Hey everybody, sorry it's been so long! Before we get into the tale I'm about to tell, I wanna get a few things out of the way. First off, though this will be taking place in the Pokémon world, I'll be focusing on the human characters. Pokémon will still be mentioned (of course), but mainly as pets and whatnot. Besides, it's always been easier for me to write about people, anyway. Second, most of this story's events will be taking place in one city; others will be mentioned and traveled to later on down the road. Finally, I won't be posting this as one solid story; I'll be posting each chapter individually, so you and other readers can decide on which one you like best. So, without further delay, enjoy!

"So, are you gonna be a good boy and let me borrow yesterday's homework?" Trip Augustine asked, arms crossed with a mocking smirk on his face.

Standing there, Ash Ketchum looked in those brown eyes, at that straight, chin-length blonde hair, then at that good-looking (yet simultaneously cruel) face. The first thought that crossed his mind was How can someone be so polite, yet so condescending at the same time?

"Why didn't you just do it yourself?" Ash asked, "Or, if you couldn't, why not just ask someone to help you out?"

The instant those words left his lips, Ash felt like kicking himself. Anyone else would've considered his questions reasonable, logical.

Unfortunately, words like reasonable and logical didn't match up with someone like Trip. Arms remaining crossed, that expression never leaving his face, Trip took two steps toward Ash. Those two steps were enough to make Ash back up into the metal door of his locker, nearly knocking his glasses off his face, his breath catching in his throat. "And why would I go to all that trouble, when you could just open up your locker and give yours to me so I can copy it before class, Ketchup?"

He still remembers the nickname he gave me freshman year; great, Ash thought bitterly.

Any other time, with any other person Ash would probably have said no. Unfortunately, he couldn't this time; not with Trip, anyways. Though the blonde may have only been an inch taller than him, Trip was on the basketball team. That meant that Trip had muscle that Ash didn't. Futilely,he glanced around the hallway at other students passing by. Futilely, because with Trip in front of him, they might as well have been on the other side of the city; also, because those that looked over in their direction all had the same look in their eyes. It was a look that said, Sorry. I wanna help you, but I'd rather stay away from this mess.

With hope almost gone, Ash then spotted the white and black hat of his best friend, Branden Giovanni, and waved his arm to get his attention. His expression briefly changing to one of confusion, Trip turned his head in the same direction. When he turned to face Ash once again, a glare was etched into his features. Leaning in so close that only Ash could hear, Trip whispered, "He's not always gonna be there to watch your back, Ketchum. You'd do well to remember that."

Without another word, the blonde turned on his heel and walked down the hallway, hands now stuffed in his pants pockets. Once he was far enough away, Ash let out the air he had been holding in with a long, relieved sigh. When Branden got to Ash's locker, a big grin was on his face, left arm raised for a high-five. "Hey Ash, how's it going?"

"Oh, nothing much," Ash replied, returning the high five, "Just another day in paradise, as you could see."

Rolling his eyes at this, Branden asked, "So, what was it this time? Trip want you to do another science project for him?"

"Nah, just last night's advanced trigonometry homework," Ash replied with a frown, "I swear to Arceus, if his dad didn't fund the school, they would've kicked his ass out of this school ages ago."

Ash had been so busy talking, he hadn't noticed the familiar, knowing look form on Branden's face. "What?"

"Come on man, you know what."

Ash's frown deepened, and he hoped this would be enough of a hint for Branden to drop it. Unfortunately, it didn't work. "Okay, fine, I get it," Ash conceded with exasperation, taking off his backpack and shoving it in his locker, "I know you're gonna say I should stand up to him. However, you also know the moment I do he'll pummel my scrawny ass into the ground. Then, I'll have to explain to Aunt Joanna why I'm covered in bruises and missing my front teeth. Then she'll start worrying and blowing the thing out of proportion, and guess what? Nothing. Will have. Changed."

