Family Ties
by S. Muffin

Ash always felt a little strange battling his father-in-law.

Well. Future father-in-law.

Being uncomfortable during a Pokemon battle was something that was foreign and unfamiliar to him in many ways. On a battlefield, Ash was normally totally in his element; he was more than confident in his ability, he was always able to come up with some sort of clever strategy, and even if he did end up losing the match he knew he wouldn't go down without a fierce fight, a fight that none of his opponents would ever be able to forget.

Battling the Petalburg City Gym Leader should not have been the exception. And at one point in time, it wasn't.

But now that he was engaged to the Gym Leader's daughter, things were a little different.

"And how can I expect you to take care of my little girl if you can't even battle properly, Ash?"

Comments like that usually would have aggravated Ash and fueled his determination to win tenfold, but now all he could do in response was sigh deeply and shake his head. Norman asked him that question every single time they battled each other now, and Ash still had no idea how exactly he was supposed to answer it. The Gym Leader had first posed the dreaded question to him the day before he had proposed to May in the first place—when he asked Norman and Caroline for their blessing, Norman told him the only way he'd let May marry him was if he could defeat him in another battle. Mercifully, Ash had been the victor of that match, but Norman still took the opportunity to hassle him as much as he could. Since then, every time the couple traveled to Petalburg City to visit May's family, Norman would insist on battling again, and he would do everything in his power to make Ash squirm.

"Seriously, Dad?" May exclaimed. "Stop picking on my fiancé! You are so impossible sometimes, I swear!"

"You just like saying the word fiancé, don't you, May?"

"Shut up, Max!"

Ash knew that, deep down, Norman meant well. The two of them had always gotten along exceptionally well, and he also knew for sure that Norman approved of his and May's relationship. He had mentioned to Ash several times before that he was glad that May was dating someone like him, a dependable and respectable Trainer that he knew personally and trusted, rather than someone else who didn't fit those criteria. But, at the same time, ever since Ash and May first became a couple, Norman slowly but surely started to assume the role of the overprotective parent.

Ash glanced over to where May was sitting on the sidelines, sending a small, sympathetic smile her way when he saw her head cradled between her hands in embarrassment. He then noticed Caroline start to rub her daughter's back in an attempt to comfort her, all the while laughing at the situation. His eyes finally shifted over to Max, who was looking right back at him with a haughty smirk plastered on his face.

"Come on, Dad!" Max cheered. "Finish him off already!"

May nearly growled. "I said shut up, Max!"

Ash sighed again. He should've figured Max wouldn't be on his side.

He'd really grown into quite the smartass over the years, too.

Returning his attention to the battle, Ash ordered Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on Norman's Vigoroth. Now that they had been battling for quite a while, Ash could tell that Vigoroth was starting to grow more tired by the minute and wouldn't be able to properly dodge any offensive attacks. It was the perfect time to turn this match around in his favor so that Norman could finally stop harassing him once and for all.

Or, at least for the rest of the day.

"Vigoroth, dodge that!" Norman shouted, his eyes narrowing in concentration.

"Pikachu, don't let it!" Ash yelled in return.

Both Gym Leader and Trainer watched intently as Pikachu released several fast-moving bolts of electricity in the sloth Pokemon's direction. Vigoroth attempted to evade the attack by jumping up off the ground, but it was no use. The lightning bolts continued to pursue it, traveling upwards and encasing Vigoroth in a powerful and undoubtedly painful electric shock. It collapsed onto the ground with a loud thump several moments later.

Norman gritted his teeth anxiously. "Vigoroth, can you stand?"

With shaking arms, Vigoroth slowly managed to push itself up off the ground and back onto its feet again, but it was clear that Pikachu's Thunderbolt had taken a toll on its stamina. Vigoroth visibly swayed from side to side, unable to balance and panting harshly due to its lack of energy.

Ash clenched his fist. He didn't want to get his hopes up too soon, but if the battle continued to go in this direction he would most definitely be the winner. All it would take was just one more direct hit. "Finish it up with Iron Tail, Pikachu!"

Pikachu quickly sprinted towards Vigoroth, gathering all of the strength it would need for the attack, before leaping into the air, somersaulting, and diving tail-first straight towards Vigoroth's chest. Before Vigoroth could even attempt to move out of the way, it was sent flying backwards from the impact of Pikachu's Iron Tail.

Once again, Vigoroth landed on the ground with a resounding thump, only this time it didn't get up.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle!" the official Gym referee suddenly announced. "Pikachu is the winner! The victory goes to Ash!"

"Ah, damn it."

"MAX!"

...

The rest of the afternoon following Ash and Norman's match was, much to Ash's relief, spent in a much lighter state of affairs. Now that the Gym Leader was finally off his case for the day, Ash finally felt like he could truly relax and enjoy the remainder of his and May's visit in Petalburg with his soon to be in-laws. After finishing up in the Gym area, the group moved back into the main part of the house for one last family meal before Ash and May had to leave.

Now that they were standing on the steps outside of the Gym about to say their goodbyes, Ash couldn't help but feel a little disheartened that he and May couldn't stay longer. Despite being mercilessly picked on by Norman and Max every time he was there, he had to admit that he did end up enjoying the visits overall. May's family had always welcomed him with open arms and treated him as one of their own, even before he and May were even dating. They had taken him in and accepted him so easily when they were starting out on their first journey through Hoenn together and still continued to do so almost ten years later.

"Well, son," Norman began, extending his hand out to Ash, "I guess you've managed to prove me wrong today. Looks like you really are worthy of marrying my little girl."

Ash smiled triumphantly as he shook Norman's hand. One thing he did look forward to when battling Norman was the ego-boost he would get if he won. "No more hard feelings, I hope?"

