Chapter 11: The Bicker the Better
Thanks to all you wonderful people who reviewed, I read all of them. And a special thanks to Ghost of the Shadows, who has been reviewing anything I publish since the beginning, read some of his awesome Advanceshipping stories if you liked mine (or even if you don't like mine)
Disclaimer: don't own Pokemon, or the title of the chapter for that matter (Most Advanceshippers probably recognize it)
~(o'-'o)~
Ash's POV
"Welcome the the Ecruteak City Contest!" The announcer said, "Today we are going to watch many coordinators team up and show off their skills! Who's ready?" Even in the coordinator room, the roar of the crowd was deafening. This was the fourth contest I had ever entered. I never seemed to do very good, except for that unofficial contest with May, but that only had two rounds, and even then, I only tied. Of course, I had a type disadvantage during that battle.
"And next up are Dawn from Twinleaf town and Ash from Pallet Town!" The announcer said, me and Dawn went through the appeal with ease, we had practiced for hours trying to perfect it. May and Brendan also got through the appeal round easily. We battled other trainer teams, you could tell some weren't in sync. In the end, the final round was Me and Dawn against May and Brendan.
"I guess this was to be expected," I said. I hadn't had total confidence in myself, but Dawn's help, we managed. Now, we stood on one side of the battle field, while May and Brendan stood on the other, this would be interesting.
"Bayleaf! Take the stage!" May said.
"Piplup! Spotlight!" Dawn shouted.
"Fearow, let's do this!" Brendan stated. The Shiny Fearow emerged from it's Pokéball. So my old Spearow evolved.
"Alright then, Gengar, I choose you!" I said. "Dawn, you'll have a type disadvantage against May, so you take care of Brendan."
"Right," Dawn said.
"Fearow, Arial Ace!" Brendan's said.
"Piplup Bubble Beam!" Dawn shouted. The battle between them had started.
"Bayleaf, use tackle on Gengar!" May said. Bayleaf proceeded but went right through Gengar. "Oh no! I forgot normal type moves don't affect Ghost types." May said.
"Gengar, Shadow Ball!" I said, Gengar's shadow ball rammed into Bayleaf.
"Bayleaf!" The grass type said as she fell over. May and Brendan's points took a dive.
"Bayleaf! Use Razor Leaf!" May said. The sharp leaves scratched away at Gengar.
"Use Double Team to dodge!" I said. Multiple Gengars appeared on the stage.
"Vine whip on all of them!" May said.
"Shadow Punch!" I shouted. As the whips began to lash at Gengar, a huge fist raced at Bayleaf and knocked her away, stopping Vine Whip. I noticed a sudden draft. I looked over and saw thousands of Bubbles forming a tornado, Piplup was caught in the middle of it.
"Razar leaf at the tornado!" May shouted to Bayleaf. The tornado was now filled with razor leaves and bubbles.
"Ash! I could use some help!" Dawn shouted. I had to think fast and take a gamble.
"Gengar, Thunder Punch on the Tornado, and the fly as high as you can!"
"Spearow, fly high!" Brendan's shouted as Gengar lunged at the Tornado, his fist sparking.
"Geeeeeen-GAR!" He shouted as he slammed into the tornado with the attack before zipping upward. There was a huge explosion, lighting up the entire stadium. The end result was yellow, green, and blue sparkles floating everywhere.
"Amazing!" The announcer said, "The combined attacks of Bubble Beam, Whirl Wind, Razor Leaf, and Thunder Punch results and a magical display of sparks and sparkles flying everywhere! Never in my life have I seen such a colorful display. But it looks like two of the Pokémon are out."
I looked away from the effects the attacks created, and saw that Piplup and Bayleaf were both knocked out, while Fearow and Gengar floated in to the air, out of reach from the explosion. Both coordinators returned their Pokémon and congratulated them on a job well done.
"Looks Like it's just you and me Brendan!" I said, I took a glance at the scoreboard, we were in the lead by quite a bit, I just needed to keep Gengar from getting KOed.
