Pallet Town always had the nicest nights. Ash had travelled three regions and so far no other town or city he's been could compete.
Maybe it was just the atmosphere, the feeling of his Pokémon around him, laid out in his backyard while he sat against the big apple tree that had stood in his yard for as long as he could remember. Pikachu, Cyndaquil, Totodile all piled up together with Bayleef curled around them at his feet. Bulbasaur was dug into his side as Phanpy sprawled across legs. It was serene. If only he could get his mind to be as peaceful as the night.
It had only been a couple weeks since the Silver conference and he still felt the sting of the loss.
This time he had been so close. He'd finally had his battle with Gary and shown the world who the better trainer was. He'd finally proven himself to his rival, only to lose in the second round, and he couldn't help but blame it on his lack of knowledge.
Through his journey so far he always thought locally, never learning more than he needed for whatever was happening at the moment. That was where he had messed up. High on his win over his first friend turned rival he'd walked in confident in his Pokémon's strength and his battle instincts.
He had been wrong.
What had really thrown him was Blaziken. Ash had been ignorant to the Pokémon world and it was cemented in his brain now. How could he be a Pokémon master if he didn't even know one of the poster Pokémon of a region? He was still embarrassed from the thought.
Ash continued to watch the stars, unable to rest, as he had finally decided on travelling to Hoenn in the morning and wondered what adventures he might have there.
Broken from his thoughts by the sound of his back gate creaking open Ash looked up and was surprised to see Gary quietly making his way over.
"Gary" Ash nodded to his rival, pushing down the ingrained urge to add some kind of insult into the greeting. They had promised each other and their parents that they would try to be better friends. Years of conditioning was hard to get over so quickly though, it hadn't even been a month since the Silver Conference after all.
"Ashy-b-" Gary started to reply before cutting himself off and making a face as if he had just sucked on a lemon "Ash."
Nodding his thanks, the boy then looked back up to the stars through the leaves of the apple tree before replying.
"What brings you by?"
"I actually have a favor to ask," Gary said, averting his eyes as Ash whipped his head over with wide, surprised eyes.
"You know how I said I wanted to be a researcher? I've been constantly applying to research studies and schools since our battle. Gotten a few bites, some people impressed by my references and the family name even did a few interviews and got offered some pretty great positions."
"That's… that's great Gary" Ash responded warily, slightly confused as to why the Oak had sought him out just to tell him that.
"But I think I want to travel a bit more before I really settle down in a lab for any extended period of time. I never really traveled how you should on a journey, I mainly drove between every city and town and I didn't even camp out that much. I think it made me miss out on a lot of amazing experiences."
"Maybe, I had a lot of crazy things happen to me over the last two years trudging through the regions and being lost half the time." Ash responded starting happy then becoming embarrassed.
"I know," Gary stated with a laugh "You've always told gramps every part of your adventure and every crazy or peculiar instance with Pokémon you've witnessed. He has a whole binder dedicated to your exploits and the possible studies or hypotheses centered around those events."
"Wow, I didn't know I was that important."
Ignoring Ash's ego growing, Gary continued, "I found it tucked away in his desk and read them. You really have a knack for running into some crazy situations or seeing once in a lifetime things. Ancient and Legendary Pokémon, apocalyptic Gengar, gigantic Dragonite, Centuries old Ninetales. The list goes on and on."
"I have no idea where you're going with this. Do you want me to tell you about my adventures or something?" Ash asked, getting an annoyed grunt out of Gary.
"No, you idiot! I'm saying I want to travel with you!" Gary hissed out, grunting and looking away as Ash just once again stared with wide eyes.
"I don't know what's so special about you, but apparently there's something because you've been witness to some incredible undocumented phenomena and I want to see what else is in store for you, maybe build some of my own research projects out of the experience."
Ash just sat there for a minute, looking frozen causing Gary to growl in annoyance.
"So? What do you think?"
"I.. I think I'm still trying to figure out what you just said"
"You see crazy shit. I want to see crazy shit. Let me travel with you in Hoenn."
