I'm really sorry it's taken so long to update, I've been really busy with a lot of things (Pokémon Go being one of them) and I've not been in the best of health either. I wanted the main event of this chapter to be the way I imagined it so that took some doing.

I've wasted enough time here so let's get to the real reason you're here, on with the story.

Chapter 38

Settling Scores and Sunny Shores

Ash started to stir as the early morning rays of sunlight peaked through the curtains of his room. His senses slowly came to him, firstly feeling an odd weight on his chest, tilting his head and forcing his eyes to open. He saw a brown blob and after blinking the sleep from his eyes Ash realised it was a head of brown hair that he was looking at. Ash shifted his weight and heard a soft mumble, feeling the arm wrapped around his chest tighten slightly. Reaching over with his free arm Ash gently moved some of the hair out of the way so he could see who was curled up next to him.

He wasn't surprised to find that it was May, though he was wondering why she was there. His mind was still foggy with sleep but he was sure he'd gone to bed alone last night. He took a minute to just appreciated the serene peace that was May's sleeping face before shaking her gently, she didn't stir to begin, with her just tightening her hold on his chest until he shook her a little harder and her eyes started to open. Ash just smiled at her as she looked around sleepily until she turned to face him and her eyes snapped open as she shuffled away and fell out of the bed with a quick squeak. Pikachu's ears flicked as he started to wake up and found himself in a similar situation to his trainer, there was an unfamiliar weight on his tail, lazily opening his eyes he was greeted by the sight of Glaceon curled up next to him, her tail resting on top of his. Pikachu just shrugged and put his head down to return to sleep.

"Ow!" May groaned as she hit the floor, Ash sat up in the bed and looked over at her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," May replied rubbing her tailbone.

"So...er…why were you in bed with me?" May blushed and stood to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Leaf wouldn't stop teasing me about our kiss last night so I stormed out of the room. I went and told Nurse Joy I got locked out of my room, gave her your room number instead and she passed me the spare key. Sorry, I tried to wake you last night but you were completely out of it and I was tired and…" May stopped when Ash put a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to apologise. I was just a little surprised when I woke up, that's all. I think I actually slept better cause of you being here." May sputtered as she flushed red, Ash just turned and looked at the clock on the bedside table, alongside which Litwick was sleeping, swinging his legs out of the bed. "Come on, we can go and get some exercise if you want."

"But I can't get my clothes, Leaf's going to be asleep and probably won't wake up for at least an hour." Ash picked his training clothes out of his bag and looked a little sheepish.

"If you promise not to tell anyone I know how to do it, I can get you back into your room." He walked towards his small bathroom. "Just give me a few minutes to get changed." He closed the door behind him and May heard the shower start running. While she waited for Ash she noticed that Lucario had woken up and was stretching off to loosen up for when they started exercising.

"Good Morning Lucario."

Good Morning Mistress May. The Aura Pokémon replied. I trust you slept well. May flushed at the statement and thought she detected a slightly teasing tone in usually stoic Pokémon's voice.

"I slept very well, thank you. Would it be alright if I sparred with you a little today?"

I would like that, we haven't sparred since the incident with Zapdos.

"We didn't actually get to spar then, the poacher interrupted us before we could start." Lucario stopped stretching as he thought back and gave a small nod.

That is true, I look forward to sparring with you Mistress May. The brunette smiled at the Aura Pokémon and turned as she heard the bathroom door open.

"Ready to get back into your room?" Ash asked, May nodded and stood, picking Glaceon and Litwick up as she did so. Pikachu stretched before leaping from the pillow he'd been sleeping on and landing on Ash's shoulder. Lucario followed them out as they walked across the hallway to the room May and Leaf had been sharing. Ash looked back and forth down the hallway before kneeling in front of the door's keyhole.

"What are you doing?" May asked.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" May nodded. "I'm going to pick the lock."

"…How do you know to pick locks?"

"Riley, he said it's a useful skill to have." Ash covered the keyhole with his hand. "It's trickier when you don't have a set of picks though. I can do it with Aura but it might take a few minutes." Ash closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling the way the pins moved as he manipulated them with his Aura. He felt one click into place but as he moved onto the next one it clicked again and slipped out of place.

