Chapter 10: Trouble Ahead
~(o'-'o)~
Yeah, so there's a bit of a delay this time because I went to Ohio, home of the big fields of corn, beans, and wheat. There wasn't any wifi there, so there wasn't much I could do.
You know that feel you get when you're in the middle of a project but you stop for a while (for whatever reason) and then it takes you a while to get back into it again, that started happening to me. But I'm going to Washington DC pretty soon (yeah, a lot of traveling lately) so I forced myself to correct this so I could put it out.
Fun fact: Gengar got number 17 of 100 in IGN's most liked Pokémon ever; he even beat Pikachu (I was very happy)
I don't own Pokémon, if I did, Ash would totally catch a Gengar.
~(o'-'o)~
May's POV
Today was the day, Ash's birthday. And how did he decide to spend it? He slept in. After everything that happened on the cliff yesterday, Dawn apologized as well, which of course, Ash forgave her for. Then we all had an awkward talk about what Dawn and I were fighting about. Of course, we lied and said because we were rivals and both coordinators. I think we convinced Ash, but Pikachu was not as dense as his trainer, and figured out what was really going on between me and Dawn. Gengar didn't seem to pay attention to our conversation at all, he would just move from Ash's lap, to my lap, to Ash's lap again, back and forth. He looked around and found various things around the room, playing around with them for a little bit before throwing it on the floor. So by the time our conversation was over, the room was a disaster and it took us forever to clean up. That's why we stayed up late, and why Ash was sleeping in.
"Come on Ash, you don't want to sleep your birthday away, do you?" I asked him, Dawn had gone out to the Cafeteria and along with Nurse Joy, was making a big breakfast for Ash. Pikachu and Gengar were playing around in the room, chasing each other, I had told them not to pull anything out.
I shook Ash a little bit, "Are you really going to sleep the day away?" I asked
"Sounds like a good idea." Ash said into his pillow, he was laying on his stomach, arms under his pillow for support and face buried deep in it. I put my hands on my hips and sighed.
"There's a big breakfast waiting for you out there..." I told him. Ash didn't even budge. If that would get him up, I could only think of one thing that could. I glanced at Pikachu, who stopped running around the room and looked at me, his cheeks began to spark, just waiting for the command. I put a finger up, signifying him to wait a minute; an idea had popped into my head.
"Ash are you ticklish?" I asked him, giggling a little.
"No..." He mumbled into his pillow.
"Okay then, Then you shouldn't mind if I do this." I told him. I leaned over him and began to tickle him on the both his sides.
"What test?- Whoa! Ha yow! Okay! Okay! Stop!" He pleaded, but I continued to tickle him, Pikachu and Gengar had again, stopped chasing each other and watched us.
"I'll get up! I'll get up!" He yelled, so I stopped tickling him. He sat in his bed breathing heavily, I could feel my face heat up and a blush spread across my face. Ash didn't notice though, he just threw on his shoes, jacket, and hat. Pikachu and Gangar hopped on his shoulders.
"Unlike some people, I can get ready to start my day in no time!" he said proudly.
"Oh whatever..." I said giggling and playfully pushing him. He just smiled and walked out of the room. I had to admit, the day had come to a pretty good start. I got down on my hands and knees and pulled out the Blue and black egg from under the bunk bed. I examined it, making sure it was well shined and looking good. Satisfied, I set the egg up by the window.
I walked into the Pokémon Center cafeteria, where Ash was gaping at a large table full of food. Dawn stood by it proudly, even Pikachu was impressed. I noticed that Ash was starting to drool.
"Well, there's no point in letting this food just sit here, let's eat." Dawn said, we had agreed to get along for Ash's birthday. We all sat down and ate to our hearts content, other trainers stared at the food as they walked by, envying our gigantic meal. Me, Ash and Dawn were eat a little bit of everything, our Pokémon were eating Pokémon food on the floor, Pikachu was slurping away at a bottle of ketchup, and Gengar was just staring at the food on the table. I pushed some hash browns to him.
"Try it, you'll love it." I told him, he slowly tried it, and loved it, but I guess that wasn't much of a surprise. Needless to say, after that, nobody else got any hash brown.
