her reason.

"Why would I be upset with that?" Ash asked seemingly confused.

"Well I---," May flushed. She had got the feeling that Ash was jealous or something. But turns out it wasn't that.

"Nothing," May said in a dropping manner.

"Well, in that case, lets stick together then," Ash said causing May to smile again. She put her arm around Ash and both started walking around.

It now people started noticing the two individual. The Kalos native and some of the foreigners started introducing themselves to the Hoenn Queen and The Champion. Ash remained neutral and politely did the same.

Some of the young girls squealed seeing Ash. They started to flirt with him, take pictures and asked him for a dance. May was fuming with jealousy and Ash was embarrassed from the attention.

"Sorry to disappoint you girls but he's with me," May said with a huff and pulled him away from the crowd of girls.

Once they were away, Ash spoke.

"Jealous?" he said with a smirk.

"NO. I just did it to save you from the girls and you're welcome," May lied looking away from Ash with a blush.

Suddenly, Ash noticed something.

"Hey, weren't Serena and Dawn supposed to come here as well?" he asked looking around.

"Chu pika pi."

"What do you mean 'Plot convenience'?" Ash asked the rodent with confused look.

"Oh, they have other important things to do, let's not worry about that," May said trying to drop the topic. Little did Ash know that May came here without informing her friends about it, just so she could spend some time with him.

Later on, they met some familiar faces like Solidad, Zoey, Kenny and some other coordinators and performers. The former Kalos Queen Aria was present their too. Soon the party started with emcee Pierre being the host.

Everyone shifted their attention to him. A Klefki could be seen flying around him.

"I would like to thank everyone present here who accepted our invitation and came to make the ball party more delightful," he said with a cheerful tone.

"The dance will start soon. So hold your partner's hand and have the dance of your life," he said again and there were some cheers. May was excited as she hold Ash's hand tightly.

"After the dance, some special guests will be selected for a battle, or everyone can challenge one another as well," he said and the cheers were louder.

"Without further delay, let us begin," he said finally with a clap and the music started playing.

Everyone took this as a cue and started to dance with their partner on the dance floor.

May let out her Glaceon to accompany Pikachu and dragged Ash to the dance floor. Pikachu waved its small paw and wished luck to its trainer, knowing how bad Ash was at dancing.

Ash had experience on this before, so he started. He put his hand on May's waist and pulled her close, too close than he intended to. May turned red from the contact, but she still composed herself and intertwined her hand in Ash's.

They slowly started dancing, holding hands and looking at each other's eyes, smiling and occasionally blushing.

'This is so romantic,' thought May.

'Save me Arceus,' thought Ash.

After some minutes of silence May spoke.

"You know this reminds me of our time in Rota. We had a similar dance party then," May reminisced and Ash smiled at the memory.

"Yeah, that was one heck of an adventure we had," Ash said with a chuckle.

After two or three rounds, they took a break.

May went towards an empty table and sat there, a little exhausted.

"I will get some drinks, okay?" Ash said and May smiled with a nod.

She sat there patiently and watched the others. Pikachu and Glacion were playing around along with some other pokemon.

She was sitting there lost in thoughts when a voice interrupted.

"May I have this dance my lady?" a voice said and May looked at the familiar coordinator from Hoenn.

"Drew?!"

The boy smirked and flicked his green hair.

"Yes it's me. I am surprised to see you here though. Who is your date anyway?" he asked frowning with a little hint of curiosity.

She was about to answer when another voice interrupted.

"She's with me."

Drew looked at the person annoyingly at first, but his eyes widened in surprise when he recognised him.

"Ketchum?" he asked incredulously.

"Ash," May jumped and grabbed his arm, almost dropping the drinks.

"Oh-hey careful May," Ash said calmly holding the drinks.

Drew felt mad as he saw the brunette being so close with Ash. He was also jealous that May preferred Ash as a date rather than him. He kept his emotions inside and spoke with malice.

"What are you doing here Ketchum? You do know this is a place for important people only?" Drew asked with a mocking tone trying to make him mad. He thought he was the same kid from before who shows emotions on every single thing.

May looked mad and wanted to answer but Ash spoke before her.

"If having three Championship titles doesn't make you somewhat important, I don't know what does," Ash said in a calm and casual tone, expressing that he's uninterested in this conversation.

"But, what are you doing here anyway?" Ash asked further, making Drew mad as May stifled a laugh.

