Ashlyn and her friends are on their way to Petalburg City to have a family reunion for May and Max. As they did, Ashlyn and May came across two lost Swablu when the gang was taking shelter from a storm. Both Pokémon were injured when the two girls found them. So they decided to take care of them until they got better. A few days later, the two Swablu's were healed. But they were having trouble trying to fly because their wings were a little bit stiff. Luckily Percy was able to help them fly again. Soon enough, Team Rocket showed up and tried to take the two Cotton Bird Pokémon. However they failed and the gang sent the trio blasting off. They decided to stay with Ashlyn and May. Ashlyn named her Swablu 'Alta'.
==================================
Soon after the two Swablu's joined May and Ashlyn's team. There was a contest at a nearby city. May immediately went to sign up. Ashlyn wanted to take a break and let May enter the contest. By the end of the contest, May had won with the help of her new Swablu and Marill. So now May has her second contest ribbon.
================================
Soon enough, the gang had finally arrived in Petalburg City. They were standing on a hill that overlooked the city. For May and Max, it felt like it had been forever since they left home.
"Here we are," Brock said, "Petalburg City."
May and Max were excited to come to Petalburg City to see their parents again.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Max asked.
"Let's go!" May beamed.
The two siblings took off with the others behind them.
===============================
Soon after leaving the Pokémon Center, the gang arrived in front of the Petalburg Gym.
"Here we are, home sweet home." May smiled.
"May? Max? Is that you?" A female voice asked from inside.
The door opened to reveal Caroline, May and Max's mom.
"Mom!" May and Max beamed and hugged their mom who hugged them in return.
"Oh sweeties! It's so good to see you two again." Caroline smiled. Then she stepped back to see their faces.
"Caroline, who's at the door?" A male voice asked.
Everyone turned to the door and saw Norman standing there.
"Dad!" May and Max ran over to their dad and hugged him tight.
"Oh, May, Max, welcome home." Norman greeted his kids.
"Ashlyn, Alain, Brock, it's also good to see you all." Caroline greeted.
"Thank you, Caroline." Ashlyn greeted back.
========================
Soon afterwards, the gang was having lunch with May and Max's parents. They were all happy to see them. May and Max gave their versions of their adventures so far in the Hoenn Region. Their parents were amazed by the Pokémon they had caught so far as well.
"Alot of your Pokémon like our greenhouse here. I swear, most of them spend most of their time sleeping in there." Norman commented, smiling.
"Your Illumise and Volbeat like flying around in there too. Marill likes swimming in the pond in there as well." Caroline added.
"I'm glad." May smiled.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Everyone was surprised at the knock.
"Are you two expecting someone?" Alain asked.
"I don't think so." Norman replied.
Norman and Caroline got up along with the gang and headed towards the door. Everyone was surprised to see a small crowd outside.
"Do you know these people, Norman?" Ashlyn questioned.
"Why yes, these are all of our friends who live in the city. Not to mention that they're also our fans." Norman answered.
"I see." Brock understood.
"May! May! I wanna ask you something!" A woman called out.
May walked up to the woman, "What is it, Rose?"
"Tell us May, what has it been like for you as a Pokémon coordinator?" 'Rose' asked.
"Well Rose, it was difficult and scary for me at first, especially since I had no idea of what to do or about anything of Pokémon," May admitted, "but thanks to my new friends Ashlyn, Alain, and Brock, I've learnt a lot and I'm having lots of fun."
"So am I." Max added as he stood beside May.
May and Max did introduce Ashlyn, Alain, Mairin and Brock to everyone, but the crowd wasn't interested in them; only of May and Max.
"So May and Max have fans as well?" Ashlyn asked.
"Yes." Norman replied.
"They're going to be here for a while, huh?" Alain questioned.
"Probably." Caroline answered.
At that moment, Ashlyn sensed a negative energy nearby. She identified it as animosity.
"Well you don't mind if we leave to go shopping while the two are talking to their fans?" Ashlyn asked.
"Go right ahead. You can come back here when you're done." Norman assured them.
"Thanks, Norman, Caroline." Ashlyn thanked the two.
Then Ashlyn, Alain, and Brock left to go shopping.
=============================
Soon enough, they were done with their shopping. They came out of the store with their supplies.
"Well that's everything." Brock confirmed.
"Good thing we stocked up while we're here." Alain commented.
"I'm glad that May and Max are home now." Ashlyn said.
"Yeah, they look super happy to see their parents again." Brock added.
At that moment, two boys showed right in front of them. The first one had short brown hair wearing a short sleeve red shirt, dark green pants, and light brown shoes. The other one had short navy-blue hair wearing a light blue-green short sleeve shirt, tan colored shorts with pine green suspenders, and orange and white sneakers.
Ashlyn identified the animosity feeling coming from these two boys. She figured that they were jealous that she was traveling with May and Max.
"You're here to battle Norman, aren't you?" The brown-haired boy asked.
"Oh, I already battled Norman." Ashlyn stated.
"HUH?!/WHAT?!" The two boys gasped.
"When I first started in the Hoenn Region, I was challenged by Norman. I accepted his challenge and beat him. He gave me his gym badge as proof of my victory." Ashlyn explained.
"No way!/That's a lie!" The two boys denied.
Ashlyn sighed and took out her badge case. She showed them her badges, revealing Norman's badge as the first gym she defeated.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Norman himself." Ashlyn suggested.
"Fine! That will just prove that you lied anyway!" The navy-blue haired boy accused.
Ashlyn and the others sighed at this.