"And since you're such an expert on everything I say," Branden said with slight irritation, watching Ash pull one of his textbooks out of his locker, "you also know I'm going to say that assholes like him only have control over you if you give it to them. Even if he does beat you up, sooner or later he'll stop because he knows you're not scared of him anymore. As for your aunt, you and I both know she'd be more than understanding about why it happened more than the fact that it happened at all. Also, you know I'd be more than willing to back you up if he does keep coming after you."

"Whether he stops going after me or not doesn't matter," Ash countered, shutting his locker, "If he stops messing with me, it just means he'll start making someone else's life a living hell. If he doesn't stop picking on people period, nothing's going to get any better."

Branden looked like he was about to say something else, then seemed to think better of it. Part of it might have been because they'd had this conversation before and he knew how it would end. It might also have been from the fact that while Branden could tolerate shades of gray, Ash saw the world in black and white. Branden knew, for better or worse, that if some good was done, Ash wasn't content with that good just affecting him. Branden knew his best friend would want everyone to benefit, even if he didn't.

So Branden instead put a hand on Ash's shoulder, a friendly smile on his face. "Come on man, let's get to class."

As much as the selfish part of him wanted to keep going, Ash was grateful for the fact that Branden decided to end it; the less Ash's personal problems affected their friendship, the better. Returning the grin, Ash nodded in reply and followed Branden down the towards their first class, World History.

Once inside the classroom, Branden and Ash made their way to their respective seats. Branden took his spot up front on the right row closest to the door; Ash took his seat in the middle of the left row closest to the windows. The drawback of this arrangement was that they were too far apart to talk to each other. Then again, if Branden was Ash's only friend, Ash would've lost his sanity long before now. Mere seconds after Ash set his binder and textbook on his desk, he saw the blonde head of Clemont Boswell peek cautiously through the door; Ash knew Clemont wouldn't come into the classroom until he was sure that Trip wasn't there.

Sighing at this, Ash waved his arm to get his attention. Noticing this, Clemont made his way over to Ash's seat. Not that he was worried about his rep taking a hit; when you're the smartest kid at your high school, you're at the very bottom of the popularity totem pole. Considering that Clemont was in a similar situation, the two became friends. That, and the rest of the school was so used to it, they didn't really care anymore.

That, and Clemont had absolutely no social skills when it came to people outside his intelligence range. "How goes it, my fellow scientist?"

"Hey Clemont," Ash with replied with an amused smile, "Just another day in the jungle that is high school."

"It's such a travesty that a barbarian like Trip can call himself a student at this school," Clemont sighed dejectedly, "Just because his father funds the school, it doesn't mean that he can make the lives of those more intelligent than him an absolute nightmare."

Ash rolled his eyes out of amusement; another of Clemont's quirks was that he had no concept of sarcasm. "Yeah, if only the world conformed to how you envision it."

Excitement appeared on Clemont's face. "I know, right?"

Then the excitement dissipated, a frown quickly replacing it. "Wait, you were being sarcastic again, weren't you?"

"Mm-hm," Ash replied, stifling a laugh.

The frown turned to dejection far more rapidly. "Darn it! I've been trying to watch for any queues or signals you might deploy when employing sarcasm."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Ash replied with a grin, "You'll figure it out eventually."

"I'd rather comprehend it sooner rather than later." Clemont said in a sulking tone.

"Yeah, I bet you would," Ash replied with a roll of his eyes, "Better go on and grab a seat; Mr. Rowan will be here in a minute."

Still sulking, Clemont took his seat directly in front of Ash. After that, the morning passed by without anything particularly interesting happening. When lunch rolled around, Ash was busy between eating and jotting down his report for his Advanced Science class. In the meantime, his blue-haired cousin Dawn Berlitz was just trying to focus on eating. "It still amazes me that you're one of the few people I know that's actually capable of multi-tasking. And you do know that report isn't due for another two weeks."

