Alright, guys, chapter 4. After what happened in the last chapter, from now on, Ralts is gonna be gradually warming up to the idea of partnership with May. So, for those who disliked the pessimistic Ralts who believed that caught Pokémon were slaves to humans, congrats! Now she's gonna be much less like that. For those who liked that Ralts, sorry, I just don't think it would make for a good fic if Ralts were always moaning about how she believed that trainers enslave Pokémon.
Anyways, as usual, here is the dialogue key.
"Example."=Standard talking.
*Example.*=Thoughts/sound effect. (Note that I may sometimes state what a character is/was thinking.)
-(Example)-=Telepathy. (This is going to be Ralts' way of communication.)
(Example)=A shift in perspective or time.
With that done, let's get this showroad on the roadshow.
May woke up from her sleep groggily. She didn't recognize where she was, nor did she remember much, but then she saw something that jogged her memory: the Petalburg Nurse Joy, walking around the medical room, gathering medicines. Nurse Joy noticed that May was awake, and urged her to go back to sleep.
"You're still sick from the Dustox's poison. Please, just rest some more."
May wearily responded, "If you say so…" and closed her eyes. She thought about the beginning of her journey, just after they had moved to Hoenn…
(Flashback)
May walked outside of her home in Littleroot Town. Her mother had asked her to go visit Professor Birch, her neighbor and a friend of her father. She walked across the town and went into a house just a few yards away from theirs. Upon entering, she was greeted by a middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair.
"Oh, hello. And you are?"
"I'm May, your new neighbor!"
"Oh, I see! Well, welcome to Littleroot Town! I hope the trip wasn't too rough."
"It wasn't bad. Actually, I came over to see if I could meet the professor."
"I'm afraid he's out in the field somewhere, studying Pokémon. However, we do have a son, about the same age as you. He seemed excited about making a new friend. Why don't you go upstairs and meet him?"
"I sure will. Thanks!" With that, May walked over to the staircase and started up the stairs.
When she got to the top of the stairs, she saw a boy with black pants, a red shirt with a black pattern, green wristbands, a green headband, and what appeared to be white hair. He was packing things into a green backpack, but stopped when he saw May. He said, "Hey! You must be our new neighbor!"
May responded, "Yep, that's me! My name's May."
"The name's Brendan. Nice to meet you! I heard about you from my dad, Professor Birch. Were you looking for him?" "Yeah, I was, but your mom sent me up here to see you."
"She did? Heh, she must have remembered that I mentioned I wanted to make a new friend. Anyways, dad's probably out on Route 101, looking for Pokémon to study."
"I'll go out there, then. Thanks for the info!" She turned back around and started going down the stairs.
Before she could get to the first floor, however, Brendan called out, "May, wait! Before you go, remember to be careful. It's dangerous to go out into tall grass unless you have a Pokémon of your own."
"Thanks for the warning, Brendan. I'll make sure to be careful." And with that, she walked down the stairs, out the door, and towards Route 101.
(Route 101)
After walking only a few feet into Route 101, she saw a man wearing a white lab coat, a dark blue undershirt, and light green shorts being chased by a small, raccoon-like Pokémon. Nearby, there was a satchel lying on the ground.
The man cried, "H-help! Someone help me!" He ran around frantically, the Pokémon hot on his tail. Finally, he jumped onto a tree with surprising agility, and was able to get out of the Pokémon's reach. Looking around, he noticed May observing the scene. He called out, "Hello! You, over there! Please, help me! I have three Poké Balls in my bag! Choose one, and drive away this Zigzagoon!"
May ran over to the bag, and saw three Poké Balls. She grabbed the one lying in the middle, and threw it at the ground. Out popped a Torchic, a Fire-type Pokémon. Though Torchic seemed confused, it immediately saw that the Zigzagoon had to be defeated. May noticed that there was a sticker on the back of the Poké Ball she chose. It read:
Pokémon: Torchic
Level: 5
Type: Fire
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Primary Moves: Scratch, Growl
She smiled, and then yelled, "Torchic! Use Scratch on that Zigzagoon!"
The Torchic, though disoriented, still obeyed her orders. It outstretched its claws and scratched the Zigzagoon's back. The Zigzagoon turned around to face its attacker, and then retaliated by Tackling Torchic. The Torchic quickly recovered from this, and May ordered it to scratch the Zigzagoon again. This time, the Zigzagoon seemed far more winded from the attack, but regardless, it once again retaliated with a tackle. This time, though, it was off-target, and went flying past Torchic. May ordered Torchic to attack one more time, and the Zigzagoon finally fainted. Torchic then happily ran over to May and began to run around her legs.
The man then nimbly jumped off of the tree and walked over to May. "Thanks for the help. I was in the tall grass studying wild Pokémon when I got jumped by that Zigzagoon. Anyways, let's go back to the Pokémon Lab. Now's not the time for chatting." And with that, they started back towards Littleroot Town.
