Another week went by, Ash and May kept going to the valley every morning, and she soon was able to complete all of her laps around it without losing her breath. May felt so much healthier and lighter as she ran. She could sense herself becoming stronger with every passing day, and Ash could sense her eagerness to improve. It inspired him to train even harder.

Drew, for his part, did become Norman's apprentice, however, he couldn't find it in himself to focus as much as the other two did. It was sad position for Drew to be in, because he knew he wasn't a trainer. All the arduous training, all the time and effort, would be just for the tournament. Afterwards he probably wouldn't have a pokemon battle ever again. Aggravating his situation was that Norman didn't really force him to do anything, he wasn't as strict as he was made out to be. Instead, he said it was all up to Drew, but that if he was going to go through with it, he'd have to give it his all or he shouldn't do it at all. Drew knew he couldn't give it his all; he was only there—on the days he bothered to show up—so he could be with May, or at the very least, so he could sabotage Ash's chances to take her away. Still, that wasn't enough of a motivator for him to train like a Pokemon Master.

Nevertheless Drew still tried to sabotage Ash. He'd sabotage his as well as May's chances to win the tournament if it meant he couldn't take her for himself.

He arrived at the valley one morning holding a giant straw basket, from which a delicious, thoroughly irresistible scent emanated. It quickly reached the sweaty pair of Ash and May, who were already training along with their pokemon. Drew set up a pristine red blanket on the ground, then he sat most pleasantly upon it, and laid the basket next to him. He looked at the trainers with a delighted smile on his face, though the mischievous intention poured shamelessly from his eyes. Ash paid no attention to him, it was clear that he saw Drew as a distraction, but May was a different story. Drew knew her well. Her yearning eyes were glued to the basket as soon as she saw it. She suddenly looked like a hungry puppy, and then, once Drew opened the basket without losing his smile, May's eyes glistened from a very childish curiosity suddenly taking a hold of her, and that's when Drew knew he had her.

First, he pulled out two tall glasses, and with a pair of tongs he started pouring ice—which he somehow took out of the basket—on them. He proceeded to fill the glasses with fresh juice that he took out of the basket, and once he had filled both of them he finished by adorning each glass with a cocktail umbrella. Then Drew took out a large plate, and began filling it with triangular sandwiches, taking care to place them as uniformly as possible so as to increase their tantalizing factor. Finally, he revealed the coup de grâce, which consisted of many single plates that held a wide array of expensive-looking desserts in a most aesthetically pleasing way. There was a giant cupcake with rainbow-colored frosting, there was a tall flan that waved seductively on its way to the ground. There was a thick chocolate chip cookie that encompassed the entirety of the plate. There was a perfectly cut piece of pie that simply begged to be bitten, as well as a piece of cake with white frosting that always looked like it would melt a few seconds later. After putting it down, Drew noticed that he had some frosting on the back of his fingers. He looked at May, who was already looking back at him with her mouth wide open, without blinking, the same way a poor kid would look at a rich kid who had just gotten a new toy. Right then Drew licked the back of his fingers as he made a seductive look, then he smiled.

"Hey guys," he said cheekily, "I thought you could use a respite. Of course you don't have to partake if you don't want to, though I do wish you would. The truth is, I simply didn't want to waste a day like this without a lovely breakfast."

"Nice try Drew," Ash said. "But it is clear that you want to distract us, and while the food you've prepared may look really great, pretty much unlike anything I've had in a while, it won't work. You won't be able to seduce us that easily, May and I are focused in our training. Right May?"

May walked in silence and with her mouth still open. She was attracted to the red cloth full of sweets like a magnet was to metal. Ash could only see her move towards her defeat.

"May, stop!" he exclaimed. "Don't let him trick you like this. You have to be strong!"

"I can't do it Ash, I'm sorry," May said devoid of enthusiasm, like she had already been completely defeated. She took her shoes off before stepping on the red cloth, knelt down and grabbed the piece of cake on instinct. Drew attentively handed her a fork and May immediately started eating.

"Please, help yourself to whatever you prefer," Drew said. "That goes for you too Ash."

"Thanks for the offer," Ash said, showing his teeth. "But I can see what you're doing, and there's no way it's going to work on me."

"You don't have to force yourself to be strong," Drew said. "Everyone needs a moment or two to be vulnerable, and to rest. You're only human after all. Look at May, she knows this well."

May promptly finished the piece of cake and moved on to the giant cookie, which she bit into as she looked away from Ash, without saying anything.

"I bet it's easy for you to say that Drew. It's clear you don't want to be a Pokemon Master, you don't even want to win the tournament."

"You know what Ash, you're right, that's not what I want to do. I do wish I had your spirit, and your enthusiasm for what you do. Sadly, I just don't have it."

"So because you don't want to train hard, you've decided to ruin May's training instead, for no other reason?"

That stung Drew. He looked at May and saw that she was too busy devouring the food to pay attention to them. Drew cleared his throat and looked straight at Ash. "You think that's all there is to it? That I resent you because I'm not a trainer and so I'd rather try and stop you than do something about myself? Cause if that's what you think, I'll tell you the truth right now. Yes, I didn't like that May brought you here, and that it seems like she likes you. I don't want you to hoard all of her time for yourself. But guess what, I don't hate you, and I never have. Sure, I always thought you were dumb, childish and annoying, so much so that I couldn't stand you before. But then, I saw how you struggled at lunch a few weeks ago, it was like you were lost in a blizzard, nothing like the person you are during battles. It's obvious that's all you care about. You don't care about going out with friends, I thought you didn't care about anything other than you. But you cared enough about May to put yourself through that." Drew stood up and looked straight at Ash, who was as surprised as he was confused after hearing Drew. "Well, I care too. I do care, is that so wrong? Am I not allowed to be here?"