"Spearow, Peck!" Shouted Brendan.
"Gengar, Double Team!" I shouted, Gengar split into multiples, avoiding the attack.
"Let's wrap this up, Hypnosis!" I said all the Gengar sent rings toward Fearow.
"Dive Fearow!" Fearow shot downward. "Now use fly!" He pulled up at the last second, and whipped through the air, attacking all the Gengars quickly. Until there was only one left.
"Let's Finish this!" Brendan said. He was going to take the bait.
May caught on to what I was doing, "Brendan wait! Look out for-" I interrupted her.
"Thunder Punch Gengar!" I called. The Gengar Brendan saw disappeared, and the real Gengar attacked from behind, slamming his sparking fist into the shiny bird. Spearow headed straight towards the ground, slamming into it hard and lifting up a lot of dust. When it settled, Fearow appeared to be knocked out. A buzzer blared as the judges declared Fearow out, Dawn and I were the victors.
"You did it!" Dawn shouted.
"WE did it." I told her, Dawn's face turned a little red, I was about to ask her if she was okay, but the announcer came up to us with two ribbons.
"Congratulations, you two, that was an incredible battle." She said, handing each of us a ribbon.
"Awesome! This is the first real contest ribbon I ever won." I said. Brendan and May approached us.
"Amazing battle Ash, I learned a lot from how you battled." Brendan said.
"Your Fearow was pretty amazing too." I told him, he smiled brightly. "Thanks, I think I may start become a coordinator as well as a trainer." Brendan said.
"Really?" May asked.
"Yeah, even though I lost, I had a lot of fun!" he said. "Now I have a gym battle to attend to after I heal Fearow at the Pokémon Center," Brendan said, running off.
"Bye Brendan," May said, "Thanks for being my partner! Good luck with your next Battle!" Brendan turned around and waved.
"Yeah, and make sure you get what you want before it's too late," Brendan called back, causing May to blush a little.
"See you around Brenden!" I told him.
"That's for sure!" He said, turning back around and racing out of the contest hall.
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
"Let's get something to eat." I said as my stomach growled. Ash's stomach began to growl as well.
"Yeah that contest is making me hungry." Ash replied. We all headed to a Noodle Shop and ordered our meals.
"I was surprised at how well you did Ash." I said to him, "I didn't know you could be so good at contests."
"Yeah, maybe you should help May brush up her skills, looks like she needs it." Dawn said.
WHAT?" I shouted. The everyone in the restaurant looked at our table, Ash began to sink in his seat, Pikachu, Gengar, and Riolu copied him.
"I'm just saying, you were beaten by someone who had never won an official contest before, you're skills just aren't up to pare with the rest of the competition." Dawn said innocently.
"Oh yeah? You got taken down by your own team mate!" I shouted.
"Guys! Cut it out!" Ash shouted. We both stopped and looked at him.
"She started it!" I said.
"Did not!" Dawn denied.
"Did to!"
"Did not!"
"Cut it out!" Ash shouted again, "before we get kicked out." we sat in silence.
"immature little pest..." Dawn mumbled.
"THAT'S IT!" I screamed, I grabbed my cup of water off the table an splashed Dawn with it, she let out a scream.
"Why you-!" She grabbed a bottle of ketchup from Pikachu's mouth and started squirting me with ketchup, Pikachu was enraged and electrified Dawn.
"Guys, stop it!" Ash said, but as he reached over, he knocked over his glass of water all over Gengars fries, Gengar got mad and smacked Ash in the face with the plate of now soggy fries. All the while, Dawn and I were throwing any food in reach at each other. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder firming and a hand plopped down on Dawn's. We were lifted up and carried to the front door before getting thrown out, Ash, Pikachu, Riolu and Gengar quickly followed.
"Told you so..." Ash mumbled, laying next to me.
"I'm sorry Ash..." I told him... Again. Pikachu was apologizing to Dawn for shocking her and Gengar was also sorry about throwing fries at Ash. We all got up and Ash started laughing. I looked down at myself. I was covered in ketchup, pieces of hamburger, mash potato, and salad. Dawn was the same.