(A little while later)
After reaching the Pokémon Lab, the man sat down on a chair and finally introduced himself.
"Oh dear, I forgot to tell you my name. You likely inferred this already, but I'm Professor Birch. You must be May."
"That's right!" Torchic was now in her arms, sleeping contently.
"I've heard much about you from your father, Norman. I've heard you don't have a Pokémon yet, but given how you battled earlier, I'd say that you have your father's blood in your veins. With that said, allow me to give you the Torchic you used earlier."
"R-really?! I can have it?!"
"Certainly! It's the least I can do for the girl who rescued me from that Zigzagoon. Speaking of which, could you do me a favor and not mention that incident to Brendan? The last thing I need another incident which he can endlessly tease me about."
"I promise I won't mention any of that to Brendan. Wow, my own Pokémon…"
Torchic was still sleeping in May's arms, occasionally snoring. May thought about all the wonderful adventures they would have together…
(End of flashback)
May opened her eyes again. This time, she immediately remembered what had happened and where she was. She also noticed something odd: Ralts was standing beside her on the bed.
-(May? Are you alright?)-
"Yeah, Ralts, I'm fi- wait, you just called me May!
-(What? What do you mean?)-
"You've never called me May before. In fact, I've never seen you actually care about me before."
-(W-well, err, um… Remember that swarm of Dustox that was attacking you, and how you told me to abandon you, to get Torchic and to run for it?)-
"Yeah, I remember that…"
-(I think when you said that, and I saw that you were willing to sacrifice yourself for us, I think that's when I realized that we weren't just slaves to you; we were friends. You wouldn't sacrifice yourself for slaves. I finally realized that just because Pokémon follow their trainers' orders, that doesn't mean they're slaves. It just means that the Pokémon trust their trainers, to the point where they're willing to obey their trainers' orders.)- While she was saying this, a small smile grew across Ralts' face.
"Ralts… I'm glad you've finally decided to change your view, to view trainers' Pokémon as friends, not slaves…" Then, without warning, May grabbed out and hugged Ralts tightly against her chest. Ralts, it should be said, did not appreciate this act of kindness.
*GACK* -(STOP! I DID NOT SAY YOU HAD PERMISSION TO DO THIS! YOU'RE SUFFOCATING ME! STOP IT, NOW!)- Despite Ralts' pleas, May did not let up on her death-hug, nor did she show any signs of letting up. Suddenly, May's arms began glowing with a blue aura, and were forcibly yanked away from Ralts. Ralts' eyes were blue, just as they were when she was pummeling the Dustox swarm. She slowly backed away from May, until she was firmly out of May's reach. The blue aura around May's arms then receded, as did the blue in Ralts' eyes.
-(Do not ever do that again, or I will not be afraid to make your life as painful as possible.)-
"Sorry, I might have gotten a bit carried away there…" Suddenly, Ralts slumped over, prompting May to reach out and grab her.
-(DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO HUG ME AGAIN!)- May made sure to not hug Ralts too tightly, and contemplated Ralts' appearance. She resembled a very small child in size, with thick legs that had wide tendrils on the backs of them, which made it look like she was wearing a dress. Her hair resembled a light green bowl that had been turned upside-down, and it was divided into two separate pieces by two red horns coming out of the front and back of her head. She had thin arms which grew slightly thicker at the ends. May realized how cute Ralts looked, especially when she was tired. She noticed that Ralts seemed to be breathing rather heavily now, which made her concerned.
"Are you okay, Ralts? You seem a bit tired out."
-(I'm… okay… May… I'm… just… a… bit winded… from using my… psychic powers…)
Suddenly, the thought hit May. How did Ralts become able to use psychic powers? Wasn't she limited to growling before?
"How are you able to do that? You used to not be able to do anything but growl."
Ralts looked up at her.
-(I… I think it might have been because I was thinking so much… I was conflicted at what to do, to run or to help you… and I guess the brain activity caused my psychic powers to become manifest…)-
"Or maybe you just needed to have a solid reason to use them. Whatever the cause, let's just be thankful they arrived when they did."
-(Hehe, yeah… Ugh, I need to get used to doing that…)-
"You'll have plenty of time to mentally train yourself, Ralts. You'll have plenty of time. But for now, I think it would be better if you just rested."
-(Yeah, that would probably be a good idea…)-
And with that, Ralts fell into a deep sleep. May held Ralts in a position one would use to hold a baby, and then smiled. It was good to know that Ralts had finally changed her mind about trainers and their Pokémon.
Author's Note: Sorry for the short and unexciting chapter, but considering what happened last time, I would say that these two deserve a bit of R&R. Don't worry, things are going to pick up soon. Next chapter, these two (plus Torchic) are going to be challenging the Rustboro Gym. Look forward to it.