"I guess he'll eat any form of a fried potato." Ash said, watching the food on Gengar's plate seemingly evaporate.
"It's like he inhales it..." Dawn added. The food on the table was also seemingly inhaled as we made it all magically disappear. Ash let out a satisfied burp.
"That's what I call a meal." he said, patting his stomach.
"Ash, where are your manners?" Dawn asked jokingly, referring to the burp.
"The birthday boy can do whatever he wants." Ash said.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
After a gigantic breakfast, we did a few other things, mostly played with our Pokémon. I was glad I had forgiven May and Dawn about what had happened yesterday, it made my birthday that much more enjoyable. We had a good time, we laughed and cried. Well, Dawn cried when Pachirisu used Discharge on her. Dawn demanded that we stop, and she went and took a shower. Even as an eleven year old now, I still don't understand girls.
It got late and we all headed to our room, May demanded that I stand out in the hall while she got her present for me ready. My Pokémon and I all sat in the hallway outside the door until May finally let us in.
I always hated opening presents in front of people; there is just something so awkward about it. But none the less I opened everything. Pikachu had gotten me a bottle of ketchup, which was already opened and half used, Totodile, Gengar, and Gible's gifts consisted of rocks, twigs, leaves, and other things you could find on the ground outside, but it's the thought that counts... Right?
"Open mine next," Dawn said, handing me a small box. I opened it up it was a type of Pokéball.
"It's a Master Ball," Dawn explained, "It is capable of catching any Pokémon, there is no chance it can escape. They're extremely rare and took me forever to get one
"Whoa," Was all I could say, I gazed at the Pokéball in my hand, was it really capable of that kind of power? "Thanks a lot Dawn." I said. May pulled out a bag with something in it.
"I couldn't really wrap this, It didn't feel right, so I put it in the bag instead," she told me. I reached inside the bag and pulled out an egg case that had a blue and black Pokémon egg in it. "Whoa! It's a Pokémon egg, do you know what Pokémon will hatch from it?" I asked.
May shook her head, "I was hoping you could tell me. Gengar liked it, so I thought you would too." I examined the egg.
"Thanks a lot May." I told her, suddenly, the egg started to glow. "Whoa talk about good timing..." I said.
"Maybe it's choosing to hatch because he likes you." May suggested. We ran to the Lobby of the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy took the egg and placed it on a soft surface under a few lights to keep it warm. The egg continued to glow.
"I wonder what it will be..." Dawn said. The egg suddenly maintained it's glow and began to change shape, the glow dimmed and there the baby Pokémon sat. The baby Pokémon opened his eyes and looked straight at me.
"Riiih!" He said.
"Whoa, May, it was a Riolu." I said. The Riolu hopped happily into my arms.
"A Riolu?" May asked pulling out her Pokédex.
"Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon." The Pokédex began, "When sad or scared, Riolu's aura becomes stronger as a way of signaling its allies."
"Remeber when we met that Riolu in Shinnoh?" Dawn asked.
"How could I forget?" I asked her I never forgot the baby fighting type that had the ability to control aura so well, even at such a young age. I looked down at the Riolu that was in my arms looking down at me. The Pokémon smiled at me obviously happy be there.
"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu said to the Riolu, approaching it, ready to make a new friend.
"Roooh!" Riolu replied, the two began to have a friendly conversation, I looked over at May.
"May, I've wanted a Riolu ever since I first saw one." I told her, I put Riolu on the ground with Pikachu, I embraced her. "Thank you." I told her. I didn't want either of them to think that I was choosing favorites, so I hugged Dawn and thanked her for the Master Ball as well.
"It will definitely come in handy." I told her. We realized how late it was getting, and decided to go to bed. My bed was beginning to get cramped now that I was sharing it with Pikachu, Gengar, and Riolu, who had snuggled up against me.
"Good night everyone." I said.
"Pika..."
"Gengar Gen..."
"Riiiahh."
"Good night Ash." Dawn said.
"And Happy Birthday," May finished.