Ash realized he didn't know what to say. "I guess you're not wrong," he had to admit to himself.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. I even want you to become a Pokemon Master, but I don't want you to have May all for yourself. And believe me, it doesn't matter how hard you train, you're going to have to rest every once in a while, otherwise you'll burn out. It's basic knowledge."

On instinct, Ash rolled his eyes with disdain. "Please don't say that. You're May's rival, not mine."

"I don't want to be your rival."

"Then what do you want from me?"

Drew didn't reply. He knelt in front of the basket and put his hand inside it, then revealed a third glass that he showed to Ash.

"If you set a goal for yourself that's so hard it seems completely impossible to achieve, then you're just going to give up because it's too much for you. It's all about taking gradual steps, if you rush, you'll bite more than you can chew. So don't force yourself right at the beginning. Here-"

"Aw, Drew," May said tenderly, with her mouth full, "you didn't forget about Ash."

"-Of course I didn't," Drew continued. "It's not like I wasn't going to bring a glass for him. Besides, I brought glasses for everyone else too."

Drew proceeded to prepare the third glass just like he did the other two. Then he grabbed the colorful cupcake and made a space on the blanket for Ash, who at that point couldn't resist any longer, and so he went and joined them.

After Ash had taken the cupcake and started eating, and as May continued delighting herself with the rest of the desserts, Drew smiled.

Days went by. Drew kept coming to the valley and even started training with Ash and May, and although he came to enjoy hanging out with them daily, his enthusiasm for battles couldn't rival theirs. So he settled on being the weakest link during their training rather quickly.

Having chosen Roserade as his partner for the upcoming tournament, Drew started doing laps with her one morning. Roserade was fast and limber, Drew loved the sight of her practically dancing on that unbridled piece of nature. She was most certainly made to roam on the most beautiful places full of green such as the valley. Drew got distracted by Roserade's beauty as he ran alongside her, and his right foot got caught by a protruding rock that instantly took him to the ground. The grass cushioned his body, but his pride didn't fare so well.

Ash ran to his aid as soon as he saw him. "Are you okay?" he asked as he extended his hand down at Drew.

Still on the ground, he looked at Ash's hand for a stoic moment, then took it and stood up with his help. Drew was astonished by how attentive Ash looked. There seemed to be a real concern for Drew in his eyes. He let go of Ash's hand and looked away from him.

"I'm fine," Drew said as he turned to the ground, pouting. "Actually I did that on purpose."

"Why?" Ash quickly asked.

Drew opened his eyes wide. "To… test my fortitude."

"Okay, if you say so."

May ran to them. "Are you two done playing around?" She said with a bright smile heightened by the morning sun.

Ash and Drew nodded silently at the same time.

"Good," she said, "let's keep going."

"You're right," Ash said as he raised his fist. "Let's go Drew!"

And Drew was surprised once more. First, for having found no animosity whatsoever towards Ash right then. What's more, by then he already considered him a friend. And second, because Drew discovered he was actually very excited to continue training with the two of them. So he looked at Ash and May and gave them a bright smile, then they continued training hard.

A couple of days later Ash went to talk to Norman on his backyard, right before heading out to the valley. Ash was quite confused that morning. He found the Gym Leader laying down on the grass next to his wife Caroline, exactly in the same way Ash himself laid next to May some time ago. Caroline even had some berries next to her on the ground. She was wearing a white summer dress, had her hand resting on her forehead—just like May would do when laying down—and a soft smile on her lips. Ash hesitated to approach them.

"What's wrong Ash?" Norman said. He had his eyes closed.

"It can wait."

"Very well."

"There's no reason for that," Caroline said, looking back at him. "Even I can tell that something is troubling you Ash. You don't have to keep things like that for yourself."

"I'm not sure if something is really troubling me though. Does it look like that's the case?"

"Just a tiny little bit," Caroline said. "Is it something about Drew?"

"What?"

Caroline covered her mouth as she released a few giggles. "I'm sorry. I simply have noticed that that boy seems to have stuck to the two of you recently, and probably doesn't let you and May have the kind of moments that you meant to have together. I myself have told Norman to leave the two of you alone, but he sure loves to butt in."

Norman remained silent.

"I'm not sure," Ash said. "But I think the problem is that Drew doesn't bother me like he maybe should. What's more, I think having him around has been really fun these past few days."

"Having fun is overrated," Norman said.

"Oh, don't start with that dear." Dismayed, Caroline patted Norman's chest.

"It's true," he continued, "what is fun, anyway? It's what you run towards in order to escape suffering and boredom. It's just vanity and self-indulgence. I think suffering is underrated, because it's unavoidable, so you might as well get used to it. Don't run from it, you only run from things you're afraid of."

"Pay no attention to him Ash," Caroline said. "This is nothing other than the ramblings of a middle aged man who takes himself too seriously, and who has to lose ten pounds if he wishes to consider himself healthy."

"It's not though—ten pounds, really?—Anyway, I'm not rambling. Do you know what people are afraid of Ash? People are afraid of spending all of their time and effort in something, only for it to fail in the end. When people choose an objective, more than anything, they want to know that they will succeed, they want to know that all of the blood, sweat and tears won't be for nothing. People would rather forget that they will never achieve perfection. Perfection is impossible to achieve in this world. Life isn't a road to perfection, life isn't a road to victory-"

"Then what is it?" Ash interrupted.

