(A/n) Extremely long chapter. (A/n)
"We're being followed." Lucario said. "And I don't recognize their auras."
May glanced behind her worriedly. "Do you think it's one of my friends you haven't met yet?"
"No. When Ash was captured, he was watching you and his other friends and family. He wanted to know if it was really you. I got a good look at all of your auras." Lucario said. "I think they may be bad news."
May glanced behind her again. "I wish I had a pokemon that could teleport us to our destination."
"What is our destination?" Lucario asked curiously.
"I'm under orders to tell no one and bring no one other than you, Pikachu, and my own pokemon." May said. "It's too risky."
Lucario sighed. "I figured as much. Arceus doesn't want Ash getting recaptured."
"Pi." Pikachu agreed, riding on May's shoulder.
"Freeze!" May and Lucario spun around. The men May had taken Ash from surrounded them, holding a futuristic type of guns. "Where is the boy?!"
Pikachu jumped off May's shoulder, sparks coming from his cheeks. Lucario went into a battle position as well.
May thought quickly. "He's in Hoenn. In La Rousse City. That's our destination."
"La Rousse City? How'd he get there?" One of the men asked.
"Mew teleported us there. Then, it teleported me back to Pallet Town." May said, doing her best to look as if she were feeling guilty.
The man glared at her. "What do you say, boys? Bring her with us to search for the boy? If she's lying, we kill her."
May gulped. The men were lowering their guns, but they were also getting closer to her.
Before she knew it, Lucario had pulled her onto his back and leaped over the circle of men, taking off through the forest.
Pikachu was right behind them, soon managing to hop on Lucario as well.
May was surprised when Lucario took a sharp right, and then a left further on, and then hid.
"Are you okay, Lucario?" May whispered.
"Quiet, May. They'll hear you." Lucario hissed in her mind.
May immediately shut her mouth, slightly biting her lip.
There was the sound of yelling in the distance, getting farther away from them.
Finally, it was completely gone. Lucario closed his eyes and looked around with his Aura Sight to see if it was clear.
"They're gone." He finally said. "We can continue."
May gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Let's go."
It took two months to get to Mount Silver without public transportation, mostly using the hover boards. Then, it took a week to get to the top through the mountain.
Finally, it took two days to find the cave where Ash was waiting with Manaphy, Arceus, and Mew.
Ash was silent when they arrived, not even saying hello. May figured he was still bummed about not being able to return to Pallet Town.
"So where are we going to go now?" She asked Arceus.
"Mew is going to take you to Nuvema Town in Unova. The pokemon professor there will help you and then you will be travelling around Unova. Ash will use his real name since barely anyone knows it." Arceus explained. "I suggest you do as well."
May nodded. "I understand." She turned to Ash. "Ash, are you okay?"
Ash shook his head and pointed to his mouth.
May frowned. "I don't understand."
"The large amount of sleeping powder used during Ash's captivity has taken away his voice. It hasn't returned yet, but I'm sure it will eventually." Arceus told her.
"So Ash is mute at the moment?" May asked.
Arceus nodded in response.
"Can you still use telepathy like I taught you?" Lucario asked.
Ash nodded. "Yes, but I'd prefer that I didn't have to."
May was startled to hear Ash's voice in her head, despite Lucario's question.
"May, thank you for saving me. I owe you one." Ash said.
May cracked a small smile. "No problem. That's what friends are for."
Ash turned to Arceus. "We're ready when you are."
Arceus nodded to Mew, who teleported Ash, May, Manaphy, Lucario, and Pikachu to Nuvema Town.
Later…
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ash and May." The Unova Pokemon Professor, a descendant of Professor Juniper, said. "I understand you already have pokemon and are looking for an ID in order to travel."
"That's correct, Ma'am. We've spend our time since we got our pokemon at home so as to get accustomed to them." May said.
"Well, I'm going to need your hometown and age in order to give you a pokedex and ID." The professor said.
May's mouth ran dry. She didn't really know where to say she was from.
"Say Petalburg City. It's one of the few places that has lasted through the past five hundred years." Ash told her.
"Petalburg City, and I'm 13 while Ash is 14." May told the professor, knowing the part about Ash being fourteen was a lie.
"Okay. Do you want me to give your friend a mute handicap?" The professor asked.
May shook her head. "He's only temporarily mute and he has his own way to communicate with his pokemon."