After about five minutes of trial and error Ash slowly opened his eyes.

"Got it." He grinned, keeping his palm flat against the keyhole and turning his hand clockwise. They heard the door unlock and gently open, Ash let his Aura return and moved away from the door. "I'll wait for you downstairs." May put a hand on Ash's arm and quickly pecked his cheek.

"Thank you." She said and slipped into the room quietly. Ash lightly jogged through the Pokémon Centre and released his Pokémon before he started to stretch off while waiting for May, she came out a few minutes later with her hair tied up in a bun and looking wet. Glaceon walked alongside her and Litwick had finally woken up and smiled from her place in May's arms. "Okay, let's get started." She grinned, snapping Ash out of his trance from watching a drop of water rolling down May's slender neck. May let all her Pokémon out and placed Litwick on a bench with Glaceon to watch over her.

"Er…yeah, right, let's get started." Ash and May finished stretching out and went through their exercises. Their training session ended with May and Lucario sparring while Ash watched and gave some advice to May, occasionally Lucario would mention something such as May's elbow popping out to the side when it should stay close to her body. When they stopped May and Ash took a long drink from a nearby water fountain and wiped sweat from their faces with their towels.

"So how did I do?" May asked, draping her towel around her shoulders and letting her hair down.

"You're picking it up really quickly, we'll be able to move onto some more advanced stuff soon. You just need to get out of a couple of habits." Ash replied.

"Habits? Like what?"

"Your eyes are giving away where you're going to hit, if you focus your attention on your opponent's chest then they won't be able to tell where you're attacking and you'll be able to see a punch or kick coming through your peripheral vision."

"So what you're saying it when I've sparred you, you've been looking at my chest." May said with a serious face and a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I mean no, I mean…" Ash stumbled over his words once he realised what he'd said causing May's serious expression to crack as she started laughing. Ash closed his mouth and frowned at May.

"I-I'm sorry, I just…I couldn't resist messing with you." May managed to say through her laughter. Ash just looked at her for a minute before huffing and crossing his arms.

"I'll get you back for that." Ash grumbled, it took May a minute to get her composure back before they went back into the Pokémon Centre to their separate rooms. They showered and met in the cafeteria for breakfast with Leaf joining them.

"So this is where we part ways then." Leaf said as she cut into her stack of pancakes. "I'm going to stick around here for a couple of days to properly catch up with Janine then head back to Celadon. Cinnabar Island's your next Gym isn't it Ash?"

"That's right." Ash nodded, "But I've got a couple of places to visit before then and we need to find two more Contests for May to win her Ribbons in."

"I heard someone mention something about a Contest yesterday. I think they said it was on one of the Seafoam Islands." May looked at her X-Transceiver and started searching for any information she could find on the Contest.

"You're right." May said after a couple of minutes. "The Contest is on the main island and it's got a tropical theme."

"Tropical? How would you do that?" Ash asked.

"Water and Grass Pokémon, probably, maybe Fire types." May looked at her X-Transceiver again. "Oh! It's not in a Contest Hall, it's on the beach. That'll be exciting."

"You'd have to be careful with your Pokémon choices on the beach."

"What do you mean?" Leaf asked.

"A Fire type could be hurt by the waves, heavy Pokémon won't be able to move as easily on the sand, the sand could interfere with attacks and you need to be aware of the weather conditions too." Ash took a bite of his pancakes and swallowed it. "There's a lot to think about."

"That might be the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say." Leaf teased before dodging a crumpled up, syrup soaked napkin. "So May," Leaf said, with a dangerously mischievous glint in her eyes. "Where did you storm off to last night? I know you didn't come back to the room till this morning." May's eyes briefly flicked to Ash before focussing her attention on her breakfast, Leaf grinned. "I see, you went and slept with Ash. Did you use protection?" Ash choked on his food until Lucario hit him on the back to dislodge it. "Ooo, someone's finally understanding how things work between men and women." Leaf giggled as she kept looking between Ash and May. "Was it good for both of you?"

"Nothing happened Leaf." Ash said after taking a drink to clear his throat. "May knocked on my door last night and told me she was sick of your teasing. I let her in and slept on the floor while May took the bed." Ash took another drink, "Now try and get your mind out of the gutter for once and leave May alone." Leaf leant across the table looked in to Ash's eyes searchingly.