"Okay?" Ash asked more than accepted.
"Wait, how do you even know I'm gonna travel or where I'm gonna travel?"
Gary just raised an eyebrow and gave Ash an 'are you serious' look, "Just because we aren't best friends anymore doesn't mean I don't know you Ash. You'll be going to Hoenn as soon as possible."
"Oh come on! I just figured that out myself!"
"Yeah well, some of us are a bit quicker than others," seeing Ash scowl and grit his teeth Gary quickly moved on "so, head out tomorrow?"
Ash just scowled at his rival for a moment then gave his a confirming nod.
"Good. It's not just good for me though, I can teach you a lot and help you train."
That seemed to break Ash out of his reverie as he began to laugh "HA! You? Teach me? Did you forget I beat you last time we battled?" Ash asked still laughing.
Gary growled but clamped down on his impulse to punch Ash in the face.
"You didn't beat me Ash, that overpowered Charizard that trained itself beat me you dolt. You might have helped it with the whole heat the battlefield strategy which I'll admit was pretty clever, but even if you weren't there I still would've lost most of my Pokémon to it."
Ash was cut from his laughing by Gary's speech and immediately went to jump up, but stopped, remembering his Pokémon laying on him. Instead settling to glare at his rival.
"I'm a good trainer!"
"No. I'm a good trainer. You're a good person and a good battler. You've befriended some impressively strong Pokémon and you have a quick mind in battle. You haven't trained yourself or your Pokémon for shit though. You didn't even know what a Blaziken was and it's probably one of the most famous and sought after Pokémon to come out of the Hoenn region."
Ash went to retort but he couldn't find anything to say, only scowling as Gary unknowingly brought up the issues and insecurities he had just been thinking about.
"Yeah, well, you're just an asshole."
"Wow way to cut deep their Ashy-boy," Gary sneered with a smirk, knowing he won.
"I'm a good trainer. I know how to train lots of different Pokémon and where to get information on training. I can teach you about Pokémon, how they battle, their abilities and how best to train them."
"And what do you get out of it?"
"Other than the high possibility of seeing many study worthy events? It's for the sake of my own dignity. I need you to make it in the trainer world, after all there's no shame in losing on national television to a guy who became champion."
Ash snorted out a laugh and gave a small smile "Alright, but lets get this straight, you're not better than me, you're not my teacher or anything. This is a deal. We're equal partners."
Gary stuck his hand out and gave the other boy a nod "Partners."
xX Unlikely Alliance Xx
"You think I'm surprised?" Samuel Oak asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well.. I mean, I thought you might have slightly been" Ash stated with an embarrassed blush. When he had burst into the professor's office proclaiming he was journeying to Hoenn, the man hadn't even blinked as he opened a drawer and handed a ferry ticket to the trainer with a departure date for later in the day.
"I knew as soon as Harrison released that Blaziken where you would be going next, and Gary came home last night and confirmed the departure date. Your mom had already paid me the ticket price, I just had to order it. She expected it would only take a couple weeks for you to get out of your rut" The professor explained with a small smile.
Ash just sheepishly rubbed the back of his head
"So, which pokeballs should I be getting ready for you?" Samuel asked and the brow went higher when Ash looked away, embarrassed.
"I was actually thinking of taking just Pikachu. You know, fresh start like when I first went through Kanto." the teen said, cutting his eyes away from Muk who was in the corner of the office amusing himself with one of Oaks trinkets.
Samuel's smile fell and he eyed the young man across from him "You're too young to be going through a mid life crisis Ash. You've only been a trainer for two years and you crave the feeling of a repeat of your first days as a trainer?"
Ash looked even more embarrassed but didn't change his mind.
"If that's what you wish, I can't make you take your Pokémon but I will strongly advise you to change your mind" Oak spoke with firmness and a straight face.
"There's something else I need to tell you Ash, something and I'm not quite sure how to broach the subject," Oak stated trailing off.
"Muk wants to stay with you right?" Ash asked and the professor looked up at him surprised before nodding softly. He really shouldn't have been surprised, the boy was dense to many things but his Pokémon were not one of them.
