novelraw Chapter 543 543: Rubello Town
Chapter 543 543: Rubello Town
The group got into Rubello Town soon after they regrouped, and when they got there, May immediately ran excitedly to the contest hall to sign up.
Ash frowned, since it seemed like he couldn't stop things from happening. May was trying to push herself and do this on her own, even outright ignoring suggestions Max, Ash, or Brock made.
It wasn't because she was trying to be a jerk, again, she just really wanted to see if she could do this all on her own. Especially after she got kidnapped, it made her want to prove herself even more.
In the end, Ash's words could only do so much. Even if they were friends, all Ash could do was say that no matter what, he supported her.
And that just seemed to make May feel worse. Feeling her heart clench, she knew the way she was acting was wrong, she was acting like a jerk, but she felt like she had to do this to prove it to Ash and everyone.
But the problem with that was that Ash, Brock, Max, and even her parents never asked her to prove anything. Instead, the person she was trying to prove something to was herself.
Max and Brock went off to look at hotels, while Brock suggested Ash go with May. In the end, May and Ash had been friends longer, and he could also see the problems showing. He was worried, but he knew Ash had a way of helping people who pretended they didn't want help.
So Ash and May went off to get May signed up for the contest that would happen later that day.
When they walked in, however, Ash's phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID, and his eye twitched as he muttered, "You've got to be kidding me…" Pikachu peeked over his shoulder and saw who it was, his ears lowering as he looked confused.
May noticed, as she was carrying her new Bulbasaur because the little one was curious about everything, "Ash? You okay?"
Ash looked at her and gave a helpless smile, "Yeah, sorry, I just have to take this. It's...personal," Ash said, explaining as little as he could, "How about you sign up? I'll wait outside."
May frowned, but nodded, "Alright, go ahead."
"Thanks," Ash said, and walked out the door, followed by Pikachu and Vee. He went to the side of the building, leaning against the wall, and spoke into his phone, "Yeah?"
On the other side was someone he wasn't expecting to hear from, Nora. She spoke, "We need to talk. Damian and I found something. How much time do you have?"
"I can't teleport there, I'm busy with something. We can talk here; I'm alone," Ash answered.
"That's going to have to be good enough," Nora said, taking a breath, "We found another part of this so-called prophecy...one of us will betray the others…"
—
Meanwhile, inside the building, May finally dropped the brave face she was keeping up for Ash and took a breath as she felt her heart beating. She looked around, feeling a mix of both confidence and stress as she thought about everything that could go wrong.
She was so distracted that it wasn't until the receptionist at the desk called her a few times that she finally snapped out of her trance, "Huh?"
"Are you here to sign up?" the receptionist asked again.
"Oh, yes!" May perked up and pulled out her ribbons to show them. In this contest, they didn't let newbies join, you had to have at least one ribbon.
The receptionist nodded, handed her her number, and moved on to the next person. May walked off, sighing as she looked at her number while hugging Bulbasaur, "I can do this."
Bulbasaur gave a soft "Bulba…" in response, nuzzling against her arm.
May smiled faintly at that, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Then she frowned and looked down.
"What am I doing…" May muttered to herself, thinking about how she'd acted. She could have definitely done things differently, things that didn't make her seem like an ungrateful jerk.
She thought about going out to where Ash was and starting by apologizing to him, but then a voice came that made her immediately forget about all that.
"Wow...didn't think you'd make it this far."
Her expression immediately flattened as she slowly turned her head.
Leaning casually against a nearby wall, a green-haired coordinator twirled a rose between his fingers, a smug look already plastered across his face.
"…Drew."
Drew smirked, clearly pleased with himself, "Took you long enough to notice. I was starting to think the pressure finally got to you."
May stared at him for a second.
Then she sighed, "Nope. Not doing this today."
And just like that, she turned and started walking past him.
Drew blinked. That...wasn't the reaction he expected.
"Wait—" he straightened, pushing off the wall, "You're just going to ignore me?"
May didn't even slow down, "Yes."
Drew frowned, falling into step beside her, "That's it? No comeback? No attempt to defend yourself? I expected more from someone who got lucky enough to win a ribbon."
May stopped. Slowly, she turned her head, giving him a completely flat look, "…You're still using that excuse?"
Drew's smirk faltered slightly, "Excuse me?"
"You lost," May said simply, shrugging, and she gave a small smile as she copied the way Ash would tease, "It's okay. It happens. You don't have to keep making excuses for it."
Drew's smirk faltered.
For a brief second, something like irritation flickered across his face, but then he scoffed, recovering quickly, "You're getting awfully confident for someone who's barely scratched the surface."
