~Relieving Stress~

It was a quiet evening in the woods for the gang of May, Brock, Max, and Ash. They had set up camp in a small clearing close to the main route, not far from Pie Town. Ash had challenged Pie Town's Gym Leader earlier that day, coming up short as his Pikachu fainted from a ferocious Struggle attack by his foe's Magikarp. As a result, the young Ketchum had been silent and brooding, not wanting to talk to anyone. His longtime travel companion, Brock, was not worried at first, but when the normally voracious trainer skipped dinner, he began to wonder if this loss (the latest in a long losing streak) would be the final straw.

After cleaning up the various pots and dishes, Brock checked his PokeWatch, noting that it was getting late. Looking around he saw that everyone had retired to their tents for the night and with a sigh decided he should follow suit. Just before he put out the camp fire, however, he decided to check on Ash-just to see if everything was OK. The spiky-haired breeder walked up to Ash's blue tent, ready to knock on the flap, when he suddenly heard a strange sound.

What was that?

Leaning in closer, he heard two voices inside the tent. He recognized Ash's voice, which to his relief, had seemingly regained its former luster. Brock frowned as he couldn't quite hear the second voice, leaning in closer and closer until his ear was inches apart from the tent. He eventually realized, to his surprise, that it was May.

What's May doing in Ash's tent?

"Are you sure about this, May?"

"Of course I'm sure, I'll do it too just to demonstrate."

Confused, Brock wasn't sure what was going on, but he figured that it was best to let things be. He started to get up when suddenly he heard grunts coming from within the tent. Curious, Brock leaned in once more.

"Am I doing it right, May?", grunted Ash who sounded as if he were out of breath.

"Oh yes! Keep doing that Ash! Harder, harder, harder!", groaned May in reply, who also sounded out of breath.

A look of horror came upon Brock's face as he realized what his two friends were doing.

Oh my god...they couldn't be? Could they?

Brock shook his head, wondering if he was in some strange nightmare. He leaned in once more, again hearing the familiar grunting and groaning.

I have to stop this right now!

Having made up his mind, Brock burst into the tent with his eyes closed yelling, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?! HAVE YOU NO SHAME? MAX IS SLEEPING IN HIS TENT RIGHT NEXT TO YOU GUYS AND...huh?"

Brock had opened his eyes just a crack and noticed that both Ash and May were fully clothed, sitting opposite each other with balls in their hands.

"What's up Brock?", asked the oblivious raven-haired trainer.

"Oh hey Brock, I was just showing Ash this great relaxing technique whenever I'm feeling down. They're called PokeStress Balls!", said the brunette coordinator.

Brock simply stared at them, mouth agape.

"Yeah Brock you should try it! Look you just grip it harder and harder until all the stress flows out of you...or something like that. But it does work!", grinned Ash as he demonstrated the action to his flabbergasted friend.

After a few awkward moments, Brock simply left the tent and retired to his own sleeping quarters. His final thoughts before drifting off to dreamland?

I really need to get my mind out of the gutter...