2. Wildfire Frenzy

After riding a mile into the island's meadows, which is enveloped by the lengthening shades of an approaching nightfall, the rebellious native halts his board stands still on a single concrete path leading to a large, white mansion. Three floors of windows stare down at the teen, all of them framed in dazzling silver from the outside. As Ash approaches the golden double doors that rise ten feet, he walks past two long rows of poles that shoot out of the turf of the lawn in place of trees, each waving a banner embedding the Petalburg seal. He can make out two golden door knockers, also bearing the seal. At this time, the sprinklers begin to rinse the flowers planted in the spots of dirt left untouched and a slight breeze sways the cherry blossoms found beside the driveway as if Mother Nature is hypnotizing them.

Before Ash could extend his arm to reach for the knocker, the door opens squeakily, and a tall figure with jade green, neatly combed hair and a purple club polo exits the mansion. Ash, knowing all too well the identity of this blueblood, grits his teeth and looks away.

"It's late, kid," the pompous fellow sneers. "Shouldn't you be doing some kind of ancient nonsense prayer?" Ash stares at the cherry blossoms, by far the most beautiful and natural part of this home, hoping it would distract him from the teasing. It doesn't stop the wealthy boy, however. "I guess your inbred family didn't teach you how to speak when a superior addresses you."

That comment was the last straw for Ash. "You crossed the line, Drew!" he yelled. "How do you expect me to take you seriously when you stoop to such a petty level?"

Drew, unfazed by the remark, asks mockingly, "What will you do about it… bottom feeder?"

Fortunately for him, Ash knows he cannot do a thing. Any harm inflicted on May's trophy boyfriend would ensure that her parents would keep the two of them apart for good. Frustrated from rejecting his temptations, he lowers his head and walks past his bully to the door. Drew, still looking ahead, past the gates of the mansion, says, "She probably doesn't want to see a lowlife like you." And then he adds with a smirk, "She's had enough of me to last the week."

Before Ash can turn around and pummel the creep into the ground, a white limousine pulls up at the entrance. "Well, that's my ride, obviously. This has not been a pleasure." He flips his hair with his hand and makes his way to the vehicle, without even looking back.

When the limo is finally out of sight, Ash rubs his eyes to remove the water collecting on his lids. He mutters, "There's no one in this world who gets to me like he does, and I can't do a thing about it, or risk losing May."

After collecting himself, he enters the not-so-humble home. The wide room is decorated with portraits and modernist art, leaving little space of the actual wall visible. End tables hold priceless artifacts and pictures of the Petalburg family's lineage, the majority of them bearing the family crest. A staircase with crystal railing spirals towards the back.

An astutely dressed butler walks into the area from the door on the left, and his face turns pale when he sees Ash at the front door. He stares him down head to toe. "No shoes," he states sternly.

Ash, puzzled by such a rule, looks at the butler's hypocritical feet. "Then why are you wearing shoes?"

The butler crinkles his face, his moustache seemingly about to fall off. "Do not question me, you vile rat!"

Before Ash could retaliate, he hears footsteps coming down from the staircase. "That's enough, Clark," the person orders. "This is my friend and will be treated as such."

Ash is relieved to May in all her beauty—someone in this fancy hell who can defend and appreciate him.

The butler quickly runs to May, leading her to almost trip on the stairs, and kneels. "Forgive me, Miss May. It won't happen again."

Embarrassed by the treatment, May excuses him, after which he scampers to the next room, but not before giving Ash a vicious look.

"I've never been so hated in my life," Ash jokes. Things are always easier to deal with when May is around. Sensing his tone, she laughs along, and they make their way into her room.

May's room has never been redesigned, except for the occasional repainting, which is why it still looks like a little girl lives in it. The walls and ceiling are salmon and carnation colored, respectively, a rainbow is etched into her mirror that rests on her bedazzled dresser, and stuffed animals swarm the place like a fluffy coup d'état. The Petalburg princess sits in front of the mirror and brushes her warm, brunette hair. While looking at the mirror, she asks Ash, "So did you to run into Drew?"

Ash, who's leaning on the wall, almost loses balance at the mention of that terrible man's name. May, too focused on her hair to notice, adds, "You showed up around the same time he left. Did you guys talk?"