"Mmm, sure. Hey, how many ribbons do you have? With all your talk, you must have, like, 15 ribbons," she said with a jab.
Drew sputtered at that, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. Just as May was about to deliver one last jab and leave, they heard a voice.
"Wow, this is really interesting," a female voice spoke calmly.
May didn't recognize it, but Drew immediately dropped the rose in his hand and tensed up like a soldier as he turned. May was confused about what could get Drew, of all people, to react like that, so she turned her head.
Walking over to them was a tall woman with a brown trench coat and pink hair. She was Solidad, but of course, May didn't know that off the top of her head.
"Drew," she said calmly, tilting her head ever so slightly, "you're still doing this?"
Drew straightened immediately, "Solidad," he said, his tone respectful, way more respectful than anything May had ever heard from him.
May blinked and muttered under her breath, "Oh, so he can act normal."
Solidad hummed, clearly unimpressed as she crossed her arms, "Let me guess," she continued, glancing at May, "you started talking first, tried to get under her skin, and then got upset when it didn't work the way you wanted."
Drew's jaw tightened slightly, "That's not—"
"Mm," Solidad cut him off, not even looking at him anymore, "it is."
May had to physically stop herself from smirking. She even had to look away and cover her mouth.
Drew noticed. That made it worse.
Solidad then turned her full attention to May, her expression softening just a bit, "You're May, right?"
May blinked again, caught off guard, "Uh—yeah?"
"Solidad," she introduced simply.
May's eyes widened slightly in recognition now that the name clicked, "Oh, that Solidad?" She did know names, and Solidad wasn't famous in Hoenn, but she was well known over in Kanto, where she won the Grand Festival.
Solidad gave a small nod, like it wasn't a big deal.
Meanwhile, Drew looked like he wished he could disappear.
Solidad glanced back at him, a faint, knowing smile forming, "You know," she said lightly, "he used to be much worse."
"…Please don't," Drew muttered under his breath.
May immediately leaned in just a little, her interest piqued despite herself, "Worse?"
"Oh, much worse," Solidad said, clearly enjoying this now, "Back when he started, he couldn't win a single ribbon."
Drew froze.
May's eyes widened, "Wait, seriously?"
"He was a complete mess," Solidad continued casually, like she wasn't destroying his entire image, "Cried after losses, blamed everyone else, made excuses—"
"I did not cry," Drew snapped, immediately regretting it when Solidad slowly looked at him.
"You did," she said flatly.
"Once," he tried.
"Multiple times."
May covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking.
Bulbasaur looked up at her, confused.
Drew dragged a hand down his face, "Can we not do this here?"
Solidad ignored him completely, turning back to May, "Point is, he got better. Eventually. After he stopped acting like the world owed him something."
May blinked, looked at Solidad, then at Drew, then back and forth a few more times before looking at Solidad, "Then why is he such an insufferable jerk to me?"
Solidad snorted and ruffled Drew's head, and Drew just let it happen as he looked down, his face completely red, "Really, he does, huh? Well...looks like you haven't changed as much as I thought, Drew."
Drew's face was completely red now, and for once, he didn't even try to argue back. He just sighed, defeated, "Can we please not do this right before a contest…?"
May watched the entire exchange, blinking a few times before letting out a small breath of laughter she didn't even realize she'd been holding in.
"Wow," she muttered, "This is...really something."
Solidad hummed, finally letting Drew go and straightening up, "You get used to it," she said casually, then glanced at May more carefully this time, really looking at her, looking her up and down.
May shifted slightly under that gaze, "What?" she asked, a bit guarded.
Solidad tilted her head, "You're forcing it."
May froze. Drew blinked, looking between the two of them.
"…Excuse me?" May said, her tone immediately defensive.
"You're tense," Solidad continued calmly, like she hadn't just dropped that, "Your shoulders, your grip on your Pokémon, the way you're standing...even your smile earlier didn't reach your eyes."
May instinctively tightened her hold on Bulbasaur, "…I'm fine," she said quickly.
"Mm." Solidad crossed her arms again, "You're trying to prove something."
That made May's expression harden, "…So what if I am?" she shot back.
Solidad didn't react to the tone at all, "Then you'll lose."
Silence.
Even Drew looked a little surprised at how blunt that was.
May's grip tightened, "…You don't even know me," she said, quieter now, like she was trying to defend herself.
Solidad met her gaze evenly, "I know that look."
May flinched and looked away quickly to hide the guilt and nerves on her face, "…I'm not doing this for anyone else," May said, trying to steady her voice, "I just want to show I can do it on my own."