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
Our next town was Ecruteak City, which was going to be quite a trip considering we had to go though Routes 35, 36, and 37. Ash had accepted that Dawn and I were rivals, even though he didn't know the true reason why, which meant that we fought more in the open. Pikachu sat on Ash's shoulder most of the time, and Riolu would sat on the other, or wander around, he was a very curious Pokémon, inspecting everything we walked by, whether it be a flower, river, tree, or another Pokémon. Ash would try his best to keep up with Riolu and explain to him what different objects were.
Rookie would run up to an object and point at it, and Ash would have to explain what it was, "These are trees, some trees grow berries that we can eat, that's a river were water flows, you can drink the water or swim in it, and these are flowers, they are pretty little plants that grow everywhere, they make nice gifts too." Every time Ash finished describing something, the little Riolu would run over to something else. Gengar kept himself entertained by goofing around as we traveled, or sitting on Ash's or my head. My feet began to hurt and my legs began to ache, so I fell on my hands and knees.
"Ash's can we stop and take a break?" I asked wearily.
"We've barely made any progress, look, you can still see Goldenrod city from here," Dawn said.
"Yeah, well maybe that's because we're going uphill nitwit!" I shouted, getting frustrated.
"May if you hadn't eaten a breakfast the size of a Wailord this wouldn't be a problem!" Dawn shot back.
"I didn't eat that much!" I protested.
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"Shut up!" Ash shouted, "We'll stop and take a break, I wanted to do a little training anyways."
"Thank the lord..." I said.
"Oh brother..." Dawn said. "If I'm late for another contest, I'm holding May responsible." I rolled my eyes; she would never get over that. We moved a little bit away from the path, and found a great clear spot to train, I plopped myself down in the soft grass, and watched Ash do some training with Totodile. Pikachu was helping Ash, Gengar was taking a nap next to me, Dawn rested a safe distance away from me, but where was Riolu? I looked around, I stood up and looked back and forth, suddenly, I felt a light tap on my leg. I looked down; Riolu was standing at my feet, looking up at me, and holding a flower up to me. I sat back down and took the flower.
"How sweet, thank you," I told Riolu.
"Riiiiah!" He replied happily. Nobody else seemed to notice Riolu's action. Was this another possible Pokémon reflecting their trainer's feelings, or was Riolu just being nice? I sighed, I didn't know, I wished it was the first guess, but it didn't seem likely. Riolu sat down beside me and watched Ash train was Totodile, seeming fascinated by the moves being used. Suddenly, Riolu charged at Totodile at full speed and used Tackle on him, knocking Totodile over.
"Whoa, Riolu! What was that all about?" Ash asked it, but not harshly.
"Riiiiiiy?" Riolu asked. Totodile angrily got up, threw is head back and began to charge up a Hydro Pump.
"Totodile, No!" Ash shouted. Totodile shot a jet of water at the baby Pokémon. Ash leapt in the way, taking the full force of the blow. Totodile saw what he was doing and stopped, Ash layer on the ground.
"Ash!" I shouted. I ran over to him, Pikachu, Totodile, and Riolu all looked concerned. Dawn ran up as well.
"Rooooah?" Riolu said, he shook Ash gently. Ash's stirred a little.
"Nice Hydro Pump, Totodile..." He said weakly, Totodile bowed his head in shame. "Don't worry, it's not your fault." Ash said. Dawn gave Ash a hand and lifted him up from the ground. Riolu was pleased to see that Ash was okay, and hopped into Ash's arms.
"I think Riolu thinks of you as his father, Ash," I told him, he looked down at the Pokémon in his arms. Everyone went back to what they had been doing before, and after a little more training with Totodile, Ash's stomach rumbled.
"Oh no!" Dawn exclaimed, "We forgot to get food for our trip in Goldenrod City!" She appeared to be extremely frustrated.
"Have no fear..." Ash said, digging through his backpack pulling out some food, "... Ash is here." we ate some of the food Ash had gotten, and hit the road again.
"Hopfully, both you guys will be able to participate in the next contest." Ash said as we walked, "Strange how one of you always missed a contest."
"Well I would have been able to get there on time if Dawn hadn't tied me to a tree in the middle of the forest!" I blabbed, I cover my mouth with my hands, regretting the words I just said. Dawn looked surprised, Ash seemed to be thinking.
"Well that's not tha- wait a minute- WHAT?" He asked, he had a completely amazed look in his face.