"-I was about to say it. Life is, a struggle."

"And?"

"Nothing more, just a struggle."

"Oh, well that sucks."

"Right?" Caroline added. "Are these the kind of thoughts with which you want to start your day?"

"Absolutely," Norman said. "Life is a continuous struggle, but your victory comes by not giving up on that struggle. Even if the question will never get a definitive answer, do not stop trying to answer it for yourself. The difference between winning and losing, depends only on whether you give up or not."

"So what does that mean for my Pokemon Master's life?"

"Obviously you'll grow up, you'll learn new things and you'll make adjustments to the Pokemon Master's life that you've devised for yourself. But by committing yourself fully to it, you will never be defeated, no matter what."

"I guess you do need a good reason not to give up," Ash said.

"Make no mistake," Norman said. "Having people like May and Drew around is a good thing. People motivate you and inspire you. For example, if I didn't have Caroline here with me I wouldn't have the motivation to simply comb my hair in the morning. It was the same when I was young, I was a mess, I had to try very hard to win her over."

"You have to be joking," Caroline said. "I was the one who was frothing at the mouth for you. Believe it or not Ash, this man next to me used to be quite popular with the ladies, whether he knew it or not. He seemed quite naive about it, but I often thought he was just feigning ignorance. I had to fend many swooning suitors off to make him mine. But I knew that I could get the life that I wanted with Norman. A life next to him. I realized that very early on. And so I knew I had to catch him as soon as I could. May, on the other hand, is quite different from me."

"What do you mean?"

"She's a nomad. She doesn't want to catch anyone and settle down like me. And she doesn't want to let herself be caught."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ash said as he looked at the ground.

After he said that, Caroline couldn't help but let out a few more giggles. "With that said, I assume you won't be giving up that easily."

"You bet I won't! I've chosen to become a Pokemon Master, and that's what I'm going to do! You're absolutely right guys, thanks for the advice, see you later." Freshly motivated, Ash started his walk to the valley.

"No, that's not what I meant," Caroline said with a disappointing tone. "Oh no. He's one of those, isn't he?"

"That's right," Norman said. "He's a winner."

"Of course you were the same. Blissfully ignorant about the matters that truly matter. If only he knew, he could make a woman really happy."

"Give him a break. He's young, and he's made a decision."

Caroline let out a deep sigh, then she picked up a berry from the ground. "Decisions, decisions, decisions," she said.

She gently dug her index finger on one side of the berry, then carved carefully through the middle, minding to do it as delicately as she could, as if the berry would crumble into pieces with one inappropriate touch, until she was able to tear it in half. She led one half to her nose and sampled its fresh scent, then handed it to her husband, who took it from her and used the opportunity to stroke her fingers softly. Finally, Caroline licked her fingers and watched lovingly as her husband ate the berry.

The day of the tournament loomed near, and Drew could sense that both Ash and May had a clear edge over him. They seemed much more motivated and had definitely trained much harder than him. He had gotten used to hanging out with them everyday, and couldn't help but feel like they were leaving him behind. It made him scared, even desperate.

So one morning he brought a giant straw basket with himself to the valley. He set up a large red cloth and filled it with with all sorts of colorful delicacies, creating a beautiful tapestry of delicious desserts worthy of a painting.

"Hey guys," he said, once he had set everything up, "You have been training so hard recently, a time out is strictly needed at this point. You definitely deserve it."

Ash hadn't run his laps that morning, and was still warming up when the deliciously nuanced scent reached his nose.

"Come on Ash," Drew said with seductive eyes, "I brought a cupcake of the kind you love so much."

Some drool dropped from Ash's lip. However, he tried to keep his feet still on the grass, to avoid succumbing to Drew's temptation.

"Just take a break, you can always continue later. Human spirits can only take so much."

Next Drew prepared a glass of juice for Ash and poured some ice on it, instantly making the drink sweat. It was too much for him, Ash started walking towards the red cloth.

"That's right, the valley will be waiting for you once you're done. But first let's have a nice breakfast together. You should come and join us too May, I made sure to make your favorite."

May was also warming up in that moment. She hadn't looked at the blanket full of sweets once since Drew had set it up.

"No thanks," she said with a serious expression on her face.

Ash and Drew both directed well-earned incredulous stares at her.

"Okay, that's enough joking around, come have your cake," Drew said with a smile.

"I'm not joking, my days of being driven by my stomach are over."

Drew stood up and made his hands into fists. "That can't be true. I simply can't believe you out of all people would refuse a table full of desserts, your sense of taste is what matters the most to you, it's basically who you are."

"Perhaps," May said, "but if that's the case, then I'm going to be someone else until I've won the tournament. When that happens I will celebrate by eating a mountain made out of cake. But only after it's done."

"Come on, surely you can make a little time to rest."

"I'll have plenty of time to rest once I'm dead—or at least when the tournament's over. I want to win, so I'm going to train like a tournament winner. That goes for you too Ash. I thought you were serious about this, but I guess you think it's okay to start your day with a distraction after all."

Dumbfounded, Ash listened to May. After she was done talking she bolted off to run her laps, and he stared at her back as she left him and Drew behind. Ash turned to Drew, and took the time to wipe the drool off of his face. In that moment, when Drew saw his eyes, he knew this time it was he who had been defeated.

"May's right. I can't believe I forgot about my Pokemon Master's life so quickly."

"It's my fault," Drew said. "I was ready to do anything, and I mean anything just so the three of us could have breakfast together. It's obvious that you guys are miles ahead of me, and all I'm doing is hindering your chances of winning the tournament."