"I guess we should wash up..." I said. "I get the shower first!" I raced to the Pokémon Center, Ash and Dawn following behind.
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
After I washed up, Dawn quickly raced into the bathroom as I left, with fresh clothes in her hands. Ash was sitting on his bed, Gengar and Pikachu were playing on the floor and Riolu was in Ash's lap. He looked down at Riolu, who was playing with a TV remote, flipping it around and occasionally tossing it in the air. We sat in an awkward silence for a while.
"So..." Ash said, "Great job during the contest today." I just nodded. "Don't feel bad because you lost, we all are going to lose occasionally." he told me.
"You just have to keep on trying!" he said smiling, he raised his fist.
"Thanks Ash... I think I needed that," I told him. He nodded and smiled in return. "So what about you? You ready for your next Frontier Battle?" I asked.
"Yep, right after I get that Master Ball back," he said. Just then, Dawn walked out of the bathroom looking very refreshed.
"What were you guys talking about?" Dawn asked. Ash was about to reply, but the TV turned on. Riolu had accidentally turned it on with the remote he had been playing with.
"Rayquaza has been in a mad rage for a half an hour now, reeking havoc around the Johto's Safari zone, Team Rocket have also been seen near the Safari Zone d-" The TV turned back off again when Riolu pressed the off button on the remote.
"They saw Team Rocket!" Ash said, "Let's go!" he hopped to his feet.
"Pika!" The electric mouse exclaimed. Along with Pikachu, Riolu, and Gengar, Ash dashed out the door. We ran after him and headed down Route 38. Ash seemed determined to find Team Rocket.
"Ash..." I gasped as we raced down the path, "could we slow down?" But he didn't hear me, that or he was ignoring me. I had never been a good runner, unless I was running from something. I fell to the ground, completely wiped out, Ash and Dawn continues running, not even noticing I stopped until-
"Gengar!" The ghost and poison type yelled.
Ash briefly stopped, "What is it Gengar?" Gengar gestures to me. "May!" Ash ran over to me, and knelt down beside me. I was breathing heavily and my face laid flat on the ground.
"Can't... Go on..." I gasped, I had a cramp in my side, causing me to groan.
"Are you hurt May?" Ash asked, concerned.
"Pika?"
"N-n-no, just a cramp..." I assured him, "go on ahead of me, I'll catch up." I told him.
"I'm not leaving without you May!" he said, "Get my back." he told me.
"What?"
"Just get on my back, just like back at the berry tree," Ash said, "Come on May, your not very heavy, besides, I'm 11 now, I can carry you for a while."
"Are you sure?" I asked, I just shook my head, "Just go Ash, I'll just be dead weight, a hassle, I've held you down enough..."
"That's not true May!" Ash demanded, "You're way more than dead weight, you're my friend, my best friend!" Ash got glares from Gengar and Pikachu, "I mean third best friend."
I giggled, some things would never change. I got up on Ash's back, he carried me backpack style, and quickly dashed down the path again. By the time Olivine City came into view. Ash was panting heavily, and fell to the ground similar to how I did before.
"I think it's time for a break." Dawn said as Ash laid there.
"No," Ash said between breaths, "let's keep going." he slowly tried to get up.
"Oh no you don't!" I stated pushing him back down, "You're taking a break. You just carried me several miles from one town to another, you need a rest."
"Don't be ridicules May, I'm fine." Ash said, getting back up, before his legs gave in and he fell on his butt, I smirked.
"Yeah, of course you're fine," I said sarcastically.
"Maybe a short break." Ash said, before we knew it he was fast asleep.
"Good job, May." Dawn said, "We could have found Team Rocket by now."
"Shut up, I don't feel like talking about it." I told her.
"Maybe if you weren't so-" Dawn began.
"Pika!" Pikachu interrupted, we forgot about him.