"Well... I... Um... I didn't mean..." I tried to cover up my mistake.
"Dawn tied you to a tree so you couldn't participate in the contest?" he asked me.
"N-na-no...no... Yes..." I admitted, Ash looked at Dawn.
"Why?" He asked.
"Well May bribed Gengar into scaring Pachirisu so that it would released discharge and mess up my hair! I was just getting revenge!" Dawn said. I was going to tell him about her 'Hand in the Warm Bowl of Water' Prank, But Ash only thought our rivalry was about contests, if he realized that the rivalry it was actually a rivalry over him by thinking about the prank, it would end bad.
"I-I-I can't believe you two..." He said, "All this just over contests, that's not what Pokémon Contest are about!" he broke into a run and dashed ahead, Pikachu and Riolu riding on his shoulders and Gengar floating next to him.
"Ash, please wait!" I shouted to him, but he didn't stop.
"Great job, Princess..." Dawn said coldly.
"It's not my fault you're such a jerk, and go so overboard!" I snapped.
"Well maybe if you weren't such an annoying brat, I wouldn't do things like that!"
"So you're blaming me for you being a jerk?"
"No, but I should, because everything has been your fault May!" Dawn shouted and stamped off down the path Ash's left. I pulled at my hair, stamped my feet, and let out a scream. Dawn was driving me crazy, how could Ash tolerate her. I stopped and thought for a moment, was I any different? Was I just as big of an idiot as Dawn? I just wished I could fix everything, but that wasn't going to happen. Ash had given us each so many chances, would he forgive us for the umpteenth time? I sighed sadly, and walked down the path again.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
"I just don't understand girls Pikachu..." I said.
"Pikachu..." Pikachu agreed.
"Ri?" Riolu asked.
"Dawn and May have been fighting even before we left for Johto, Riolu." I told him. Gengar was floating beside me, looking a little sad.
"If this was just a rivalry about contests, does it really have to be this intense? Not even Paul was that bad. Their both starting to act like Harley." I told my Pokémon. Suddenly, something grabbed my arm and I was pulled into the bushes along with Pikachu and Riolu.
"What the-!" I started to say, but a hand covered my mouth, I turned my head and saw a boy with spiky brown hair with a finger over his mouth signaling to be quiet. Gengar floated into the bushes with us.
"Gary?" I asked quietly.
"Shhhh!" He said. We heard voices in the distance.
"We scanned the area nobody else is around, do you want to keep it under watch?... Yes sir!" A few men in black suits appeared a down the path, walking in our directions, as they got closer, I could make out a big red 'R' on their uniforms: Team Rocket. But this wasn't Jessie, James, and Meowth, these were other men working under Giovanni's orders.
"Orders are to stay on the look out in case a stupid traveler missed a route closed sign and didn't take the detour." One of the grunts said. What sign? I thought I didn't see a sign!
Another grunt spoke up, "Yeah, but what are the chances? The sign is so big at you'd have to be blind and not see it!" what the heck? I must have ignored it all together. Gary saw the looked on my face and snickered, immediately covering his mouth. The rocket grunts stopped.
"Did you hear that?" One asked. "It came from the bush!" Gary and I held our breaths, Pikachu and Riolu held into me tightly. One grunt approached the bush.
"There's something in there," he said and just as he was about to reach the bush, Gengar popped out of the bush and use Astonish on the Grunt, who fell over on his butt.
"It was just a Gengar..." He said, shaking. "L-let's go..." the group walked away. When I was sure they were far enough away I spoke up.
"Great thinking Gengar," I turned to Gary, "So what are you doing out here?"
"Well, me and Gramps where out doing some research, we separated for a little while, and when I came back to meet him, he was in the custody of Team Rocket and was being pushed into a car. I followed the car as best I can to try to find where they took him." Gary explained.
"Oh no!" I said, "May and Dawn are still out there!"
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
I walked down the path, trying to think of some way to make Ash want to forgive me for a third time, a forth time if you counted when we found the berry tree.
"That Gengar really shook ya didn't it." I heard someone say.
"Yeah, it just came out of no where!" someone else said, "Hey you! halt!" A bunch of men in ran up to me, "Didn't you see the sign?" One asked.