After swallowing a mouthful of cheeseburger, Ash replied, "You know than better than anyone I like to get a head start on school work. Besides, I'm not actually...multi...tasking..."

Whatever else Ash was about to say died in his throat when he caught sight of someone. Curious as to who, Dawn turned in the same direction he was looking. Two tables ahead of them sat May Maple, a girl Ash had had a crush on since seventh grade, seemed lost in thought about something, a worried expression on her face. Turning back around in her seat to face her cousin, Dawn gave Ash a knowing look. Ash stopped eating just long enough to notice. "What?"

The look quickly changed from knowing to whimsical. "Oh, nothing. Just curious as to when you're going to work up the nerve to talk to her."

Ash felt his cheeks burning from embarrassment; immediately following, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a subconscious sign that he was nervous. Being embarrassed and nervous at the same time, just perfect. "Yeah, I'm sure I could... in the next decade," he mumbled.

Then Dawn's expression went from whimsical to amused. "You know Ash, if you put as much effort into talking to girls as you do with all that science-y stuff, you could get over those anxiety issues of yours."

"I don't have anxiety issues," Ash protested, "It's just that science is easier for me to understand because it's consistent, concrete. Girls are... well, girls I just can't figure out."

Dawn gave an exaggerated sigh, standing up from her seat. "Ah, my sweet, smart, clueless cousin. I didn't wanna do this, but you've left me no choice."

Ash suddenly didn't like where this was going. "Wait, didn't wanna do what? What are you talking about?"

Before Ash had even finished his sentence, Dawn was already up and making her way towards May's table. In the next moment, his confusion changed to panic with embarrassment following close behind. Suddenly eating lunch became much more interesting. Shit, shit, shit... What if she actually comes over here?!

Attempting to calm himself down, Ash thought, It's alright, it's cool. Just act natural. You have absolutely nothing, nothing to-

"Um, excuse me? You're Ash Ketchum, right?" a female voice asked, breaking his train of thought and causing him to almost jump out of his skin.

Looking up, Ash saw May Maple standing on the other side of the table. From the angle he was sitting, Ash got a pretty good view of her boobs in that red shirt she wore a lot. Wow, I knew they were big, but man, do they look so much better up close. Crap, I'm staring aren't I? Bad hormones, bad hormones.

Gaining a fragile grip on his nerves, Ash brought his gaze up to eye level with May. In her sapphire blue eyes and on her face was an expression of confusion laced with the slightest sliver of irritation. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

Instead of sounding calm and looking composed, he nervously pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stammered like an idiot. "Uh... Y-yeah, yeah. I-I'm just fantastic." Real smooth, Ketchum. Real smooth.

However, instead of eliciting the laughter he had come to expect when talking to girls, all May did was raise an eyebrow. "Okay... Look I wouldn't be doing this unless I absolutely had to; the thing is if my grades in science don't improve, I'll flunk that class for the semester. And, considering Dawn and virtually everyone else knows you're the smartest person in school, I need you to tutor me."

Of the all the ways this encounter could've gone, this should've been the one Ash expected. "Oh. I mean, sure, I can do that. Is there any particular place you wanna meet up?"

May gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, great. For a second there, I thought you were gonna say no. Just meet me at the library on 22nd Street after school around 4:30. If that's alright with you, of course."

Ash suddenly felt confused. Why did she think I was going to say no? "Yeah, sure. I'll be there," he replied.

"Great. I'll see you there." With that done, May left the table and made for the hallway that led out of the cafeteria.

Mere moments after this, Dawn returned to Ash's table and sat back down in front of him. "So, am I the best cousin ever, or what? What was she asking? Don't leave out any details."

Rolling his eyes, Ash replied, "Don't get your hopes up, Dawn. All she needed was someone to help tutor her. It's not like we're gonna be going out or anything."

"I know, I know," Dawn said with a shrug, "You talking to her one time isn't going to automatically lead to you two dating. Just consider this a first step in the right direction."

"And if it goes in the wrong direction?" Ash asked.