"Sorry Pilachu." Dawn said. We all fell silent. I began to feel bad, was I really a burden? It felt like Ash was dragging me along. He had done so much for me and I barely had done anything in return. He probably would have gotten all of his Frontier Prints if I hadn't come along. I sighed miserably, and I had reached a new low, he had to carry me on his back because I was too tired to go on, and he refused to leave me behind.
As I continued on with my thoughts I lost track of time, and Ash began to stir. He lifted himself up and moaned.
"H-how long was I out?" Ash asked. Dawn checked her PokéNav for the time.
"About an hour." She said.
"AN HOUR?" Ash hopped up and dashed towards Olivine City. Dawn, Ash's Pokémon, and I raced after him. Soon we reaches the City, although it was nothing compared to Goldenrod City, it was still huge. But there was nobody outside, and the doors and windows of every building were closed, and doors locked.
"Where is everybody?" Ash asked. "Last time I came here the town was pretty active."
"Hey you!" we all turned and saw a few Team Rocket Grunts running towards us. "You shouldn't be out here! We'll have to take you in!" One shouted.
"Run!" Ash yelled, I picked up Riolu and Pikachu hopped on his should before we all dashed away from the grunts.
"Where are we running to?" Dawn asked as we sped down the road.
"I don't know!" Ash replied, "Away from them!" We rounded a few corners trying to lose the grunts, but they kept up. Suddenly I lost my footing and fell to the ground, scraping my knees on the rough road.
"May!" Ash called as he came to a stop and started to pull me up. But it was too late, the Grunts caught up and grabbed us all.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
I slammed myself against the iron bars of the cage I was in, which all resulted with a sharp pain shooting through my shoulder.
"Agh!" I knelt down, grabbing my shoulder with my hand.
"Ash, please stop..." May said, concern was evident in her voice. I just ignored her, breathing heavily. I backed up, and charged at the bars with my other shoulder, the iron bars barely budged.
"Ash, please..." May said again, I backed up still holding into my hurt shoulder, I charged at the bars again, making no progress. I backed up again to try for the umpteenth time.
"Ash! Cut it out!" May grabbed me and pulled me backwards, keeping me from ramming into the seemingly unbreakable bars again.
"I got to get out of here May, they have our Pokémon!" I shouted, getting a bit frustrated.
"All you're doing is hurting yourself!" May shouted back in my ear, still holding me back. My ears rang, as I felt her remove the hand that was still clutching my shoulder, she slid my jacket down a little bit so she could get a better look at it, and after inspecting it, began to gently massage it. At first it hurt a little, causing me to wince, but soon it started to feel good. May, Dawn, and I had all been thrown in the same cell. Dawn was supposedly sleeping on the ground while May and I sat on the ground, May sat behind me massaging my shoulder.
We sat there in an awkward silence until I asked, "So when did you become such a doctor?"
May gave me a funny look, "What do you mean? I'm not a doctor."
"I mean like, you taking care on my arm and now my shoulder," I explained. She sighed.
"I picked it up from several different places," was all she said. The awkward silence continued again. May just continued to massage my shoulder.
"Ash..." May began, breaking the silence, "I have a serious question, can you be completely honest with me?"
"Of course May, I don't have anything to hide," I told her, wondering what was on her mind. There was a dramatic pause.
"Do... Do you think I'm holding you back?" she finally asked.
"Of course not!" Was my automatic response. "I mean, sure we stop in a few towns so you and Dawn can participate in contests, but I enjoy those, I learn a lot from them."
"I guess that's not what I mean," May said, "I'm talking about like, when you carried me to Olivine City, or when I hurt myself by the gigantic berry tree or..." her voice began to crack, "earlier, when we got capture because I tripped and fell." Was that what this was all about? And was now really the time to talk about it? I was about to respond, but she continued.
"I mean, I even got caught by Team Rocket on the way to Ecruteak City," she was crying now, "Ash, I feel like I've been nothing but a pain, you do so much for me, but I never return anything back." She continued to massage my shoulder, what could I tell her to make her feel better?