The professor nodded. "I understand. Well, here are your IDs and pokedexes. I've connected all your current pokemon to your pokedexes. Enjoy your journey."
"Thank you." May said and she and Ash left the lab. Ash called out Pikachu, who perched on his shoulder, while May called out Manaphy, who she had caught in a pokeball for safety reasons.
"This feels a lot like the good old days. Back before you-know-what happened to me." Ash said, smiling.
May smiled lightly at him. It might feel the same to him, but she knew it was different. They were in danger and could not return to their friends or Ash's family. Not to mention, Ash had lived for a long time without human companionship and was probably smarter than before.
"Come on, May! Let's get going!" Ash called from somewhere up ahead.
May smiled wider. So maybe Ash had been living alone for five hundred years. That didn't mean he was completely different from the Ash she knew, and maybe being with one of his friends again was bringing out the inner child he'd been holding back.
She caught up to Ash. "So do they still have contests and gym battles?"
Ash nodded. "The contests are somewhat similar to the way they were five hundred years ago, but the gym battles are way different. Instead of just going and challenging the gym leader, like I used to, you participate in a tournament at a gym. Any trainer can participate in the tournaments but you can only challenge the gym leader if you win a tournament, and there are no rematches unless you win another tournament at that same gym." Ash explained. "They made it that way so that less people participate in the leagues each year. It takes a long time to collect eight badges due to this system. It was changed about two hundred something years ago. Anyways, you use three pokemon until you're in the top eight. For the rest of the tournament, and when facing the gym leader, you use six pokemon. I'm going to need more pokemon if I'm going to compete."
May nodded in understanding. "Looks like we're going on a pokemon-catching spree. How many pokemon do you need for the contests?"
"Six. One for the appeal round, two different ones for the next round, and three different ones for the final round. It's a bit harder to please the judges these days. They only allow four coordinators to pass the appeal round. The system is similar, but it's much more difficult, and if you knock your opponent out right away without showing off your pokemon, you lose." Ash told her.
"That's tough. I'm going to have to work harder to get my ribbons. I hope my pokemon are up to it." May said.
"I hope so too." Ash said, grinning. Then, he frowned. "You know, I feel really awkward right now. I haven't acted like this since before I was turned immortal."
May turned to stare at him and considered his words. They sounded true enough. It sounded like she was right about her being with him bringing out his inner child.
"I can understand that. I mean, your story is a really depressing one." May said.
"To tell the truth, I tried to forget about you and the others, but Lucario said you would want to be remembered. I soon found it was impossible to forget anyways. We've been through too much together. I spent some time with Gary and a boy named N I met in the Unova region, but they eventually grew old and died, and I was alone. Those two and Professor Oak were the first ones I shared my secret with. I'm always careful about who I tell. Usually, it's someone I play with when they're young and then meet again when they've grown up. That's how I met Mr. Jones. He was ten and I, as always, appeared to be fourteen. We played together and he eventually saw I wasn't growing like he was. When he asked the inevitable question about me, I left and didn't see him again for several years. When I did run into him again, he had figured it out and promised not to tell anybody. That's how most people found out my secret, by figuring it out on their own. Luckily, it's usually only one person every forty years or so." Ash paused. "I hope Mr. Jones isn't stressing too much about me. He cares about me a lot."
May nodded in understanding. "He asked almost all of Pallet Town to help search for you. He called you Eric."
Ash sighed. "That's the name I was going by when I disappeared. Mr. Jones seems to be the only one other than me able to remember which name I'm going by when, which is strange since he always calls me by my real name."
"I know! Why don't you call him?! He won't have to stress if you tell him you're okay!" May suggested.
"Lost my voice, remember?" Ash reminded her. "I can't use telepathy long-distance. Besides, it's too risky. It would help those creeps find us."
"You're right." May sighed. "But I do feel bad letting Mr. Jones worry."
Ash snapped his fingers. "I've got it! We'll send a note on a flying-type pokemon! They can't trace that!"
May smiled. "Yeah. That would work. Do they still do that these days?"
Ash shook his head. "No, but we can if we catch one!"
It didn't take long to find and catch a Pidove. Ash took out a piece of technology and a styler and wrote the note.
"Modern paper?" May asked, motioning to the piece of technology Ash was writing on.
Ash nodded and telepathically gave Pidove directions to Mr. Jones's restaurant after tying the piece of technology to its leg.
Pidove took off for Kanto while Ash and May set off for the next city on their hover boards.