Not responding at first, Dawn leaned over the table and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it doesn't go your way, then at least you helped her out; and if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you like helping people, even if you don't get anything out of it. Whether May or any other girl in this school knows it, they'd be lucky just to have you around."

Now it was Ash's turn to fall silent. In a way he didn't fully comprehend- even after six years- Dawn knew exactly what he was thinking and exactly how he would respond to a situation better than he did. Unable to find a rebuttal to her reasoning, Ash simply nodded in agreement, a small smile creeping up on his face.

Removing her hand from his shoulder, Dawn leaned back in her seat, looking at him as if she were still expecting something from him. "What? What did I do this time?" Ash asked.

"You still haven't answered my first question," Dawn replied, smiling mischievously.

Suddenly remembering what that question was, he sighed with mock exasperation. "Fine, you're the best cousin ever. Don't you get tired of hearing that?"

"Thank you. And nope, I don't."

After lunch, the rest of the school day went by fairly quickly. On the bus ride home, the only thing on Ash's mind was how well tutoring May was going to go. Would he do a good enough job? Would this be a one-time occurrence? Would he be able to help her pass for the semester? Would she like him, even if only as a friend? I'll just have to wait and see, I guess...

Before he knew it, the bus pulled up to his house, a tan-colored, two-floored square building tucked away on a quiet street in Fuchsia's suburbs. As Ash stepped off the school bus he saw the two cars parked in the driveway, one for his aunt, the other he and Dawn took turns driving. You think I would stop believing a school bus could ever beat Dawn home. When that last bell rings, she puts as much distance between her and that school as possible, Ash thought with an amused grin as he made his way to the front door.

When Ash opened the door, he was greeted by yellow mouse Pokémon with red dots on his cheeks and a lightning bolt-shaped tail. His grin widened as he knelt down to scratch Pikachu just behind his ears. "Hey, buddy. It's good to see you too. I can't stay long, though. I've got something I have to take care of."

The little yellow Pokémon tilted his head to one side in confusion. "Don't worry; I just have to help tutor someone from school. I won't be gone long."

"Oh, that's a shame," the voice of his aunt called from the kitchen, "I was making spaghetti for dinner tonight."

As Pikachu scampered upstairs, the mere mention of the word 'spaghetti' made Ash's stomach growl. Any other night, that would've made him stay; tonight was different. This was Ash's chance to get to know May, and help make sure she didn't flunk her class for the semester. Tonight, his stomach was going to have to wait.

Taking a quick peek into the kitchen, Ash noticed Aunt Joanna had indeed already started making dinner: Two metal pots were already on the stove, and she had a wooden spoon in her hand. She stopped what she was doing for the moment long enough to ask, "So, who are you tutoring?"

"Just a girl," Ash answered evasively, hoping Dawn had not told her.

Aunt Joanna's response told him he should've known better. "Is that girl the one you have a crush on, by any chance?"

Crap. Come on, Dawn give me a break. The only word he could sheepishly get out was "Yes".

Aunt Joanna gave him a knowing smile. "Oh, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure she'll appreciate your help."

Whatever tension Ash had before vanished. The best thing about Aunt Joanna was that she somehow always knew exactly what to say. "I'll try not to. And I'll try to catch an early bus so I can be back home at a decent time.

"Just text me when you're on your way back," Aunt Joanna said as Ash made his way upstairs to his bedroom.

Once in his room, Ash proceeded to take the books out of his backpack that he wouldn't need the tutoring session and placed them on the desk in front of his bed, On said bed, Pikachu was curled up and fast asleep without a care in the world. After zipping his backpack back up, Ash began to leave his room. On the way out, he glanced back at the desk where a framed picture of Ash, his parents, and his older brother Red from seemed like a lifetime ago sat. "Well guys, wish me luck," Ash whispered, "I'm definitely gonna need it."

Without another word or thought, Ash walked out of his room, gently closing the door behind him.