Well so far I've made a story in third person and one in Ash's POV, so naturally the next one should be May's POV. So it was because of this that I decided to do the third story. It's actually themed off of a pic that I found that is also currently my laptop's background. And I like the two-shot theme, so this will probably follow the same format. So here's my third story, hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokèmon or its characters.

Valentine's Day. One of the most commercialized holidays of the year, the day that love blossoms and bonds strengthen. It is also on this day that the first annual Championship Ball is being held. I have two boys that have a chance of stealing my heart. Both show their care in different ways and each has their flaws. The first is the perfect definition of a romantic, always showering me with roses and a large smile accompanied by a quick flick of his long hair. The other is shy when it comes to love, the only way he would admit anything (or realize it for that matter) would be if it hit him straight in the face, but he is always there to help me though the difficult times and has saved my life on more than one occasion. While outside of the Contest ring they each are slowly winning my heart, inside the ring is where they separate into two completely categories. The Romeo-type is a rival of mine and he never misses a chance to prove that he his better than me in every way. But the other is one of my best supporters; he is always yelling the loudest for my victory. He takes much pride in my victories and blames himself for every one of my defeats. Yet even after my defeats we spend many late nights to fix the mistakes that I made in my battle and correct them so that they cannot hold me back any longer.

It is those differences that set them apart. While my rival can use the right moves and words to woo a girl to him, to completely win my heart he needs to show that he can care for more than just himself. And my other friend is just too dense, if I could just tell his true feelings than I could finally choose between the two. It is this quality of his that is keeping me from knowing exactly what he thinks of me, if he loves another than I choose my rival, but if he does care for me more than just as a friend than I think I would be able to accept his feelings and we could become a couple. The choice must come soon; I have to choose between the two.

"It's been over a year since we've last seen them; I wonder how they've been doing?"

As I was walking down the road back to Kanto I started up a conversation with Eevee to pass the time. Ever since I left my old traveling group to compete in the Johto contests, she has been the one who I've spilled my secrets to or who I would just engage in idle chit-chat with. She keeps me company while I'm on the long roads alone. Because of this Eevee has been outside of her Pokè Ball so often that I've just let her ride on my shoulder, much like Ash and Pikachu.

"Vee."

"Well the last time I talked to Ash and Brock was a few weeks before the Grand Festival. Ash was preparing for the Sinnoh Championship while Dawn was preparing for the Sinnoh Grand Festival. I haven't even heard to results of the two. But I wonder if they were invited to this Championship Ball as well?" As I said this I took out the ticket that I won and to get another look at it. It read, "Congratulations ticket holder for placing in one of the top four seats of your competition, you are cordially invited to a dance held in honor of all the top trainers in the surrounding regions. The dance will be held on Valentine's Day at the Indigo Plateau. This ticket permits you and one guest to attend this exclusive ball. Please do not loose this ticket, without it you will not be able to attend."

"Eevee."

"Your right, I should trust Ash more," I replied to her with a smile, "After all the tournaments that he's been to he would have definitely gotten at least second place. But I wonder who I will invite to go with me? There's virtually no way that I would let Drew be my date, especially after him rubbing his win in my face after I lost to him in the final round, but I guess Ash wouldn't be a bad choice." I could feel my face heat up a little at the thought of going to a dance with Ash; Eevee gave me a sly look. "What? Besides he probably already has someone picked out." I said with a large sigh. "As much fun as it was traveling by myself…"

"Vee."

"Sorry, I meant traveling with only you guys, I still miss being with the rest of my friends." I gave Eevee a small rub under her chin. "Well we aren't too far from Pallet Town, so once we get there we can finally see our old friends, and Bulbasaur as well."

After about an hour of walking Eevee and I were finally able to see Professor Oak's Lab, the unofficial symbol of Pallet Town.

"Well we're finally here; you think we should run the rest of the way to Ash's house?"

"Vui," Eevee replied as she jumped off my shoulder and started to run down the road.

"Hey, wait up Eevee!" I yelled as I chassed after her.

As we reached the front door of the Ketchum residence Eevee sat down right in front of the door with a victorious look on her face.

"Okay you beat me, but you had all the advantages you know that right? And besides that, you cheated." I said while giving off a small laugh and holding my arm out for her to climb up onto.

"Vee," she responded and climbed back up onto my shoulder. As she got up there she rubbed her face against mine.

"Okay, Okay, stop that would ya? It tickles!" I say trying to control my laughter. As she stops and I gained control of myself again I finally rang the doorbell.

