Okay, this is going to be my first multi-chapter story. I'm actually really excited about this, so let's just get right to it. Please review though!
Pokemon: Dating Confusion
Chapter One: Of Friends and Foes
"Wow, it's been awhile since I've been home." Ash said, walking along the road to Pallet Town. His signature backpack was slung over his shoulders, and his Pikachu was sitting on the back of neck, his feet on the backpack to balance himself.
"Yeah, you've been traveling with us for quite some time." Cilan agrees, nodding his head.
"I wonder what Pallet looks like…" Iris muses, almost to herself if her Axew hadn't been listening from his perch in her hair.
Ash smiles, clearly excited about going back.
"I'm going to be staying home longer this time. Normally I would want to rush to the next region, but I think Pikachu and me need a small break." Ash admits, knowing his Pokemon craved ketchup, and his mother always seemed to have an endless supply.
Iris opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted, as a sudden yell was heard. She turned her head, and was surprised to see Ash gone.
"I see Pallet Town!" Ash called, running slightly off the course of the trail in his eagerness to get back.
Iris rolled her eyes, then nodded to her Axew, signaling for him to hold on. She burst into a sudden run, taking off after Ash. Cilan half smiled, then briskly ran after them, at quite a slower pace.
Ash didn't even look back, concentrating on other things.
It's going to be awesome to see Professor Oak again. I'm looking forward to seeing Tracey as well. My mom will like having me home too…
He thought, too deep in his thoughts to be paying any attention to where he was running. He paid enough attention later, after he hit the front door of his house.
A loud bang was heard, and Mrs. Ketchum walks to the front door, opening it.
"Hello and who is-" She stopped, looking down and seeing her son.
"Ash?"
Ash fell forward as the door opened, at his mom's feet. He stands up weakly, rubbing his nose.
"Ow, and hey, why's it so dark in here?" He asks, stepping into the doorway of his house. As he looks around, he realizes his mother is gone.
"Mom?" Ash asked, at this point getting suspicious. He walks into a hallway and puts his hand on the knob of the kitchen door, turning it slowly.
"Pika pi." Pikachu whispers.
'This could be a trap.' Is what Pikachu means.
Ash, nods slightly, understanding a few simple phrases in Pikachu language at this point.
"Probably Team Rocket…" He mutters, then shoves the door open quickly, barging in. Ash sees several figures in the dark, so he tackles the closest one and shouts,
"Take that Tea-"
"Happy birthday Ash!" A chorus of voices say. The lights flicker on, and Ash blinks, getting used to the sudden brightness. Looking down, he sees he tackles a lifesize blowout of himself. He would've been embarrassed, but he suddenly spied a cake in the corner of the room, sitting on the kitchen counter. He zooms over to it, eyes gazing at it longingly.
"Ash! No cake until after the party. And remember to thank the lovely girls who planned this party." His mother says, nodding to the four girls standing beside her.
"Misty? May? Dawn? What are you guys doing here?" Ash asked, momentarily forgetting the cake as he rushed over to greet them.
"Well, your mom said she was planning a surprise party for you, so I decided to take a break from my gym to visit." Misty explained.
"I missed seeing you guys, and wanted to hang out again." May replied, winking at everyone.
"I heard the words party, and knew everyone would be here! I was planning the balloons, the streamers, setting up the guest list…" Dawn said, counting the things off on her fingers.
Ash nods, understanding those reasons. His gaze suddenly shifts to the left, and he spots Iris.
"How did you get here before me?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Iris merely rolled her eyes, sighing.
"Really Ash? You know there's a back door, right?" She said, shaking her head.
Ash glared back, opening his mouth to argue when Dawn stopped them.
"Hey guys! Look, the other guests are here!" She exclaimed, shoving past them and opening the front door.
The others glanced at each other, their eyes mirroring their confusion.
"What other guests?" They all said simultaneously.
As they spoke, the guests entered. The first was of course Cilan, who had decided not to burst through the back door unannounced. The second, was the gym leader of Pewter City. Brock, one of Ash's oldest traveling companions, stepped inside.
He and Cilan were already engaged in a conversation about Pokemon, mostly pertaining to Pokemon food. They didn't notice the others, to engulfed in the topic. Cilan and Brock walked over to the counter, standing and continuing to talk.
"Hi everyone!" Tracey said, being the third person to enter the room. He immediately ran over to the girls, proceeding to sketch them.
