I am back with a vengeance! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!*cough**cough*

Anyways, I'm on a different computer writing this fanfic that I just came up with.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I do, well you know what I mean.

Stranger in the Shadows

Chapter 1: Searching for Love

In a city, there are many people walking around, cheerful and full of energy. Buildings as tall as the eye can see are all around and children played in the park laughed merrily. Everyone seems to be having a good time in none other than Petalburg City. That is, except for one person that is. One woman to be exact.

Her name: May Maple. May has recently turned 20 a few months ago on her birthday and is considered to be the most gorgeous woman in Petalburg City. She is wearing a yellow dress that goes down to her knees and white sandals. A heart-shaped sapphire with a golden border shines in the sunlight as the brunette looks down to the ground. May is feeling downcast as her tears falls down her cheeks. It is a warm, sunny day as the depressed brunette sits on a bench, all alone.

"I think I should be heading back home now," said May glumly as she wipes her tears away.

Everyone in Petalburg City admires May. Not only is she beautiful and a skilled coordinator, she happens to be the daughter of Norman, the gym leader of Petalburg City.

Girls envied her, children looked up to her, older men and women are fond of her, and every guy in Petalburg City is madly in love with her. But in May's case, she is not liking herself at the moment. May has been asking what is wrong with herself. She has a great family, captured and trained some pokemon who helped her win her contests, and everyone she know of has been so nice to her.

May looked at a couple who is smiling and giggling among themselves. May turned her head to her left and saw a man proposes to a woman. The woman gasped and kissed the man passionately as the engagement ring is slipped onto her finger. May turned her head to her right and saw another man and woman with a baby in its stroller. May started to dash towards her house, leaving a trail of tears behind. May ran into her house, she rushed up the stairs and into her bedroom. She fell onto her bed and cried into her pillow.

It's not fair! May thought sadly How can I fall in love with someone if I don't have any interest in any of the guys who loves me! I really want to be with someone who loves me as much as I love him, get married, and have children together. But where am I going to find such a man!

"May, are you home?" said a voice from downstairs.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm in here," May replied.

The bedroom door opened to reveal a woman in her forties as she walks over to her daughter.

"What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" May's mother, Caroline, tries to console her while stroking her soft brown hair.

"I am having trouble finding love in my life!" May yelled.

"Calm down, dear. I know you will find someone soon."

"But I am not getting any younger! I will be living a miserable life and I might even die while I am still young!" May's depression worsens as she think more about her situation.

"Don't worry about it. All you have to do is listen to your heart."

Caroline decided to leave May alone to think to herself and left the room. May was silent for a few minutes.

"Listen to my heart?" May said to herself, "How is that going to help me with my problem?"

Soon day turned to night and May cried in her sleep. The next day, May decided to go on a walk.

"I'm going out for a while," May said out loud for her parents to hear.

"I hope you will find a man while you are out," Caroline said with a smile.

"If you do, please don't do anything sexual. Wait until you get married to do that," Norman said sternly.

"Dad!" May shouted as she blushed deeply.

"Yeah May," said Max, "You wouldn't want to get pregnant before you get married." Max snickered.

May ran out the door before she dies of embarrassment.

What were they thinking? May thought as she ran towards the woods.

When May ran deep into the forest, she saw a stream flowing across her path. May sat down on the grass as her embarrassment turns to sadness. May sighed as she sat down, deep in thought. She remembered all the guys whom she had met ever since she began her journey in Hoenn. First there was Drew who always gives her roses every time they meet. May has a strong dislike for him at first but somehow she started to have a crush on him. However, Drew decided to flirt with another girl and May outgrew her crush. There was also Brock, who falls in love with almost every girl he sees, Tracey, Professor Oak's assistant, and Gary, Professor Oak's grandson. But May doesn't have interest in any of them. Finally, there was the first guy she met on her journey, Ash Ketchum. She have to admit he was pretty cute when she saw him. A little dense though but he cares about his friends and his pokemon. But after he came back home after losing in the Sinnoh league, Ash disappeared. No one has any idea where he has gone to. All that was left behind of him was a note on the day he disappeared. The note said that he come back to obtain the love of his life. May and the others were shocked to figure out that Ash loves someone. But the question is, who is it?

May got up and looked at her reflection on the stream. All of a sudden, she saw something blue in the water. It jumped out and May catches it in her arms. May could not believe who she is holding! It was Manaphy who believed that May was his mother when he hatched out of his egg.

"Mama! Happy! Love you!" Manaphy cried as he hugs May. May started to cry as she hugs Manaphy back.

"Mama, what's wrong?" said Manaphy.

"I am so happy to see you and it looks like you learned more on human speech. But I am also sad because…because I want to be with someone I like! But I can't find a guy to fall in love with!" May burst into tears as she said this.

Manaphy wiped his mother's tears away and said "Well, what about Dada? Don't you love him?"

May stopped crying with a confused expression on her face.

"Dada?" May questioned Manaphy.

"I swam away from my home to see you and Dada. One day, I saw Dada crying on a beach so I went over to comfort him. When I said Dada to him, he became surprised and fainted. When he woke up, he was still shocked about what I said and I asked him where Mama is. He started to cry and I asked him what's wrong. He said that he has been trying to figure out how to impress you, Mama, and he wanted to tell you how much he loves you. When I told him that I am going to see you, he told me to tell you exactly what he told me," Manaphy said.

"What did he want to tell me?" May asked.

"He said he will do anything for you. You are like an angel who came down from Heaven to make his life much happier than it was. He would risk his life to save you from trouble even if he has to die, he would die for you. He wanted to do everything that he can to make your life happy."

May could not believe what she is hearing. Whoever Manaphy's father was, he is in love with her.

"Manaphy, do you know where Dada is?" May asked again.

"Why? Do you want to see Dada?" Manaphy asked.

"Yes Manaphy, I want to see Dada," May said with a smile on her face. May realized she might be able to find a guy to fall in love with!

"Yay!" Manaphy cheered and jumped up in the air with glee. "Mama and Dada are going to be together!"

"I have to pack up some things and say goodbye to my parents and my brother first," May said to Manaphy, "How about we meet in Littleroot Town so we can leave to see Dada."

"Okay!" Manaphy replied, "Dada is going to be so happy when he sees you!"

Later on, May packed up her things in a bag with a shoulder strap, said goodbye to her family, and head to Littleroot Town. She spotted Manaphy in a port with a Wailmer.

"Hop onto Wailmer, Mama!" Manaphy shouted.

May took a deep breath and jumped onto Wailmer, barely missing contact with the water.

"Okay, let's go!" said Manaphy enthusiastically as he, Wailmer, and May head off to see Manaphy's father.

After a week of what seems to be endless swimming, they arrived in Ever Grande City. In the shadows in an alley, a mysterious figure spotted May, Manaphy, and Wailmer. His eyes focus on May and he was surprised to see how beautiful she really is. He gawked at May for a moment and he retreated before May spotted him. May thought that someone was watching her but she rubbed it off as she got off the Wailmer onto a beach. The stranger came back to his original position and stared at May once again.

"I can't believe it," the stranger said to himself, "She's here. She's really here. I have to thank Manaphy later."

The stranger left, hoping he will be able to meet up with his dream girl.

Awww…I thought I would come up with a better way for you-know-who to describe his feelings for May but it was harder than I thought it would be. I'm going to need some more inspiration. Oh, and no flames and spoilers! Yes, this is an Advanceshipping fanfic(later on that is) and if you don't like the shipping why did you even bother to read it?