"So what's the next city called?" May asked. "I mean, you said not many cities had survived the five hundred years."
"You won't believe this but it was named after Cilan, since he was a gym leader there when he 'died'. Same thing happened to Cerulean City. Misty City has a great ocean view." Ash grinned.
May did her best to bite back her laughter. "We're seriously going to Cilan City?" Ash nodded. "Arceus, Cilan would freak out if he knew."
"Say, want to send them a letter when Pidove comes back?" Ash asked. "You can tell them about Misty City and Cilan City."
May nodded, still holding back her laughter. "Sure."
"Hey! You!" May and Ash turned to see a boy about fifteen or sixteen glaring at them. "I just lost in the first round of a gym tournament and now I'm gonna beat you to make up for it."
"Um… There are two of us. Which one do you want to battle?" May asked.
The boy smirked. "Both of you. I can tell you're newbies by your age. You'll be easy beats."
"Okay. I'll go first then. Two-on-two fine for you? First to lose both pokemon loses?" May asked.
The boy agreed. "I'll choose first! Go, Zebstrika!"
"Blaziken! Come on out!" May replied.
Skip Battle Scene…
"Impossible! How can you two be so strong?! You're both younger than me!" The boy groaned. "And how did his pokemon know what to do even though he didn't say anything?!"
"Ash has his own way of communicating with his pokemon." May said. "Now, if you'll excuse us. We're off to Cilan City." She did her best not to burst out laughing when she said where they were going.
"Hmph. The gym tournament there just ended. There won't be another one for two weeks. The contest there ended recently as well. Won't be another one for two and a half weeks." The boy informed them.
"Thank you for the information. We'll head there anyways." May said, disappointed at what the boy had just said.
The boy shrugged. "Fine with me. Go ahead and wait two weeks for the next gym tournament. I'm heading to the soonest one right now and it's not in Cilan City."
"Thanks, but Ash needs to catch some new pokemon before the tournament anyways." May said.
"Don't have six pokemon? Lame." The boy said. "Perhaps we'll meet again. Doesn't matter to me." He zoomed off on his hover board.
May and Ash exchanged glances and shrugged.
"I forgot to mention. You can carry up to eight pokemon with you now." Ash said.
"Really? Wish I still had Skitty…" May sighed. "I hope she lived a somewhat happy life with my mom."
"That means you have Glaceon, Venusaur, Blaziken, Beautifly, Munchlax, Wartortle, and Manaphy, right?"
"Yes. I'm sad not to have Skitty though."
"Hey, at least you didn't have to watch your pokemon grow old and die while you didn't grow the tiniest bit."
"You win. Your situation's worse."
"Thought so."
"Come on, let's go."
"Okay."
They hadn't gone far when Ash stopped and pointed to some moving bushes.
A Ducklett wandered out into the open.
Ash called out Pikachu and pulled out a pokeball. "Pikachu, use thunderbolt."
"Lett!" Ducklett yelled as he was electrocuted. Ash threw a pokeball at him. It wobbled four times before signifying a successful capture.
Ash went to pick it up. Surprisingly, yet not surprisingly, he didn't cheer at getting a new pokemon.
"Congratulations, Ash. You caught a Ducklett." May said, wanting to hear him cheer at that like he used to.
Ash managed a smile at her. "Yeah. I'm sure she'll live to be a great Swanna."
"You sure it's a she?" May asked.
"I could tell from her aura." Ash replied.
"Her aura?" May was confused.
"You remember that whole adventure with Lucario and the Tree of Beginning, right?"
"Right."
"Turns out, Sir Aaron is my father. He traveled through time with a Celebi and met my mother. Then, I was born. Sometimes I wish I wasn't."
May slapped him. "Don't say that, Ash! Life wouldn't be the same if you weren't born! I never would've liked pokemon and I never would've met Manaphy, right Manaphy?"
"Right, Mama." Manaphy said.
"You were the one who taught me to love pokemon. It's thanks to you I met Manaphy and had all those other adventures. Don't wish you weren't born. I love you." May covered her mouth at those last three words, shocked she had said them.
Ash stared at her. "What?"
"Not in that way! I don't think…" May trailed off.
Ash shrugged. "Whatever you say."
May mentally kicked herself. Why did she have to say that? Ash probably didn't even feel the same way. He would probably be uncomfortable loving someone after all that time alone, especially since they would probably die long before him.
They continued on their way to Cilan City.