"What sign-" I began.
"Never mind," He said, someone grabbed my arms and hand cuffed them, "You'll be coming with us..." they tool my Pokémon from my pack.
"Hey! Give those back!" I began to struggle, but the man holding me back was too strong. I kicked and wiggled but it didn't do any good. I was about to scream my loudest, but they gagged me also.
"May?" Everyone turned around, Dawn was standing in the middle of the path.
"Get her!" someone said, Dawn ran down the path with two grunts going after her. It wasn't long before they returned, but Dawn was now handcuffed and a gagged as well. What was going on?
"Take them to the base and return here as quickly as possible." A grunt said the others.
"Yea sir!" four of them replied, we began to walked doing the path, completely helpless, two grunts walking on either side of me, and two on either side of Dawn. As we walked down the path, I noticed red eyes staring at me in the bushes, two familiar red eyes.
"Let them go!" Someone shouted, we all turned around, it was Ash.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
We heard footsteps approach us, well all held our breath. Six people were walking down the path. One was May, who was cuffed and gagged, the other was Dawn, who was cuffed and gagged as well, and other four were men who had passed us before. Gengar stared at May, following her as they walked, May seemed to notice and acknowledge Gengar. I hopped out of our hiding place.
"Let them go!" I shouted angrily. They all turned around and looked at me.
"Don't be ridicules kid, you're insanely out numbered, now why don't you come with us?" One grunt said, pulling out another set of cuffs.
"Not so fast..." Gary stepped out of his hiding spot, "...Let's show them what we're made of!" he told me, grabbing a Pokéball.
The Team Rocket Grunt did not seem pleased, "Grr, we don't have time for this, Koffing, use smoke screen!" He threw a Pokéball in the air and The Poison Gas Pokémon can out. It released a screen if smoke, making it impossible to see. When the smoke disappeared, they were gone.
"Cowards..." Gary said.
"We have to save them, and Professor Oak too!" I said.
"Pikapika!" Pikachu agreed. We ran down the path in the same direction the Rocket Grunts had been heading with May and Dawn.
"There will probably be tons of other Rocket Grunts looking for us..." Gary said as we ran.
"Yeah so we'll have to be extra careful." I told him. We raced down the path until...
"Freeze!" someone shouted. We turned and saw a Grunt with an Arbok running to us from behind.
"You keep going Ash..." Gary said, pulling out a Pokéball, "... I'll take care of this!" I nodded and continued running along with Pikachu, Riolu, and Gengar. We found a fork in the road, one of the paths looked newly made, so we raced down that one.
"Whoa..." I said.
"Piiikaaahh..." Pikachu said surprised. At the end of the path a gigantic fortress sat, it was heavily guarded.
"This isn't going to be easy..." I said. I looked at my Pokémon. "I'm going to need all of your guy's help. Are you ready?" I asked.
"Pikachu!"
"Rriii!"
"Gengar!"
"Totodile, Gible, come in out!" I released the two Pokémon. "Gible, I want you to use dig and get over to that door," I said, pointing at the entrance. Gible disappeared underground, "Now Pikachu, I want you follow Gible into the hole." I said, Pikachu and Totodile nodded and hopped into the hole. I was left with Riolu, Totodile and Gengar.
"Totodile when I signal, use Hydro Pump into the hole." I said. along with Riolu and Gengar by my side I ran to the guards at the door.
"Hey kid! You shouldn't be here! We have no choice but to take you to our commanding officer!" One of the two said.
"Not without a battle!" I told them. They both smirked.
"Very well then!" One said, the two release their two Arboks. Suddenly, Gible popped out of ground right between us, he hopped out with Pikachu, both joining my side. I signaled Totodile, and soon, Water burst out of the hole Gible made, squirting water everywhere.
"Pikachu Thunderbolt at the water! Riolu Protect!" As Pikachu launched a vigorous Thunderbolt, A green ball surrounded me, Riolu, Gengar, and Gible, protecting us from the lightning. The guards and their Pokémon fell over unconscious, the water everywere had given Pikachu's attack double the effect. After Totodile caught up to us, we all entered the building using a card key the grunts had. We walked down a hall way and made a few turns trying to find... What? We weren't really looking to a location in particular, just Dawn and May, but first I needed to know where they were.