"You've gotten better." Leaf said after a couple of minutes staring Ash down. "I can't tell if you're lying or not. I don't like it, go back to being a bad liar, you were more fun then and a lot easier to tease." She dropped back into her seat and crossed her arms, pouting.

"You can't expect me to be the same forever Leaf, you've changed too. You never used to be so…rude in your teasing." Ash went back to his breakfast. "I want you to go back to the way you were then but I know that's not going to happen."

"Why not? Stranger things have happened."

"You don't have to tell me." Ash muttered as they all went back to their food and finished their breakfast. A few minutes later after collecting all their things and swapping his Pokémon Ash and May stood opposite Leaf outside the Pokémon Centre. In preparation for his journey Ash had sent Metang, Skorupi, Trapinch, Krookodile and Bagon back to the Lab and called Greninja, Ponyta, Gigalith and two other Pokémon he wouldn't tell May about.

"Guess this is it then." Leaf said sadly, she lunged at Ash with a hug causing Pikachu to abandon his position on Ash's shoulder and settle on to May's. "Next time you visit don't leave it so long."

"I won't, I'm going to be staying in Pallet once I have my last badge to train for the League and May's doing the same for the Grand Festival. If Erika will let you have some time off, you can come and help us." Ash replied as he returned the hug.

"You can count on me being there." After a minute Leaf pulled away and turned to May. She gave Pikachu a quick scratch under the chin before the Electric Mouse jumped back to Ash's shoulder. Leaf took Litwick out of May's arms and passed her to Ash.

"Come here you." Leaf said, pulling May into a hug. "I'll be sure to come up with some new material to tease you with next time I see you okay?"

"Okay." May smiled, they ended the hug and Leaf said goodbye to Glaceon, Litwick and Lucario before looking at both Ash and May.

"You two be good to each other and don't let anything stand in your way, got it?" Ash and May nodded and with their goodbyes over they turned and started walking. Waving back to Leaf who was still outside the Pokémon Centre watching them go.

A couple of days later they arrived at the Laramie Ranch and Ash let Ponyta out of her Pokéball as he and May walked up to the main house. Just as he was getting ready to knock on the door, Pikachu's ears flicked up and nudged Ash's head.

"What is it buddy?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pikachu." The mouse replied, flicking his ears again.

"You hear something?" Ash closed his eyes and focussed on his hearing, he was just able to pick up a dull rumble coming towards them. "Sounds like someone's coming." Ash said as he opened his eyes and stepped off the porch. Looking towards the horizon Ash and May could see a cloud of dust growing steadily as it approached them. Ponyta started to shift nervously as the cloud got bigger causing Ash to run a hand through her fiery mane to calm her down. A few minutes later Ash was able to see something in just ahead of the dust cloud and smiled. "Just who I was looking for." Another couple of minutes later, a Rapidash slowed to a gentle trot as she approached the main house. A woman sat in a saddle on the Rapidash's back, she had long blue hair that reached to the middle of her back with a cowboy hat on her head. She wore a pale green checked shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of old denim jeans, her skin was tanned from working in the sun and her eyes were the same colour as her hair.

"Welcome to Laramie Ranch. My name's Lara Laramie, what brings ya'll here?" The Rapidash's rider asked with a southern drawl. Rapidash walked right up to Ash and sniffed at him before nudging his shoulder. "Have we met already?" Lara asked, "Rapidash doesn't usually take to new people, especially when she's just met them."

"We have met before Lara, I am an honorary member of the Laramie Clan after all." Ash replied as he stroked Rapidash's nose and smiled at her rider. "It's been a long time." Lara stared at Ash for a minute before realisation dawned on her face.

"Well, I'll be." Lara swung out of the saddle and walked up to him. "It's been too long Ash, I thought you'd forgotten all about us after winning that race." Lara gave Ash a light punch on the shoulder and noticed May stood off to the side with Ponyta. "This your filly?" Ash followed Lara's line of sight and nodded.

"Yeah, that's actually part of the reason I came here. Have you got any tips on training her?" Lara paused as he looked at Ash before giggling.