"None apart from the usual." Norman placed his arm around May's shoulder and pulled her close to his side. "You might be good enough for my daughter, but you're still taking her away from me."

Laughing, May rolled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her father's torso in a tight hug. "You're never gonna let that one go, huh?"

"Not a chance." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before letting his arm drop back down to his side. "Both of you take good care of each other, okay?"

May nodded. "Of course, Daddy," she promised.

"You got it, Norman," Ash agreed, smiling reassuringly at him for good measure.

"Will you be visiting us again soon?" Caroline asked, coming forward to hug her daughter. "We always love seeing you, you know."

"You bet!" May pulled back from her mother's arms just enough to grin at her. "Once Ash is done competing in the Hoenn League again we're planning on coming back here for a little while before heading over to Pallet Town."

"That's great news!" Caroline gave May one more loving squeeze and a kiss on the cheek before turning to Ash. She gave him a friendly hug and gently patted him on the back. "And we love seeing you too, Ash. As always, you're a good sport."

Ash laughed. "Same here, Caroline. Thanks for having me."

"Maybe next time you guys stop by you'll be able to battle me too, Ash?" Max spoke up, his new trademark smirk on his face. "You might've gotten lucky today when you beat my dad, but luck won't be enough to beat me."

"We'll just have to see about that, then, won't we?" Ash challenged, a determined look overtaking his features as he extended his hand out towards Max. "I don't rely on just luck, you know."

His smirk growing, Max took hold of Ash's hand in a firm grip and shook it once. "Yeah, we'll see."

"Would it be possible for you to stop talking about battling for one minute and hug me goodbye?" May interrupted, placing her hands on her hips. "It's not every day you get to see your big sister, you know."

Chuckling, Max leaned forward, wrapped his arms around her, and then lifted her in the air. "Big sister? I can't even remember a time when you were actually bigger than me, May."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Max. You know what I mean." As he put her down, May gave him a soft smile before taking his cheek between her thumb and forefinger and pinching gently. "Be good, 'kay?"

Max scowled and swatted her hand away from his face, but a moment later he returned her smile with a small one of his own. "You too, Sis. Call me when you get to the next Pokemon Center?"

"Sure thing." Looking over at Ash, she asked, "Ready to take off? We've got a long way to go from here."

Ash nodded. "Yep, ready when you are."

"Okay." May turned back around to face her parents and brother, beaming at them all. "Well, I guess this is it. It was great seeing you all today. I'm really glad we were able to stop by for a little while."

"So are we, honey." Caroline smiled. "If you're ever in the area don't be strangers, alright?"

"Take care of yourselves," Norman added. "I expect May to still be in one piece the next time you both stop by, Ash."

Ash laughed, before looking down fondly at the young woman standing beside him. "Don't worry, Norman. She'll be safe with me."

Giggling, May grinned up at Ash, a light blush coloring her cheeks, before looking back at her family and waving. "See you all again soon!"

"Have a safe journey!" Caroline called as she watched the two of them start to walk away.

Norman lifted his hand and waved back. "Don't forget to keep in touch!"

As they made their way down the road that would eventually lead them to Northern Petalburg, Ash and May continued to wave back at the three gradually shrinking figures until they were finally out of sight. Occasionally, the pair would look over their shoulders and watch the Gym building gradually begin to disappear in the distance as well.

"You know, Ash," May began, looping her arm through his, "I think they're all really excited about you being part of the family."

Ash glanced down at May. "Yeah? You think so?"

May nodded. "Every time we come over all my parents ever talk to me about is you—how awesome you are and how much they absolutely love you and how happy they are that we're together. And even though he's quite cynical lately, Max is so excited that you're going to be his brother. I think he's been dreaming of that ever since he was seven years old."

Ash laughed. "That's good to hear. I know they have good intentions, but sometimes your dad and Max worry me a bit."

"Well, yeah, I'm sure those two are always going to come up with new ways to torture you," she went on, "but I promise you, they really do love you a lot." She paused, looking back up at him and grinning. "Just like I do!"

Grinning back at her, Ash slid his arm out from May's grasp before wrapping it around her shoulders. May placed her arm around his waist in return and then leaned up to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"I love you, too, May," he replied, his grin softening into a warm smile. He then tightened his grip around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him and leaning down to kiss her lips this time.

A/N: I didn't really have anything specific in mind when I started writing this oneshot, so it doesn't have much of a moral or theme or anything like that behind it, haha. I wasn't really trying to make it totally perfect, to be honest. I just kind of went with every little random burst of inspiration I got, and eventually they evolved into this. And also, please excuse the potential awkwardness of that battle scene all the way up yonder. I kind of took a shot in the dark while writing it and tried to keep it as simple as possible so I wouldn't mess it up, lol.

Since Ash and May are engaged and all that, I decided to once again age the characters (which I usually end up doing anyway, so). Ash, May, and Max are probably in their early and mid twenties somewhere, and Norman and Caroline in their mid to late forties. As always when aging characters, I tried to stick with their core personalities as much as I could while making them a bit more mature at the same time. A little of OOC-ness is to be expected with that, especially since 10 year olds aren't usually in love and engaged to be married.

Quick question before I stop rambling: Any of you here on the Serebii forums? I stopped posting there several years ago for a handful of reasons and am more of a casual browser now, haha. But I was just wondering if anyone was still part of the community there. I was thinking of becoming more active again, but I dunno. It'd be nice to publish some stories there in the future, so we'll just have to see I suppose!

My main priority right now is just to be more active with my writing again in general. I've been trying my hardest to start new stories and finish them in a timely manner so I can share them with you all! Hope those of you who read enjoyed :) Reviews, as always, are appreciated, and I'll respond to each and every one!