=============================
Ashlyn, Alain and Brock along with the two boys arrived back at the gym. May and Max were still with their fans. Norman and Caroline were watching them interact.
"Hey Norman!" The brown-haired boy called out.
Norman turned to the two boys as they ran up to him along with Ashlyn, Alain and Brock.
"This girl said that she battled you and you gave her a gym badge. That's not true, is it?" The brown-haired boy asked.
"It is true. She battled me and won." Norman confirmed.
"What?!" The navy-blue haired boy gasped.
"The both of them battled greatly. Not to mention that she fought off Team Rocket from taking our Pokémon." Caroline stated.
"I have to admit that I was a little bit mad that dad had lost the battle. But it was an awesome battle though." Max admitted.
"Well Ashlyn has three years of experience, Max." May reminded him.
"ILLUMISE!"
Everyone turned to the voice and saw May's Illumise flying towards them.
"Illumise?" May asked as Illumise hovered in front of her. She gently pulled her into her arms, "What's wrong?"
"Illumise ill illumise! (Someone's trying to take the Pokémon!)" Illumise panicked.
"She said someone's trying to take the Pokémon!" Ashlyn translated.
Norman's family gasped. Then they headed off to the greenhouse where all the Pokémon are. To no one's surprise, Team Rocket was there, capturing the Pokémon.
"Stop right there, Team Rocket!" Max shouted.
Team Rocket gasped when they caught sight of the gang, Norman, and Caroline in front of them.
"Oh no!" James whined.
"It's the twerps and family!" Meowth whined.
Everyone spotted most of the Pokémon in cages.
"You release all those Pokémon this instant!" Norman ordered.
"No way! These Pokémon belong to us now!" Jessie declared.
"No they don't!" Caroline denied.
"Grovyle, Poochyena let's go!" Max released his Wood Gecko Pokémon and Bite Pokémon.
"Torchic, Swablu, come on out!" May released her Chick Pokémon and Cotton Bird Pokémon.
The four Pokémon appeared in front of their trainers.
"Well I guess we'll battle as well! Seviper!" Jessie released her Fang Snake Pokémon.
"Seviper!" Seviper appeared.
"Cacnea, let's go!" James released his Cactus Pokémon.
"Cac!" Cacnea appeared. But then turned around and launched itself at James who wasn't happy about Cacnea's close contact.
"Attack the twerps, not me!" James yelped.
"Seviper, use Poison Tail!" The dagger part of Seviper's tail glowed in a light purple color.
"Cacnea, Pin Missile!" The spikes on Cacnea's arms glow white and shoot either a barrage of white needles or white, arrow-shaped streams of pins at May and Max's Pokémon.
"Swablu, Protect!" Swablu projected a green colored barrier around her, Torchic, Grovyle, and Poochyena, making Team Rocket's attack bounce off the barrier.
"Torchic, Ember!" Torchic opens his mouth and shoots one or multiple balls of fire at Seviper and Cacnea.
"Grovyle, Bullet Seed!" Grovyle shoots many glowing yellow seeds from his mouth at Seviper and Cacnea.
Seviper and Cacnea yelped in pain from both attacks. Team Rocket yelped in panic.
While May and Max were battling Team Rocket, Norman, Caroline, Ashlyn, Alain and Brock were freeing May, Max, and Norman's Pokémon. Luckily, they got them all out in time. When Max noticed that the cages were empty, he gave a signal for May to send Team Rocket flying off.
"You messed with the wrong family, Team Rocket!" May declared angrily, "Torchic, Flamethrower! Swablu, Moonblast!"
"Grovyle, Razor Leaf! Poochyena, Shadow Ball!" Max shouted.
The four Pokémon shot their attacks at the Team Rocket trio and sent them flying in the air.
"Another failed attempt at stealing a gym leader's Pokémon." James whined.
"If you mess with one family member, you mess with all of them." Meowth added.
"I'll say." Jessie agreed.
"Wobba!" Wobbuffet saluted.
"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!" The trio screamed as they disappeared across the sky.
"Seviper!" Seviper added.
DING!
Everyone sighed in relief at Team Rocket's exit.
"Finally, they're gone." Max commented.
Suddenly, Torchic and Poochyena started glowing blue. Their shapes began to grow bigger. When the glow dispersed, Torchic was now a Combusken and Poochyena was now a Mightyena.
"You're finally a Combusken! I'm so proud of you!" May hugged her Combusken.
"Combusken!" Combusken smiled.
"You too, Mightyena!" Max hugged his Mightyena who growled happily as well.
Norman, Caroline, and the others smiled at May and Max's happiness towards their Pokémon.
============================
The gang was glad that May and Max were able to save their family's Pokémon. Then May heard that there's a Pokémon Contest in Petalburg City. So she immediately went to sign up. Ashlyn wanted May to catch up to her with her ribbons so she didn't sign up. Ashlyn and the others decided to stay for the contest.
============================
Pokémon Caught: Mightyena (Lela)(F), Marshtomp (Finn)(M), Shiny Combusken (Hestia)(F), Kirlia (Miku)(F), Kirlia (Lancelot)(M), Swellow (Percy)(M), Linoone (Ziggy)(M), Grovyle (Kazuki)(M), Beautifly (Willow)(F), Shiny Milotic (Ula)(F), Crawdaunt (Sebastian)(M), Lairon (Hagane)(M), Sableye (Jacinth)(M), Shiny Flygon (Libelle)(F), Shiny Electrike (Damini)(F), Shiny Bagon (Idris)(F), Torkoal (Shula)(F), Swablu (Alta)(F)