"In the two weeks I've been back he hasn't come to see me, he's always right next to you. I've seen how much Muk loves you, he spends all his time with you here at the lab and I've never really spent much time at all with him" Ash spoke softly looking away from the professor and poison Pokémon "I... I understand."
It was a Pokémon he'd failed. The only family he'd had for years was his mom and before he even started his journey he'd resolved to make any Pokémon he caught part of that tiny family.
Ash looked at his feet for a moment and then looked back up and held the older Oaks eyes "You're right, I can't leave behind my Pokémon" he replied looking over at the poison Pokémon who was now watching the two intently before slide sliding over next to the professor.
"I know" Oak responded with a smirk that wouldn't have looked out of place on his grandson, patting the giant pile of goo attached to his leg on the head.
"I'll take Bayleef, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Phanpy and Pikachu first I think. Leave one spot open. Er, professor I also might need some advice" Oak nodded in acquiescence "I have 30 Tauros."
Oak smirked. It wasn't a question but he knew what Ash was saying. "Give me some time, I'll see what I can do."
Ash smiled and nodded thankfully, sending one last look at the professor and Muk before leaving the man's office.
xX Unlikely Alliance Xx
The salty ocean air was fresh and kept him awake as he lay on a sun lounger next to the small pool reading through the entries on his pokedex for what Ash was surprised to find had pictures and short descriptions on over 700 Pokémon. It was slow going on the boat and Gary had suggested it as Hoenn was far south and they had to skirt around and through a few series of islands which had taken a couple days.
Pikachu, Cyndaquil, and Phanpy were all sprawled across Bayleef's back conversing happily next to the chair while Totodile was gleefully and gracefully swimming in the water, only stopping to hop onto the deck and do a jig every few minutes. Gary the last of his crew, had started a conversation with a girl poolside an hour or two ago and they had left to get some lunch only a minute ago.
Ash was content to relax and keep watching the other people on the boat flit about, most congregating around whom Ash guessed was the captain. He was dressed in a pristine white sailor suit walking along the lounging deck, sending out greetings and making small talk with the people he passed. A burly Machoke lumbered behind silently like a giant bodyguard.
The captain stopped next to Ash, causing the boy to look up questioningly "how can I help you Captain?"
The tall man eyed the four Pokémon next to his seat, which had stopped chattering to each other to watch the conversation their trainer was having.
"Ash Ketchum right?" Ash nodded and the man smiled widely extending his hand "Nice to meet you son, the crew and I had some downtime and caught your battle with Gary Oak a couple weeks ago" here he leaned in slightly and lowered his voice "you made me quite a bit of money by winning that fight."
Ash just scratched the back of his head bashfully "um, congrats sir."
The man just smirked "I actually might have a job for you if you're up for it."
The younger boy raised an eyebrow in question and nodded "how can I help?"
"We're stocking up on supplies after you depart and it seems that some of the employees have been getting on the port authority about a Haunter in the warehouses causing trouble and making their jobs hard."
"None of them have Pokémon?"
"They do, but it's a large warehouse with stacks of crates everywhere and not the greatest lighting, lots of shadows for the bugger to disappear into. The port was going to hire from the league, but I saw you and hoped maybe you could help me out and get what I've been told is a pretty powerful Pokémon out of it."
Ash smiled as he thought of another mischievous ghost type he used to have who live in Saffron now. "I should be able to help you out"
"Good, his usual hangout is warehouse 4, we shouldn't be docking to far from it and I'll point you in the right direction. Guess I'll have to radio ahead as well, make sure people know you're coming and going through the warehouse so they don't arrest ya" He said with a laugh.
xX Unlikely Alliance Xx
Ash and Gary walked along the warehouse front, the giant bay doors were marked and the trainer easily found the one with the giant painted number four on it. The door was left unlocked so he stepped inside and quickly recognized what the captain was talking about. Crates were stacked tall and the small line of windows that ran along the sides of building near the roof left long shadows stretching across the entirety of the building.