"Coming," I could hear a voice calling from inside. As the door opened I straightened my posture to make a good impression for a person who I haven't seen in a long time. "Oh May, its good to see you again," Mrs. Ketchum says as she gave me a big hug. "Ash will be so glad to see you again, but I'm sorry to say that he's not here yet. They aren't supposed to be back until tomorrow."

"Oh," my voice dropped as the comment sunk in. "Well I'm sorry for stopping in unannounced like this. If you want I can wait until they return and…"

"Oh nonsense, you are like an extended family member here. You can spend the night in the guest bedroom, and we can make a big meal for them tomorrow before they get here."

"Well thank you very much Mrs. Ketchum. If you don't mind could I just drop off my stuff and go visit Professor Oak's lab?"

"Of course you can dear. Just make sure that you are back by six tonight. I'll have dinner ready by then."

"Well thanks again Mrs. Ketchum." I ran up to the guest bedroom and dropped of my bag and ran back downstairs. "Sorry for running off so soon like this but..."

"You don't need to explain yourself May, after living with Ash this long I know how you teenagers work these days. Just go and enjoy yourself."

"Well either way I'm still sorry." I yelled back to her as I ran off to the lab.

It only took a couple minutes to reach the lab. By the time I got to the door I was excited about seeing all the Pokèmon at the lab, but most importantly seeing my Bulbasaur again. I rang the bell and waited impatiently for someone to answer. After what seemed to be an hour someone finally opened the door. The person who answered had black hair and a red headband, if I remember correctly his name was Tracey.

"May, it's been a long time since you left. What brings you here after all this time?"

"Well a couple of reasons actually, the first is that I came to meet up with Ash and his group and see how he did in Sinnoh, and second I came to see my Bulbasaur."

"Guess I should have known." He said with a chuckle, "Come on in, I'll take you to her, she's probably out near the pond at the moment."

"Thanks Tracey, I appreciate it."

He led me through the lab to the back lots, and we started to walk across the large prairie-like fields that held Pokèmon as far as the eye can see. "Every time I come here I can't stop but stare in awe at how may different Pokèmon are here." But I was knocked back to reality after hearing some Pokèmon calling out, as I looked up I could see a Glalie, Torkoal, and Swellow all running at me. I wasn't ready for them as they all plowed into me, knocking me off of my feet. Eevee was lucky enough to jump off just in time, so she didn't suffer the same fate. She started to laugh at my predicament, but at that moment I was not entertained. I was sitting underneath three overly excited Pokèmon and they were getting heavy.

"Alright it's nice to see you guys too but Ash will be here tomorrow, so can't you at least save the greetings for then?" I know that they heard me but I guess they were just too excited about seeing an old friend to really care.

"Just like Ash, they only listen when it suits them."

"Alright fine, you guys can come with me. But can you at least get off of me first?"

"Okay guys break it up, I know that you're happy to see May again but she's here to see her Bulbasaur. She can play with you all after." Tracey said as he tried to pull them off of me. After a final whine they finally got off of me.

"Don't worry I promise that I'll be back in a little while. I know Sceptile isn't the type to run up to someone like that but can you guys tell me where he is so I can at least say hi?" They all pointed to the forest where we were originally headed. "Thanks everyone, I'll see you again in a bit. Come on Eevee!" As the three of us headed into the forest I could feel the sad stares of Ash's Pokèmon pierce straight though me. "I would never have guessed that they would have missed me that much." I found myself thinking as we continued on.

About a minute into the forest I caught a glimpse of a large bipedal lizard sitting in the low branches of a tree with a twig in his mouth. "Well long time no see Sceptile, why doesn't it surprise me that you are out here by yourself?" I questioned with a small laugh. He just opened one eye for a brief second but ignored me. "Well fine be that way, but your attitude will change by tomorrow."

"Tile?" He opened his eye again, but this time I could tell I had his full attention.

"You may not be too excited to see me but Ash will be back tomorrow. And no matter how big a façade you put on we all know that deep inside your nothing but a big softie." I teased with a big smile on my face.

"Tile." He gruffly said while turning his head away. But I could tell that he was embarrassed by the truth so I let it drop.

"Well it was nice seeing you again Sceptile; we'll probably meet up again tomorrow when Ash comes to visit here." And with that we continued on towards the small lake that lies in the middle of this forest.

When we finally arrived there the water Pokèmon all looked at us with curious glances but went back to their usual routines. "Well here we are, now your Bulbasaur should be around here somewhere." Tracey said breaking the silence.

