Here's Chapter Ten, the second part of the double upload. I think that the first half of this chapter is the best that I've written yet - I hope that you enjoy it!
May stood alone in the backyard, near the pond at the back of the garden. A pool of light from the windows fell on her back, illuminating her shadow on the surface of the pond. She watched silently as the Tauros slept peacefully on the other side, noticing that Sceptile lay quietly in a tree a little to her right. She was sure that Noctowl, Swellow, Pidgeot, and Ambipom were up there too.
She stooped and picked up a couple of pebbles on the ground. She slid them around her hand, allowing all but two to slide back to the earth. She lightly tossed one pebble into the water, watching as it fell beneath the surface with a light "ploop". She rolled the other pebble around in her fingers, feeling it's perfectly smooth, round shape. She was about to toss it into the water too but then changed her hand, sticking it in her pocket.
A short burst of red light, and May released her Eevee, yawning, from her Poke Ball.
"Vui?" her Pokemon asked, curious why she had been called out. May bent down and scratched Eevee's head before slowly walking to the tree and sitting down softly in the dirt at it's base.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said quietly. "Sometimes it's just helpful to have somebody to talk to, or just be there I guess." She sighed, and Eevee climbed into her lap, curling up into a little ball and then looking up into May's beautiful sapphire eyes. To Eevee's surprise, they were sparkling with the first sign of tears.
"Vui eievui?" Eevee asked. May closed her eyes and shook her head. From within the house she heard faint conversation, and she knew that Ash was being filled in on what had happened at the lab. To Eevee's alarm, soft tears began to fall soundlessly from beneath her lashes. Although May made no sound or movement, Eevee knew that she was crying. She pawed at her trainer, and May suddenly reached down and gave Eevee a tight hug.
They stayed that way for several moments until May's tears stopped flowing. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and looked down at Eevee. Eevee didn't know what was going on, but she was just glad that she had somehow been able to comfort her trainer.
"Thank you, Eevee," she said softly.
"Vui," Eevee smiled, curling into a tight ball again. May looked out over the pond for a little while, just watching the breeze ripple the water against the reeds. It was extremely peaceful.
"Pika?" Eevee looked up quickly at the noise then turned to May, an expression of longing on her face.
"Go on, Eevee," she said, a sad smile on her face. "It's been ages since you've played with Pikachu. Go and catch up - I'll be alright here for a little while."
"Eievui," Eevee said with a smile, and dashed over to where she'd heard Pikachu. May watched the two of them as they ran over to the other side of the yard, and noticed that both of the Bulbasaur had materialized and joined them. She smiled a little inwardly, although her expression remained sad. Somebody flopped down next to her. She knew who it was without even turning to look. Only one person had that little grace.
The two of them looked towards the pond, although May could sense that he kept stealing sideways glances at her. They sat like that for a long time in silence; not uncomfortable, just tranquil. Looking at the reflection in the water, May realized that it was a full moon.
"I'm glad you're okay, May," Ash said at last. "Tracey told me how you warned the others about the lab, and his leg."
"Don't ever do that to me again, Ash," May said quietly.
"Do what?" Ash asked, puzzled.
"Force me to leave in a dangerous situation. I could have helped fight off the Rayquaza. I could have helped you. Anabel told me what happened in the house before she left with Brandon. If it hadn't been for your Pokemon you would have died."
"How could I have known that something like that would happen?" Ash asked. "If I'd known that I'd have been trapped in a burning building, do you really think that I would have gone off like that. What was important to me was that all of my friends were safe. I couldn't have lived if one of my friends died because I didn't protect them. Don't you understand that?"
May tore her gaze away from the pond and looked into Ash's auburn eyes. "I understand completely, Ash," she said. "I understood when Pidgeot flew me away. But don't you understand how your friends would feel if they found out that you died protecting them, without them at your side? Worry might make you battle more rashly, but friendship is a strong bond. If you'd let your friends battle with you the way you let the Frontier Brains, the Rayquaza might have been driven off before the fire started, and before you home was destroyed."
Ash faltered at her logic and looked away from her eyes. He began to pick at the grass beside him.
"I'm sorry, May," he said at last. "I didn't think of it that way before. I was just too, well, worried to realize that we could have fought better side-by-side than individually."