Still upset over the encounter, Ash chooses to lie. "I saw a white limo pull out of the house when I got here. I guess that was Drew, but I couldn't say for sure." May shrugs nonchalantly. Ash, normally a grounded and reserved individual, cannot shake his thoughts away, what with the domestic issues addressed by his grandmother in her hut, and Paul's belief that May will one day abandon her own home. Luckily for him, May's current errand gives him enough time to collect the right words before speaking up. "May, what do you think about marriage?" he ultimately inquires.

Stunned that such a question came from her friend, May pauses her brushing momentarily but soon resumes and answers, "I like the idea of it—two people dedicating their lives to each other until the last breath…but then again, I think marriage is more complicated that, more than what I can probably understand." She sighs, "At times, my parents' marriage to me seems more like a business arrangement." She puts down her brush, and turns towards Ash and grins. "Is your father still pestering you to date that girl from the Cedar tribe?"

Ash groans. "He makes a weekly chore of it, and it keeps getting worse as I reach closer to sixteen."

May giggles. "Because that's the age most of the natives marry, right?"

"Yeah, because it's tradition," Ash mumbles, clearly bothered by the idea of it. "The last thing I'd ever do is marry someone at sixteen."

May chimes in, "If it makes you feel better, my parents keep asking me when I'm gonna get married. Even though I want to continue my education past high school, they want me to settle down."

"With Drew?" asks Ash, afraid to hear the answer.

May replies, "Umm, I don't know. Probably. They like him a lot. And it would unite the Petalburg and LaRousse families."

Ash, unable to keep the tension inside, bursts out another question. "So when do you think we can go on our adventure?"

May gasps. It's a question that, contrary to what Ash believes, has been on her mind a great deal lately. She answers honestly, "I dunno… Maybe… never."

Ash moves away from the wall and sits firmly on the bed, facing away from his friend. May grows just as frustrated and almost slams her brush on the dresser. "Ash, you've seen what my life has become. I barely have a second to breathe. And if my parents get their way, I'm gonna be married in two years." She raises her tone. "Married! Meaning I can't take a year off and journey with you guys like I imagined. It's not like we're kids anymore when all dreams were possible. You get molded into a path that you can either follow through with or stay put and go nowhere."

Ash turns even further away, offering a cold shoulder for her to talk to. "You're usually not this immature. This isn't like you, Ash."

Ash finally retorts, "Me? What about you? The May I know would always dream. Are you a person... or a slave for your parents?"

May rises from her seat and inches her way towards Ash at the corner of her bed. Hoping to change the subject, she exclaims, "Wait a minute, Ash. Did you just come to my house to lecture me? Honestly, I didn't even expect you this evening. What's the deal?"

Ash seems to have not heard her. He turns towards May and looks directly into her eyes, and speaks tenderly, trying to maintain his passion. "Do you really think marrying Drew and dedicating your life to him is gonna make you happy…? Do you think submitting to your parents' wishes is what you were meant for…? Don't you think… you can do much better?"

May's eyes begin to water. "I probably c-could. But I'm not strong like you or Paul. I don't talk back, a-and my image is important to me." She takes a deep breath and continues. "I hate conflict, which is why I make sure everyone else is happy, and that's all I'll need to make me happy, someday."

Ash chuckles lightly, to May's surprise. He says, "You think you're not as strong as me? You're even stronger; your parents dictate your life whenever you're not asleep, and they even regulate your sleep schedule, and you put up with it."

May is dumbfounded, not sure where Ash is going with this.

"My dad tells me to study Pokémon history, or to attend the weekly ritual, or to not eat meat for one day out of the stupid week… and I accuse him of ruining my life." His head sinks, and May stares at him with worry. "I think I get why you listen to everything your parents tell you. You don't want to disappoint them. You don't want to be a giant disappointment, like I am to my father… I'm nothing to him but a disappointment." Ash's breathing tenses.

But then, May grabs his hand, and Ash, seeking nothing but comfort, relaxes his arm on her lap. And, extraordinarily, it's as if her gentle touch completely eased his anxiety. She lays her other arm on his shoulder and reels him in.