"Oh, you thought I meant Ponyta. I was talking about your lady-friend." Lara walked up to May and held her hand out. "Lara Laramie, nice to meet ya."

"May Maple, it's nice to meet you too." May replied shaking Lara's hand, slightly red-faced. Lara led Ash, May and the Pokémon into the ranch house and once they were sat down Ash explained how he'd gotten Ponyta and how he'd been training her so far. Lara in-turn told them that Ponyta's egg had actually come from the Ranch in the first place. While they talked Lara gave Ponyta an inspection, once she'd finished she told Ash that he'd been training Ponyta well so far and to carry on with what he'd been doing adding to let Ponyta run as much as she wanted to make her as fast as possible when she was fully grown.

Lara insisted on Ash and May spending the night at the ranch before continuing on their way the next day. Lara managed to convince Ash to learn how to ride properly instead of the crash course he'd gotten the first time he'd been at the Ranch, she even got May to learn as well. At the end of the day, even though they still had quite a bit to learn about riding Lara was confident that Ash and May were competent enough to get by. The next day after exercising and having a hearty breakfast thanks to Lara, Ash and May were on their way again.

As they travelled Ash pointed out places he's been on his first journey, the place he'd met Tomo the Kangaskhan Kid in the Safari Zone, Kaiser and the Dragonair's lake. They passed through a city and Ash told May about the Bridge Bike Gang and how Jessie and James has been a part of it, the couple and their Pokémon kept travelling until they stopped outside a house which sat next to the path they'd been walking on.

"Here we are." Ash said knocking on the door, on the third knock the door slowly swung open. Poking his head inside Ash looked around, finding the insides in darkness. "Guess she wants us to come in." Ash shrugged and walked in with Lucario following behind him.

"Ash, are you sure this is alright?" May asked as she crossed the threshold and the door closed behind her, in the few seconds it took her eyes to adjust to the change in light May felt herself get tackled to the ground and after being rolled over a few times the lights snapped on and May found herself face to face with herself. Slowly standing May looked at her copy who was mimicking her every move, it was then that May realised her arms were empty. She spun around looking for Litwick to find her in Lucario's arms alongside a second Litwick. Ash was just stood in place looking back and forth between May and her copy.

"Ash, what's going on?" May asked with her copy saying the same thing at the same time in May's voice. May turned on her copy in shock, "Why are you copying me?" They said in unison.

"Stop it!"

"No, you stop it!"

"Ash help!" May and her copy turned to Ash and put their hands on their hips.

"Come on Ash, you can tell I'm the real one." May and her copy spun on each other and growled. "I'm the real one, you're the fake." May looked for Glaceon who had retreated to Ash's side. "Glaceon, you know the real me don't you?" Glaceon looked between the two and sniffed the air before looking at the pair cluelessly.

"Glace, Glaceon." Glaceon shook her head.

"She can't pick out your scent something's overpowering it." Ash explained walking towards the pair and put a hand on May's shoulder. "May." Ash then reached his other hand to put it on top of the other May's head. "Duplica." Ash moved his hand away and pulled off a brunette wig revealing a head of dark teal hair.

"How did you know?" Duplica asked in her own voice. "No-one's been able to see through my disguises before."

"I just know May that well." Ash smiled in response. "Your disguises have gotten a lot more detailed since last time." Duplica paused for a minute before smiling.

"Ash, I knew that name was familiar. I've watched your matches during the Leagues, where have you been for the past few years?"

"Training period, I want to make sure I win the League this time. What about you?"

"I've got a few shows lined up in Celadon and Saffron in a month's time to warm up before I go on tour in Johto. I've not made it big just yet but I'm getting there." Duplica turned to Lucario and lifted one of the Litwick out of his arms. The Litwick immediately shone and it's form shifted until the light faded and Duplica held a Ditto in her hands. "Follow me, I'll make us some tea so we can talk some more." Duplica walked out of the hallway and into the kitchen but when Ash and May got into the kitchen they found Duplica disguised as Misty when she travelled with Ash complete with orange hair and a red drawstring bag over her shoulder.

