Chapter 2- Please give suggestions

Delia was setting up a Christmas tree in preparation of the upcoming holiday, which was still two weeks away. Dawn and May were upstairs discussing something, and Brock was trying to get a girlfriend as usual, with Misty following close behind, mallet in her hand raised high above her head.

Paul and Gary were having a noisy battle in the yard, and Electrivire's thunderbolt hit the cable wires, accidentally putting out the power temporarily

Everything was going well until May brought Max in and he asked "Where is Ash?", earning a few glares and frowns from everybody in the room, until they realized Max had no idea what had happened

Max looked at their facial expressions "What? Was it something I said?" May was the first to answer "Max, we don't know, but don't bring up his name again. Got it?"

Seeing his sister talk in that tone of voice, he quickly nodded and slipped inside the house, pulling off his gloves and hat. Everybody went back to doing whatever they were before Max came

He knew something was going on, sure, it was almost Christmas and all, but once he mentioned Ash, they all changed, and he was going to figure out why.

Max followed his sister up the steps and into the guest room, thinking of ways to get his sister to talk about Ash. May started wrapping presents and Max closed his eyes

"Don't worry, Max, I already put the presents in the boxes, you can open your eyes" Max opened his eyes and instantly asked "So, if I asked you anything right now, would you answer?"

May thought for a bit and replied "As long as it isn't about anything you aren't old enough to know about, Max" giggling, Max asked "If you were giving Ash a present, what would it be?"

May stopped and pondered before saying "Well, Ash isn't here, so I don't know what he would like" Max knew this was coming and retaliated "Why isn't he here then?"

May froze. She could've sworn that Max could be hired as a master interrogator if he had been offered the job. Trying not to accidentally tell the truth, she racked her brain for lies, or ways to stall his progress, but found none

"Why do you want to know?" she stated as calmly as possible, although in truth, her brain was working frantically on ways to work her way out of the conversation

Max lost it. "Because I want to know!" Everyone else did, so why couldn't she tell him? It wasn't fair, it just wasn't! He just noticed that he was alone by himself inside the room now, sighing, he decided to get some rest

Downstairs, May was speaking to Delia about what do tell Max, "Well, if we can't tell him the truth, what do we tell him?" Delia thought and responded "Just avoid him for the rest of the day, dear, i'll think about something soon" as she went back to cooking dinner

Wgen dinner was ready, Gary went up to Max's guest room to get him. When he opened the door, Max automatically asked "May?" Gary simply said "Dinner's ready, and she's waiting downstairs for you!"

As Max walked down the stairs, the smell of food wafted and made him drool a little, when he sat down, he frowned. He noticed that May wasn't sitting in front of him like usual, instead, she was in the farthest corner, and he knew that something wasn't quite right.

During dinner, Max was eyeing his sister , who was all the way across the table from him. He had noticed that she was staying far away from him ever since he woke up.

"So, what happened to Ash?" Max threw out randomly and bluntly, everybody simply glared at him and he said "Worth a try" and shrugged

Delia put her hand on Max's shoulder and said "I guess we have no choice, May" Everyone's eyes widened, but they got the idea and May began

Flashback Start

Pallet town- Five years ago

"What do you mean i'm weak?" Ash said, shocked

Paul snorted, "Because you are, face it, you're pathetic", getting a few glares of his own, although some were particularly frightening enough to get him to be quiet

Ash just stood there, shocked, as Gary continued, "We just want you to stop traveling and stay with just for a while"

Drew stubbornly said "I thought you wanted guys wanted him to give up his dream so you guys could have a chance at gaining the pokemon master title?"

Everybody glared at Drew, who suddenly realized what he had just said. "Oops"

Delia tried to make up for it, "Honey, we just want you to move on with your life, get a job, and you know, get a girlfriend..." But it was too late

Ash ran out the door before anyone could stop him and by the time they got out the door, he was long gone.

Flashback End-

As they finished telling the story, Max tried to claw Paul's and Drew's eyes out, with the rest of them restraining him.

"Max, calm down!" May frantically called as she began to lose grip on his shirt. Max stopped and mumbled "Sorry" as he rubbed his head marreepishly

"Max, I know you're upset, but don't let your anger get the best of you" May scolded Max, as he continued to rub the back of his head.

Max said "Alright, I'm heading to my room now, as he rubbed his head, still trying to comprehend the story they just told him

May directed her attention to the currently terrified Drew, and previously intimidated Paul, Drew was terrified because he just saw Max's bad side, and since he was dating his older sister, May, who knew how bad her scary side was?

"Well, i'm going to sleep too! See you in the morning!"May chirped happily and walked up the stairs, leaving Drew and Paul in the kitchen.

Paul was the first to speak, "Hey, Drew? Be honest, how scary did you think Max was?"

Drew just stated "Very" and walked up the stairs after May

Paul shrugged and followed them up

The Tree Of Beginning-

Mew saw Ash sitting at the edge of the branch, staring at the lights from the nearby town and asked "Homesick?" Ash nodded and sighed "Do you think they'll recognize me?"

"Of course! They'll recognize you as a friend always" Mew reassured him, before saying "We can go visit your Pokemon at Professor Oak's tomorrow!" as she dozed off

Ash smiled and carried her to the top of the tree, laid her down gently and laid next to her, before dozing off himself...