Emotion welled up inside May. Unable to suppress it, she burst out into tears, throwing her arms around a very startled and surprised Ash. He patted her back awkwardly as she cried into his chest. He looked helplessly over at Pikachu, who was studiously ignoring the situation and determinedly trying to distract Eevee. At last, May's heaving stopped. She stayed in that position for a while longer, her arms held around an increasingly uncomfortable Ash, her face buried obscured by his now damp shirt.
"Promise me that you'll never make me leave like that again," May whispered.
"I promise," Ash said, still holding her awkwardly. They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Ash heard May begin to breathe more slowly and deeply. Realizing that she had fallen asleep, he gently unhooked her arms from around his neck and stood up, stretching his numb legs. He took a few experimental steps before turning back to May. He gently picked her up and carried her into the now-dark house, Pikachu and Eevee following at a distance while the two Bulbasaur made themselves comfortable outside.
Lying comfortably on a tree branch, Sceptile chuckled softly to himself, having seen and heard everything. His trainer was maturing in a way that he never had before.
May woke up when the sunlight played gently over her face. She sat up and realized that she was on the floor in Ash's room, a sleeping bag beneath her. She looked up at the bed and saw Dawn, still fast asleep, her long navy hair obscuring her eyes.
"Good morning, May," Misty greeted her. May turned and saw her at Ash's desk, looking over all of Ash's badges and plaques.
"Morning, Misty," May replied, standing up with a stretch. "Did we all sleep in here?"
"You don't remember coming to bed?" Misty asked with surprise. May shook her head.
"I think someone must have carried me up," she said. "Last thing I can remember, I was in the backyard looking at the pond. Where did you sleep? Did you share the bed with Dawn?"
"No," Misty answered. "Dawn claimed the bed pretty early in the day, before Ash even got back actually. She told me not to sleep on it tonight no matter what. I actually went to bed a lot earlier than her, but I just slept on the floor like you did. Dawn stayed up pretty late talking to Max and Brock, so I'm not surprised that she's still asleep now."
The wafting scent of bacon stole into the room under the doorframe. May gave a huge sniff and smiled. "Well, it looks like Brock is up at least," she said with a smile. "He's the only guy I know who can cook like that!"
With her stomach rumbling, she ran for the door, flung it upon, and skidded to a halt. Sitting upright against the wall was Ash, his blue jacket folded next to him and being used as a pillow by both Pikachu and Eevee. All three were soundly asleep. May turned to Misty and pressed a finger to her lips, motioning for her to be quiet. Misty peered over May's shoulder and gave a silent giggle at the scene. The two girls quietly crept down the stairs and entered the kitchen. A scene of complete chaos met their eyes.
Delia, Gary, Norman, Caroline, Tracey, and Professor Oak were all sitting at the table, drinking tea and coffee. They were doing their level best to avoid looking at Brock and Mr. Mime, both of whom were struggling against each other for control of the kitchen. While Brock fried the bacon, Mr. Mime started on the toast. Brock chased him away, only to turn and find Mr. Mime cooking the bacon himself. Likewise, Mr. Mime was trying to brew a fresh pot of tea, but the moment he turned around Brock poured it out and began to brew a different kind.
"Some things never change," Misty sighed, taking a seat at the table next to Caroline.
"Good morning Misty, May," Professor Oak greeted.
"Morning Professor," they chorused back.
"How long has this been going on for?" May asked, indicating the battle between Brock and Mr. Mime as both tried to serve the table first.
"Since Ash competed in the Orange League," Delia said with a sigh. May looked puzzled, but before she could ask any more questions Ash and Max entered the room.
"Hey guys," Ash said, stifling a yawn with his hand.
"Good morning, Ash," Delia said with a smile as she took a sip of her coffee. "Morning Max."
"Good morning, Mrs. Ketchum, Mom, Dad," he answered back.
"Has there been any more news about the Rayquaza?" Ash asked, noticing that the TV was on. Norman sighed.
"Yes and no," he said. "All we know for certain is that it came from the south. Now, the ocean is only a couple of hours walking distance from Pallet, so whatever it was that attacked it had to have come from the Ocean, the Sevii Islands, Cinnabar Island, or the Orange Islands. It's possible that it came from Hoenn, but I don't think it likely that the Rayquaza would fly that far when it's injured."
"Injured?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I remember thinking that I saw a burn on it's arm," Ash said. "I thought that it looked pretty fresh too."