With this much space and darkness any ghost Pokémon worth its salt could dive into the shadows and disappear.
"Well shit. This might be tougher than I expected, the Gastly line is known for its above average ability to turn incorporeal and disappear. Might have a bit of a fight on your hands."
Ash rolled his eyes and cupped his hands around his mouth "Haunter!"
"Eeeeeeee-hehehehh" the response was a high pitched giggle that emanated from all around Ash while shadows flittered about at the corners of his vision, sending a shiver down his spine, one that the trainer felt mirrored by the yellow mouse on his shoulder.
This really brought back memories of the tower in Lavender Town.
Out of the shadows tendrils of purple mist came floating out, slithering out like serpents until they met in the middle and two shining red eyes formed and the terrible laugh echoed again.
Ash almost screamed. Almost. It was irrational, but Ghosts were goddamn SCARY. Peeking out the corner of his eyes at his companion he saw Gary yawn in boredom, not effected at all. Scowling, the raven-haired trainer straightened up and steeled himself.
He'd die before showing weakness in front of Gary!
Finally it fully formed and Ash breathed easier seeing the fully formed Haunter. He took a couple of steadying breaths, maintaining eye contact with the crimson eyes.
It was irrational, but now that it was confirmed as a Pokémon and in full view he felt much, much better.
The Haunter's wide mouth was upturned in a savage grin and Ash pulled an empty pokeball from his belt and enlarged it. "See this?" he asked nodding at the ball "this, is your ticket outta here. I want you to be my Pokémon and come on an adventure with me across Hoenn, we'll become strong and face strong people" The Ghost perked and the malevolence in his eyes dimmed slightly.
This ghost definitely wasn't similar at all to the playful Haunter he'd met before.
One of its detached hands was brought up to eye level, it pointed a long sharp finger at Pikachu and began curling it and uncurling it. The gesture wasn't lost on the duo as a grin almost as wide as Haunters split the trainers face.
"Let's go Pikachu!"
The mouse's cheeks sparked in excitement as the rodent leapt from his shoulder and crouched into battle position.
"Thunderbolt!" Ash called out and a bolt of lightning flashed from the yellow mouse at the same time a black beam of ghostly energy was shot from the ghost, colliding in a small explosion.
The smoke cleared and Haunter had disappeared.
Ash growled as he eyed every shadow close to them for movement. "Agility, keep moving" Ash commanded and his partner obeyed, slipping into the speed technique, flashes of yellow fur appearing around the area.
Shadow balls began to fly and Ash watched them, they came from the shadows, shifting from all angles of the battlefield as the trainer continued to watch.
Gary spoke up quietly "One of the things about wild Pokémon is that they tend to fall into patterns, which is one of the many reasons why some Pokémon choose trainers. Not only does it give them the chance to travel and fight strong and new opponents, but also two heads are better than one when it comes to training and in this case strategy and battling. Look for the pattern."
It took a minute but Ash finally noticed it, the pattern the shadow balls were shifting into and anticipated where the next attack would come from.
"Prepare a thunder Pikachu. A big one, we're going for one and done" Ash whispered and smiled when the agility slowed to a stop in the middle of the area a shadow ball coming head on that the small mouse side stepped easily.
"On your right!" Ash called and Pikachu turned ninety degrees and erupted with electricity. The pillar of lightning blasted out and connected, causing Ash to shield his eyes slightly as he peered at a dark blob in the middle of the electrical blast.
It lasted a full second and then Ash uncovered his eyes. Haunter was still floating slightly, but its form was smoking and the crimson eyes were unfocused. The boy whipped out his arm and the pokeball went flying. It hit the ghost silently, sucking the gas Pokémon into the ball in a flash of red light.
Ash held his breath as the ball hit the ground and shook.
Once
Twice
Three times.
Then it settled with a resolute click and Ash smiled widely "We did it, we caught Haunter!" Ash called excitedly with a fist pump that Pikachu attempted to mirror from his slumped position as he panted heavily. The trainer raced over to the pokeball and picked it up excitedly, shrinking it down to click on his belt with the other four occupied ones "Come on Gary, lets get outta here, Professor Oak said Birch's lab is just north of town."