"May, you know that's not true," I said, trying to buy more time to think, "Think of all the great things you've done."
"Like what?" She asked, she was beginning to sound depressed, I had to think fast.
"That's easy," I told her, "What your doing right now, taking care of my shoulder after I hurt it, taking care of my arm, cheering me on during battles, even sometimes taking great care of my Pokémon... And just... Just being my friend is enough, May." turned around to face her, she had a few tears running down her cheeks.
"You've a great friend ever since we met," I stated, "And don't let anyone else tell you otherwise." out of no where, May embraced me, she buried her face in my shoulder, still crying. Geez, I was never very good at this sort of stuff, I just made her feel worse, now she was crying more than before.
"Thanks Ash." She said, taking me by surprise, "Thank you so much for everything, you always know how to make me feel better." I didn't get it, if I made her feel better, why was she still crying? She finally wiped away she tears and gave me a weak smile, which I returned with a smile of my own. I stood up and fixed my jacket.
"Now how do we get out of here?" I asked out loud.
~(o'-'o)~Pikachu's POV
"PIKACHUUUUUUUU!" I squealed, releasing as much electricity from myself as I could. I was held in a glass orb connected to wires that lead to several lightbulbs, which lit up if I ever used an electric attack. Riolu was slamming against the orb he was in with all his might. Gengar sat in his glass orb, arms crossed; he appeared to be pouting because he was trapped. I had given my glass prison several Iron Tails, but failed to even dent it. All of our glass orbs sat high up on a self in the office of Team Rocket's evil boss, who was out at the moment. I could see Pika Pi's Master Ball sitting on his desk, along with the Pokéballs containing Pika Pi's, Chuchu Pi's, and Pikaka's Pokéballs.
Riolu look a little worried afraid he would be trapped inside for good. I tried a few more Iron Tales, I had to get free and find Pika Pi. I fell on my back breathing heavily, that glass seemed unbreakable. I heard a noise causing my ears to perk up.
"Pika?" I said confused, "PIKA!" Gengar stood by my glass orb, outside of his, I looked over, the ball that once contained Gengar was now empty, but there were no dents or cracks, it wasn't open or smashed.
"Pilachu, Pika Pika, Pi chu Pika Pikachu?" I asked, curious to how he got out. He walked to his old prison, and walked through the glass, before quickly hopping out again, the glass went right through his body. I face palmed, he couldn't have thought of that before? Gengar then proceeded to knock my orb off the high shelf I was on, and I raced towards the ground.
"Pikaaaaaahhhhh!" I shouted as I fell, the glass orb smashed into pieces as it collides in the ground. I saw Gengar peak at me from up on the shelf.
"Pikachu!" I said happily giving him a peace sign, signifying I was okay, it was cut short as I had to dodge the orb Riolu was in as it smashed into the ground as well.
"Riiii!" he said happily, grateful to be out. Gengar hopped onto the desk, knocking all the Pokéballs off, including the empty Master Ball. We all released Blaziken and Piplup, and together we grabbed all the Pokéballs, and with the help of Blaziken's blaze kick, escaped the office. After quite some searching and putting all the Grunts to sleep using Gengar's Hypnosis Attack, we found the room they kept prisoners. After another Blaze Kick we all ran in.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
After having that little talk with May. I had paced back and forth trying to think of a way out. May sat on the ground with her arms wrapped around her legs, and Dawn was still sleeping.
Suddenly we heard a loud bang, waking Dawn up.
"Pika Pi!" I heard, my first Pokémon appeared, holding several Pokéballs, soon, he was joined by Riolu, Gengar, Piplup, and Blaziken.
"You guys escaped!" I exclaimed, Riolu squeezes through the bars with his small body, and tackles me to the ground, obviously happy to see me.
"Alright, May, tell Blaziken to use Flame Thrower on the bars," I said, we all backed up against the wall as Blaziken heated the bars up until they were glowing red.