"The News crews picked up on the burn too," Norman said. "There were reports coming in for a couple of hours before your match that a Rayquaza was attacking indiscriminately, but they were all ignored for a couple of reasons; there was no proof, and Rayquaza is a legendary Pokemon. Almost nobody has ever seen one, so why should there be a sudden spurt of sightings?"
"But then proof arrived in an unexpected way," Professor Oak cut in. "Your match was shown around the world. Everybody watching saw the Rayquaza arrive and attack. The trouble is that now that everybody is looking for the Rayquaza, it seems to have disappeared. Nobody's seen it since it destroyed the Colosseum."
Ash shook his head. "Where did all of the attacks start?" he asked.
"Last night the news crew said that the first reported attacks happened on Kumquat Island," Caroline said. A cold pit suddenly materialized in Ash's stomach. He looked up and his eyes sought Brock. They stared at each other, each hoping that they were wrong.
"Could somebody please get me a map of the Orange Islands?" Ash asked, forcing himself to stay calm. Looking confused, Delia strode off to the bookcase in the living room. She quickly returned with an atlas of the Pokemon World. Ash took it from her with fumbling fingers and flipped to the Index, finding the page that showed all of the Orange Islands.
"Has anybody heard anything about any other attacks in the Orange or Sevii Islands?" Brock asked.
"There was something about a Zapdos appearing near Kinnow Island, but because there was no proof some of the people investigating the Rayquaza attacks have said that it was probably just a misidentified Rayquaza," Delia said.
Gary snorted. "It's a bit difficult to mistake them," he said. "One's yellow and has wings; the other's green and looks like a flying snake."
"Oh..." Misty whispered softly, looking over Ash's shoulder at the atlas.
"What?" May asked.
"Kumquat Island is north of Shamouti Island," Brock said. "Just south of Shamouti, there are three islets - Fire Island, Ice Island, and Lightning Island. They're the homes of Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos."
"When I was in the Orange Islands, something extremely bad happened," Ash said.
"That's an understatement," Misty muttered. Latias suddenly ran down the stairs in her human form. She beamed at everyone, waving, but to her surprise nobody noticed her appearance.
"A Pokemon Collector was trying to catch a Lugia," Ash continued. "To do that, he had to lure it out by capturing all three legendary birds. He knew that Lugia would appear because it's their guardian, for lack of a better word."
"I remember that too," Professor Oak said. "But when he began to capture the birds it disrupted the world's weather. This time, the Pokemon are attacking."
"I'm positive that the burn was caused by Moltres," Ash said. "I don't know of any other Pokemon that could do so much damage to a legendary."
"Maybe it was an Entei," Misty suggested. Gary shook his head.
"Entei can't cross water, Misty," he said. "Whatever it was, it either lived there or flew there. A Moltres is the only thing that makes sense."
"But why would a Moltres just attack a Rayquaza for no reason?" May asked. "It doesn't make sense." Everybody fell silent for a few moments, trying to think of reasons why this would have happened.
"There was something else I noticed about the Rayquaza," Ash said slowly. "For some reason, it was only attacking the Pokemon at first. It was only after they all disappeared behind the dust that it started to attack the actual building."
"The same thing happened at the lab," Tracey said. "It only tried to attack the building when the Pokemon ran inside, and it ignored me completely." The colour drained from Professor Oak's face.
"You say that it was only attacking the Pokemon?" he asked. Ash and Tracey both nodded. "Did you notice anything else... strange, about it?" he asked.
"I thought that it had a weird look in it's eyes," Ash said, screwing up his eyes in concentration. "I've seen a Rayquaza before, but never looking like that. They were kind of glinting. And it shuddered a couple of times too, but it was barely noticeable."
"I remember the eyes too," Tracey said. "They had a cruel, look in them, but there was pain there too. I can't remember seeing it shudder though."
"What is it, Gramps?" Gary asked, seeing the look on the Professor's face. "Do you know why the Rayquaza acted that way?"
"I have a glimmer of an idea, but I've never heard of it affecting a Pokemon in that way before," Professor Oak said, turning away from the table.
"Professor Oak, please tell us what you think," Brock said.
The Professor turned back slowly and uttered one word: "Pokerus."
I'll say it for you: Cliffhanger! As usual, please review. It helps me out more than you realize, and I'm always interested to hear everybody's thoughts. I'm not sure when Chapter 11 will go up, but it's on the way!