"Hey guys, I can see the Department store!" Max shouted over his shoulder. Celadon City was covered in snow as Ash, Brock, May and Max approached from the south. It was December 20th and they were headed for a little Christmas shopping at the enormous Celadon Department store (at the request of May, naturally).
"I'm so excited!" May squealed "I'm going to buy a new coat, and a hat, and…" Ash rolled his eyes at Brock and Pikachu as she continued enumerating the items she was going to purchase. Brock nodded in agreement, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
"I saw that!" May exclaimed, smacking Ash on the back of the head
"OW!" Ash said, putting his hand to his injury "You're gonna pay for that, May!" He bent down by the side of the road, and scooped up a double handful of snow, forming it into a snowball as he straightened, grinning wickedly. Pikachu, sensing danger, ran ahead to where Max stood. Out of the line of fire.
"Don't. You. Dare!" May warned, giving him the 'look' that all females use instinctively. Ash did, in fact, dare. SPLAT! May spluttered as she wiped snow from her face. "I'm gonna kill you Ash Ketchum!" she shrieked as she lunged at him.
"You're gonna hafta catch me first!" Ash laughed, dodging around her, and attempting to use Brock as a shield. Brock however, shoved Ash back towards May
"Uh-huh, I'm not going to get involved." Brock said sternly, as Ash stumbled from the force of the push. Unfortunately for our hero, May was waiting for this. There was another loud SPLAT and Ash received a well aimed snowball in the face. It did nothing to slow his momentum and he fell heavily into May, taking her to the ground with him.
They landed in a snowdrift with a thump. Ash shook his head to clear the snow out of his eyes, and suddenly blushed. May had landed on top of him, and her face was only a few inches away. "Wow… her eyes are so blue…" Ash thought as he stared into them. May was staring back, and her cheeks slowly began to match her bandana. The spell was broken when Max and Pikachu began to laugh at the two snow covered friends.
"Come on you two, I'm going to be late." Brock told them, turning away with a grin. May rolled off Ash and he stood, brushing the snow off his jacket.
"Late for what, Brock?" Ash asked as he helped May to stand.
"The Gym Leader's convention, remember?" Brock reminded him
"Oh yeah… hey, I'll bet Misty will be there!" Ash said, perking up "You're right, we should hurry."
"Why are you going, Brock?" May asked, puzzled "I thought your brother was the leader of Pewter Gym now."
"Well, when I called from Saffron, he reminded me of it." Brock told her "Since we were headed this way, I told him I'd go, since he hates crowds."
"Oh…" May said "So is it just the Kanto leaders?"
"I think so…" Brock said, thinking hard "No… I think this is the year that ALL the leaders gather… yeah it should be the 40th anniversary of the GLA's founding."
"The Gym Leader's Association?" Ash asked him. Brock nodded.
"So that means that Mom and Dad will be there!" Max said to May, excitedly.
"Oh yeah, I remember that they mentioned that last time we called." May replied,
"What are we waiting for then?" Ash asked, beginning to jog "Let's go see everyone." Pikachu ran beside him as they picked up speed.
"And by everyone, he means Misty." Brock thought, chuckling. "Ooo, maybe her sisters will be here!" he became excited at this, and joined May and Max as they raced to catch up to Ash.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Celadon Pokemon Center. "Welcome to our Pokemon Center, how may I be of assistance?" The Joy behind the desk asked them. Brock rushed up and grabbed her hand
"Nurse Joy! Please, assist my loneliness by becoming my girlfri- ow, not the ear!" he exclaimed. Joy, Ash, and May sweat-dropped as Max dragged Brock away muttering
"I'll assist her embarrassment by getting you away from her!" May and Ash laughed, and turned to Nurse Joy.
"Could you check my Pokemon please?" Ash asked her
"Sure thing, just place the pokeballs on this tray." She replied
"Mine too, please." May interjected as Brock and Max returned
"No problem, here's a tray for you." Joy said handing it to May and taking the one Ash held out to her. She placed the tray in a slot next to her computer and entered some commands. May glanced around at the Christmas decorations and other trainers while awaiting her turn, and spotted a boy of about fourteen staring at her. When he saw that she had noticed, he quickly resumed reading the book he held. May stared at the slightly blushing boy, thinking that he seemed familiar somehow. Preoccupied with her thoughts, she started when Nurse Joy asked her if her pokemon were ready to be checked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, here…" she replied, still lost in her thoughts. As Joy performed the check up, May turned back to look at the boy, but he was gone.
Ash finished reattaching his pokeballs to his belt and ruffled Pikachu's ears affectionately. "How do you feel, buddy?"
"Pi Pikachu." (I'm kinda hungry.)
"Yeah, so am I." Ash agreed
"That's no surprise." Max laughed "You're always hungry Ash."
"Well, so am I, so let's go to the cafeteria and get some lunch." Brock suggested
"Last one there is a rotten Exeggcute!" Ash cried as he ran down the hall. Max followed him, but Brock lagged behind
"Hey May, are you coming to eat?" he asked
"Huh?" May asked, "Oh, um, yes I'm coming."