As Drew continued talking, Ash walked up to him and took his hand, instantly shutting him up.

"This isn't the time to think about this," Ash said. "You came here to train with us, and that's exactly what we're going to do."

"But-"

"You want to hang out with us, and it was you who decided to come here. You said you weren't afraid of whatever Norman could throw at you, didn't you say that?"

"I did," Drew said, averting his eyes. "But wait, who's going to eat all this food?"

"I can help you with that," Norman suddenly appeared, with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face.

"Norman! Please help yourself to anything you want."

"Thanks Drew, I'll take you up on that."

"Great, so that's settled," Ash said. "Are you ready Drew?"

Drew gulped, then nodded with nervous eyes.

"Then let's do this," Ash said.

"Okay. Let's do this."

They ran to catch up to May.

The day of the tournament arrived. May, Ash and Drew walked into the valley that morning with a single objective on their minds, and with their blood pumping at full throttle. The valley, the peaceful place filled only with the most beautiful side of nature that they knew so well, had become something else entirely. Myriads of happy people in shorts and open shirts walking and talking, many food stands that filled the air with conflicting scents. Loud conversations and rousing shouts. And at the center of it all, a sea of human heads gathered around the quadrilateral arena, all of them ready and expectant for all the battles that were about to take place. The battles were to be one against one until the very end, when a trainer and their pokemon out of sixteen possible pairs would be crowned the victor of the day. Norman himself would both officiate the event and participate as well.

It happened to be Saturday, and this Ash had survived for four weeks without exploding, but in that moment his head didn't have any space left for him to worry about that.

Once the sun illuminated every single corner of the place completely, Norman appeared on the grass, and the people got out of his way as he walked toward the arena with a microphone on his hand. The crowd was silenced as soon as everyone saw him. He positioned himself right at the center of the arena and took a deep breath, then raised his free hand and led the microphone to his mouth.

"Let the tournament begin!" he shouted. The crowd went wild, they all raised their fists and opened their mouths wide. All of their energy was concentrated right where Norman was. He smiled as he felt its power clashing on the spot, then signaled the first two combatants into the arena. On one side were Ash and Pikachu. On the other was an old opponent of his, Dewford City's Gym Leader Brawly, who along with his big Hariyama took his positions and faced Ash and Pikachu.

"Long time no see Ash," Brawly said with a cocky grin on his face.

"Hey Brawly, I can't believe you remember me," Ash said.

"That's right, I don't know exactly why, but I remember you very well. You got a spirit like no other I've ever met, but it won't help you today. You may not know this, but I was actually the runner up last year. I lost against Norman in the final. I'm aching to get my revenge this time around, and I won't let anyone get in my way."

"Well, right now that's Pikachu and I, and we won't stand aside without a fight."

Norman closed his eyes and smiled with a serene, genuine kind of joy. He settled himself at the edge of the arena and raised his hand.

"All the battles are one against one. Each combatant will give it their all until they can't continue, at which point the one still standing will be declared the winner! Brawly and Hariyama, are you ready?"

"You bet I am," Brawly said confidently.

"Very well. Ash and Pikachu, are you ready?"

Both trainer and pokemon turned to Norman and nodded seriously.

"Very well. Begin!"

"Okay Brawly," Ash said, "let me see what you've got."

"You're giving me the first move huh, let's find out how that works out for you. Hariyama, use close combat!"

Hariyama let out a boisterous shout, making the whole valley shake with his voice. He raised his arms and flexed his biceps, clearly wanting to show off his might, then he bolted off at Pikachu much faster than it seemed possible for a large pokemon such as him to do. The fury in his eyes seemed to make him go even faster and he prepared his arms for the imminent barrage of fists that he meant to throw at Pikachu. But as he started releasing hit after hit, each just as lethal as the rest, Pikachu silently avoided any contact by simply moving to the right after every single hit, making Hariyama miss every time while moving in circles, all without having his trainer utter an order. Both Ash and Pikachu were deeply focused, and because of that they knew there was no reason to speak at all.

"Keep going Hariyama, you only need to hit it once!" Brawly cried, "We can't give them any room to strike back."

The arena was suddenly very slippery for Hariyama, who struggled to brake his rotating motion. His target was right there in front of him and somehow he kept missing. Right then it was entirely reasonable for him to be discouraged, nevertheless he growled and shouted and psyched himself up and went for Pikachu once more. However Pikachu easily continued evading hit after hit. Both Brawly and Hariyama growled with anger. Hariyama channeled his rage and forced himself to charge through the arena once more directly at Pikachu, who evaded him once again.

"Forget that then, use force palm!"

After stopping his shower of attacks with difficulty, still furious, Hariyama sprinted on all fours towards its target while Pikachu went to meet him on two. The first force palm was easily neutralized with a simple tilt of the head from Pikachu, so Hariyama kept throwing hands, hitting nothing until, in his rage, he slipped, fell on his back and hit his head on the ground.

"Hariyama!" Brawly cried.

Suddenly Pikachu was standing next to his opponent as he laid on the ground. While Ash remained silent, Pikachu helped Hariyama up and, in his own way, asked him if he was okay. Hariyama was taken aback by Pikachu's treatment, and he wasn't angry anymore, he couldn't be. Hariyama even allowed the much smaller pokemon to help him up, then reassured Pikachu that he was fine. However, he still wanted to prove his strength, just like his trainer. So after making some distance between the two the battle continued. Hariyama continued throwing punches as fast and as hard as he could, and Pikachu continued evading with masterful ability all the way until he found the perfect window to counter. He jumped, rolled forward in the air and hit Hariyama's forehead with a perfectly placed iron tail. Hariyama went to the ground once more, but this time Pikachu didn't help him. Instead he simply stood there calmly with the same serious expression as his silent trainer.

