Chapter 11

"Wow! This is one the most delicious meals I've ever had," Zea exclaimed as she finish her lunch, which Ash and May had prepared. "You two are great cooks,"

"Oh stop. You're embarrassing us." May inquired as a light blush formed on her and Ash's face.

"No. I mean it! This is great!" Zea continued complementing.

"Eevee!" her pokémon chimed.

"Eve sure agrees with me." Zea said petting her pokémon.

"Well… we're glad you like it anyway," Ash said. "There's more if you want,"

"Thanks," Zea replied. "But I'm ok. I might take some for when I'm ready to leave."

"What?" they all asked.

"You're leaving already?" Misty asked.

"I need to try to catch up with my friend and my brother." Zea explained, "We got separated when those Beedrill attacked. There was a fork in the road, so we ended up going in different directions while trying to get away. My brother and my friend went the same direction, but since Eve was the one that bothered the Beedrill, most of them went after me."

"Oh. I guess they must be really worried about you." Misty said.

"Not completely." Zea replied. "I sent them a message on their cell phones. My brother said that they're in Vermillion City right now; which is where we were heading to anyway,"

"But I will be sticking around for a while; that is… if you guys don't mind."

"Oh, of course. In fact, I want to ask you something Zea," May said.

--

"(What are you up to Espe?)" Umbreon asked, opening one eye to look up at his mate. He was lying in the grass trying to get some rest when Espeon, along with Jolteon and Vaporeon, came up to him.

"(Come on Umbrehun. I have a really strong feeling about these people,)" Espeon urged. "(But I can't do it without you. Jolteon and Vaporeon already agreed to help,)"

"(I told you,)" Umbreon said, bringing his head up, "(We shouldn't get ourselves involved. It's none of our business,)"

"(But...)"

"(But nothing! I'm not getting involved in this,)" Umbreon exclaimed. "(Let their pokémon deal with it. And I thought you said you weren't getting involved.)"

"(I changed my mind. Pleeeeeeeeaaaase Umbrehun,)" Espeon continued, giving him the most irresistible puppy-dog eyes she could put on.

Umbreon groaned. He could never resist that. "(Fine. I'll help, but just this one time,)" he said finally giving in.

"(Yay! You're the best Umbrehun,)" Espeon exclaimed with excitement as she gave her mate a lick on the cheek.

Umbreon sighed. "(I had to go for the psychic one,)" he thought as he got up and followed the three pokémon ahead of him. Espeon heard his thoughts but decided not to make a big deal out of it.

--

"(What are they up to?)" Pikachu asked, when he saw four of the new comer's pokémon going toward the trainers.

"(That pokémon, Espeon, it's a psychic type right. She must have sensed what was going on between our trainers,)" Roselia suggested.

"(I guess,)" Corsola pondered.

--

"Oh ok. What about?" Zea asked.

"Huh?" Zea paused when she saw her pokémon come up behind the four trainers.

"Huh?" the four trainers looked at the pokémon confused as to why they had shown up the way they did.

Ash and May were sitting together, as were Drew and Misty. Umbreon went over and sat next to Ash, Espeon next to May, Jolteon next to Drew and Vaporeon next to Misty. (Makes sense considering how Misty loves water pokémon. Lol)

"What are your pokémon doing?" Drew asked.

"I don't know." Zea replied. "I've never seen them do anything like this before."

Then all of a sudden Umbreon's rings and Espeon's gem began to glow very brightly, until the lights somehow merged with each other, and then engulfing Ash and May in the light. Ash and May shut their eyes tight in fear and preparation of getting hurt by what the pokémon were doing; but to their surprise, they felt nothing. They only engulfed in the light. After a few seconds, the light disappeared, and the two pokémon walked away. Now it was Jolteon and Vaporeon's turn. Small sparks began to surround Jolteon's body, while Vaporeon made a small whirlpool of bubbles around her.

"They aren't going to do what Umbreon and Espeon just did, are they?" Drew asked in fear of getting shocked by Jolteon.

Then, just like Espeon and Umbreon, Jolteon and Vaporeon merged the electric sparks and bubbles, as they intertwined and began to do some kind of dance around Drew and Misty without the attack touching them to do any harm. Then in a few seconds, it too dispersed, and the two walked away as well.

"That was weird." May stated as they all watched the evolution pokémon walk away.

"Too weird." Ash added, as well as agreeing with her.

"What was that about?" Misty asked.

"I don't know." Zea replied, blinking twice in confusion. "I'll find out later."

"Anyway, what did you want to ask me May?" she asked.

"Oh right." May said, getting up from her seat. "Come with me." She said gesturing for Zea to follow. Eve hoped onto her head, just as she was about to get up and follow May.

"Misty, you come too," May said to the gym leader.

"Oh ok." Misty replied also getting up.

Ash and Drew watched in curiosity as the three girls went away from them to talk.

"What's May up too?" they both thought.

--

"Ok… what is it?" Zea asked when they were far enough from the boys.

