WARNING: LONG A/N AHEAD, YOU'LL PROBABLY WANT TO READ THE 2ND PARAGRAPH, I SUGGEST READING  THE FIRST ONE TOO THOUGH.

Umm hello everyone? Heh if anyone's still here...I am so sorry for not updating this, I really am, it's just after my birthday, things started to get hectic here. I had to complete all my incomplete my pending school assignments, then there was Christmas and New Year and I thought no one liked this book, so I decided to kind of take a break from writing. I'm so sorry for not updating that here too..(Btw the pic above is the inside of the Lilycove Central Mall)

Anyways now that I'm back I will start updating again, after this update the next is probably going to be around 23/24 or 25th, and then the update after that is going to be at or around 5th, I'll try to update after 5th as well, but my final exams are starting from 14th and are going to last until 25th(March) and the worst part is that we have to go to school and give the exam...so I really need to study hard. I hope you guys will understand if I'm not able to update after 5th. Lastly sorry for the long A/N.

Okay now time to start the chapter!

October 1, 2021, at 5:12 pm...

May leaves the lobby to go to the shop where she had left her friends at, it was on the second floor, while walking May thought back to her and Drew's conversation and the hug, which made her face flush again, she had kept the rose, which Drew gave her, safely inside her backpack's bottle pocket along with her water bottle so that the rose doesn't fall(and yes people she was always wearing a backpack, this is the link to it-  https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F545709679823412739%2F&psig=AOvVaw3l4dwY782Lv9K_rDxUmlz5&ust=1645243468706000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCJi779mviPYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD )

'I hope Dawn hasn't dragged Serena to anywhere else' May thought boarding the escalator, she knew how her best friend(Dawn)went sort of crazy(not in a bad way, mind you) when it came to shopping.

May entered the shop and spotted Dawn holding a large number of red and pink outfits in her hands near the Girl's changing room, she went up to her and asked her where Serena was.

"Oh she just went to change into a dress she picked by herself" Dawn replied and dumped all the clothes she was holding into May's arms. "Here take these, they are some more outfits for Serena, incase the dress doesn't suit her" she enthusiastically said and stared checking out the clothes next to wall of the changing room.

Serena then came out, and her choice of clothes made May want to facepalm herself.

"That dress totally suits you Serena!" Dawn exclaimed. May turned to her with a deadpan expression "Seriously Dawn you're encouraging her?" she asked.

"Oh right," Dawn cleared her throat and made her face a bit stricter "that dress really suits you but it won't be comfortable to journey in" she corrected herself and told Serena. May nodded "Yup I agree with her you can't go on a journey in these clothes"

"Yeah you're both right, but I wasn't able to find anything else that caught my eye" she said, sighing.

"Don't worry I picked out a few more clothes for you" Dawn said referring to the pile of clothes in May's hands, still cheerful as ever. While May wanted to scoff at the mention of "few clothes"

Serena smiled at her "Thanks Dawn" she said, then the two of them stared rummaging through the pile of clothes, "You both will have to put all the clothes back too" May sighed.

As Dawn was showing her a light pink colored top, Serena saw a red flowing miniskirt and shoved it into Dawn's face cutting her off. "I really like this skirt can we find a top to go with it?" Serena asked.

May and Dawn saw the skirt and approved though May was a bit wary. "You sure you want to wear this? You could get another longer skirt or maybe wear shorts?" she suggested. 

"Hmm but why?" Serena asked, confused. 

"W-well um" May's face suddenly held a scared look, and she stared stuttering while trying to explain to Serena that it could be dangerous to wear such a short skirt in public. 

Dawn sighed, her smile dropping, May had warned her after that incident almost happened to her(May), about her short skirt too, so she knew what this was about.

She turned towards May "Come on May it'll be fine, Serena has us and her Pokémon to protect her" she said with a smile trying to make May feel better. 

"Well yeah but what if we're not with her when that happens? And she participated in Pokémon showcases, which don't have a battle round so she probably doesn't have that much battling experience" May said back in concern.

Dawn sighed again, her smile dropping again. "Uhh could you guys please fill me in about the topic you're talking about?" Serena asked still confused.

May whipped her head to her and asked "What's your age?"

"11, why?" Serena asked back. May was dumbstruck, 'she's 11 and she doesn't know the dangers of wearing short clothes in Public!?' she thought.

"We'll tell you about this subject later, why don't you go and find some tops to go along with you're skirt?" Dawn suggested.

"Hmm okay" Serena said and went off. As soon as she went to the other side of the store to look, Dawn began "May I know that, that almost happened to you, but I promise we won't let that happen to Serena okay?" she said wrapping May in a hug. 

May let out a shaky breath and hugged Dawn back, tighter as tears started to form in her eyes. They both sat at the small chairs which were in the lobby of the changing room, as Dawn still hugged May and let her sob over her shoulder, while May covered her face(with her hands) and cried, remembering that incident. 