Solidad nodded once, "That's fine," she said, "But those aren't the same thing."
May blinked, "What?"
"Doing something on your own," Solidad said, "and proving you can do it on your own...are two very different things."
May opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She just stood there, but before she could say anything, and maybe admit that she was in the wrong, another voice called out.
"Come on, Solidad, don't do that to the poor girl," a very eccentric voice spoke up.
When they turned, they saw a man wearing a Cacturne outfit, with a Cacturne walking next to him. He had an easy smile and seemed like a genuinely nice person, since he had just defended May.
"Oh, Harley, you're here too?" Solidad said, looking a little surprised, but she was smiling.
"But of course! I will need to surpass you eventually, for I am the future greatest Coordinator!" Harley said in an exaggerated pose, fully expecting May or Drew to look at him with stars in their eyes.
But both May and Drew stayed silent, just looking at Harley, making him flinch and glance back at them. He thought maybe they were just in shock and couldn't believe their eyes.
Then Solidad gestured at him, "This is Harley, by the way. He's also a Coordinator."
"Ohhhh," May and Drew said in unison.
Harley immediately felt like he got punched in the face and looked away as he gritted his teeth. 'They don't know me, how could they?' he thought. But he calmed down and looked back, trying to compose himself.
Then May looked at Cacturne and didn't recognize it off the top of her head, so she checked her Pokédex to look it up. Drew slightly peeked over her shoulder, looking at it too.
That was another hit to Harley's ego, making him bite down on a piece of cloth and grind it between his teeth, 'They don't know the greatness that is Cacturne, how dare they, how dare they!' he thought.
But he took a breath and calmed himself one last time, deciding he would give them one more chance. He looked back at them and pulled out a container of cookies, "Oh, by the way, would you care for a cookie? I baked them myself this morning."
Drew wasn't really in the mood for sweets right now, but May, being the glutton she was, happily took one and bit into it. It was pretty good, but not as good as the ones her mom would make, or even Ash or Brock could make. Still, it was good, "Not half bad."
That was the straw that broke the petty Camerupt's back. He could handle one, maybe two, but three insults to himself? Before, he might have been willing to become friends, but this was a line too far!
As May finished the cookie, she was about to look up and thank Harley, but he had disappeared seemingly into thin air. Not even Drew or Solidad saw where he went.
Solidad shook her head, "Don't mind him. He likes disappearing on people like that. He's harmless...well, unless you insult him," Solidad muttered that last part. Most normal people would think what May said shouldn't count as an insult, too bad Harley was more petty than even Ash.
"Well," Solidad said lightly, turning on her heel, "I've said what I needed to say."
She grabbed Drew by the back of his collar.
"Hey, what are you—" Drew started, immediately thrown off balance as she began dragging him away.
"You," Solidad said calmly, not even slowing down, "are coming with me. We're going to have a quick refresher on not making yourself look like an idiot before a contest."
"I do not look like an idiot!" Drew protested, digging his heels in, which did absolutely nothing.
"You do," she replied flatly.
"This is slander."
"It's reality."
May blinked as she watched Drew, of all people, get dragged away like an annoyed Skitty, completely powerless to stop it, "Wow," she muttered under her breath.
Before they disappeared around the corner, Solidad glanced back at her one last time.
"Think about what I said," she added, her voice just a little more serious now.
And then they were gone.
May stood there for a few seconds, staring at the empty space they left behind, "…Think about it, huh…" she muttered.
Her grip tightened slightly around Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur looked up at her, "Bulba…?"
May forced a small smile, gently patting its head, "I'm fine."
But her mind was still stuck on what Solidad said. She couldn't help but feel conflicted. One part of her, the part that wanted to prove herself, told her she had to do this without anyone's help. But another part, the one that knew the way she treated everyone else was wrong, wanted to run out and ask them to forgive her.
But it was the sunk-cost fallacy. If she went to apologize and ask for help now, it would feel like she had acted like a jerk for nothing. So she had to try to do this, even if it meant digging herself into a deeper hole.
So she had to try, even if she didn't like what she was doing.
She took a breath and decided that instead of waiting for Ash, she would walk off on her own.
—
{Meanwhile}
Ash got the rundown from Nora about what they found. Basically, while they were looking in a grand library for more information on the prophecy, a librarian named Zachary led them to the abandoned wing, and there they found something about it.
In it, it said that specifically a duo chosen by the Mythicals, once they end the threat, one will betray them and join the enemy.