While Misty was mostly unaffected by this, the others were quite affected. May decided to ignore him, trying to follow Misty's example.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Iris asked uncomfortably. Dawn, however, decided to embrace it.
"Hi! Are you drawing us? Come on girls, strike a pose!" Dawn said, gesturing at them to do so.
They all shook their heads, snickering a bit. Tracey continued to draw, appreciating that Dawn was trying to help.
"Thanks a ton for helping Dawn! I normally sketch Pokemon but the professor said I should be well rounded!" Tracey said, his pencil never stopping.
"Gee thanks!" Dawn said, sending him a wink.
"You're a natural at this Dawn!" Tracey complimented.
"You think so?" She asked hopefully.
You hear that Dawn! He says you're a natural! You could be a model someday…
Dawn smiles dreamily, thinking to herself.
Trip walks in, sighing. Beside him is Gary, and both aren't exactly excited at the prospect of coming to a party for their rival. But on the other hand, knowing your enemy is a good strategy for fights, with or without Pokemon. (Plus Mrs. Ketchum is very persuasive.)
"Trip, Gary!" Ash exclaims, surprised to see them there.
"Uh, mom, what are they doing here?" Ash asks, leaning in to whisper in his mom's ear.
"They're nice boys, and you know them. Now you better be polite to them!" His mom whispers back.
Ash sighs resignedly, slumping against the kitchen wall. It had been a strange beginning to a day. First of all, he had forgotten his own birthday. How he had managed to do that he didn't know. Then he was greeted by two of his rivals, the oldest and the newest.
Oh well, they're not so bad. Maybe we can get along-
"Hey Ash! Still have that scrawny Pikachu I see." Gary said, interrupting Ash's thoughts.
Ash sighed, glaring and turning around to face him. Pikachu glared too, some electrical sparks appearing around his whiskers.
"And what's that supposed to mean?!" He snaps.
Just when I think we might get along…
Ash adds in his brain.
Gary just smirks, chuckling a bit. He doesn't say anything, putting his hands in his pockets and walking over to the girls.
"He's right you know. That pathetic Pokemon can't stand the tough competition." Trip agrees, having heard the conversation.
Ash starts to hit boiling point, but thankfully May had glanced over and seen the fight.
"Hey boys! Look, Mr. Mime is dancing!" She says, pointing at the Pokemon, which, strangely enough, dances while it dusts furniture.
This causes a small distraction from the argument, long enough for Trip to decide that arguing with someone like Ash was a waste of time. He walks to a corner of the room, glancing around in boredom.
May sighs, looking relieved. She smiled, stepping away from the other girls and walking over to Brock and Cilan. She tilts her head at Cilan curiously, her hair falling out of its bandana.
He reminds me of someone…
She thinks, closing her eyes as she concentrates. Unfortunately, watching where you were going while walking was very necessary.
"Wah!" She cries out suddenly, tripping over a bag of groceries. She flails her arms, trying to catch herself. Suddenly, she feels someone stop her from falling, and she opens her eyes again.
"Huh?" She says as they turn her around to face them.
"That was quite a fall. Luckily I caught you, or you might have gotten hurt." Cilan says, smiling at her kindly.
She blushes slightly, but doesn't have a chance to say anything. He sets her down gently, but his arms are still around her waist.
"I, um, I think I'm fine now…" She says, still blushing.
Cilan nods, setting her down beside him in a chair, and he and Brock proceed with their discussion. Several times May had to consciously tell herself to quit staring at Cilan.
What is up with me? I know he reminds me of somebody I know…
Gary, standing near Misty and parallel to Iris, smirked slightly.
"Isn't that May? Looks like someone has a new crush." He mutters quietly, mostly to himself, but Misty is close enough to hear it.
"Yeah, sure Gary." Misty said, attempting to roll her eyes but decided not to. She looked up at him, getting a better look.
Wow, he's gotten taller, and more muscular too…
She thinks to herself, eyes widening slightly.
"Take a picture, it lasts longer." Gary said, snapping Misty out of her thoughts.
She involuntarily blushed; she hadn't meant to stare at him.
"Like I would take a picture of you." She says, trying to regain her composure.
"You would like to? Alright then." He winks at her, flashing a grin.
Misty blushed again, giggling slightly.
What am I doing? Am I flirting with Gary?!
She gulps, but doesn't show her discomfort.
Gary gives her another grin, yawning.
"You bored too?" He asks her.
"Kinda hard to be around you." She replies. It wasn't until the words were out of her mouth that she realized it did sound like she was flirting. She had meant it sarcastically, but that wasn't how Gary interpreted it.