"Listen Zea, I have a favor to ask you. I know this doesn't concern you, but we need your help." May started.

"We?" Zea asked, confused.

"Yes, we." Misty replied, having an idea of what May was up to.

"Ok… what then?" Zea asked again, a bit confused about the situation going on, her Eevee the same as its trainer.

"Well… you see," May started to explain. "We're kind of in the middle of a love square."

"Love square?" Zea asked.

"Yes. You see, just this morning Ash and I confessed our feelings to each other, and it turned out that we both felt the same about each other." May said.

"So what's the problem? And you two do make a cute couple."

"Eevee!" the pokémon agreed.

"Thanks." May replied, and then continued. "The problem is that, Drew and Misty have been trying to separate us in order to get to us."

"If that's the case, then why are you telling me this with Misty here?"

Misty's eyes furrowed as she put her head down to face the ground. "No offence though Misty."

"Yes well, that's beside the point." May continued. "You see, since Misty spent a lot of time with Drew trying to find ways to separate Ash and me, she somehow developed feelings for him."

"Ah. The ole spend time and fall for process." Zea commented.

"But Drew still has his mind on winning my heart, so they came up with this stupid plan of battling us to win the heart of the other."

"That is kind of stupid." Zea said. "I mean, you can't win someone's heart, you have to earn it."

"That's what I told Misty." May replied. "Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is because I accepted Misty's challenge and I know Ash has for sure accepted Drew's challenge; but in my case it's to help Misty admit her feelings for Drew."

"So where do I fit into all this?" Zea asked.

"I want you to referee our matches and to also help us show Drew how Misty feels about him." May replied.

"Uh… listen May; I don't mind refereeing the matches, but I wish not to… Oh dear Mew." Zea paused in her sentence and put her hand to her face.

"What's wrong?" Misty asked.

"I just realized what my pokémon were up to."

"What? You mean when they came behind us and did that weird thing?" May asked.

"Yea. I should have known that's what they were doing."

"What were they doing?" May asked again.

"They were giving you guys a blessing." Zea replied.

"Blessing?" Misty asked as she and May watched Zea in confusion.

"Yes. You see, my Espeon and Umbreon were the first couple in my team, therefore the bond that they share is really strong." Zea explained. "Well as, my Jolteon and Vaporeon were the second pair in my team and their bond is still developing."

"A complete bond and a developing bond. Hmm." May said softly, putting her right index finger on the side of her face in thought. A blush came to her cheeks when realization kicked it.

"Are you saying that the bond that Ash and I share is really strong?" May asked.

"No. I'm saying that the feelings you two share is strong. You haven't developed the bond yet. But it will in time," Zea explained. "As for the case of Drew and Misty, there is room for a possible relationship."

"What do you mean by 'possible relationship'?" Misty asked, somewhat angry.

"I'm saying, that there's a possibility that Drew will accept the feelings you have for him; or he may never get over his loss to win May's heart."

A frown came to Misty's face.

"But after that blessing Jolteon and Vaporeon gave you two, I… wouldn't worry about it too much. It's a high chance that you two will get together." Zea explained.

--

"Drew?" Ash called to the coordinator.

"Hm?" Drew replied, turning his attention to Ash.

"Are you… sure you still want to battle me?" Ash asked. "I mean… it's pointless. Even if you do win which you won't (thought), May's not going to change her mind to go with you."

"I'll take my chance." Drew sternly replied. Ash just sighed and shook his head in disbelief.

--

"(For real!)" Squirtle exclaimed/asked sparkly eyes. "(Ash is going to use me for the battle! Dude, this is so awesome! I get to battle with Ash again!)"

"(And May's going to use me? Well that should be fun.)" Squirt acclaimed.

"(I guess its going to be a battle between water pokémon. I wonder who Misty is going to use,)" Pikachu pondered.

"(I'll battle with her,)" Corsola volunteered. "(She does use me for most of these kind of battles anyway.)"

"(And I guess it's me with Drew.)" Masquerain announced.

"(Ok everyone! Planning time! Everyone huddle up!)" Pikachu announced as all the pokémon came together for the discussion.

--

"What time exactly do you guys expect to have the battle?" Zea asked.

"Oh, I didn't discuss that with Drew," Misty replied.

"Well… it's about 2:15 now," May said, looking at her pokénav. "How about around… 3:00?"

"Ok. That sounds alright," Misty agreed.

"Good." Zea said, "Mention it to Drew, ok Misty. So he can mention it to Ash,"

"Ok, I'll go tell him," Misty nodded and went over to talk with Drew about the battle time.

"In the meantime, I'll go have a little training with my Squirtle." May said to Zea.

"Ok then," Zea replied and then went to spend some quality time with her pokémon, as well as have a talk with her Espeon, Umbreon, Jolteon and Vaporeon.

---

Ok. That's chapter 11 for now guys. Next chapter will be the battles, so look forward to it.

Please review, for they are important on helping improve the story.