"You're not a disappointment, Ash," she whispers. "Not at all. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. I don't know what I would do without you, and I mean it." She says more strongly, "In no way can I picture my life without you around—which is why I put in so much effort in my predetermined life to make time for you. I—"

She's interrupted by Ash stroking her lap delicately with his arm. She turns to her mirror, where she sees the rainbow coming to life and flying majestically over the two of them. Her stuffed animals smile jubilantly. Her stomach flutters. Her palms begin to sweat on Ash's broad shoulder and on his rough knuckles. It's a brand new feeling to her, one that all her training as a composed lady has not prepared her for, so she goes with it. She puckers her lips lightly and leans in for a kiss.

Ash, feeling all the same things as May, is still thinking clearly enough to realize the consequences of the forthcoming action—not for him, but for the girl he cares for, who already lives in shackles. He decides to go against his heart, which yearns greatly for this maiden's affection, and speaks up. "To answer your earlier question," he starts, and May abruptly stops, a mere inch away from his bronze face, "I came here to avoid my father… I-I was supposed to visit my mother's grave today, because today marks seven years since her death. I ditched her, and my father, to be here with you."

Visibly heartbroken, May stares into Ash's eyes and manages to break free from the boy she, herself, yearns for. She kneels on the floor and picks up a stuffed elephant, which she squeezes into her bosom. Tears collecting on her animal, she whispers, "I think you should leave… I'm gonna go for my nature walk, a-and you should leave."

==:==:==:==:==

Ash zooms through downtown on his board, enraged with how he left May. He thinks aloud, "I'm such an idiot! I let myself get too comfortable and I put May in danger."

He kick-flips high into the air and grinds on a bench, a trick he can only attempt at night when the streets are mostly empty, landing without any difficulty and speeding along like the bench was never there to begin with. A couple of townies from across the street cheer Ash on, but he doesn't hear it.

"I mean, if her parents walked in, that would've been the end of it. No more May—for me or for Paul. And if everything she said was true, then losing me forever would be too much for her to bear."

Ash flies through the forests, while managing to avoid all the roots on the ground. This is, after all, a path he's very familiar with. "Besides, if what Drew said was true, she has more than enough intimacy in her life for me to come in and wreck it."

Frustrated with his relationship with May, and directing all his energy on his skateboarding, Ash is completely oblivious to the dormant volcano as he passes by it. Normally, the mountain's lack of life provides a sharp contrast to the rest of the island, but tonight, a strange light glows briefly from it, then fades away.

Ash finally returns to his petite, secluded home. The sky is dark blue, almost black, and the air is dead silent. Ash decides to avoid the front entrance and prances lightly to the left side of the house. He lifts a metal sheet that covers part of the side of the house to reveal a hole he had once made from a skateboarding incident years prior. He lifts one of his legs and places it into the hole, which is four feet high—not the most comfortable stretch for a 5'10" youth. He manages to get half of his body quietly into his pitch black room, when the light bulb in it suddenly flicks on.

Immediately, Ash sees an older version of his self, only slightly taller, more wrinkled, and grey streaks striating his spiky hair. The man removes his boulder-sized fist from the light switch and crosses his arms, scowling at the nervous teen.

"Great," he says, "you're halfway into the house and halfway out of it, which means you can't run away this time."

Beads of sweat drip down Ash's face while the man addressing him clears his throat, for both of them are expecting the worst.

The man scolds, "Did you honestly think you could get away with this?! Did you think I could forget such a terrible act of negligence you did today?! And it wasn't to me–not to the father that you so clearly care nothing for, because I'm used to it–but to your mother!"

Ash speaks quietly, avoiding eye contact, "I wanted to visit her with Grandmother, but she wanted me to go with you instead. She even gave me some pendant," he explains carelessly, even though receiving it secretly meant a lot to him.

He pulls out the pendant from his jacket's pocket, and the emotional impact of it forces his father to take a seat on his son's twin-sized bed. Ash places the pendant back in his pocket.

"She would have loved to see you wear it today," Aaron, his father, says with a hint of nostalgia in his words. But then he shifts his tone back, and starts to scowl at his son. "But instead you disrespect her! Not wanting to go with me is no excuse!"