Gary just shook his head with a chuckle at Ash as he eagerly scooped up his tired partner and dashed out hollering happily, following at a more sedate pace.
"What a kid."
xX Unlikely Alliance Xx
Littleroot in a lot of ways was like Pallet Ash noticed as he walked. It was a smaller town; mom and pop stores on the corners instead of larger chains and people were friendly like in Pallet as Ash exchanged nods and waves with shoppers and workers.
Ash took his cap off and wiped the sweat from his head, careful not to jostle Cyndaquil and Pikachu who rested on his shoulders while Totodile happily skipped at his side. Gary and Umbreon were a step or two ahead, leading the way.
Hoenn was tropical and he was really feeling it now that he didn't have the breeze off the ocean cooling him anymore. Its not like he wasn't used to heat, Kanto summers got hot, but Hoenn was hotter and so incredibly humid. The mugginess in the air was really dragging his energy level down.
There wasn't much to see in the small town so the duo didn't dawdle, quickly making their way out of town. The lab was easy to spot once they were getting close to leaving, it was up on a cliff that overlooked the town and looked similar in size to Oaks own lab. After a couple minutes taking the road that was route 101 Ash saw the dirt path that veered off the road and hooked up and around the cliff to the lab. He saw someone on a bike coming flying down the road but ignored him or her to follow Gary as he turned onto the path.
Or he would have until he heard a scream and suddenly he was airborne. Everything was blurry but he heard a distinct squeal and an eruption of orange and red flame and a flash of yellow. Hitting the ground Ash shut his eyes and took a moment to regain his bearings before groaning and opening them back up as he heard a responding groan on his left.
The person sprawled out was a girl, with light brown hair that framed her face and partially covered by a red bandanna. From what he could tell by their prone position she looked to be a couple inches shorter than him, wearing a short sleeved red jacket, tight black biker shorts and a pair of trainer shoes.
Ash sat up and quickly kneeled next to the downed girl who was muttering something about ghosts as she stayed laid out.
"Hey, uh, you alright?" Ash questioned and the girl instantly quit talking as her face lit up red with a blush. She opened her eyes and Ash noticed they were a deep blue as she looked up at him.
She was on her feet in an instant and Ash stood as well, although much more slowly "Oh my Arceus I'm so sorry! Therewasaghosthewaschasingmeandthen-"
"Whoa whoa whoa," Ash called out with his hands up in a placating manner "slow down."
Ash was mollified as he saw her follow his advice, taking a couple deep breaths before raising her head up and looking him in the eye "I'm sorry I ran into you with my bike" She said breaking eye contact in embarrassment and looking to the side with an embarrassed blush.
"MY BIKE!"
Or at least what he thought was embarrassed but definitely could've been an angry flush.
The boy looked over to where she was looking and groaned dropping back to his knees "What is with me and bikes" he asked depressingly as sitting next to the mangled remains of a previously pristine bike was a flaming Cyndaquil and sparking Pikachu who just cut their power and slowly trudged over to Ash. The trainer picked up his Pokémon and situated them on his shoulders before standing back up and rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
Seeing the rubber tires still on fire the trainer looked down at his tiny croc companion, who had sat their looking confused during the whole situation.
"Can you put out the fire buddy?" Dancing happily for getting to be included Totodile overpowered his water gun, causing the bike to disappear in a torrent of water. The tiny croc cut the flow of water and looked up to his trainer for recognition only to see him back on his knees groaning. The water had swept up the possibly salvageable bike and wrapped it around a tree. Very tightly.
Ash looked over to see Gary bent over, practically crying with laughter then cut his eyes down at the tiny water type.
Ash just sighed and pet the water types head "It's fine, don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about it? DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT?! THAT'S MY BIKE YOU JUST TRASHED MISTER!" Ash took a step back as the girl stomped up to him and shook her fist in his face, fire in her bright blue eyes.