"We're not ready to give up yet! Are we Hariyama?" Brawly shouted. And Hariyama responded with a decisive shout.

He went for Pikachu once more, but this time he got on the offensive and met Hariyama with an iron tail to his right cheek, then followed that with another iron tail to his left one, and then yet another one to his forehead again. And then Hariyama's head kept turning from side to side as Pikachu kept hitting him, and the crowd started feeling the momentum of his relentless strikes. At first they had been taken aback by Ash and Pikachu's approach, but then, once they took notice of their power they started cheering for them and followed the motion of his attacks, turning their heads the same way Hariyama's did with Pikachu's relentless iron tails. Then Pikachu moved back and got on all fours when he sensed that Hariyama was stunned. Ash knew it was the perfect time to seal their victory. He prepared another iron tail, jumped forward once more and took Hariyama all the way to the ground with yet another precise strike to the head. Hariyama was still conscious, so Pikachu prepared the finishing blow and moved to strike. However, the edge of his sharp tail stopped right before making contact with Hariyama's desperate face, at which point the battle was over.

Norman silently turned to Brawly.

"We concede," despondent, Brawly said.

"Hariyama can't continue, Ash and Pikachu win!" Norman shouted.

"Man, we didn't have a chance," Brawly said as he walked up to the center of the arena. He helped Hariyama up, and then Ash went to meet him and shake his hand. "How did you do that Ash?"

"With training," Ash said.

"Yeah, but how exactly-"

"It was a lot of training," Ash replied. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder, then both of them turned to Norman, who gave them an approving nod, which they took in with pride.

"Well, it paid off." Brawly bowed before Ash, then turned around and left the valley as soon as he could, because he knew he had been thoroughly humiliated.

Then the tournament continued. Both May and Drew won their respective matches on the first round, May against Rustboro City Gym Leader Roxanne, and Drew against a youngster named Gordy.

On the second round Ash faced a fisherman named Larry, whose goldeen was easily defeated by Pikachu. Afterwards it was Drew's turn on the second round. He stepped into the arena, and then felt a shiver travel down all through his back once he saw who his opponent was. Lavaridge Town's own Gym Leader, Flannery.

"Flannery and Torkoal, are you ready?" Norman said.

"Yes!" Flannery shouted with her lively voice.

"Very well. Drew and Roserade, are you ready?"

"Uh," Drew uttered. A drop of sweat was running down his right temple. "N… yes."

"Very well. Begin!"

Drew hesitated.

Knowing the opponent was faster, Flannery awaited for Drew's move.

"You can do it Drew!" May shouted from the sidelines using her hands to resonate.

Drew turned to her and gulped, then nodded with as much confidence as he could muster right then. He had to at least try, so as not to make an ass of himself.

"Roserade! Use energy ball," he shouted mechanically. Then Roserade did as he said, and called upon a ball of green light in front of her with a beautiful chant. She released the energy ball with a violent flail of her flowery limbs, it reached Torkoal's hard, darkened carapace but the fire type remained like a statue, to which Flannery smiled.

"Torkoal, use overheat!" she cried. Presently her pokemon filled the whole arena with flames which traveled aggressively fast towards their prey. Roserade had to jump out of the way of the wave of fire and move to the very edge of the arena just to avoid being consumed by the flames.

Before stepping into the arena Drew didn't know who his opponent was going to be. If he had known, he would've been able to make some adjustments to his strategy. But, ultimately, he had to admit to himself that Roserade was simply not fit for pokemon battles. None of her attacks could damage Flannery's fire type directly. Drew himself was completely out of his element.

Torkoal kept expelling fire out of his mouth and Roserade kept avoiding it as fast as she could. She was agile and very light, the flair from her performances was on display with every one of her delicate movements on the battlefield; she was basically dancing as she continued evading the flames. Suddenly Drew got an idea which seemed audacious enough to work.

"Roserade, use toxic!"

For a moment Roserade stood still as flames kept raging at both sides of her. She directed her right arm at Torkoal, whose semblance suddenly changed and he became more dour. His eyes suddenly seemed sadder, and from the borders of his lips purple liquid started to come out.

"We won't give up!" Flannery said, raising her fist. "Keep going Torkoal, let's end this quickly!"

The waves of fire kept aggressively flowing, Roserade continued evading, and Drew realized that he was able to sense the pace of the fight, and notice the movements of both contenders in a much more fluid and clearer way, so much so that he felt he could predict their next movements, both from himself and his opponent. He had watched Ash and May train a lot, right on the very place he was standing in that moment. At the very least his observational skills had improved quite a bit. He knew that if he could prolong the battle with Roserade's agility, Torkoal would succumb to her poison soon enough.

"This is going nowhere," Flannery said. "Torkoal, use eruption!"

The flames went out, giving Roserade some time to catch her breath. Then, a corner on the white marble arena turned red, and from it arose a red explosion. Torkoal resumed releasing waves of fire in such a way that unavoidably led Roserade to the red zone; the explosion was gone, but the ground was red instead of white. Roserade's feet burned. From the pain, she fell on the ground and then her knees burned. She tried to escape but Torkoal's flames finally reached her and drained most of her health.

Drew caught the pattern of Torkoal's waves of fire and made Roserade move out of the way, so she continued evading. Flannery promptly ordered Torkoal to use eruption again, and then half of the arena became red and, at least for Roserade, unbearable to the touch. Drew was already drenched in sweat, the heat felt like daggers piercing his skin. It paralyzed him.

