Unexpected

Summary: Right after getting over his childhood crush, he ends up agreeing to travel with someone else, even if she is the most obnoxious, deceitful, sneaky, and the most irritatingly adorable person he's ever met. He never expects to fall in love.

Prologue

"Hey!"

What you have just witnessed here, ladies and gentlemen, is Ash Ketchum, Pokémon Trainer Extraordinaire (according to him,) in the act of getting his butt beat, and his backpack ripped off of his own back by a shadowy and concealed Pokémon.

Or so he thought.

…

I mean…so he thought…as in he thought it was an actual Pokémon.

Which, sadly, it wasn't.

"Think you can sneak up on ME, do you? Ask Ketchum? Oh, you better watch your back you little-"

He's muttering to himself. While searching for the mysterious so-called Pokémon. Personally, if I saw someone like that in a dark forest, I would stay away from him, but sadly, since this is my job, I am required to keep an eye on him and report every single thing he's doing.

"AHA!"

Insert funny sound effect here.

"You *-ing idiot!"

Oops, now that didn't sound very much like a Pokémon, now did it?

"HA! I got you! Now give me back my backpack you thieving – Oh. Wait. You're not a Pokémon."

"No *-, Sherlock! How'd you find that out!"

Again. Oops.

Ash's POV

Well. Just my luck to run into a psychopath little girl who loves to swear when she's pissed off.

?'s POV

Did anyone mention that I positively love to vent out my anger on people by chasing them around and biting them?

Normal POV

Do you know what's an amusing sight? The sight of Ash Ketchum getting his butt handed to him by a little girl.

"WAIT! Little girl, I COME IN PEACE."

Now, maybe, I'm guessing that that was the wrong thing to say.

She's screeching now: "Who you calling a little girl, you LITTLE GIRL!"

…

Okay, since this is getting nowhere, I'll just spare you the details of Ash getting his butt beat, and we'll fast-forward to when they become civil again.

Ash's POV

At least she was decent enough to lend me an ice pack. (Where did she get it?)

Great. I'm sore all over now. And I think she even broke the skin on my arm! It's bleeding.

We're sitting in silence now. Kind of. She's kinda apologizing while she's treating my wounds. It's only right. She's the one who gave them to me in the first place. She'd stolen my backpack, too!

Then again, I snuck a peek at her. She's actually not that bad. When she's not psycho-crazy, of course, and when her face isn't contorted in a freakishly angry way, she's actually kinda pretty. She has a baby face, that's not too round, and has a head of tangled curly brown hair. Okay, I admit it. Brown's not a very descriptive word, but I can't find any other words to describe her hair. I'm a guy. The only hair I know how to describe in excruciating detail is my own. Back to the point here, she's wearing a simple black camisole tucked into a pair of denim shorts with a brown leather belt with a fanny pack attached to it, and three Pokéballs. Also attached to the belt, I mean.

Oh my God. I can't believe that I'm actually paying this much attention to a girl.

Um. Not that girls are bad, but they're just not as good as guys. Wait. That sounded wrong, too. NO, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN GUYS. But, the only girl I ever really liked or ever paid attention to was –

"-sh! Ash!"

"Wai – What?"

I snapped out of my reverie. That's a word right?

"You know my name?"

"Yeah. You look exactly as May described you. Black hair that defies gravity, short temper, carries around a Pikachu, and a bit of a blockhead."

What?

"May would never describe me like that!"

"Oh yeah. Sorry. That last part was me."

"That sounds better."

…

Awkward silence.

"O-oh yeah! You know my name; who are you?"

I almost face-palmed myself. I'd made and effort to be not-awkward and ended up sounding rude.

"My name's Joanni," She smiles, and my heart skips a beat.

What the heck?

"I was born 1995, May 2nd, age 15, going on 16. I'm a Taurus. I love both money, and Pokémon very much, but I love money just a bit more. I am 5'3, and my weight is confidential. I am a trainer, but once in a while, when I'm bored and if the prize money is worth it, I take time to participate in Pokémon contests. I will do almost anything for money, keyword being almost. My hobbies are reading, writing, singing, working out, and earning money. I am known to be sweet and kind, and shy – "

As she continues to ramble on into a microphone connected to a karaoke speaker, (again, where did it come from?) I scoff. Sweet and kind? Shy? It's taking all of my willpower to keep myself from laughing right in her face. Of course, that would be rude.

Then, all of a sudden, it hit me.

"Hey! You never answered me. How do you know my name?"

She stops, midway through a dramatic speech about her autobiography, and sighs.

"This whole time, you haven't thought that I looked the least bit familiar to you?"

…

Well, maybe, kinda.

But instead, I say, "Nope."

"Really?" She leaned over towards me and stared at me with big eyes.

"R-really."