"I'm sorry! We're sorry! Right guys?" Ash asked the three Pokémon who cooed apologetically with their heads down, causing the girl to drop her fist but still looking vicious. Ash shared a look with Pikachu and nodded slightly towards the girl 'time to go in for the kill' Ash thought as his partner put on his cutest face and hopped from his shoulder to the girls who looked surprised for a moment before almost melting from cuteness as Pikachu chirped happily and nuzzled her cheek,
"ooooo, why do you have to be so cute?" She asked with a pout before smiling softly and nuzzling the Pokémon back. Pikachu let her for a minute before hopping back over to his trainer which caused the girl to look back to the boy across from her "I guess I was the one who ran into you" she said, looking down and muttering, "Stupid ghost Pokémon, owes me a bike"
"Er, right" Ash tried to agree "anyway, I have to head up to the lab now, soooo…" he trailed off, slowly slinking away towards Gary who was still trying to get himself together as she muttered to herself.
He only made it a dozen feet before there was a cry of "wait up!" then the pitter patter of running feet until she was next to him "I'm headed up there to" she said walking next to him.
As if finally noticing the third person she glared at Gary who was wiping tears from his face, letting out a random chuckle every couple seconds.
"Who's the jerk?"
Looking straight ahead Ash didn't realize she was talking about Gary as he noticed he still hadn't introduced himself so he stuck a hand out.
"I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum."
Realizing his mistake May giggled and grasped his hand "May Maple" she replied "but I was actually talking about your friend who won't stop laughing about my trashed bike. So what are you doing up at the lab?"
Ash blushed in embarrassment "oh, uh that's Ga-"
Gary suddenly straightened up and bumped Ash out of the way and gave May his most charming smile "Gary Oak, nice to meet you beautiful" He said, extending his hand.
May just rolled her eyes and stepped around the boy to walk next to Ash "So, again, why are you guys headed to the lab."
Smirking as Gary was ignored Ash responded "We just got to Hoenn actually, we're from Kanto. My pokedex has information on Hoenn Pokémon but just the bare minimum and Professor Birch said he would upgrade my pokedex with all the information he had if I stopped by the lab. You?" He asked as they approached the front door
"I'm getting my first Pokémon today" she responded with what Ash suspected was fake cheer, causing Ash to look at her oddly.
"So you're from Hoenn then," Gary said more than asked receiving a nod in confirmation.
"Well you're the first local we've met and I gotta say, if the rest of the region has your kind of talent I think I made the right decision travelling here," Gary stated, looking the girl up and down.
May scowled at the Oak but before she could berate him Ash cut in.
"You don't seem all that excited to get your first Pokémon" he commented looking at her out the side of his eye.
"I umm, I guess I'm more excited to travel than anything" She stated lightly, looking away from the boy next to her "never been a big fan of Pokémon."
May hurried forward to the front door and reached for the handle but was stopped as Ash reached out and touched her lightly on the shoulder, causing May to sigh, she turned and looked at him. 'should've realized by the way he interacted with his Pokémon that saying something like that would be blasphemy to someone like him.'
"I know we don't know each other, but I think you'll change your mind. Pokémon can be the greatest friend you could ever ask for if you give them the chance and I think you'll see that after Birch gives you your first partner."
She kept looking into his eyes for a few moments after he finished speaking
"Whatever you say," she replied not convinced. Turning on her heel she opened the door and entered the lab, Ash following behind but was stopped suddenly by Gary.
"Nicely done Ashy-boy," Gary complemented "She's a hottie."
"What are you talking about? And I've seen you flirt with girls before and it wasn't like that at all, it was way better. What's the deal?"
"She's not my type, she seems like a good girl, and I like mine a little bad." Gary explained with a smirk " besides, I got a little side mission from your mom while we're in Hoenn. I'm supposed to find you a nice girl to be your girlfriend so I thought I'd start quickly and get it out of the way"
Ash blushed and then scowled, ignoring Gary's laugh as he walked into the lab where May was waiting.
Immediately the trio was accosted by one of the lab assistants "Ah! Ms. Maple, we were waiting for you to arrive!" She said cheerily, May giving her a half smile in return.