"Everything is 'no excuse' for you!" Ash retaliates. "You can never understand me, and that's why you're a terrible listener and a terrible father!"

Aaron appears unmoved by Ash's declaration. "I don't understand you? At least I make an effort! I speak to your grandmother about you almost every day because it's the only way I feel like I can bond with you. You never give your own father the time of day."

Ash remains quiet, as Aaron suspected he would, who continues. "I hate that I'm used to it, but I am… what I'm not used to, however, is you mistreating your mother. She's done nothing to you for her to deserve that! How dare you! She would be so disappointed in you, Ash!"

His son tries to bolt out of the room, but his current situation leaves him trapped.

"And I wish that was all you did today, but I ran into Lou earlier and he told me he saw you at his diner, on Meatless Monday!"

Ash clenches his entire body, hoping to seal in all the pain and frustration he is enduring.

"You've never shown respect for your culture! You've never shown respect for your studies! You've never shown respect for me! And now you disrespect your own mother! This is not what I had in mind for you, Ash! You're becoming a giant disappointment!"

Aaron tries to take back the last comment, realizing he's crossed the line again, but the damage is done, causing Ash to explode. "I'm a disappointment?! Fine! But so are you! You're a terrible father and you know it! You need help from your mother-in-law just to understand me! You've failed to connect with your only child soon after Mother died! You gave up your tribe for nothing! You're choices are stupid and so are you!"

Aaron fights through the heartbreaking revelations of his flesh and blood, and asks him strongly, "What about your mother… Why does she deserve this?"

"Because she died!"

Ash's last words released all the pain he felt, along with an endless river of tears. Shortly after, his shirt was moistened with the emotions he could no longer contain.

"Why did she die?!"

He snivels, wiping his face like he did when he encountered Drew, only this instance is has been far more damaging to his soul.

"Why did she die…?! Why did she abandon me?!"

Aaron, who has spent the past seven years bickering with and scolding his son, is left speechless for the first time since the day his wife died. Eventually, he answers, "Son… I-I didn't you were feeling this way."

"Of course not! Mother was the only one who loved me! Not you…! But then she died!" The stress of the situation overwhelmed any catharsis that was possibly comforting to the two of them.

Ash, who is usually so introverted and distant, is unable to handle all of it. He grabs his board and knocks it into the wall repeatedly. After the third strike, a piece of the wall falls and the hole widens, giving Ash enough room to wiggle out of the house.

Aaron doesn't even bother to stop him, but instead emotionally breaks down on his son's bed, sobbing over his absent wife and his tortured son, and how he has failed them both. "Delilah…" he prays, "please protect our son."

==:==:==:==:==

A worn out Ash flees into the forest, which appears larger at night, without any idea of where he's heading, and only thinking about where he's trying to escape from. Since nothing but trees are within earshot, Ash decides to voice himself.

"I can never go back there! That man is not my family—I mean, he is, but he isn't." Ash drops himself on the grass, stuttering a bit. "He's the family I was born into, b-but not the family I can accept into my innermost circle."

The boy realizes that this idea is not his own, and, after a moment to think it over, recalls the source. "Paul! He's so much wiser than I give him credit for!"

Ash begins to pick at the blades of grass surrounding him, systematically plucking them and tossing them, whilst almost entirely forgetting about his father. "Paul is the only family I have at this point. I'd include May, but she must hate me for what I said to her in her room. And the minute Grandmother learns of what I did tonight, not even she would be able to forgive me."

Ash stands up, grabs his board, and treks through the forest, on his way to downtown to search for his best friend. Even though his mind is usually focused, the emotional impact of his night has caused him to think unreasonably.

"If there's ever a time for Paul and me to leave, it's now," Ash exclaims to the trees, perhaps hoping for reinforcement of his ideas. "Neither of us have anything left to stay for." Ash contemplates this for a moment, to the point where he stops walking, and then sighs in defeat. "Except Paul won't leave without May." But still sure this setback could be resolved, he adds, "I'll just convince him that May doesn't want to go. I'll tell him what Drew told me."

The wind rustles the leaves off a tree directly in front of Ash's path. He stares at them for a while. He speaks calmly, "Drew could've been lying… In fact, he probably was, otherwise May wouldn't have…" He stops himself from reliving that tender and passionate moment on her bed, which has become one of his greatest and one of his worst. "Maybe I need to relax," he concludes.