"You haven't lost yet Drew!" someone from the crowd said. Drew turned towards the voice on the sidelines and noticed Ash looking straight at him with a very confident pair of eyes. "Don't give up until it's over."

Drew suddenly felt like he had woken up. He looked back at the arena and saw Roserade right in the middle of it. From the edges a tornado of fire formed, and quickly trapping her inside. Drew could only watch as the moving fire closed in on her. Then she was out of his sight, and all he could see was fire moving fast.

"Hold on Roserade!" he cried. "Torkoal is in front of you and he's been getting weaker and weaker from your poison. Use energy ball again and end this."

"Don't bother Drew. You tried your best all the way to the end, I can see that, but the battle is over," Flannery said.

"We'll see about that."

From the fire tornado, the energy ball came out and the weary Torkoal was hit, and this time he felt its force. However it wasn't enough to take him down, and the fire tornado kept going, and started consuming Roserade in full. At least for a few seconds. Roserade's poison finally took its toll on Torkoal, and he went to the ground unconscious before Roserade could succumb to his fire.

"What?" Flannery said, after looking at her pokemon down on the ground, and their opponent, Roserade, breathing heavily, half-scorched by their fire, but still standing.

"Torkoal can't continue," Norman said, "Drew and Roserade win."

Drew ran to his pokemon and stopped himself before touching her, seeing that she was considerably hurt.

"We did it Roserade! I really can't believe it, but we won!" he said. Then both he and Roserade shared a passionate look, both with a tender, naked happiness visible on their eyes.

"Congratulations Drew," Flannery said as she went to meet them. "It pains me to say it, but you endured me as well as Torkoal and survived. There aren't many guys who can say that, you deserve to go through to the semifinals."

"Thanks, although I think a single second made a world of difference."

Then they shook hands.

Afterwards May had her second-round match against a spoiled brat named Matt, whom she soundly defeated after just a few seconds.

There was a small pause so that all competitors could recover their energies. Then the tournament continued with the first leg of the semifinals, which had Drew and May facing each other on the arena.

Blaziken and Roserade were called in front of their trainers. The crowd had been roused and the anticipation could be felt in the air.

Norman walked to the edge of the arena. "Drew and Roserade, are you ready?"

"Yes," Drew said.

"May and Blaziken, are you ready?"

"Yes!" May shouted with confidence.

"Very well. Begin!"

"Alright!" May shouted eagerly. She quickly took the initiative, a little bit of fire came out of Blaziken's mouth. "Blaziken, get her!"

"Roserade, make sure he doesn't touch you!" Drew said. Then the pokemon ran towards each other. He threw a flaming punch at her and she evaded. Roserade saw the fist up close and she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it. At the same time Drew realized that defeating them would be almost impossible. Afterwards Blaziken chased Roserade all over the arena with his limbs covered in fire, up until he grabbed her arm and prepared his fist.

"Wait!" Drew cried out. "May, I know you can beat me, I know we don't stand a chance against Blaziken and you."

"Hey Drew," Norman interrupted. "In this tournament, type advantages aren't taken into account. This is about you and your partner proving themselves and overcoming all odds, no matter what the opponent throws at you."

"I know," Drew replied, "but either way May is way ahead of me. Still, I want to prove myself against Ash and you. So how about you let me win? I know Ash hasn't passed through the final, but if he does, and you let me win, it will be me against him, and as I said I really want to show him what I'm made of."

"What? No way!" May said, indignant. "Sorry Drew, I have something that I need to do too. I have my own objective, and I can't give it up now. And this isn't about you."

Consequently, May and Blaziken wiped the floor with Drew and Roserade, and earned their place in the tournament final.

The second semifinal pitted Ash against Norman himself. It would be Ash's first real test of the day, and perhaps his most important one in a long while, considering he would go against his latest mentor.

Ash and Norman placed themselves on opposite sides of the arena. Max, May's little brother, would act as the referee since Norman was fighting. He called his pokemon partner, one of the vigoroth which Ash already knew quite well. Pikachu stepped in front of Ash and faced his laughing opponent.

"Are you ready for this Ash?"

"I'm ready to live a Pokemon Master's life."

"Very well, show me what you've got."

"Um, okay," Max said. "Dad, and Vigoroth, are you ready?"

"Yes!"

"Ash and Pikachu, are you ready to lose?"

"Yes, I mean no! Why would you do that now Max? Anyway, we are ready!"

"Okay then, begin!"

Max lowered his tiny arm fast, but nobody moved. The expectant crowd was fully silent, meanwhile the four combatants stood like statues.

Both Ash and Norman smiled. Everyone was confused. Everyone except for them.

Both Ash and Norman took out a piece of cloth, turned around, and blindfolded themselves. Both of them crossed their arms. Then, at the very same time, Ash and Norman shouted vigorously, and Pikachu and Vigoroth ignited and started throwing fast paced hits at each other. Their movements couldn't be telegraphed, their limbs could barely be seen, but the fists and the tails and the kicks could certainly be heard all over the place along with their battle-cries. Ash and Norman shouted louder, theirs seemed to be a battle of wills, and for all intents and purposes it was a screaming match, as the pokemon battle between them looked like a blur from which limbs and tails sometimes came out.

There seemed to be no end to the ear-piercing shouts until a bit of saliva got stuck on Norman's throat, he stopped screaming and his eyes opened wide. Then a coughing fit made him lose focus, and because of this Vigoroth stopped fighting and was fulminated by Pikachu, who focused on his laughing face until Vigoroth went to the floor.