"Great, so um, how does this work?" She asked, and the aide's smile faltered.
"Well, the professor is the one to give you your license, Pokémon and Pokedex, but… Professor Birch is out right now."
"Didn't he know I was going to be here at this time though? I made the appointment?" May asked, causing the scientist to rub the bridge of her nose.
"Professor Birch is very… excitable. He decided to do some field work since you were the only appointment today and he must have gotten caught up in his research."
"So should I just sit here and wait for him? He knows about the appointment so he shouldn't be that long, or can one of you just find my license and Pokémon and give it to me?" May asked hopefully, even though her day hadn't been great so far she was still excited to start her journey and travel Hoenn.
"Er, that wouldn't be a problem usually, but Birch thought he may run into you on your way here and took everything with him. I'm not sure waiting around is your best option either, if he found something interesting he could be gone until dark."
Ash watched May drop to her knees in depression and sighed before the assistant abruptly turned to him
"You must be Ash Ketchum, professor Oak told us you would be coming. If you give me your pokedex I can set it to upgrade it for you!"
Taking it out of his pocket Ash handed it over.
"This shouldn't take more than a minute!"
"Thanks" Ash responded with a smile and then turned to the disheartened girl.
"Come on then" the trainer said with a wave of his hand "lets go find the professor and your Pokémon"
May just looked at him for a moment before smiling softly "really?"
"Yeah! I know how excited I was to travel when I got my Pokémon, I wouldn't have wanted to sit around for any longer than I had to, I bet we can find him, and if we don't after an hour or two we'll come back."
May quickly got to her feet hands clasped excitedly "oh thank you Ash! let's go!"
Grabbing his hand she quickly made her way to the door.
"Yeah, don't worry about me guys, I wanted to stay here and-" Gary sighed as the door shut loudly cutting him off "check out the lab anyway."
xX Unlikely Alliance Xx
"I guess if Birch thought he was going to run into me we should head North" May set as they set out on a dirt path.
"Sounds good to me" Ash responded, entwining his fingers behind his head.
Looking down at the trio of Pokémon following behind the two "keep your ears open for any people guys."
They nodded before delving back into their conversation.
"You're really close to your Pokémon aren't you Ash?" May asked looking over at her companion.
"They're my family," Ash responded with a shrug.
"except for maybe my mom they're the most important thing in my life. I've always loved Pokémon, since me and Gary were kids sneaking into the lab to play with them. Having your own though is different, having a whole group you would give your life for and knowing they would give their life for you is pretty special."
May listened and smiled softly. She wasn't Pokémon fan #1 fan but hearing someone speak with so much passion on the subject, it wasn't hard to appreciate.
"and what about Gary?"
She was surprised at the amused smile she got from the trainer.
"I guess you could say I have a problem with running into trouble and unusual things. Gary used to be my rival but wants to be researcher now so he's following me on my Hoenn journey to hopefully find some cool stuff to study. What about you? You said you wanted to travel right? Where do you plan on travelling?"
"My family just moved to Hoenn a couple years ago so I haven't seen much of it so I was going to travel around this region."
Ash turned to the girl with a bright smile "That's awesome! Maybe we'll run into each other sometimes!"
May felt the positivity practically radiating off the trainer next to her and couldn't help the smile that began to stretch her face as she nodded at the boy.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu suddenly called out and Ash and May looked back to see the little mouse's ears twitching.
"Got something Pikachu?" Ash asked and Pikachu nodded happily, taking off into the underbrush, Totodile, Cyndaquil, May and Ash following behind quickly.
xX Unlikely Alliance Xx
Ash almost laughed at the scene they came upon as he looked into a small tree filled canyon.
A pair of large Mightyena laid at the bottom of one of the massive trees as a trio of young Poochyena howled and attempted to climb the tree and get to the man hanging from a branch who Ash guessed was Professor Birch.
Looking over at May he saw her curiously pick up a satchel that sat at the edge of the small cliff they stood on.