Life, in all its spontaneity and randomness, can so easily fling people into a crash course they aren't necessarily prepared for, but cannot avoid. In an ideal world, Ash would realize that May still cares for him, that he and Paul have no reasonable means of leaving the island, and that his unresolved issues with his mother and father must be addressed properly for him to live a happy life. And maybe one day, Ash will be able to fix his daddy issues, get the girl, and explore the world. Tonight, however, was a different night, not fueled by ideality, but by destiny. The Oak lineage was successful in maintaining peace–not only in the island, but in many corners of the globe–for many centuries. But its members were also fortunate to live in a post-tragic time, when peace was only challenged by internal conflicts amongst civilization. An external force had not been encountered and subdued since the rise of Arceus, and before his subsequent departure. It is almost ironic, in fact, how the member of the lineage with so much internal struggle and separation from his culture would be burdened with the largest task in the history of his ancestry. But this is the way of the random universe—spontaneous, like a fire.

Ash was thinking over many things, considering many directions to take from his still position. Suddenly, his sight was no longer the focus of his senses. A burnt smell was carried by the wind and began to dance around the bridge of Ash's nose. He quickly rotates his head to the right, the source of the smell, and sees smoke rising from a section of the forest quite a distance away. He turns his head again, to the sound of the pile of leaves on the floor floating away towards the mountain. Ash is about to focus his gaze on the distant smoke, when a strange light glows from the volcano summit and quickly fades. And if things weren't weird enough, the boy then feels a strange pulse in his jacket. Realizing it's coming from his pocket, he reaches into it and digs out his mother's pendant, only now it is beating like a heart, and an enveloping white light fades in and out.

"Mother?" the native asks the pendant, unanswered. He reluctantly returns it into his jacket and marches to his right. "Something is going on here," he declares, "and it looks like I have to investigate it." His father comes into his mind one last time. "Hmph! Do I even have anything to lose?"

The spiky-haired rebel doesn't have to walk that far until he starts seeing the smoke more clearly, and the way it diffracts the moonlight. A few more paces, and the smoke began to cloud all sorts of light. Its dark gray fogginess covers the atmosphere, and Ash's lungs begin to pay the price for it. He coughs so hard, he thinks he's going to expel his heart. The tree right behind him spontaneously begins to combust, and the alarmed youth hops away before the flames could ensnare him. Sweat begins to form all over his body as the temperature of his surroundings gradually rises. In response, Ash removes his jacket and uses it to cover his mouth and nose in a desperate attempt to cool down and to shield his senses from the life-choking air. I gotta keep going, Ash wonders to himself. Something is wrong, and I think… I think Mother wants me to see it for myself. He trudges forward, flames continuing to pop up around him. It's the least I can do for her after the mess I made tonight.

Before he knew it, Ash reaches a wide open space of the forest that is surrounded by flaming trees and burnt grass. Ash kneels momentarily, closing his eyes in order to focus on taking in enough oxygen so he can better concentrate on solving this mystery. When he finally stands up again, he notices a mysterious figure lying a few feet from a burning redwood. Ash wipes his soot-covered face to clear his vision, and what lies in front of him almost drives him insane.

Directly ahead, an unconscious May struggles to stay alive. Sweat is dripping all over her face and shoulders, and her torso is involuntarily moving, fighting to take in air from the surroundings. Forgetting all about his own endurance in this situation, Ash drops his skateboard and runs to the girl of his dreams, landing on his knees right beside her. "There's only one thing I can do," he cries. "She'll need mouth-to-mouth."

Luckily for the two of them, CPR training is one of the very few things from school that Ash has retained, simply because it's one of the very few things from school that he has found to have potentially useful applications. Ash looks down at the girl, immediately cycling though this feeling of guilt. He knows that May's life is in danger, but to him, the necessary action feels too related to the uncomfortable events that transpired in her bedroom earlier today. For once, he wishes Drew were around, because in Ash's tortured mind, this was Drew's job more than anyone else's.