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
We sat before the leader of Team Rocket, the man behind the chaos: Giovanni. He was looking both me and Dawn straight in the eye. He sat behind a large desk our Pokéballs in a neat pile in the corner. We were other on the other side in small uncomfortable chairs, ungagged, but still cuffed.
"So tell me why you're here..." he said.
"We're here because your stupid henchmen dragged us here!" Dawn said, the 'henchman' behind her slapped her in the back of the head.
"That's not what I meant," Giovanni said calmly, "I mean what were you going here, in this forest, walking down the path. Where you looking for us? Trying to figure out our secrets?"
"We where on our way to Ecruteak City," I said.
"'We?'" He asked raising an eyebrow, "You mean you were together? Our guards found you alone before bumping into her." he motioned to Dawn.
"We got separated." I said.
"Were you two separated from anyone else." he asked.
"No," I lied.
"What are you up to?" Dawn blurted out. Giovanni gave Dawn a stare.
"A while ago," Giovanni began, "We created a Pokémon, the most powerful Pokémom in the world. The Pokémon was unstoppable, nothing could defeat it! But he got smart, and turned on us. He destroyed our base and fled. Several times we have tried to get it back... But failed. This is part of my new plan to capture that Pokémon, so that our life of crime and riches, maybe even world domination would be in my reach."
"What's your plan?" I asked.
"My plan?" Giovanni began, "This power house we created is no match for any normal Pokémon, the only ones who could stand a chance against it are a powerful Legendary Pokémon, such as Rayquaza whom we are attempting to catch..."
I was in disbelief; he really planned to do that? "How do we fit into this?" I asked.
"You don't," Giovanni stated, "You were just a few clueless fools who stumbled into our territory."
"So will you let us go?" Dawn asked.
"No," Giovanni said.
"WHAT! WHY NOT!" Dawn screamed, jumping up from her chair the grunts quickly grabbed her and pushed her into her seat again. My ears rang horribly from Dawn's outburst, Giovanni remained unfazed.
"You've seen and heard too much, our best and cheapest option would be to eliminate you for good." I jumped, he was going to kill us. "But that is not my style, you two will be kept in a cell until I decide what to do." Giovanni said. "Now get out of my sight."
With that, we were grabbed by the grunts and shoved out of the office. We marched down the hall and into an elevator. One of the grunts pushed a button and the doors shut, when they reopened, we were pushed into a room with no windows and one door, there was white tile laid out on the floor and the wall was covered with white paint. We were un-handcuffed and the door closed behind us. We turned around and found that we were alone.
"Brilliant..." I said sarcastically.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
"Pikachu, do you think that you could find May and Dawn?" I asked.
"Pika?"
"You know, with your sense of smell or something." I told him. Pikachu fell over.
"I guess not... I said." We snuck around for a little while, Riolu and Totodile were on my shoulders, Gible and Pikachu were walking around, and Gengar was floating beside me.
"Hey, an elevator!" I said, walking up to the door. We move to the second floor and looked around some more.
"Man, this is weird." I said, "where are all the Team Rocket grunts?" My Pokémom also found it odd. After inspecting a few floors, Gengar and Pikachu both stopped and looked at one particular door.
"What is it you guys?" I asked.
"Pikapika!" Pikachu said.
"Do you think their in their?" I asked, Pikachu nodded. I walked up to the door, "Is anyone in there!" I called in the door.
"Ash!" May shouted from behind the door, "you came!"
"Of course I came, now stand back. Pikachu, Iron tail on the door!" I shouted.
"PiiiiKAAH!" Pikachu shouted as he broke the door in half.
"Ash!" May and Dawn shouted as they races out the door, both hugging me awkwardly.
"I knew you'd come!" Dawn said, nuzzling me with her head.
"But I don't get it, Team Rocket made it so easy. It was like they wanted me to find you..." I said.
"And you took forever..." Someone said, before we knew it, we were surrounded by Rocket Grunts. "Now I believe you have what we want..." The head of the group said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," The grunt said, he grabbed me as another started inspecting me.