"How did she get changed so quickly?" May asked. Ash shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the small table, pulling a chair out for May. Once they'd all sat down and after a few more costume changes including Ash, Brock and Diantha, Duplica told them about how she'd gone on to Kanto's Got Talent and while she didn't win she'd gotten a lot of good publicity. That publicity had led to her being asked to perform at everything from birthday parties and corporate gigs to TV shows and even supporting a couple of magic shows that had been on tour in Kanto and Johto.

Ash and May told Duplica stories about when they'd been travelling together and their separate journeys. Duplica put on a show for Ash and May before telling them to stay the night to save them from camping or travelling for a few hours to the nearest Pokémon Centre. After they left Duplica they travelled through a few more places Ash wanted to pass through such as the place he'd tried to release Pikachu, Stone Town and Dark City. Eventually they arrived in Grandpa Canyon and Ash spent an hour walking around with his eyes closed before May asked him what he was doing.

"Just trying to find someone." Ash replied, he walked around for another half hour before stopping and opening his eyes. He quickly dialled the Lab on his X-Transceiver and sent Pikachu's Pokéball back along with Ponyta, Sandslash and the two Pokémon he hadn't let May see and calling on Sceptile, Serperior, Infernape and Butterfree. After a few hushed words with Professor Oak Ash nodded and waited for Tracey and the Professor to get his Pokémon for him. Once he'd received those Pokémon Ash made another call getting the final Pokémon he wanted. Ash let all his Pokémon, except for the final one he'd called, out and had them line up at one side. He put his backpack down behind them, leaning it against a rock and turned to his Pokémon. "Okay everyone, this is the battle I told you about. You're doing this battle alone, there'll be too much going on for me to direct all of you so trust your instincts and you'll be fine." The Pokémon nodded as he looked at his final Pokéball. "May, I want you to stay out of the way. This is going to be chaos."

"I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." May replied, letting all of her Pokémon out.

"I know that but I want to make sure you don't get hurt." The look of defiance May gave him made Ash flinch. "Alright, I get it. Just do me a favour and be careful."

"I should be saying that to you." May retorted with a smirk, Ash gave her a smile in return and threw his last Pokéball into the air and retreated to his other Pokémon. Charizard burst out of the Pokéball with a mighty roar, causing some loose rocks on the ground to shake from the intensity.

"Charizard, you wanted this rematch so go get him!" Ash shouted to his Pokémon. Charizard took a couple of seconds to look at his surroundings before a dangerous grin crossed his snout, roaring again the Flame Pokémon dove towards the ground as an orb of turquoise energy grew between his claws. Pulling up sharply just inches above the ground Charizard released the Focus Blast and blew a large hole in the ground revealing an underground cavern.

May moved forward to look into the cavern and retreated quickly when she saw multiple sets of glowing eyes glaring back at her. Just as May was about to ask Ash what was going on another roar ripped through the air, this roar didn't come from Charizard though, it was sharper and echoed out from the cavern. A few seconds later and an Aerodactyl burst out of the cavern, causing more of the ground to collapse into the cavern.

"Charizard, he's all yours." Ash shouted above the roars as Charizard let out a Flamethrower after Aerodactyl and flew after him. May pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it as the Fossil Pokémon.

'Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokémon. Aerodactyl is a Pokémon that died out millions of years ago although within the last decade scientific advances have allowed long extinct Pokémon to be resurrected. Aerodactyl possess serrated saw-like teeth and will often use them to attack an opponent's neck. They were suspected to be kings of the skies as they are the largest known flying fossilised Pokémon. The DNA needed to resurrect an Aerodactyl is most commonly found in Amber.'

May looked up from her Pokédex when she heard a chattering coming from the cavern, taking a step forward she saw that the ground that had fallen into the cavern when Aerodactyl flew out had created a ramp and other Pokémon were climbing out of the cavern. Pointing her Pokédex at these other Pokémon May only stayed on them long enough to get their names.

'Omanyte', 'Omastar', 'Kabuto', 'Kabutops'. 'Other Pokémon Fossils detected.' May raised an eyebrow at that and made a note to mention it to Ash later, as she turned to go back to her Pokémon the ground underneath her cracked and fell away, sending her tumbling into the cavern. As she fell May curled into a ball and held Litwick close to protect her from the ground. Her Pokémon leapt in after her without a moment's hesitation and formed a circle around her. May was about to start heading back up the ramp when a clicking noise drew her attention to the shadows of at the edges of the cavern. A glimmer of light reflected off something in the shadows before a shape burst forward, May recognised it as another one of the Fossil Pokémon walking up the ramp, the Pokédex had called it Kabutops. That was all May managed to see as her view was blocked by Blaziken meeting the Shellfish Pokémon's attack with Blaze Kick, after that all hell broke loose as other Pokémon came out of the shadows to join the attack.