"Is something wrong?" Brock asked concernedly
"No… not really." She replied "I'm pretty hungry though, come on!" and she ran after Ash and her brother, Brock following after another longing glance at Nurse Joy, who was working at her computer.
Ash sat down at a table in the Pokemon Center cafeteria, his tray loaded down with two burgers, a large plate of fries, and a jumbo Vault. Pikachu was already slurping at a bottle of ketchup, and Max had spaghetti. Brock and May joined them a few minutes later, Brock with a sandwich and May with chili fries. "Hey Brock, where do the Gym Leaders usually stay for the convention?" Ash asked around a mouthful of fries. Brock took sip of his lemonade and answered
"Probably either here at the Pokemon Center or at Celadon Hotel. Some of the female leaders get together at Erika's gym too."
"I wonder if Misty is here yet…"Ash said with a faraway look in his eyes. He was jolted back to reality when a pair of hands came around his head to cover his eyes.
"Guess who?!" came a voice he recognized at once.
"Let's see… could it be the greatest leader that Cerulean Gym has ever had?" he asked teasingly. The hands over his eyes were removed and he turned in time for a glimpse of her beautiful face, before the air was being crushed from his lungs. "It's... great to… see you again… too… Misty." He choked out. She released him and was immediately set upon by a yellow and black blur as he stood gasping and clutching his side.
"Pika pi, chu!" (Misty's here, yay!)
"Hi Pikachu! Hi everyone!" Misty said, placing Pikachu on her shoulder and waving to the rest of the group. "So, have you guys missed me?" she asked, winking.
"Of course." Brock answered, smiling "Not nearly so much as Ash has though."
"Oh really?" Misty asked, turning back to look at Ash, who was still recovering from the hug. "Gee Ash, I didn't know you cared."
"If you haven't figured it out by now, you're denser than he is!" May and Max chimed in. Ash and Misty both turned faintly pink, before Ash changed the subject.
"So how's the Gym going?" he asked Misty
"Pretty good. It gets kind of boring when none of the challengers are actually a challenge."
"I can imagine." Ash laughed "Maybe I'll have to battle you, so you don't get too lazy."
"Sure, sounds fun." Misty said "So May, I watched you in the Grand Festival. I thought you did great."
"Really?" May asked "Thanks a lot, Misty. I need to train a lot harder for the next one though."
"I've got an idea May!" Max interrupted "Maybe you could evolve Eevee into a Jolteon, since all of Samantha's Pokemon are weak against Electric types." May seemed to think it over for a minute.
"I'll have to ask Eevee about that. She's still young after all." They all sat back down, Misty squeezing in next to Ash and Pikachu. As they ate, Ash and Misty did some catching up, and May and Max discussed the different ways of evolving Eevee. Brock just sat there, occasionally looking back over his shoulder, in the hope that Nurse Joy would walk past.
When they had all finished eating, Brock asked "So now what should we do?"
"Oh! Let's go to the Department store!" May exclaimed
"Yes, let's do that!" Misty agreed. The two girls began talking about clothes and accessories, as the guys all rolled their eyes at each other. "I saw that, you four!" Misty exclaimed, pulling out her mallet and whacking Ash and Brock with it. Pikachu ducked under the table just in time, and May attended to Max. The boys nursed their heads as the girls lead the way out of the Pokemon Center and into the busy street. Christmas decorations bedecked every house and restaurant, but the most eye-catching building was the towering Celadon Department store, glittering with thousands of lights. People were streaming in and out, passing a man in a Santa suit, who was standing next to a tripod that held up a red bucket, ringing a bell. As they entered the open doors, May bumped into someone as they left. "Ow, sorry!" She said, bending to help pick up the packages she had accidentally knocked out of the person's hands.
"That's okay." said the boy "I know it was an accid..." he trailed off as he straightened up and May was shocked to discover that it was the boy who had been staring at her in the Pokemon Center. He had chocolate brown hair, and aquamarine eyes. May once again had the strange feeling that she knew him from somewhere. They stood staring at each other until Max poked his sister in the side saying
"C'mon sis, we're blocking the entrance!" May shook her head to clear it, and the boy started. He hurriedly gathered up the remainder of his load and hurried off, mumbling an apology to May and her friends.
"Wait!" May cried, "What's your name?" The boy turned back briefly, shouting his reply
"I'm Daoka! Daoka Nesan!" then he turned and ran back towards the Pokemon Center. May stood there, his name echoing in her head. May came back to reality when Ash, Misty, and Brock began laughing.
"May's got a crush!" Max sang,
"I do not!" May retorted angrily "I was just..." she trailed off, unable to explain what had just happened.
"Like heck you don't!" Max replied
"Yeah, you were staring at him like Ash does at Misty, and vice-versa!" Brock said. Ash and Misty both blushed, and then hit Brock on the head in unison. Turning, they accidentally brushed against each other, and became a deeper red than they already were.
Hope you guys liked the first chapter! R&R please!
D.D.