Did my voice just stutter? I think it did, but I'm not sure. My head is spinning.

…

Yet another awkward silence. This time is different though. Is it starting to get hot in here? Oh wait, we're outside…

She sighs, and to my relief (?), she leans back, and pouts.

"I am very disappointed in you, Ash. How could you not recognize the very girl you have been crushing on for the past 4 years?"

Wait…

Let me do some thinking first…

If I'm eighteen right now, then four years ago I was fourteen, and when I was fourteen, I was traveling in…

The Hoenn Region!

And in the Hoenn Region, I'd been traveling with Brock, and Max, and…

May!

It was May!

Yeah, I was crushing on May, and the whole reason I was on this – what, like my two-millionth journey?

Was to forget about her.

And Drew.

Stupid Drew.

…

OH MAH GAWD I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN IT!

But I'm still kinda pissed at him.

But…

Now that I think about it, this girl – Joanni, does kinda look like May a bit…

"OH MAH GAWD. YOU"RE MAY IN DISGUISE"

I put both hands to my cheeks in horror.

A vein pops on her forehead.

"What the hell? No, no, no! I'm May's cousin. COUSIN."

…

Ohhhhhhh.

Oops.

"Yeah. 'Ohhhhhh.' Honestly, you're a lot dimmer than May described you as."

"I'm not dim! And how do I know you're really May's cousin –"

"Well – "

" – And not an alien from outer space pretending to be May's cousin so that you can abduct me and then dissect me to figure out what's wrong with my brain?"

"…"

"…"

Okay, I know that sounded totally crazy, but who knows? In the one-in-a-trillionth chance that I may be right, it's better to be safe than sorry!

"…Yes, Ash. Yes, I'm an alien sent here to take you to our space ship then cut you up and steal your brain."

I WAS RIGHT?!

"I WAS RIGHT?"

"No, you idiot!"

She puts her hands on her hips and lets out a big huff. Her bottom lip pulls up and her face is red.

Okay, so maybe she looks really cute like that. N-not that it matters…I mean, it's not like I think she's cute or anything like that…

Oh, what the heck. So what if I do think she's cute? She does look a lot like May…

OH MY GOD! Ash Ketchum, get OVER yourself. Or namely, get over May.

And in order to do that, we should stop saying her name. Yeah. That should work.

"Who are you thinking about? May?"

"You said her name! And I thought you weren't an alien! How come you can read my thoughts!?"

"I didn't read your thoughts, silly. It's really easy to tell what you're thinking about because you show all your emotions on your face."

I put both hands to my face, and smoosh it together, as if I'm trying to stop it from moving.

"Really?"

"Yeah. May told me. It's really funny, though. If she says that she could always tell what you were thinking about, how did she never figure out how you felt for her? I mean, geez – "

Okay. Now that's just taking it a bit too far.

And before I could stop myself, I snapped.

"Shut up."

I didn't mean for it to sound that menacing, and even hearing it come out of my mouth myself has me shocked.

But what she'd said really hit a nerve.

I really liked May. Loved her, even. I'd been serious, I would've been serious, if I hadn't waited so long. And as cheesy as it sounds, and as much as I hate to sound cheesy, I'll never forgive myself for it.

So, I have this really scary look on my face, and I'm glaring at the girl like there's no tomorrow. She looks like she's about to cry.

Oh, great.

Now I feel all guilty.

My conscience is probably the biggest one known to man.

I sigh and look down at the ground.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just that…it's a touchy subject for me, and, I guess I'm still not over May, and…"

She has her face in her hands, and she's still crying. I'm growing frustrated.

Why are girls always such crybabies?

This happened with May once, and she wouldn't stop crying, because she said that my Pokémon had taken her Pokémon's lollipop.

In my head, I had thought, you know, Ugh, why do girls always cry over stupid things? And can Pokémon even eat lollipops?

But, in the end, I couldn't stand seeing the girl I liked cry, so I comforted her by apologizing, and giving her a hug.

Okay, so this girl isn't May, but I can't just leave her like that, right?

I take a step towards her, and put my hand on her shoulder, supposedly trying to comfort her, I guess. When she doesn't back away, I gently pull her into a hug, her head resting on my shoulder. It lasts about 2 seconds, then she shrugs away, out of my grasp.

She looks up. Her face is all red, I'm guessing she was surprised. That a guy she barely knew just hugged her out of nowhere.

…

Well, not nowhere, but, well, you know what I mean!

She takes one last look at me, then runs away.

Wait.

Is that a smirk on her face?

"Hey!"

She runs right past me, and onto a path leading to the other side of the woods, then before she disappears into the thickness of the trees and bushes, she turns around, and sticks out a tongue.

"Thanks for the little gift! You're a lifesaver. I was just starting to go broke!"

What?

I check my pockets.

"Tch! The girl stole my wallet!"