Back on the ground

Ash ran towards the cavern's edge as he saw May fall but had to retreat before he had a chance to see if she was alright as a Hydro Pump barely missed his head. An Omastar appeared from lip of the hole and upon seeing Ash fired a Mud Shot at him. Sceptile intercepted the attack with Bullet Seed and sprang forward to hit the Spiral Pokémon with Leaf Blade but just as the attack was going to connect two scythe-like arms blocked it and forced the Forest Pokémon back. Two Kabutops had joined Omastar at the top of the ramp with another Omastar, two Omanyte and two Kabuto not far behind them.

"Sceptile, you take on the Kabutops, Lucario back him up. Infernape, Butterfree I want you to take on the Omanyte, Greninja, Serperior focus on the Omastar. Gigalith make sure they don't try to escape, use Rock Slide and Rock Tomb to make a wall around this area and keep it up. Pikachu, the Kabuto are yours. I'm going to try and help May." The Pokémon nodded and went into battle while Gigalith retreated out of the way and started to make a barrier between them and the rest of the canyon.

Infernape gave the Omanyte a grin before jumping forward with Mach Punch as Butterfree swooped down with Stun Spore. Sceptile and Lucario had trained together for this knowing Ash would put them up against the Kabutops, Sceptile's arms flashed with Leaf Blades and Lucario's Bone Club whirled as they clashed with Night Slash and Slash attacks from the Kabutops. Greninja put his speed to good use as he seemed to disappear and reappear around the Omastar all while pelting them with Water Shuriken, Serperior slithered and slide her way past a barrage of Spike Cannon from the Omastar and hit both of them with Leaf Blade before retreating again. Pikachu leapt around evading rapid fired Mud Shots from the Kabuto and retaliated with low powered Thunderbolts due to not having the chance to stay in one place long enough to charge the attack properly.

Ash gave one last look at his Pokémon to make sure they'd be alright before running for the hole and using a loose slab of rock to slide down. As he sped into the cavern he saw May's Pokémon still circled around her and holding off the prehistoric Pokémon. Blaziken was fighting off the Kabutops, countering slashes with kicks, while Venusaur fought off an Armaldo with Vine Whip. Glaceon had frozen a Lileep in place and was hammering it with Iron Tail, Altaria weaved her way through the stalactites on the cavern's roof evading an Omastar using Ice Beam, leaving Sunflora, Lilligant and Deerling to take on a Cradily and Anorith.

"They weren't here last time." Ash muttered to himself as he charged in, hurling an Aura Sphere at Armaldo's back distracting the Plate Pokémon long enough for Venusaur to force it back with Petal Dance and following it up with an Energy Ball. Venusaur used one of her vine to lift Ash into their protective circle, setting him down close to May. "Are you alright?" He asked before getting slapped across the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I told you I can look after myself." May said angrily over the noise of the battle. "What about your Pokémon? You should be up there with them."

"They know what to do, I've been planning this for a while. I didn't expect there to be more fossil Pokémon though but as long as there's only one Aerodactyl we'll be alright."

In the Sky

Charizard wore a satisfied grin, this time they'd see who was the stronger, there wasn't a Jigglypuff to interrupt their battle now. He opened his maw and shot out a white hot Flamethrower which Aerodactyl glided under and returned fire with a Hyper Beam. Barrel-rolling Charizard used the force of the displaced air to push him a little higher than flapping his wings flew straight up to gain more altitude with Aerodactyl on his tail, snapping at it with Crunch. A quick back-flip combined with Dragon Tail saw Aerodactyl off just longer enough for Charizard to get into position, he blasted the Fossil Pokémon with another Flamethrower before diving in with Metal Claw. The steel type move raked across Aerodactyl's snout again and again until Charizard used Dragon Tail once more to send his opponent spiralling through the air.