Since the so-called new "prophecy" said duo, that automatically put Ash out of the equation. So unless there was another duo somewhere else, that meant either Nora or Damian would betray everyone.
And thinking that made Nora stressed and scared, and after they left, she immediately let out her anger on Damian, claiming that she knew she would never betray anyone, which led her to accuse Damian.
And according to Nora, Damian was hurt that she could even accuse him of that, so he left. He walked out of town to go on his own for a little while, and only then did Nora realize she made a mistake. She tried to call him to apologize, but he ignored her call, which just made her worry more.
Now Ash knew a few things. For one, that prophecy was different, but that was to be expected, no one knew Mew followed him around except for Nora and Damian. But he did know that Zachary was actually Zenith, which meant that he knew about Nora and Damian, and only Nora and Damian.
Now that was a problem, because Ash knew that prophecy was fake, but they didn't, and he wasn't with them to stop them from getting it. Plus, he hoped that after he hit Zenith with a ball of Aura, he would be incapacitated for a while, but it looks like cockroaches are resilient.
Ash quickly got Damian's number and texted him, asking if he was good. It took a bit, but then he texted back:
'Hey Ash...yeah, I'm just going back home to Larousse City to cool off a bit. If you're in the area, can we talk?'
Ash texted back, telling him he'd put it on his schedule, then went back to Nora's call.
"He said he went back to Larousse City."
Nora let out a shaky breath on the other end of the line, "...At least he's safe," she muttered, though the tension in her voice didn't ease, "I messed up, Ash. I shouldn't have said that."
Ash closed his eyes for a second, leaning his head back against the wall, "Yeah," he said honestly, "you did."
Nora flinched at the bluntness, but she didn't argue.
"But," Ash continued, his tone softening, "you can fix it. Just not like this."
"Not like this?" she echoed.
"Yeah. Give him a bit of room, let him cool off a bit. Head to Larousse Town too. I'll get there when I can, but don't try to talk to him by yourself, wait for me, alright?"
Nora stayed silent on the other side for a second, then spoke, "Okay…"
"And Nora, one more thing, don't believe everything. You remember when you told me prophecies are vague," Ash reminded her.
"But—" Nora tried, but Ash cut her off.
"Nora, do you trust me?" Ash asked.
Nora stayed silent, then slowly spoke, "Yeah, I do…"
"And I trust both you and Damian not to be traitors. So if you trust me, trust yourself, and Damian too," Ash said.
"I...okay. I'll trust you, and I'll trust Damian...if he even wants to trust me anymore."
"Give him time, he's hurt, not angry. There's a difference," Ash reminded her, "I need to get going. I'm doing something. Stay safe since you're on your own."
"I will. Thank you, and stay safe too," Nora said as she hung up.
Ash put his phone down and covered his face with his hands, breathing into them. This was all so frustrating. The whole reason he wasn't worried about the Zenith situation was because, with D, he got information from Petrel, who was involved in Team Magma, and there had been no sign of him at all. Everyone said he was stuck in the infirmary.
Plus, on top of that, Petrel never said anything about there being any orbs in the base. Now, Petrel was stupid, but not stupid enough to not mention something that important. Maybe only a handful of people knew what the orbs did, but if the leader, Maxie, were to get something handed to him directly, it had to be important.
So that meant that Maxie was keeping it hidden from even other Team Magma members, which was such a pain.
And even with D and Team Rocket forcing the conflict to escalate into basically a pseudo-war between Magma and Aqua, they still hadn't made a move yet. And Ash knew that soon the fighting would stop permanently.
Ash was literally in the worst-case scenario, and he hated every second of it. He wished it was just the anime version, because even that would be better than the situation he was in. Unlike in most things, these villains had a brain.
There was no screaming their plan out to the world or giving him a chance to stop them. Team Aqua and Magma were integrated into Hoenn years before Ash was even born, there was nothing he could have done to stop it.
And his focus was divided between this and making sure Team Galactic wasn't making a move, because while Team Galactic was still around, everything else came second.
But he shook his head. Still, this wasn't hopeless, there were things he could do. So he turned to walk back into the Contest Hall to get May. Then they could all go out for lunch and relax a bit, and Ash would try one more time to help May understand.
But when he went inside, he didn't see her. Looking around, she was nowhere to be seen. Even Pikachu and Vee looked around, their ears falling as they grew disappointed.
Ash pulled out his phone and dialed May's number, but it rang, and rang, then went to voicemail.
Ash frowned and hung up, "So that's how it is…" he said slowly with a frown. He sighed and turned to walk out of the Contest Hall. He might as well find Brock and Max, and hope for the best for May.