Election Week

This is the very rare AdvanceShipping/MinamoShipping love triangle. It is a parody of a certain event going on right now. It is supposed to be funny and if you are not easily insulted by…some things; you will likely find it funny. Enjoy folks!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 1- Throwing My Name in the Hat)

RING-RING-RING!! RING-RING-RING!! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!!

RING-RING-RING!! RING-RING-RING!! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!!

That aforementioned tone reverberates throughout the Ketchum home. It's quite clear that someone would like to speak to a member of this Pallet Town household.

No sooner do the rings sound out than one Delia Ketchum quickly saunters towards her video phone and picks up the receiver. Once she does that, the face of a young woman in her early twenties in brunette hair and a blue bandana comes onto the screen to greet her with a smile.

"Oh hello, May!" Delia greets the girl on the other end. "Long time, no see. How are you doing?"

"Quite well, Ms. Ketchum, and yourself?"

"I've been taking care of myself as best as I can. Did you…want to talk to Ash?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. There is something I wanted to ask him because I heard that he's on vacation until July. Is he nearby?"

"Yeah, he's been in the house napping since he got his lunch. I'll get him. He might be pleasantly surprised to hear from you." Taking her mouth away from the phone receiver, Delia calls out for her only son who is napping in his room on the second floor. After three calls of his monosyllabic name, Ash finally responds to his mother by informing her that he will be down in just a second.

As if on director's cue, the pokemon trainer does not walk, rather he leaps from the top of the steps all the way down to the bottom as news that May has called his house on this otherwise lazy Tuesday has shot him out of bed and to the phone faster than a bullet escaping a .38 special.

Taking the phone from his mother, Ash thanks Delia, who leaves the two to their own conversation. Once he his sure that is mother is out of the way, he then turns his attention to the screen before him.

"May Maple. It has been a while, hasn't it?" he asks with the utmost sincerity. "How are you?"

"Still my old self and you're right," she agrees with the plucky one. "It's been too long, and that's part of the reason why I wanted to call you. I know it's the summer and you probably don't have much planned for your…vacation time, so I wanted to know if you wanted to join me and a couple of others in Porta Vista for a week? I've rented this beach house near all of the sights and so far, Drew's gonna be here, Kelly's gonna be here—she was actually the first to get on board. And…there should be a couple of others. What do you say?"

"Well, that all sounds real good, May," he admits, "but…with those names you talked about, I couldn't help but notice that you didn't mention Dawn…at all. What…"

"Ash," she speaks while balling up her left fist, "I'd rather not even mention her name right now. Four years of me and her together and…I don't even wanna think about it anymore. Just know that we are no longer together and to that, I say good riddance. This was gonna be her birthday present, a week with me and the house to ourselves, but…we broke up before I could give her the surprise. I couldn't get my money back, so I decided to throw this week long vacation for all my real friends."

"When does this all start?" Ash inquires, with the question seemingly coming out of the blue. "I mean, I'd love to join you, but I'd have to pack. Luckily, I don't have any other plans for several weeks, but…"

"Say no more, Ash," May interjects. "Everything begins this Sunday so you have plenty of time to plan ahead." Pausing for the slightest of seconds, she admits to the guy on the other end, "I'd really like it if you could come. I mean, for the past four years it's just been me, Dawn and our coordinating. I haven't gotten much of a chance to see you over that time. I feel I've got some…catching up to do with you."

Though May never said anything that confirmed it, to Ash, May's tone sounded like nothing he had heard before. Having been with Dawn so long and apparently heartbroken at the end of their long road together, she sounded as if she longed for something else. She appeared to be ready for a change in direction.

At least that's how it sounded to him. At the very least, the trainer wanted to know some more about how May and Dawn broke up, but Ash had enough sense to know that perhaps a conversation of that nature would not be appropriate for over the phone.

"Okay," he decides with a smile, verbally adding his name onto the list of vacationers for next week. "I'll bite. I'll go to Porta Vista with you and the others and see what happens. Uh…just how many people are gonna be here?"

"Oh, not that many, honestly," May answers. "At the most, we're looking at ten people."

"Good. That's a nice…healthy amount," he says in a failing attempt to make conversation. "So…"

"So?"

"What about all the important stuff? You know? Who, what, where, when, why and how?"

"Oh, yeah! Can I call you back with all of that stuff later tonight? The reason I ask is because I have a meeting I have to attend this evening with the rest of my family. We're…caucusing. That's the reason why Max and I are home for the entire week."

"Caucusing? What is that?" Ash asks, not knowing the process.

"It's just a fancy way of saying voting. We come together as a neighborhood and we're gonna cast a primary vote for our city representative. That's all."

"Oh, well. Happy…caucusing, I suppose?"

May laughs in response to Ash's attempts to lighten what is all but expected to be a boring situation. "You haven't changed a bit. I like that. I'll talk to you tonight. Okay buddy?"

"Okay. Until then!" After good-byes from both of them, they hang up their respective phones. Ash's videophone gets a rest, but he doesn't immediately head back to his room.

Though the phone conversation has long since ended between him and May, Ash has not gotten up from his seat. Even though the week-long vacation in Porta Vista, the time with friends and the beach all sound very appealing to the trainer, there is one thing in particular that he cannot get over.

In his mind, May has changed. Not necessarily appearance wise, but there's just something about the young woman that stands out more than in the other dozen or so years he has known her. It's that something you just can't touch but everyone can nevertheless see. It is what has Ash sitting by the phone when no one is on the line.

Then it hit him. For once, he finally had a chance. All the years he's known the girl since she came of age, she's always had someone else right by her side. Is it his turn now? Hey, he has nothing to lose going for it. He always wondered and was curious like a Skitty. Sure, May is likely used to the guys and the girls giving her the eye. Though it is quite a long shot, maybe he can be the change that she needs. The change that she likely wants and the change she can believe in.

'I never even considered it,' Ash ponders. 'Maybe there's a chance for someone new in her life. Just maybe.'