Aerodactyl righted himself quickly and roared a challenge as three rings of light formed around him and a barrage of razor sharp stones flew at Charizard. The Flame Pokémon weaved through the Stone Edge taking the hits when he couldn't evade and kept advancing on his opponent. As Charizard flew past the last volley of Stone Edge he was hit by Aerodactyl using Iron Head, Charizard tumbled and fought to regain his balance so he could fight back but Aerodactyl used Rock Slide. Charizard was pelted by the rocks, using the only option he had left Charizard folded his wings in and dove at the ground. He outpaced the rocks and pulled up a few feet above the ground, grabbing the Kabutops that Sceptile and Lucario were battling and going straight into Seismic Toss while Sceptile and Lucario used Energy Ball and Aura Sphere to destroy the Rock Slide. Charizard slammed the Kabutops into the ground in front of his teammates and flew up to deliver a Metal Claw uppercut to Aerodactyl before grabbing one of the Fossil Pokémon's wings and dragging him higher into the air.

Charizard eventually had to let go of Aerodactyl to avoid a Thunder Fang, the two Pokémon hovered in place as they searched for an opening. Aerodactyl feinted to the right to try and bait Charizard into a trap but the Flame Pokémon stayed where he was and yawned, adding a scratch to his belly to further taunt the Fossil Pokémon. A Hyper Beam flew from Aerodactyl's mouth with a roar. Charizard tilted his wings and moved out of the way of the attack while keeping a bored expression on his face. Aerodactyl charged in with Iron Head, Charizard smirked before bellowing and meeting Aerodactyl's attack head on with Dragon Rush.

Back on the Ground

An explosion and accompanying shockwave stopped all combat between Ash's Pokémon and their opponents as they looked to the sky only to see a large cloud of smoke hanging in the air and two dots shooting out of it.

Sceptile and Lucario took advantage of the distraction to end their battle against the Kabutops with Leaf Blade and Metal Claw. The two Pokémon took a second to catch their breath before Lucario picked up Ash's backpack and pulled out a couple of Pokéballs. Lucario enlarged the balls and dropped them onto the Kabutops, catching them and watching the Pokéballs teleport themselves to Professor Oak's Lab.

Assist the others and capture our opponents when they have been rendered unable to battles. I am going to assist Master Ash. Lucario returned Ash's backpack to it's original position and was about to jump into the cavern when Sceptile stopped him.

"Tile. Sce Sceptile Scept Scep Tile Tile Eptile Sceptile."

I understand, you have fought alongside Mistress May's Pokémon before and know them well. You are correct, it would make more sense for you to join their battle then for me to go. Lucario nodded and put a paw on Sceptile's shoulder. Good luck my friend. Sceptile smirked and pulled a twig from his tail.

"Sceptile Tile?" (Translation – "Who says I need luck?") The Forest Pokémon said before leaping into the cavern leaving Lucario to look at the battles still taking place and choose which one to join.

In the Cavern

May's Pokémon were easily holding the prehistoric Pokémon at bay and steadily gaining the advantage, Sunflora had managed to hit all of their opponents with Leech Seed except for the Kabutops that Blaziken was fighting, the Shellfish Pokémon proved to be too fast for the attack. Venusaur, Deerling and Lilligant used their various grass type moves to wears the Pokémon down along with Altaria proving aerial support and Glaceon slipping them up by freezing the ground. Ash would occasionally fire an Aura Sphere at Armaldo, which seemed to be the strongest Pokémon there, whenever it managed to grab Venusaur's vines and start to drag her out of the circle.

Blaziken and Kabutops had managed to battle their way to the other side of the cavern entirely focussed on each other. She ducked under a Night Slash and was about to counter with a Sky Uppercut when she took a Hydro Pump straight to the face sending her sprawling across the ground. As Blaziken got her wits back and heard May's panicked cry she looked to see Kabutops diving down on her with his blades gleaming in the low light. As she fought to get her arms up in time to block the attack a blur of green came from her peripheral vision and slammed in to Kabutops, sending both the blur and Kabutops about fifteen feet away from Blaziken. Blaziken slowly stood keeping her eyes fixed on the blur and Kabutops, from what she saw Kabutops hadn't managed to identify the blur and was barely able to keep up with the speed. Blaziken knew who the blur was though and knew that she'd never hear the end of this if she didn't get back into the battle and end it. She ran towards the fight and jumped in with a Mega Kick, the blur immediately moved out of the way and left Kabutops completely open to the attack. The Mega Kick connected with Kabutops' armoured chest with a crack and sent the Shellfish Pokémon skidding backwards.