"Let's see if I can't make this search go a little faster. BULBASAUR!" I called out into the surrounding forest. After a few seconds I could hear some branches breaking and out from the undergrowth my little Bulbasaur came bounding out tackled me to the ground.

"Ouch, what's with all the painful reunions today?" I chuckled as I sit up, but Bulbasaur apparently didn't hear me as she was still on top of me trying to snuggle into my body. I give a sigh, "Well I guess I can't blame her, it has been a while."

"So I can see why you spend most of your time out here, it's very beautiful," but as soon as I said that another Bulbasaur came walking out of the forest right where my Bulbasaur came from. "Well, well, well; I guess their might be another reason that you stay around here." I whispered privately to her.

"Bulbasaur," was the only verbal response I got from her but I could tell that she was blushing as well. "So my little Bulbasaur has a crush, isn't that just cute!"

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone. Your secret's safe with me, but if you want my advice you should tell him soon." I whispered back.

"Bulba!" She then jumped into me yet again, tossing me back to the ground.

"Alright I know, now you seem busy so you can go and play with Ash's Bulbasaur, we will probably have a big party tomorrow when Ash, Brock, and Dawn get here." I said out loud so that Ash's Bulbasaur could hear it as well. "We can have all of our Pokèmon play with each other, both old and new. Now I have a promise to keep to three energetic Pokèmon, so I'll see you tomorrow then Bulbasaur."

I woke up the next morning feeling very stiff, "Man Ash's Pokèmon play rough, well at least the supper last night was good and the bed was soft." I looked over at Eevee who had fallen asleep on the bed right next to me.

"Wake up Eevee, its morning already. We need to get ready for everyone's arrival today." Eevee gave a big yawn, looked at me with sleepy eyes, and gave a soft "Vui."

"Come on, wake up already." I say to her as I picked her up, "we have a big day ahead of us." But I guess me holding her had the opposite affect of what I was hoping for, because she slipped right back into sleep. "sigh, fine you can sleep. But don't be mad if you miss out though."

As I got downstairs I could smell the breakfast Mrs. Ketchum was making. I set Eevee down onto the couch and went to join Mrs. Ketchum in the kitchen.

"Well good morning May. I hope that you are ready for the big day today." She said as I came in.

"Good morning Mrs. Ketchum, you didn't need to make breakfast, I could have made my own."

"Don't worry about it dear, we need to get things heated up to make the welcome back meal for everyone so we might as well do two things at once. And besides with your appetite it reminds me of when Ash was still home." She replied with a smile.

"Um, thanks. I guess." I said as I took a seat.

"Well here it all is, eat up. After breakfast we can start cooking for everyone else."

"Thank you Mrs. Ketchum. Well let's dig in!"

Mrs. Ketchum's food was almost as good Brock's cooking. I was able to eat several portions and take my fill. After we cleaned up the dishes the two of us started to make the meal for everyone for when they come back. It took a few hours but by noon we were able to get everything ready.

"Oh man I'm tired," I said as I plopped down on the couch next to the still sleeping Eevee. "I don't remember the last time I have done that much cooking." I picked up Eevee and placed her into my lap. "Well I hope my cooking is good enough for them, the only person that I've ever cooked for is myself." As I start to pet her she cooed and cuddled further into my lap. "Well I guess we can only wait and see."

But just then I could hear the front door open and voices hurriedly talking about many things.

"Mom, we're home. What are you cooking, it smells great in here."

I knew that voice; it was the voice of one of the best friends that I've ever made during my travels. Just hearing that voice made a smile come to my face.

"Mom are you home?" The voice called as he came running into the living room, looking over at me the boy blinked a few times, almost as if he didn't believe his own eyes. "May? What are you doing here?"

"What May is here?" I could hear a feminine voice ask, as she popped out from behind Ash. "Wow! May is actually right here in front of me!"

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and ran to the couch to meet me. As he got up next to me I started to pet him and he just sat down next to my lap. "Well someone is glad to be home."

"Hey Ash, hey Dawn, do you really have to be that surprised about seeing me?" I joked. "Cause it looks like Pikachu is the only one who has given me true hello."

"Well I guess I shouldn't be," Ash said, "but what brings you here?"

"Oh be quiet Ash, who really cares?" Dawn scoffed at Ash. "I can't believe that you are here!"

"And that includes you too Dawn," I joked again, "Is talking over the phone not enough?"

"Well not after you were able to place second in the Johto Grand Festival! I was only able to get in the top 8."