"For your information," Drew said flicking his hair, "People call me the Prince of Hoenn and May the Princess. So if you'll excuse us, we need to represent our region on the dance floor," Drew said as he gestured the brunette to the dance floor, who tried to ignore him.

Ash didn't seem to notice as he looked at May, "Is the prince actually a title or a nickname?" Ash asked innocently causing May to burst into giggles.

This time, Drew was really mad. He thought about how to counter that when he saw the battlefield and an idea poped into his mind.

"Alright Mr. So called Champion," Drew said gaining his attention, "If you think so highly of yourself, let's have a battle then. If I win, I will get to dance with May."

May rose an eyebrow. Drew was in the academy as well. Did he never noticed how Ash have crushed his opponents in battle until now?

'Great. Now people finds some shitty excuse just to have a battle with me,' Ash thought.

"I accept. I don't need anything in return," Ash said as Drew smirked.

"I will let Pierre know about the battle," Drew said and walked away.

Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder.

"Pika pi?"

"Just another challenge from a typical cocky challenger, nothing else," Ash replied as Pikachu shook his head.

May giggled again and grabbed his arm, intentionally pressing her breast against it, causing Ash to blush.

"I never knew you were so funny Ash," she said, eyes narrowed, in a flirty tone.

"I--," Ash cleared his throat. "I just said what was on my mind, nothing else."

"Mmm hmm," May said as she pressed herself even closer to the boy.

'This is public harassment. Arceus save me please,' Ash thought pleadingly.

"May I have your attention please?" the voice of Pierre was heard, much to Ash's relief as the crowd gathered again.

"I hope the dance was spectacular and memorable to all of you," he said as everyone nodded excitedly. "Now ladies and gentlemen, the second event will take place. It's time for the battle." He announced.

"However, I already got a request from a guest regarding a challenge battle. So the battle will take place right now," Pierre said as the crowd cheered, excited to see it.

Ash gave Pikachu to May. She wished him luck as Ash went to one side of the battlefield. Drew was already there, a big smirk on his face than usual. Ash was confused.

'What's he so happy about?'

Everyone looked at the two trainers and cheered even louder. Both trainers were the girls favourite so most of them present there squealed in delight.

"That's right ladies and gentlemen," Pierre said as he rose to a podium near the battlefield to be the referee himself.

"On the left side we have one of the topmost coordinators of Hoenn, Drew," he said as the people gave an applause, to which the boy just flicked his hair smugly.

"And on the right side," Pierre started as the people already started cheering.

"Yes, he is none other than the World Champion and the current Champion of his home region Kanto, Ash Ketchum," he said excitedly as the crowd cheered louder and louder.

Drew looked annoyed at the attention Ash was getting, but knew this wasn't for long. He knew how strong he was, so he already made a plan to embarrass him in front of the people, specially in front of May.

"But there is an exception," Pierre said as Ash rose an eyebrow, confused.

"Drew requested this as a contest battle against Ash who seem to have no problem at all," he said as everyone cheered.

'Perfect,' Drew smirked.

'So that's the reason of his confidence? What an idiot,' Ash thought showing no emotion.

May was sitting in the stands as she gritted.

"What a prick. He set him up for this," she muttered angrily. Pikachu, who was on her lap heard it, but just yawned in response. He knew Drew was going to get defeated either way.

"This will be 2 on 2 double battle between..."

"Excuse me."

Pierre was going to start the battle when Ash interrupted him.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I will use only one pokemon," Ash said simply as everyone gasped at his request.

Pierre was startled for a moment. "Are you sure?" he asked again in which he received a confirm nod from the Champion.

'Just what does he think of himself? I will show him his place,' Drew thought angrily and took out two pokeballs.

"The battle is just getting interesting," Pierre announced, "This is a 2 on 1 contest battle between Drew and Ash. The battle will be over when either side pokemon are unable to battle. Trainers, send out your pokemon."

"Alright, its time to shine go," Drew threw two of his pokeballs.

One materialised into a small green bipedal creature. It had two red and blue flowers as its hands, white petals on its head and red eyes. It was Drew's signature pokemon, Roserade.

Another materialised into a dog like with its body covered by white fur. It had blue horn coming out of its head, a smiliar coloured tail and red eyes. The disaster pokemon, Absol gave a cry.

"Drew has chosen his two most strongest pokemon. What will Ash's choice be?"

Pierre said as the crowd was excited as ever.

Ash took out a pokeball.

'Using her in a contest battle seems perfect.'

He threw the pokeball.