"Now Dawn, tell Piplup to use water gun on the bars." Soon, the bars cooled down, but were weak and rusty, "Now Iron Tail Pikachu!" The electric types tail began to glow, and he slammed it into the bars easily breaking them. After retrieving our Pokéballs from the Pokémon, Pikachu happily gave me my Master Ball.
"Hey you found it!" I said as I took it, "Great job Pikachu!" I told him. We all ran out and into the hall, running around trying to find a way out. Riolu spotted the front door and hopped off my shoulder running toward it, but was quickly stopped by a group of Exans.
"Riii?" He said.
"Going somewhere?" We heard some one say, we turned and found that we were completely surrounded by Grunts and their Pokémon, Giovanni stood at the front with a smirk on his face.
"It's a shame that you're leaving, you all just got here," the leader said.
"What are you up to now?" I yelled, Giovanni smirked.
"I believe you already know that," he said.
"Then why is Rayquaza rampaging around the Safari Zone? What did you do? You don't need him any more!"
"We don't need him to get Mewtwo, but he is still a powerful Pokémon none the less. We decided we would pay him a little visit in Embedded Tower, unfortunately, he was far more powerful than we expected, now he is in a rage because we disturbed him." Giovanni explained, "But that is not important at the moment. Now be a good boy and give me back my Master Ball."
"It was never yours!" Dawn stated, "I gave it to Ash as a gift! You just stole it!"
"How precious..." Team Rocket's leader said, "Now give it to me!" we reached out and tried to take it from my hand, but I was not about to give it up as easily as before.
"Hand it over!" He yelled as he tried to pry it from my grip.
"Never!" I shouted, Dawn grabbed my hands and helped me pull the Master Ball away, May joined in and Giovanni let go.
"We'll just have to do this the hard way," He said, and then snapped his fingers "Get them." The Pokémon around us began to advance towards us, growling menacingly.
"Dragonite! Hyper Beam!"
"Electivire! Thunder!"
The room lit up as a huge explosion appeared, knocking everyone off they're feet, we hopped up and saw Gary and Professor Oak standing at the entrance with their Pokémon, while the Grunts were down, we all raced out the door.
"I got the Master Ball back," I said to the Professor and his grandson.
"Excellent Ash," the Professor said, "but we need to get out of here."
"GET THAT MASTER BALL BACK!" we heard from inside the building we had left. Suddenly, we heard a powerful roar, and a huge explosion erupted, Rayquaza flew threw the sky and a neck break pace, and he didn't look like he was happy. He charged up a ball and shot a huge powerful Hyper Beam at the building the Grunts were in, the building began to crumble and cave in. Several jets flew threw the sky, are shooting missiles at Rayquaza.
"Team Rocket is still trying to catch him!" Dawn said. Rayquaza quickly recovered and shot several Hyper Beams at the jets, the pilots ejected themselves before the jets went down.
"Pikachu, see if you can stop Rayquaza with Thunder!" I said.
"Piiiiiikaaaaaa-"
"Ash! Are you insane?" Gary asked.
"CCCHHHUUUUUUUU!" The Thunder attack flew through the sky, hitting the un-expecting Legendary, who roared out in pain, shaking the entire city. He turned and looked straight at me before flying down to the ground, in a battle stance.
"You guys get out of here!" I told everyone, "I'll stop Rayquaza!"
"But Ash-" May began.
"GO! NOW!" I shouted, with that, they fled. Rayquaza charged at Pikachu which surprising speed.
"Dodge it!" I told him, he barely jump away in time, "Use Thunder!" I told him, but Rayquaza dodged the attack. "This thing is fast!"
He charged up at hyper beam and shot it at Pikachu.
"Dodge!" But Pikachu was too slow, and was hit by the hyper beam, knocking him out. "In one hit!" I shouted surprised. Rayquaza approached Pikachu, and charged up another Hyper Beam.
"NO!" I shouted running to Pikachu, but the attack hit the already knocked out electric type. I ran towards Pikachu ad fast as I could.
"Ash! Are you insane?" someone shouted, but I ignored them, the only thing on my mind was protecting Pikachu. I leapt between the Legendary and the rodent, arms spread out.
