May Maple lay in her sleeping bag, staring up at the night sky. She had her hands behind her head in a relaxed position, while her sapphire eyes remained wide open despite the time. The moon, nearly full, was at its apex, providing a small amount of light to her surroundings.

May sighed and rolled onto her side, moving her arms so her hands were underneath her head. She looked over and saw her friends sleeping peacefully. Her little brother Max was flat on his back, arms behind his head, much like she had been just a moment before. Her new friend Brock was in a similar position, as was, she imagined, Ash, although she couldn't see him past Brock. She smiled slightly at the sight of her brother sleeping, but it quickly faded when she saw her Pokeball resting not far from him. It was the ball that held her first Pokemon: a Torchic from Professor Birch.

Torchic took a very quick liking to May, affectionately rubbing its head on her leg when they first met. As May's perception of the other two starter Pokemon was...less than favorable, she didn't take long to decide who would be her first partner Pokemon. But despite this, May felt guilty for bringing Torchic along. She wasn't interested in being a Pokemon trainer; she just wanted to see the world. Since getting a Pokemon was her ticket to this goal, she went along with her father's wishes and got her first Pokemon, if only so she could see the world. When Torchic took a quick liking to her, she felt guilty for choosing the sweet little Pokemon just so she would have an excuse to travel. This feeling of guilt only worsened over the days to come: her first days as a trainer, which proved to be less than stellar.

After rolling over onto her other side, May sighed and decided to get up and walk around for a bit. Making sure to be quiet so as not to wake her friends, she slipped on her shoes and tied her bandana around her head. She then took Torchic's Pokeball in case she needed it and tip-toed away, not noticing the other empty sleeping bag besides her own. Once she was a small distance away, she looked back a moment to make sure she was far away enough from her friends that she wouldn't disturb them. On confirming this, she looked forward again, only to silently gasp at the sight in front of her.

Ash, it turned out, was sitting on a small rock while staring at the sky, with Pikachu sitting beside him. Seeing this, May quietly turned around and started to tip-toe away again, hoping they wouldn't notice -

"Where you going?"

She froze mid-tip-toe, tensing up tightly. Then she slowly turned around to see Ash still staring at the sky. He hadn't budged, much to her surprise. Figuring he was talking to himself, she turned and started to walk away aga -

"Can't sleep, May?"

She froze and turned around again. He still hadn't budged. Deciding to take a chance, she replied, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yep," Ash said, turning his head to glance at her with a smile. "So, what's up? It's pretty late to be walking around."

"Speak for yourself," she retorted with a smirk, walking towards him and sitting down.

"Hard to argue with that," Ash chuckled, looking back up at the sky. At this, May's countenance fell again as she sighed. Ash caught on to this and hopped off the rock, crouching in front of her. "You okay?"

"Hm?" May blinked, looking up at him. "Oh. Yeah," she trailed off.

"You don't seem okay," he replied, sitting down next to her. "What's eatin' ya?"

May only hesitated for a moment before answering. "Well, I was just thinking about how big of a mess my first few days on my journey were."

"A mess?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I got blasted by a naughty Mudkip's Water Gun, my bike got completely barbecued, I failed to catch my first Pokemon, getting Torchic knocked out in the process, and I even let her get captured by Team Rocket!" She sighed and shook her head. "Maybe I'm not cut out to be a trainer."

"Don't say that," Ash said with an encouraging smile. "We all have to start somewhere. Just because you had a rough start, it doesn't mean you can't do it."

"Easy for you to say," she mumbled, mild distaste in her voice. Ash didn't seem to hear her.

"Besides," he chuckled, "you're already off to a better start than I was."
May perked on hearing that. "What?"

"The day I began my journey, I woke up late, so I missed getting the Pokemon that I wanted to get. When I begged Professor Oak to let me have a Pokemon, he gave me Pikachu, since that was all he had left."

"Really?" May said, astounded.

"Yeah," Ash chuckled. "Even though he wasn't my first choice, I still decided that we were going to be best friends." He chuckled even more. "He...wasn't so keen on the idea."

"He wasn't?" May said again.

"Nope. At first, he wouldn't do a thing I said. He even made fun of me when I failed to capture a Pidgey. But then we got attacked by a vicious flock of Spearow, and Pikachu got hurt really bad. So I ran with him, desperate to get him to a Pokemon Center. Eventually, we reached a dead-end, and the Spearow were practically on top of us. So I stood between them and Pikachu to protect him. I guess seeing someone care so much for him inspired his loyalty, and he jumped up and blasted them with a massive Thunderbolt."

"Whoa," May breathed in amazement.

"Since then, we've been the best of buddies," Ash smiled, scratching his partner behind the ears and earning a coo from him. "Anyway, don't feel bad that your journey got off to a rough start," he went on, looking May in the eyes. "Just because you start out rough, it doesn't mean you can't finish strong."

May looked back at him, almost mesmerized. She had only known Ash for a few days, but she already felt like she could trust him with anything. Despite her shortcomings, he was patient and kind, ready to be there when she needed him. Even though the bond they shared was still relatively loose, it already felt stronger than any bond she had ever developed: be it with friend or family, or even Pokemon. After a moment, she smiled. "I guess I my first few days as a trainer were a cakewalk compared to your first day, huh?"

"You could say that," he shrugged.

She giggled at that. "Thanks, Ash," she said. "I feel a lot better now."

"Of course," said, then gave her a wink. "And hey, if you're ever having a hard time like tonight, I'll be right here to help you out."

Her smile only widened at that. After sitting out for a short while longer, they headed back to camp, careful not to wake their sleeping friends, and climbed into their sleeping bags. May curled up, sighing softly with a content smile on her face, and slowly drifted to sleep.

Well, there's a cute and short one. What did you think? I don't think it's my greatest work, but it's okay. I got inspired by "First Impressions" by HeroxPartnerfan96, aka FoxyGirl96; (her username on DeviantArt) be sure to check her story out. Also, watching "Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You" and reliving the first episode of the anime may have slightly inspired this (by which I mean yes, it did. Keehee!). If you haven't seen it yet, I encourage you to watch it; it's really good.

Quick update on Adventures in Alola: I've been working on the next part. It's been a slow process, but I think I'm getting there. Once again, I am not giving up on it, so hang in there: an update will come.

Thanks for reading, and I'll catch ya later!