"May is here! Stand down, you ruffians!" a few young men shouted heroically as they escorted May to the center of the commotion—where Ash was waiting.
May looked at Ash, stunned and awkward. So he was the so-called "arrogant trainer" they were talking about? This wasn't good—she'd just been thrown into a losing battle! Whether it was a Contest or a regular Pokémon match, Ash was nearly unbeatable.
The two young men who had brought Ash forward suddenly realized their mistake. They didn't expect the "enemy" to be one of May's closest friends!
Ash sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "I can't believe Mr. Norman has fans like you guys. May, do you want to battle too?"
With everyone watching, May had no choice but to put on a brave face. "Go, Combusken!"
"Combusken!" The Fire-type leapt forward, glancing around at the surrounding Pokémon. Spotting Ash's Ralts, it tilted its head toward May, as if to say, Seriously? You're sending me to lose?
"Ralts, your turn!" Ash called.
"Ralts~"
"You're looking down on May?! Sending out your weakest Pokémon?!" one of the boys snapped.
"Shut it!" May growled, silencing the peanut gallery. The crowd backed off in a hurry.
"Combusken, use Flamethrower!"
"Ralts, Teleport!"
The jet of fire shot forward, but Ralts had already blinked behind Combusken.
"Ralts, use Confusion!"
"Ralts!" A wave of blue psychic energy wrapped around Combusken.
"Combusken, dodge!" May shouted, but it was too late. Combusken was immobilized.
"Finish it—Psybeam!"
A colorful beam of energy erupted from Ralts and struck Combusken directly.
"Combusken!" May cried out.
With its dual weakness to Psychic, Combusken dropped. The match was over.
"You did great, Combusken. As expected, I lost..." May said softly, recalling her Pokémon.
The crowd looked like they'd just seen the world end. May—daughter of Petalburg Gym Leader Norman—had actually lost! But before the tension could settle, another group arrived.
"Wait, if May and Max are here… then who's over there signing autographs as Norman's family?!"
A vegetable vendor auntie's voice boomed, "I knew it! Those phonies are fakes!"
Instantly, the crowd stopped caring about May's loss and turned their fury on the imposters. They charged off in a frenzy to confront the false Norman family. Ash and the others followed quickly.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket had already packed up and were sneaking away with sacks full of cash from their scam. But fate had other plans—they were caught red-handed by the vegetable auntie and a group of furious townsfolk!
Unfortunately, the vegetable auntie and her husband began arguing mid-chase.
"Mine is the real Norman!"
"No, mine is the real one!"
"Why are you out here instead of running the stall?!"
"I should be asking you that—you took forever delivering those vegetables!"
Turns out, the very people who exposed the real May and the fake Norman were… a married couple!
May and Max marched right up to Team Rocket and examined them up close.
"Are you pretending to be my dad?" she asked, squinting at James. He nodded awkwardly.
"And you're pretending to be my mom?" she said, glaring at Jessie. Jessie gave a quick nod too.
Max stared at Wobbuffet—who was much taller and… blue-skinned. "That's supposed to be me?"
"Wobbuffet!"
May turned to Meowth, who was wearing a cheap wig. "And you… you're pretending to be me?"
"That's right, meow!" Meowth said proudly.
May twitched. "I'm supposed to be a princess! But Max is taller than me in this act! What kind of joke is this?!"
Ash stepped forward. "Let's put an end to this. Go, Poké Ball!"
He tossed an empty Poké Ball at Meowth, which sucked the cat Pokémon inside.
Gasps filled the air. "They caught May!?"
A moment later, the Poké Ball exploded and Meowth burst out, his disguise ruined.
"So it was you! Beautifly, use Hurricane!"
Beautifly flapped its wings and sent a powerful gust blowing through the area. Wigs and costumes flew in every direction.
"They're fakes!" "Give us back our money!" "Who are you people?!"
Team Rocket struck a pose.
"If you're going to be mad—"
Ash interrupted coldly, "No time for your motto. Typhlosion, Fire Blast!"
A massive burst of fire erupted, blasting Team Rocket into the sky. Their bag of stolen cash tumbled back down to the crowd.
"Not fair, Ash! We didn't even finish our lines!" Jessie shouted.
"Wobbuffet! (If that wasn't a sneak attack, I would've countered it already!)"
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
"Wobbu~ffet!"
The townsfolk surrounded Ash excitedly. "Impressive! You're definitely qualified to challenge Mr. Norman!"
Ash just waved them off. Do I need your approval? Nope.
That evening, Ash and the others rested at the Pokémon Center. The next day, after a half-day's walk, they finally arrived in Petalburg City.
"We're home at last!" May cheered. "I can't wait to show Mom and Dad my new Pokémon!" ٩(´◒`)۶
Even Max had a rare smile on his usually calm face.
Everyone agreed to stay at May's house—the Petalburg Gym. But what they didn't know was that something felt… off at the gym.
As they stepped inside, a janitor rushed to greet them. "May! Max! You're back!"
"Long time no see, Kinji! Is Dad here?" May asked cheerfully.
"Uh… well, the situation's been a bit complicated recently…" Kinji tried to explain, nervously rubbing his hands. Before he could say more, Caroline stepped out of the kitchen.
"May! Max! Welcome home!"
"Mom!" the two siblings shouted, rushing into their mother's arms.
Caroline smiled warmly. "You both look like you've grown taller. Have you been eating well?"
"Aunt Caroline! Long time no see!" Brock and Ash greeted her.
"Welcome, Ash, Brock! I've already made lunch—please join us!"
"Awesome! I haven't had Mom's cooking in forever!" May beamed.
"Thanks, we appreciate it!" Ash added.
Just then, Max blinked. "Mom, where's Dad?"
The atmosphere changed instantly. Kinji suddenly started sweeping the floor like his life depended on it. Caroline's smile froze for a moment before she led everyone inside to change the subject.
May's smile faded slightly as she noticed something wasn't right.
Kinji watched them disappear into the house and sighed. Good luck, Teacher...
Lunch was awkward. Every time someone mentioned Norman, Caroline and Kinji's expressions twitched. When Beautifly came up, Caroline even snapped a pair of chopsticks in half and nearly dropped a pot! Even Max could tell something was wrong.
After lunch, Kinji secretly gathered the group in the greenhouse and revealed the truth—Norman had been visiting the Pokémon Center a lot lately… and spending a lot of time with Nurse Joy.
"With Nurse Joy?!" May's eyes went wide.
"Wait… does that mean Dad likes someone else?" Max asked nervously.
Kinji sighed. "I'm afraid so."
"No way!" May and Max were shocked. Their dad, the most reliable person in their lives, would never—
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Ash quickly cut in. "Maybe Mr. Norman is just planning a surprise? He and your mom seemed really close when we left. I can't imagine that falling apart so fast."
"...A surprise?" everyone echoed.
May clenched her fists. "Alright then—let's find out what Dad's really up to!"
Meanwhile, hidden in the greenhouse, Team Rocket eavesdropped on everything. Their eyes gleamed—not because of gossip, but because of Norman's Slakoth trio. They figured if they captured those rare Normal-types, Giovanni would finally promote them!
Elsewhere in the house, Caroline quietly packed her bags. She was ready to head back to her parents' home. She couldn't live like this anymore.
To be continued...