"What kind of a ruthless monster are you?" I shouted extremely mad. Rayquaza was taken aback by my out burst, we glared into each other's eyes for a minute. Suddenly, it looked like Rayquaza's eye filled with sadness, and the Pokémon turned and raced high into the sky, disappearing from sight in an instant. That was weird, I thought
I turned and ran to my best friend in the whole world. He laid on the ground, beaten and bruised, suffering from merciless attacks from Rayquaza. I picked up the limp rodent in my arms.
"Pikachu..." I said quietly, a single tear ran down my cheek. "I'm so sorry, Please be okay..." I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was May.
"Let's get him to a Pokémon Center," she said. With that, we headed to the Pokémon Center.
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
We all raced to the Pokémon Center with Ash in the lead. He had Pikachu in his arms and Riolu on his shoulder, while Gengar floated next to him; we reached the Pokémon Center and Ash busted through the doors.
"Nurse Joy!" He shouted desperately, running to the front desk.
"It's... Pikachu, he's badly hurt." Ash said, Nurse Joy took Pikachu from Ash.
"Oh my! He looks like he was beaten to the verge of death!" Nurse Joy shouted.
"Verge of death?" Ash repeated in despair, he fell to his knees.
"I will do everything I can to heal him." Nurse Joy said, hurrying off with Pikachu, a Chansey by her side. Ash didn't move from his spot on the ground.
"Gengar..." The Shadow Pokémon said sadly.
"Ash..." I began walking over to him.
"Just... Leave me alone..." he hopped up and raced out of the Pokémon Center.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
I ran, no destination in mind, when I finally stopped to catch my breath, I found myself deep in the forest, by a huge lake.
"I'm so sorry Pikachu..." was all I said, "Please be okay..."
"Riah..."
I had forgotten Riolu was still with me. He sat on my shoulder similar to how Pikachu did.
"Riolu, if Pikachu doesn't come out of this okay... I'll... I'll never forgive myself." I told him.
"Rii Riah Roa Rii."
"Yeah, you're right; we need to get back to the Pokémon Center, to be with Pikachu..." I agreed, we quietly walked back to the Pokémon Center, and found everyone sitting quietly in the lobby. Dawn looked up at me and gave me a sad smile, before walking over and embracing me.
"It'll be okay Ash," Dawn said, "Everything will be just fine." I returned the embrace, and then headed towards the room Pikachu was in. The little mouse was lying in a bed; bandages wrapped around him almost everywhere, and had wire attached to him. I entered the room and sat down next to his bed. "Pikachu..." I said softly. Riolu stretched and laid down on the bed, quickly falling asleep. I yawned and leaned forward on the bed, resting my head on my arms, Pikachu stirred, but didn't wake up. Soon sleep began to take over, and I drifted into unconsciousness.
~(o'-'o)~May POV
I followed Ash towards Pikachu's room quietly, he didn't seem to be aware that I was following him. I saw him enter one of the many rooms in the hall, and watched through the window on the door. He sat by Pikachu quietly for several minutes before resting his head on the bed Pikachu was on and fell asleep.
I smiled, remembering the time we first met; I was ticked off because his Pikachu had destroyed my poor bike. I was going to give them both a piece of my mind, but when I opened the door, I found Ash laying next to Pikachu, the same way he was now. I forgave him for some reason, maybe because I knew he didn't mean it, or because of how he cared for is Pokémon, maybe it was something deeper.
"Gen?" I turned my head, Gengar was looking in the window as well, he floated through the door and snuggled in the bed with Pikachu and Riolu.
I quietly pushed the door to the room open, nobody of them stirred. I sat down next to Ash and watched him sleep for a few minutes. I myself began to yawn and rested my head on Pikachu's bed next to Ash's quickly falling asleep as well.