At last, the youth shakes the childish thought out of his brain, and refocuses his attention on May. Even when covered in soot, her skin's beauty was unparalleled. Ash sets his lips closer to hers. If she comes to, he thinks, will she kiss me? His lips are right on top of May's and, with his trembling hands, he delicately opens her mouth.

But before the boy could resuscitate her, a shot of flames strikes over his head, absolutely incinerating what was left of the wood behind him. Ash, frightened from the near-death attack, looks up to discover the source of it. At the opposite end of the empty space in the forest, an orange-colored chimpanzee, on all fours, growls menacingly at the humans, showing its two top fangs. Despite the raging smoke, Ash's eyes are wide open. Never before has he seen such a mysterious creature. A swirl of red fur exists on top of its head, and a tiny flame dances on its lower back, only it continues to emit a strange, black shade at the tip.

Ash slowly gets on his feet and tries to inch away from May, knowing that he needs to be away from her to keep her safe. After a few feet of crab walking, the primate, about a foot tall, growls louder, "Chimmmmm Charrrrrrr."

"Chimchar?" Ash questions out loud. Sadly for him, this triggers the species to pound its yellow midsection with its fists before leaping straight for him for the boy.

Quite the acrobat himself, Ash hops to the side and evasively rolls away when it shoots another spout of flames at him. He turns around to face his otherworldly foe, who starts to jump from tree from tree while repeatedly shrieking "Chimchar! Chimchar!" In the next instant, Ash hears it charging for him from directly behind. So the brave boy ducks, causing the chimp to fly right above him and landing unbalanced.

Ash swiftly approaches the creature, only to be zapped by the dark energy flowing through its dorsal flame, leaving a portion of his skin charred. He winces in pain momentarily until he notices the creature suffering within a static field of dark energy, which only feeds its bodily flames into dangerously large heights. The wind carries embers of the large flame to more distant parts of the forest, creating a panicking forest fire several yards in diameter, and growing by the minute.

Ash realizes the chimp is in danger and needs to be saved from whatever chaos has disturbed its life, which is something he can surely relate to. Thinking on his feet, the boy runs towards where May is lying, picking up his skateboard on the way. He digs into her purse to find what she always carries with her in a nature walk: bottled water. He opens the bottle and lies it on the floor carefully so that the amount that spills on the grass is negligible. Finally, he lifts up his board and uses it to slam on the bottom end of the bottle.

The force of the blow, concentrated by a skinny board, shoots the water out like a gun and, thanks to Ash's aim, hits the creature directly on its flaming back. It shrieks again, which Ash interprets as a window of time to act. He charges towards the creature, but it jumps high enough to stare the boy down at equal height and, with its superior agility, scratches Ash's arm with its claws.

The fiery ape's onslaught continues, but the youth is able to avoid each blow, until it tries one last time, during which Ash manages to flip completely backwards, dodging the attack that instead lands on the ground, creating a tiny fissure. The frightened boy picks up his board again and dashes to May's spot one last time, this time to retrieve his jacket, which he uses to tie around his injured arm.

"Okay, bud," he mutters, while climbing on his board. "It ends here!" The creature recognizes Ash's challenge, once again jumping at the boy's level, only this time the native jabs his foot on the board's end, causing it to shoot up and deflecting the animal's attack. In the next instant, Ash dives straight at the chimp, avoiding its hands and flames, and bear hugs it in mid-air.

But before he could finish tackling his foe, the pendant in his jacket pulsates again, only this time, it suddenly delivers a blinding shock to Ash and the orange creature. The purity of this light somehow succeeds in dissipating the dark aura that surrounded the chimp's dorsal flame, but the final blow is a sonic blast that sends both of them flying to the ground. Ash and the creature both crash onto the charred dirt, and the former flutters his eyes, fighting to get up, until his vision fades to black.

Ash flutters his eyes again, his vision blurred from just coming to. He sees a mysterious figure leaning over where May was located, and then realizes, Oh no! May! Tears begin to form around his eyes, believing he let her down, that she left him like his mother did seven years ago. When his vision clears up, however, he sees a shirtless, muscular man with long violet hair giving mouth-to-mouth to the sweet girl, until she grabs her chest in wrenching pain, coughing out the toxins in her lungs. "Paul…" Ash struggles to make out before his eyes shut again.