"Let. Ash. GO!" May shout, socking him in the face, he fell into several others, making and opening to escape. We all raced to the elevator, we crammed in and closed the door just before the Rocket Grunts reached us.
"To the first floor!" I said.
"Wait!" May grabbed my arm, "Our Pokémon." May pressed a button on the elevator we moved higher up in the building, we reached the top and the doors opened.
"Dawn, stay here and make sure the elevator doesn't go anywhere, I'll get your Pokéballs." I said, May and I ran down the hall and stopped at one of the many doors.
"This is the one..." she said, My Pokémon were ready to attack if anyone was inside. We opened the door, and found it empty. After grabbing the Pokéballs off the desk, we all raced back to the elevator. Dawn happily took her Pokéballs and we headed to the first floor, were we found no one.
"Let's get out of here!" I said. We all ran towards the door, burst out of it, to find an army of Team Rocket Henchmen before us, their familiar leader standing at the front.
"You didn't think I'd let you get away so easily did you?" Giovanni asked. "Now hand over your Master Ball."
"So that's want you guys wanted!" I said.
"Yes, with a Master Ball, capturing Mewtwo would be easy! When our security camera picking you up the second you walked through the door, I noticed the Master Ball clipped to your belt, a very rare item indeed. Now hand it over and we'll let you and your friends go."
"Don't do it Ash!" May said, "he wants it for world domination!."
"But, he would let you go..." I told her.
"... And then the world there would be an Armageddon!" She demanded.
"Now listen boy," Giovanni said, "You're not the only ones we have." He snapped his finger in the air, two shoulders dragged two figures towards us.
"Gary?" Dawn called.
"Professor Oak!" I said.
"Pikapika!" Pikachu added.
"Give me your Master Ball, and we'll let you all go, we'll even take the liberty of getting you to Ecruteak City quickly." Giovanni said. I looked at all of my friends and nodded, I unclipped my Master Ball from my belt.
"Here," I said, Giovanni took the Pokéball.
"A wise decision..." He said, he pointed at a few Grunts, "Take them all to Ecruteak City." He commanded. We were escorted to a helicopter, and were soon flying through the air.
I stared into space, not thinking about or even aware of my surroundings, had I made the right choice? Just giving Team Rocket a powerful Pokéball like that? I know they would use it's power to take control of Mewtwo, but I had my friends at stake, I couldn't just refuse, he would have taken the ball from me anyways, except for by force. I had no choice, ugh, I was so blind! Why didn't I see the sign to avoid the route? They said it was obvious, if had just not gotten so mad at May and Dawn, we would be traveling safely, not worrying about what Team Rocket was up to. If someone gets hurt because of all of this, I will never forgive myself.
"I have to get that Master Ball back..." I said quietly to myself.
"What did you say Ash?" May asked, she was sitting next to me. I turned my head and looked at her.
May...
I knew what I did was right giving him the Master Ball, if May had been hurt in anyway, I would have killed someone, possibly myself. I shook my head.
Kill someone? Why? That's going a bit far I think. But the thought of May getting hurt got me angry. I guess the feeling was because she was a friend, but... It felt a like more than that. The only other people who would make me feel like that would be my mom and Pikachu. What the heck am I thinking? I shook my head again.
"Ash are you okay?" May asked, her hand gently rested on my shoulder. I snapped back to my senses.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" I said. We jerked around a little as the helicopter landed. My Pokémon, May, Dawn, Gary, Professor Oak, and I all got off, the helicopter quickly took off again.
"Well, now what?" Dawn asked.
"I think this calls for a poem." Professor Oak said.
"Not now Gramps." Gary said.
"I have to get my Pokéball back." I said.
"WHAT?" everyone said together, even my Pokémon looked surprised.
"I got to get it back before Team Rocket uses it and creates disaster." I told them.
"Ash, you can't just go back and try to get it back," Professor Oak said, "Just like in a battle, timing is everything."
"We need to wait for the best moment to strike," Gary said, "And right now is the worst."
"Well I can't just sit here and do nothing!" I said.
"Why don't you sign up for the Pokémon Contest." May suggested. "That'll take your mind off it for a while."