~(o'-'o)~Ash's POV
As the sun peaked over the hills, light went straight through the open window and on my face, causing me to stir. I shifted my head without opening my eyes, dang light was so annoying. It felt like something was breathing on my face, I figured it must have been Riolu or something. Finally, the light became unbearable, I opened my eyes and found May's face inches from mine, causing me to jump back and fall over on the floor.
May stirred, opening an eye.
"Ash, what are you doing on the floor?" she asked, I groaned.
"I just... Fell over..." I told her, "what are you doing in here?"
"I figured you and Pikachu could use some company," she replied.
"May, if this about that whole dead weight thing, you don't have to so this," I told her.
"No, that's not it, I just felt like it," she said, her eyes wandering around the room refusing to look at me. I was about to question her, but got side tracked by a noise.
"Piiiiiiii..." something moaned.
"Pikachu?" I asked as I got up and looked at the yellow Pokémon. His eyes slightly opened.
"Pika?"
"Pikachu!" I shouted as I grabbed the Pokémon from the bed.
"Pika Pi!" Pikachu squealed, snuggling into my arms.
"It looks like Pikachu is getting better pretty fast," May said as she stood up and stroked Pikachu's head, causing him to coo.
"Yeah, you feeling better Pikachu?" I asked.
"Pikachu!" he chirped, but still sounded weak. Riolu and Gengar had now woken up and were talking to the electric type.
"May, thanks for sticking around for Pikachu," I said, giving her a smile.
"No problem Ash, but Pikachu wasn't the only one I came for," she gave me a wink.
"Who else would you be here-" I began to ask, but Nurse Joy stepped into the room and smiled at Pikachu.
"It looks like Pikachu is doing much better," she said, "but I suggest that he stays away from battles at the moment, he's still very weak."
"Okay, thanks Nurse Joy," I said. May and I walked back to the lobby of the Pokémon Center and found everyone waiting for us.
"Oh," Dawn said cheerfully, "It looks like Pikachu is feeling a lot better."
"Pi cha kachu." Pikachu replied.
"But he still sounds like he hasn't fully recovered," Professor Oak added.
"Yeah, Nurse Joy told us he needed to take a break from battling." I told them. My stomach began to growl.
"Sounds like someone's hungry," Dawn giggled.
"Heh, I can't even remember the last time I ate," I said.
~(o'-'o)~May's POV
we all sat around a large table eating and talking. Our Pokémon were sitting on the floor, eating their own food. Dawn was absorbed with Professor Oak and his poetry, while Ash and Pikachu were talking about who-knows-what. I sat in silence, picking at the food on my plate.
"So where did you disappear off to last night?" someone asked. I snapped back to my senses and looked up. Gary, who had been sitting across from me, was giving me a questioning look and a smirk.
"I... I stayed in the room with Pikachu," I told him, looking back down at the food on my plate.
"Only for Pikachu?" he asked.
I looked back up at him, "What do you mean?"
"May, there is obviously more to it than that... Is it... Ash?" he asked, with a dramatic pause. I blushed, but did say anything, "So it is Ash." Gary concluded.
"Is it really that obvious?" I asked.
"Yes," Gary replied, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that you like him." he was talking quietly so no one else could hear. "Even Gramps noticed how you constantly look at him and blush." Gary said.
"Yeah... You're not the first to figure that out," I told him.
"Oh yeah? Who else knows?"
"Well one person you probably don't know, Pikachu knows, and Dawn knows..." I sighed, I realized how lucky I was that Ash was so dense.
Gary chuckled, "Even Dawn? But she likes him too..." Gary said.
I glared over at Dawn who was still listening to the Professors poems, "There's a pretty brutal rivalry between us right now," I said. Gary chuckled again.
"Well, you got a challenge, Dawn isn't one to give up..." Gary said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
"You're right about that," I sighed, "You're sure right about that..."
~(o'-'o)~
I'm back from DC, and my won't be going on any more trips for about two weeks, so… more time for writing, right? Take a second to review, means the world to me! Thanks for reading, and be ready for the next chapter.
BTW: I have a few ideas for other stories as well, so to people who review, should I put my main focus on this story, or take on multitasking and start another story?