"What? This cannot be!" Max said. "My dad wins anyway, you lose Ash."

"No Max. Ash is clearly the winner," Norman said as he wiped his mouth. "Vigoroth and I can't continue, Ash and Pikachu go through to the final."

"Aw man, this sucks," Max added.

"Yes it does son. But that's how it is, I've been knocked out in the semifinals for the first time since I started this tournament. I guess I do need to lose a few pounds, perhaps I have grown complacent and I got a ruthless reminder for it. At least it was by a formidable opponent like you Ash. Congratulations."

"Thanks Norman," Ash said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Well, thanks I guess. Although that doesn't sound so good since I'm the one you've just defeated. Anyway." Norman went and took the microphone from Max's hands. "Thanks Max. Okay, so we have this year's finalists! The last match of the day will be Ash versus May!"

The crowd went wild.

Afterwards Ash left the arena and went back to the resting area (beneath a leafy tree), where he found both May and Drew. She was not happy to see him at all. In fact May was very angry right then. She punched Ash on the shoulder as soon as he walked in.

"Hey! What gives?" Ash said as he rubbed his deltoid muscle.

"You just ruined my whole thing. You winning means I entered the tournament for nothing!" she said.

"What do you mean? You reached the final."

"Yes, but I was supposed to go against my dad," May said with her fist raised. "I did this whole thing just so I could beat him in the final."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes!" May said, still angry. "That's all I've been talking about for all this time! If I was going to endure training with him, if I was going to work my butt off, it's because I wanted to beat up my dad in front of you Ash. I wanted you to see me as I mopped the floor with him!"

"That sounds really weird," Drew suddenly said.

"Yeah? Well I don't care how it sounds. All I care about is that you ruined my chance to do that Ash."

"How was I supposed to know that's what you were planning to do?" Ash said slightly offended. "It doesn't matter anyway, because even if I had known, I wouldn't have lost on purpose anyway."

"I don't care what happens anymore."

"Well I do. My objective is to win. That's what a Pokemon Master would do, so that's what I'm going to do. It may very well be the last thing I do—I haven't forgotten what could happen to me at any moment—but it doesn't matter how much time I have left, I will commit myself to the life I want to live."

"You're not going to disappear," May said.

"How do you know?"

"Because I won't allow it. Nothing is going to happen to you. I'll keep you alive, and I'll fend off anyone who tries to take you away."

"How do you know if you'll be strong enough to do that?" Ash said. "It's obvious that you don't think you can beat me, that's what this is all about."

"What did you say?" May shouted. Drew could feel the tension in the air, it tightened his lips and closed his lungs.

"You heard me," Ash continued. "If you were serious about this, you wouldn't give up and start crying just because things didn't go your way."

"Don't you mess with me, I'll make you eat your words!"

"You will try. Believe me, I hope you at least try."

May was fuming, she got in front of Ash, he didn't back away. Their noses were almost touching. Their eyes showed the same rage within them. May grunted with a very passionate kind of impotence. Then she stormed out of the resting area and, still fuming, walked towards the arena.

Just a few seconds later Ash stormed off too, also furiously, with Drew behind him ineffectively trying to calm him down.

As the two finalists entered the arena the crowd was silenced. Everyone there could feel the tension emanating from the two opponents. Even Norman felt a bit uneasy.

"Ahem. We have reached the final of the ninth Tournament in the Valley! The champion will be decided between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and my own daughter, from here on Petalburg City." A little tear flowed from Norman's right cheek. "I can't believe it. After all these years, she finally came around and saw how great this tournament was. I knew she would, I just knew it."

May frowned harder as she looked straight at Ash. He knew that May really resented him for taking away her chance to beat up her dad. Too bad, he hadn't come there to lose.

"Ash and Pikachu, are you ready?"

"Yes," Ash said softly.

"May and Blaziken." Norman wiped another tear from his eye. "Are you ready?"

"Start the match now."

"I'm so proud of you dear. Begin!"

Norman lowered his arm. Pikachu and Blaziken went for each other. Limbs started flailing, battle-cries resounded all over the valley. Blaziken blocked an iron tail from Pikachu with his elbow. Pikachu used the moment right afterwards to electrocute Blaziken with a thunderbolt. It was an effective hit. Blaziken responded with a fire punch to the face. Pikachu dexterously evaded it by jumping to his left. Immediately Blaziken threw a blazing kick at him, hit him hard on his little abdomen and sent Pikachu flying. They knew each other very well, having trained together for so long. The battle continued, and both Pikachu and Blaziken were able to parry each other's hits, and to neutralize their ability to evade incoming attacks. May was grinding her teeth, Ash couldn't stand her in that moment. Meanwhile on the sidelines Drew could only wish they'd stop being so mad at each other. But the battle continued. Blaziken's fire punch hit Pikachu hard in the face.

"Ha! Take that!" May shouted as she viciously pointed at him.

"You think that's funny?" Ash replied.

"Yes!"

"You'll pay for that."

"When?"

"Right now!" Ash growled.

"Oh yeah? Well I don't see anything happening. Are you going to come over and do something or what?"

Ash growled loudly, all of his muscles contracted at the same time. "Pikachu! Destroy Blaziken with an iron tail!"

Pikachu shook his head to regain focus, he too wanted to teach his opponent a righteous lesson. He prepared to jump and roll forward but Blaziken stopped him before he could even begin with another blazing kick to the face.

"Wait!" Ash shouted, "step back and use thunderbolt instead."