"May has a point." Professor Oak said. "While you are participating in the contest, Gary and I will return to our research for now."
"See ya Ash." Gary said as he turned around and walked away with Professor Oak. The rest of us stood there for a moment.
"Let's go and sign up for the contest," Dawn said, she grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the Contest Hall.
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
I was the first to sign up at the desk, when the lady at the desk asked, "So who will be your partner for this contest?"
"Partner?" I asked, Dawn and Ash both looked confused.
"I don't know? The contests here in Ecruteak City contain tag battles." She said, two ribbons are rewarded to the Tag Team that wins the contest." The woman said.
"Would you pardon me for a second?" I dragged Ash and Dawn out if the Pokémon Center.
"I think that will be a great." Ash said, "Both of you could get a Ribbon in one contest if you guys win."
"I'm not teaming up with 'Princess' here!" Dawn said. I got in her face, steaming mad.
"Would you stop calling me that?" I yelled at her.
"Stop calling you what, Princess?" Dawn shot back.
"Princess!"
"I can hear you Princess..."
"YOU CAN HEAR ME JUST FINE YOU LITTLE-"
We were interrupted by a voice "What's up you guys." we looked over to where the voice came from, and found Brendan was approaching us.
"Brendan..." Dawn said coldly, "YOU LITTLE SNITCH!" Brendan's expression turned from happy to scared.
"Uh ho..." He gulped. Dawn charged at Brendan but Ash's grabbed her, and held her in a bear hug that she couldn't escape from, she calmed down almost immediately, enjoying Ash's embrace.
"What do you have against Brendan Dawn?" Ash asked.
"Oh just a little grudge, that's all. It's no big deal, nothing to get super angry about..." Dawn said. Brendan and I sweat-dropped.
"So Ash," I said, "Would you pair up with me for the contest?"
"No! Pair up with me!" Dawn said. Brendan gave us odd looks.
"Sorry May, but I'm gonna pair up with Dawn this time, you're a ribbon ahead of her." Ash said, my heart sank. Stupid ribbon, why couldn't Dawn have won that contest.
"Thank you Ash!" Dawn said as she tackled him to the ground.
"Are you okay, May?" Brendan asked, I was not. I was sad, upset, disappointed, and jealous.
"I'm fine Brendan." I said, "Hey, would you like to pair up with me for this contest?" I asked.
"Well... I never have participated in one, I'm just here for a gym battle." Brendan said,
"Pleeeeeease?" I begged, I was not going to pair up with some stranger, Brendan was the only other person here that I knew.
"Oh, all right," Brendan said. Dang I really owed this guy.
"Thank you." I said, I was not going to knock him to the ground like Dawn did to Ash. We all went in and signed up.
"We should probably go train for a little while." Ash told Dawn.
"Yeah, by ourselves!" Dawn said, she grabbed Ash and dragged him away, the thought of them being alone together did not appeal to me, but there wasn't anything I could do at the moment.
"You like him, don't you." I jumped a little, and turned to see Brendan smirking at me.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to act like I didn't already know.
"Come on May, it's pretty obvious." Brendan said, "I'm surprised Ash hasn't notices yet.
"Ash is too dense to notice..." I said glumly.
"Why don't you just tell him?" Brendan asked.
"Because... I guess... I'm afraid of being rejected." I said, "Ash isn't someone who is interested in love, he wants to become a Pokémon Master. It's his dream, his ultimate objective; love is the last thing on his list of interests."
"Is that all?"
I stared at Brendan, thinking for a minute, "Well there's a chance he could like Dawn, or this other girl he used to travel with."
"But you just said he's not interested in love." Brendan gave me an odd look.
"I know... It's so confusing!" I said, "But it' like Professor Oak said 'Timing is everything' I have to tell him at the right time."
"Just make sure you're not too late," Brendan said. I sighed.
"Yeah, I know..." I said glumly.
"Come on," Brendan said, trying to lighten up the mood, "Let's go train."
~(o'-'o)~
Much thanks to all who have reviewed and read, if you have a awesome idea for the story, send it to me, maybe I will like it and put it in. also if you haven't already, check out my advenceshipping one-shots collection, I will be updating that soon too.