"I guess we should help!" Ash called out and immediately jumped, half sliding half running down the steep slope before falling into a roll at the bottom and popping up, his Pokémon following happily.
May just rubbed her forehead "I think I'll uh, just stay here."
Ash ignored it though as the Mightyena were already on their feet and growling.
Pikachu, Cyndaquil and Totodile stepped in front of Ash. Pikachu cheeks began sparking while Cyndaquil's back lit up with flame and Totodile bared his teeth.
Nonplussed by the small Pokémon the two wolves began to slink forward so Ash unclipped a pokeball and released Bayleef who cried out happily upon release. Noticing the tense situation she refrained from tackling Ash and quickly got into a battle stance.
The arrival of a fourth had the duo stop in their tracks. The stand off lasting a minute before the dark-types turned back to their young and howled causing the three pups to take off into the brush, the parent meandering slowly after.
"Why don't you help out the Professor Bayleef."
Bayleef nodded and extended her vines, wrapping them around the Professor and lowering him to the ground.
"Ah! Thank you trainer! You must be Ash Ketchum. A pleasure to meet you! It's a good thing you came when you did! I put my satchel down for one moment and those little Poocheyena come flying out of nowhere and run me right up the tree! It's a good thing their parents were content to let their pups have all the fun and not join themselves or I wouldn't have been safe up there!"
"Well that family didn't touch your stuff, my friend May has your satchel up there," Ash explained, pointing up the slope to May who held the satchel out in one hand and waved with the other.
"Ah! Miss Maple!" Birch called out slightly embarrassed "of course, I must be late to our appointment. Well lets get going back to the lab and I'll get you all registered with your first Pokémon and you can begin your journey!"
xX Unlikely Alliance Xx
"At my lab I give trainers the option between three Pokémon. the water type Mudkip," Birch explained releasing a small blue quadruped Pokémon with a large tail fin and orange cheeks who just looked up at May and cocked its head to the side dully.
"The grass type Treecko" he continued releasing a bipedal green lizard who crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at May.
"and the fire type Torchic" Birch finishes releasing a small orange and red chick who looked up at May before happily chirping and running up to the girl to nuzzle at her shin.
May sweat dropped at the still glaring gecko and dull looking mudfish, it really wasn't much of a hard choice.
"I guess I'm taking Torchic Professor"
Birch nodded happily and turned to grab a pokedex and more pokeballs for the girl as Ash came up and stood next to her, "Congrats May! I probably would've gone for Treecko but I guess Torchic kinda chose for both of you eh?" Ash said with a laugh getting a smile from May
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Your pokedex and 5 Pokeballs" Birch said, cutting into the conversation to hand over the materials.
"Good luck on your journey May and good luck to you Ash on the gym circuit"
"Thank you Professor" the two said in sync, causing Birch to smile and Gary to smirk.
May looked down to return Torchic but seeing the young fire type talking to Ash's Pikachu and Cyndaquil decided against it, putting the pokeball in her pack with the others.
"Time to get going then Gary, it was nice meeting you May, hopefully we run into each other soon," Ash said with a wave that was matched by Gary as they walked towards the door.
"WAIT" May called out causing the boys to stop in their tracks.
Noticing everyone was looking at her May sweat a bit. Now that she had her Pokémon she realized how little she was prepared. She had no idea how to feed Torchic or to take care of it and she didn't really even have a route through in Hoenn in mind.
Plus, Ash was cute and really nice.
"Er, you broke my bike!"
"What?"
"That's right! You wrecked my bike! My way to travel is ruined so you need to take responsibility and let me travel with you!"
Ash just looked confused while Gary was smiling widely and knowingly.
"Uh, I mean, if you wanted to travel with us you could just ask. I mean the more the merrier right? What do you think Gary?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine by me," Gary said with a shrug before mumbling to myself "just makes my side mission that much easier."
"Well, Hoenn is a big region with lots to explore so lets get going!" Ash called out, turning on his heel and sprinting out, a widely smiling May on his heels with their Pokémon.
"Great" Gary sighed out, looking down at Umbreon "Now there's two of them."