Pikachu prepared to move back, but Blaziken punished his hesitation with another blazing kick that sent him flying backwards.

"Are you finally getting scared?" May said. "It's too bad for you, you can't get away."

"I'm not trying to! Pikachu, now's your chance, use thunderbolt!"

Pikachu shook his whole body, then got in four legs and prepared a thunderbolt as powerful as he could make it. His attack blinded everyone in the valley for a few seconds and when they were able to see again Blaziken was still being electrocuted. But he was still standing, taking Pikachu's thunderbolt with his fists clenched and his eyes closed.

"You think you can take it huh, well here's another one! Pikachu use thunderbolt again!"

Pikachu continued electrocuting Blaziken, who stood standing, taking all the painful electricity in. What's more, while he was still being electrocuted, he started walking towards Pikachu, hoping to get close enough for a fulminating attack.

"You can't hold on for long!" Ash shouted.

"That's what you think!" May shouted back. Then she started walking towards the arena, towards Blaziken, herself.

"May, you can't get too close to the pokemon, it's dangerous," Norman interrupted, raising an arm.

"Shut up dad! This is between Ash and I, between Pikachu and Blaziken, and I'm not scared of them. They can't hurt us, and there's no way they're going to beat us!" she said as she continued walking towards Blaziken.

At seeing her insolence, Ash started walking towards her, towards the middle of the arena too. By that point everyone else was quietly scared.

"What are you doing? It's very dangerous to walk into the middle of a fight," Ash said angrily.

"I'm showing you that I'm not afraid, that I can be as strong as I want to be on my own, and that neither you nor my dad can do anything about it!"

"Take this seriously May, this is the tournament final! You don't care about any of this, you never did."

May reached Ash, she violently grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close.

"You think I don't care? You think I don't care about you? Do you seriously think I'm not worried about what can happen to you at any moment?" She shouted right at his face. Then May pulled Ash even closer and kissed him hard on the lips. Everyone gasped. Ash opened his eyes wide and then saw her pull away for a bit. "If so, you're an idiot." She then kissed him again even harder.

Ash pulled back. "You're an idiot too," he said.

May let go of him for just a second and then put her arm around his neck, restraining him. "Shut up and kiss me!" Ash surrendered himself to her and they started making out hard. Everyone was bewildered, except for Drew, who seemed disappointed instead, not sad, but definitely angry in a rather disinterested way. Meanwhile Caroline was the only one who was smiling, with an expression on her face that showcased mischievous surprise.

Ash then tried to release himself from May's arm-lock, but she didn't let him. She was holding him tight with both of her arms around him. So he resorted to putting his arms around her waist; he lifted her and took her feet off the ground to try and push her away, just so he could break free from her arm-lock. But then he fell backwards, taking her down with him. Then she was on top of him on the arena, and they continued making out, visibly with tongue, and continuously gasping loudly for air, completely unburdened by the many prying eyes.

"You have no idea of how much I've been waiting to do this to you, for so long you haven't let me… You could explode at any moment, don't you want to live? …I've wanted you for so long but all you've ever wanted to do is train, even though you say you like me… Ahh, you still haven't changed… You frustrate me so much, I freaking love you," she said.

"I still… I still… Hey, let me just say something really quickly-"

"Hurry."

"I still want to be a Pokemon Master… But I think this time I'm okay letting you win," he said.

Everyone watched with their mouths open. Norman was utterly flabbergasted. Even Max was astonished. Caroline covered his eyes with her hand but she continued watching. Drew was quite done by then. He walked towards the edge of the arena and put his elbows over it.

"Hey, can I join in?" Drew said. "He he, just kidding. Take it easy there. Man, you guys are crazy. Even crazier than me, for suggesting that I join in. Of course I was kidding, I was definitely kidding."

This year's Tournament in the Valley didn't have a declared champion. Ash and May continued making out on the arena until people started to disperse. Afterwards they caught the perfect moment to escape from the valley.

A few hours later, May was resting in her backyard by herself, laying down with a wide smile on her face. Nobody but Ash knew she was there, she was technically hiding, after what happened in the valley.

Suddenly she heard a loud thunder that made her shriek. She sat up and looked at the purple sky above her, and saw a very bright light becoming bigger and bigger. Then there was another thunder, but this time it sounded like the sound was somehow getting away from her. Immediately afterwards the light above her ripped into two halves, and from it came Dialga's face, much, much bigger than May knew it was. It encompassed pretty much her whole field of vision.

She put her hands in front of her face and closed her eyes.

"Don't be afraid," Dialga said. "I only want to help."

May dared to look at it once more. Its giant face was too extraordinary a sight to keep a reasonable mind when speaking to it. May closed her eyes and covered her face again.

"What do you want?" she basically pleaded.

"I've made a mistake," Dialga said, "I cannot fix it, and it's only getting worse. But, I have decided, that I can't allow the Ash in your possession to be killed."

May opened her eyes, but she kept covering her face with her hands.

"Others like me have begun doing the same. If the situation continues it will soon become unsustainable. Still, something must be done with yours too. I will tell you where you can hide him, and you must take him there right away. Will you do it?"

May dared to look at the giant face once more, and this time she kept looking.

"Yes," she said decisively.

So it happened again. This one got even longer than the last one. But anyway, the next one probably will be much shorter than this. Anyway, what I actually wanted to say is that, the only reason I added the number of weeks, as well as the number of remaining Ashs, at the beginning of the chapters, is that I always meant to write some chapters out of chronological order, and that part at the beginning would serve to pinpoint exactly when the events of the chapter are taking place, okay, bye.