Chapter 2 home coming

Ash came into the house with a big grin on his face.

"Mom! I'm home."

His mother appeared out of the kitchen.

"Welcome home sweetie. How was your first day at school?" she asked as she kissed him on the forehead.

"It was great. I made a new friend."

"Really? What's his name?"

Ash chuckled and rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"Actually, she's a girl, mom…"

She seemed intrigued by this.

"Oh. Well that's new. Is she nice?"

"Yeah she's very sweet. She just moved in from the Hoenn region yesterday. She hadn't got many friends yet."

"She has one." said Delia and Ash chuckled.

"Yeah I suppose that's true…"

"That's one of your good traits. Always looking out for your peers." she said happily and Ash chuckled.

"Yeah…" he said and she smiled.

After a short pause Ash decided to change the subject.

"Hey Mom have you seen Pikachu?"

"Yeah he's in the yard."

"Great. Thanks." he said and headed for his backyard. He found Pikachu sleeping on the grass curled up in a ball. Ash extended two fingers and began rubbing him beneath his chin.

"Cha…" he cooed in his sleep till he woke up and saw his friend sitting beside him.

"Pi? Pika! Pika pi!" he cheered and scampered up to his shoulder and nuzzled his buddy's head.

"Hey Pikachu. Have you been napping in the sun this whole time?"

"Pika…" the mouse blushed bashfully and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well that's no good. We don't want to get fat again do we?"

"Pika…" he shook his head in the negative. Ash smirked.

"Come on, let's go for a walk. It'll give us both some exercise."

"Pika!" agreed the mouse and Ash chuckled as he jumped off his shoulder and walked alongside him. On the way out they passed by Delia.

"Are you going somewhere Ash?"

"Yeah, Pikachu and I are taking a little walk. He could use the exercise."

"Okay. Just be sure to be back by nightfall. Dinner should be ready by then."

"Okay Mom." he said and turned to leave.

He exited his house and enjoyed the afternoon air. He turned to his left towards Professor Oak's lab. On the way, he passed by the house of his old friend Richie who moved away a few days ago. A few days ago? Wait a minute…

"I just moved here from the Hoenn region yesterday." May's voice echoed in his head.

"She my neighbor…" he thought and chuckled out loud and kept walking.

Meanwhile inside May's house…

May was feeding her Torchik some Poke food.

"I am so glad I chose to sit next to Ash today. He's such a nice guy. It's already the first day of school and I already made a friend. Isn't that great?"

"Tor! Torchik" cheered the bird and hopped in her place.

A while later her parents got home from work.

"Hey May, how was school?" asked Caroline and kissed her daughter on the cheek and her father gave her a hug and ruffled her hair a bit.

"It was great! I already made a new friend." she beamed happily.

"My, that was fast…" said Caroline.

"Who is she?"

May squirmed.

"Actually he's a boy…"

Caroline grinned.

"My, discovering boys are we?" she teased.

"Mom it's not like that!" groaned May.

"Just kidding dear."

"Right."

"So what's his name?"

"His name is Ash."

"Ash what?"

"Ash Ketch… hey look! There he is!" she called out after she saw him through the kitchen window walking home from Professor Oak's lab. She ran out.

"Hey Ash!" she called out.

"Hmm?" he turned around to see her and smiled.

"Hey May. How's your new house?"

"It's nice. A little larger than my old one."

"Larger is good."

She smiled.

"Yeah."

"Torchik!" came a voice.

"Huh?" said Ash as the Hoenn Pokémon hopped towards them.

"Is that your Hoenn Pokémon?"

"Yes it is. Say hello Torchik."

"Torchik! Torchik!" she beamed and hopped up and down in her place. Ash got down on his knees to pet its head.

"Aren't you a cute little Pokémon…." He said and she cooed and nuzzled onto his arm and he chuckled. Then Pikachu showed up.

"Pika! Pika pi!" he squeaked.

"Hello. Is this your Pokémon Ash?"

"Yes it is. Say Hello Pikachu."

"Pika! Pika pi." beamed the mouse and waved at May as she chuckled. Then he noticed her little companion. After making eye contact Pikachu and Torchik started playing tag.

"Well they're hitting it off okay." said Ash.

"Yeah, looks like you found your first friend here in Kanto Torchik."

They chatted for a few seconds more until Caroline walked out to greet him.

"Hello, you must be Ash."

"Yeah that's me. You must be May's mother."

"That right. I'm Caroline."

"Nice to meet you Caroline." he said and shook her hand. After a short silence she spoke.

"So I hear you became friends with my daughter. That's nice."

"Yeah it is. I didn't realize you were the family who moved into Richie's old house."

May blinked.

"Richie? Who's Richie?"

"An old childhood friend of mine. He moved out shortly before you moved in. Guess I should have figured it out from when May said you guys moved in yesterday. But it's nice to see I've got new good neighbors." he said with a smile and Caroline did the same.

"Same here Ash, same here. Maybe you two could get together sometime, since we live so close by."

"Yeah that sounds like fun." said Ash.

"We should arrange something sometime." said May.

"Yeah, we should." he said and then noticed it started getting dark.

"Well I guess I'd better get going. My mother is expecting me back at home. It was nice meeting you Mrs. Maple; see you tomorrow May." he waved and turned around.

"Bye." said May. It was after he was out of earshot that Caroline spoke.

"He's nice."

"That he is." she agreed.

"Mhmm…." Her mother echoed. After a few seconds she spoke.

"Alright let's go back inside I'm starting to feel cold…"

"I'm home!" said Ash.

"Hey Ash, how was your walk?"

"It was great. You wouldn't believe who moved into Richie's old place."

"Who?"

"May. We're neighbors now." he said with a smile.

"How about that? We should invite them for dinner sometime."

"Yeah that would be awesome…" said Ash.

"Yeah. Well go wash up. The stew is ready. You too Pikachu!" she said as the little family got ready for their family dinner…

To be continued…

Well believe it or not, a lot of this chapter was ad libbed but I guess it came out okay. This seems to be an interesting development. Ash and May live next to each other and the friendship is blooming. It is still unknown though to them if they see each other as more than friends though (to me as well). I guess we and they will have to find out as the story continues…

Stay tuned fellas and don't forget to leave a comment bellow so I will know what your opinion was.

See you around