"Yeah, I'm special like that." He laughs, not a mocking laugh, but an actual laugh.
Misty laughs back, and realizes she never really got to know Gary. He was always just, 'Ash's rival'. She smiled at him, a genuine smile.
"Don't get cocky." Misty said, enjoying flirting-but-not-flirting with him.
"Oh I won't. Not when you're around anyway." Gary said, his eyes twinkling.
"I don't think you want to eat here. Mr. Mime's cooking is terrible. Want to go get a burger?" He asked casually.
Just as he speaks, an exploding noise is heard from the other end of the room. Everyone turns around and see Mr. Mime standing near an oven of burnt cookies.
Misty sighs, thinking hard.
Gary just asked me out! What do I do?!
Looking back at Mr. Mime, she shrugs, deciding one unofficial date wouldn't hurt.
"Sure, okay. Let's go then." She said.
Gary nodded, the look of victory clear in his eyes. He walked up to the door, opening it and leading her out.
Ash, having been distracted by the dancing Mr. Mime and then the explosion, happened to look over at them as Misty was about to step outside with Gary.
Where is she going with him?
He wonders, unable to stop the jealous feeling brewing inside. He was too late to do anything though, seeing as the door was being closed at that very moment. He sighs, then turns around, marching up to Mr. Mime and his mom, seeing if he could get one of the slightly less burnt cookies.
Brock nodded, having talked to Cilan for a while he looked at the clock. Knowing there was plenty of time before the party started, he stood up, smiling at May and Cilan.
"I think I'll go check on everyone else." He said, stepping away when he saw Iris.
"Hey, I haven't seen her before." He said, then he snapped into lovesick Brock.
"Hey beautiful! Want my number, my email address, the keys to my gym?" He said quickly, having rushed right beside her.
Iris jumped, a bit surprised.
"What? Who're you?!" She asks, very surprised.
"Your knight in shining armor!" He answers, his heart eyes popping out.
Her eye twitches, and she backs away.
This must be Brock…
She thinks, then snaps her fingers.
"Look, it's Nurse Joy!" She shouts, pointing behind him.
He turns around anxiously, looking for her hopefully.
"Nurse Joy?! Where?" He asks, eyes scanning around the room.
Iris, feeling relieved, uses this moment to escape. She runs to a corner of the room, a darker corner where she hopes that Brock couldn't see. Luckily she was in a different corner than Trip, or that might have caused some trouble. She spies Tracey, still sketching Dawn.
Tracey pauses to rest his hand for a minute.
"I might take a break and continue this later. I've already done the main parts anyway, and I can color it tomorrow." He tells Dawn.
She nods, relaxing and stretching her arms out.
"That was fun! We should hang out again sometime!" She said, smiling.
"Yeah, you're amazing to sketch! And I would love to draw your Piplup sometime." Tracey replied as he put away his pencils and sketchbook.
"That would be awesome!" She answered, petting her Piplup's head softly.
"That's good! I'll see you outside the Professor's lab tomorrow?" He offered.
Dawn nodded, jumping up happily.
This is so cool! I really might be a model.
She thinks to herself, then winks and walks toward Ash, his mom, and Mr. Mime.
May sat in silence. When Brock had left Cilan had pulled out a notebook, and once he started to write things down he didn't stop. She sighed, pushing back a loose strand of hair.
Cilan looked up, hearing a sound. He realized May had been sitting there that whole time, so he mentally smacked himself for being so rude. He quickly put away his notebook, and looked at her.
"I'm sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring you May. You see, I was just writing down some notes. Brock sure does know quite a lot about Pokemon." He said with a charming smile.
May smiled back up at him, glad for the conversation.
"No it's okay! It's fine to be busy." She replied.
"Not when there's a charming young lady sitting beside you it isn't." Cilan answered.
She blushed, her cheeks reddening.
Charming young lady?
She thought, blushing a bit more.
"I, think I'm going to go get something to ea-" She trips as she tries to stand up, and ends up falling onto Cilan's lap.
Great job May. Could this get any worse?
She moans quietly, trying to hide her face.
At that very moment, the door creaks open, and a young male coordinator walks in.
"May?"
Dun dun dun! I'm pretty sure you all know who just came in. As if that wasn't enough, he isn't the last guest! Stay tuned for more, but reviews make me work faster! Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask! Any suggestions will be considered of course. Thanks so much for reading!