After a few minutes May calmed down and wiped her face from the tissues that Dawn gave her, from her backpack (Dawn's Backpack link-  https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBackpack-School-Charging-Headphone-black%2Fdp%2FB08DLVH578&psig=AOvVaw3zt6jU-Pj7lTUPjMmhsze6&ust=1645251198167000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCPjM_r3MiPYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAS )

"Are you okay now?" Dawn asked softly. May just hummed and nodded her head.

"So are you okay with Serena wearing a miniskirt in public?" Dawn asked her again, her tone not changing.

May inhaled and exhaled and finally nodded her head, bringing a huge smile on Dawn's face.

"But I swear there is no way I'm going to let that happen to either of you" May stated firmly.

"Yeah I swear that I won't let happen to any of you, too" Dawn stated in the same tone as May.

May hugged Dawn again, thanking her for always being with her and comforting her. 

"Well what are BFFs for?" Dawn said back, smiling, "But I'm really proud of you" she added, hugging her back. May smiled back "Right, we should probably get back to Serena, she's probably wondering, about what we're doing" May said breaking the hug and pulling Dawn up.

"You're right we need to pick her top and footwear and we've still got to pick mine!" Dawn exclaimed and dragged May to the tops' section.

~~~A little Time skip~~~

Dawn was currently changing into her outfit, when Serena spotted a small glove section not far from the changing room. She told May to call her once Dawn came out. She then went to the glove area searching for some gloves for herself as she thought they'd look good with her outfit. 

She saw a pair of gloves which reminded her of someone dear to her, Ash. 'Those gloves were exactly the same gloves that Ash wears' she thought. She started to get lost thinking about Ash and her, she was so lost that she didn't notice, that some other trainer had taken those gloves, she finally snapped out of her trance when she heard May call her, quickly she took the gloves she was checking out for herself and went to changing room to see Dawn who's wearing: 

a white tank top with a yellow and white pokeball symbol in the center with a yellow miniskirt(with divider inside) and white socks that ended a bit below her knees and white and yellow sneakers.

"Wow Dawn, you look so pretty!" Serena said in awe of her beauty.

"Yup the clothes look comfortable and you look great" May also complemented her.

"Thanks you guys, I'll change out of this while you change into your own outfit Serena" Dawn said and went back inside her stall, Serena nodded and went into another stall, while May waited for the two of them.

Ding! The sound of the notification of a phone, echoed in the empty changing room's lobby where May was, she took out her phone and saw that Drew had texted her. "Pfft ad he said that I would miss him much" May said to herself.

"Who said that?" Dawn asked in a teasing voice, coming out of her stall in her normal clothes.

"Huh , oh no one" May dismayed.

"Awww come on, it's gotta be Drew!" Dawn said in the same voice. Just then Serena came out in her outfit: a light pink shirt with denim shorts and light pink converse.

"See I knew that this outfit would totally suit her!" Dawn said seeing Serena in her outfit.

"Yep guess you were right, she really does look pretty and these clothes look good for travelling too" May agreed with Dawn.

"Aww thanks, you guys!" Serena said back happily and went to change again.

May and Dawn shared a smile, seeing Serena so happy.

Dawn however had not forgotten about Drew's text "Soo, read the message already" she said, going back to her teasing mood.

May groaned and read out the message:

Drew: What are you doing? Still shopping? 

Message delivered 17:32

Message read 17:34

"Aww that's it?" Dawn  said disappointed

"What did you expect?" May asked with a deadpan face.

"I was expecting a "I miss you" and a "I love you" with infinity hearts!" Dawn squealed.

May still looked her, her face not changing. "Come on, how many times have I told you that we aren't in a relationship?" she said, somewhat calmly.

"Ehh probably about a million" Dawn answered coolly. 

May just sighed.

~~~Time skip~~~ At 5:43 pm

The girls were now on the 1st/ground floor of the Mall, inside a Pokemart, stocking up a few supplies for their journey, when the sound of the Pokemart's door opening was heard. The girls who weren't that far away from the door, looked up to see 2 guys, about Dawn and May's age.

The said girls immediately recognized the two boys, while Serena just shrugged, and started to look for some Pokémon accessories.

"Drew?"

"May?"

"Troublesome?"

"Paul?"  

Woohoo! Finally I was able to end a chapter in a cliffhanger!!!! I'm so proud of myself *shedding a fake tear* , *clears throat* anyways I know that this chapter is boring and uneventful, but I swear, the next chapter's going to be a blast(at least I hope so..hehe) Btw what do you guys think about that incident which almost happened to May? I think I'm giving away too many hints. Anyway the next update is around 23rd to 25th, so stayed tuned!

Adios!

Oh! Oh! Wait! Remember the part were I said Dawn had a backpack instead of a duffel?

Yeah well here's the story behind it:

Dawn's duffel bag was actually her Mum's, but Dawn had brought it with her permission only, After the girls went out of the café Dawn's mom had called her telling her that she needed the duffel bag, so the girls took a detour and went to the nearest Pokémon center and exchanged Dawn's bags using the pokeball transferring machine. 

And that's how she ended up with a backpack instead of a duffel bag. If you guys aren't able to open the backpack's links, let me know I'll attach the photo in the next chapter.