"How many times do I have to tell you Dawn? Placing in the top 8 is excellent for a first time coordinator like yourself." Ash replied with a slight annoyance in his voice.

"Ya but I didn't get invited to the Championship Ball like you and May did." She pouted.

"Wait, Ash you were invited as well?" I asked slightly surprised.

"You didn't know? I placed first in the Sinnoh League." He proudly stated.

"Sorry, by the time that our Grand Festival was over I had to start walking here to make it in time, and they don't exactly have the best Sinnoh news access in Johto."

"That's okay, sorry about that loss to Drew though, I know how badly he can push your buttons."

"Don't worry about it; I'm not mad about it anymore. So have you chosen a person to take with you to the dance?"

"Um, I have an idea but I'm not sure." As he said this he looked away from me. I could feel a slight tinge of jealousy at that, but if he didn't want to talk about it then I would let it drop.

"So where's Brock?"

"Well he had to go take care of a few things back home. But he'll join up with us in a few days."

"Ash?" Mrs. Ketchum was calling from the kitchen. "Oh good your home, and Dawn is with you. Well it's nice to finally meet you in person Dawn. But you should come into the kitchen and eat before the food gets cold."

"Alright! Food!" Both Ash and Dawn cheered.

"Well at least some things never change." I thought as I sat up, putting Eevee on the floor. "Come on you lazy Pokèmon, I'm going to wake you up now whether you like it or not." She slowly came to, gave a big yawn, stretched and finally looked ready to start the day. "Well that took long enough," I teased, "come on, its time to eat, you too Pikachu."

"Vee!" She said as she and Pikachu scampered off to the kitchen with me right behind them.

When I got to the kitchen I could see that Ash and Dawn had already started to eat. They ate like they have never seen food before, and I could only shake my head at what I was seeing.

"Wow Mom, this is really good. We haven't had a good meal like this in a few days, ever since Brock left." Ash said in between servings.

"Well as much as I would like to, I can't take all of the credit. May helped out a lot in making this." Mrs. Ketchum said to her son.

"Wait, May when did you learn how to cook?"

"Well for you information, I have taken lessons from Brock and I have learned quite a few recipes while traveling through Johto." I say trying, but failing, to hide the annoyance in my voice.

"Sorry, it's just that you never cooked when you were traveling with us. So I never realized you were this good."

At that compliment I could feel my face start to heat up, "Oh, well thanks Ash."

"Its true May, I wish I could cook this well. I've always just relied on Brock's cooking all this time." Dawn added in.

"Thanks to you too Dawn, Eevee come and get some food." I got up to go get her food and dish and set them on the floor next to my chair. Eevee gladly came up and started to eat.

"So that's your Eevee. She's really cute." Dawn said as she finished up her food.

"Thanks, she gives one of my best appeals so I have to make sure that she looks her best at all times."

"Do you think I could get a look at the rest of your Pokèmon?"

"Well I was thinking of heading out to Professor Oak's lab today, Ash's Pokèmon know that he was coming back today and they are waiting for him."

"Well how about we head out there right now?" Ash interrupted our conversation as he started to clean up the table.

"Wow I get to see all of the rest of your Pokèmon Ash? From what you have right now I can't wait to see the rest of them." Dawn said enthusiastically.

So after we cleaned up the table, we prepared to leave for the lab. Eevee once again took up her usual position on my shoulder.

"May why haven't you put Eevee back into her Pokèball?" Ash questioned as we walked down the road.

"Well she has become my official traveling companion throughout Johto, and she hasn't actually been in her Pokèball since…" I paused to think for a bit. "Well I think the last time was about a week or two after we split up, and from that point on she has ridden on my shoulder."

"Just like Ash and Pikachu." Dawn added.

I blushed a little being compared with Ash like that. "Sure, just like Ash and Pikachu." Eevee noticed my blush and tried to tickle my face to distract me from the thought. "Thanks Eevee, you always know how to cheer me up." I thought while trying to keep from laughing

Ash gave me an odd look but seemed to shake it off, "I wonder what he's thinking about after that comparison."

The rest of the walk was uneventful as we engaged in small talk about our past adventures. Dawn was starting to get on my nerves at times with how much she asked for stories of my contests. By the time we saw the lab, I was more than ready to end the discussion. As much as I love talking about my achievements, even I have my limits.

Well that's chapter one complete, hope people liked it. The next chapter is already on its way, although I'm not sure if I can keep it to the usual two chapters now. Guess we'll find out soon. Well as always please review, criticism is welcome and flames against the shipping will still be ignored.