The blur stopped next to Blaziken and revealing itself to be Sceptile, the two Pokémon shared a nod and a smirk before turning their attention back to Kabutops. Blaziken shot forward with a low sweeping kick which Kabutops jumped over and immediately had to cross his blades to block a Leaf Blade from Sceptile. Kabutops wasn't able to block the follow up Mega Kick to the chin from Blaziken. Together Sceptile and Blaziken became an unstoppable fighting machine creating openings for each other without having to communicate with each other. Within a couple of minutes Kabutops was struggling to stay on his feet, swaying side to side until Blaziken and Sceptile hit it with a double Thunder Punch knocking it into the air and out of the battle.

Sceptile shouted back to the surface and a second later a Pokéball dropped down, timing it right Sceptile spun around and batted the Pokéball with his tail so it hit Kabutops and captured the Shellfish Pokémon. The Pokéball shook twice before dinging and teleporting away. A look of satisfaction passed between the Blaze Pokémon and the Forest Pokémon before they turned their attention to the other Pokémon attacking their friends.

"Sceptile?" (Translation – "Shall we?")

"Blaziken." (Translation – "We shall.")

Both Pokémon took off at top speed quickly covering the distance between themselves and Armaldo, hammering the Plate Pokémon with rapid fire Mega Kicks and Focus Blasts. Armaldo turned and used X-Scissor to force the two Pokémon to retreat for a second before separating and attacking from different sides in perfect sync with matching grins on their faces.

On the Ground

After defeating the Kabutops the tide of battle had quickly turned in Ash's Pokémon's favour due to them knowing what to expect and the fossil Pokémon being out of practice in battle for so long both Omastar were beaten and captured leaving the two Omanyte and two Kabuto remaining. The Omanyte and Kabuto had changed their tactics, raising their defences and taking to using hit and run tactics.

Lucario used some of the items from Ash's bag to heal the other Pokémon from any damage they'd taken during the battle, he spared a look towards the cavern and listened to the sounds of battle that came from within to try and determine whether he should send a couple of the other Pokémon down to help. When a shadow covered him and headed towards the cavern opening his decision was made for him.

In the Sky

As Charizard and Aerodactyl recoiled from the smoke cloud after their attacks collided, each showed signs of their clash, small burns and scratches covered with bodies as they righted themselves circling slowly looking for their next opening. Charizard acted first, angling his wings and flying as fast as he could at Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokémon roared and used Supersonic to try and confuse Charizard but after one last powerful beat of his wings the Flame Pokémon folded them in to cover his head and started to spin as fire coated his body. The flaming Flare Blitz cut through the Supersonic attack not affecting Charizard as he slammed into Aerodactyl's chest, following the collision with Steel Wing to the jaw. Aerodactyl stunned from the attack, dropped towards the ground as he plummeted his senses started to come back to him and he noticed Ash standing in the cavern. He remembered that Charizard was partnered with Ash and a plan started to form in the Fossil Pokémon's mind, laying his wings flat against his body to go faster Aerodactyl zeroed on Ash's position and readied his talons to catch the human.

In the Cavern

A shrieking roar echoed around the cavern walls as the light was blotted out by a shadow. Ash wanted to look as see what was happening but he was occupied dodging the tendrils of Cradily, he felt something grasp his shoulders and he was thrown to the side. Rolling back to his feet Ash looked up just in time to see May being carried off in Aerodactyl's talons, a panicked scream escaping her lips as she rose into the air. Aura flared out of his body as he ran up the cavern's slope, he shouted back to the Pokémon to knock out the other Pokémon and take them up to the surface.

On the Ground

Ash sped out of the cavern and Lucario immediately appeared at his side but Ash didn't spare him a glance.

"CHARIZARD!" Ash bellowed, the Flame Pokémon knew exactly what Ash wanted and swooped low to the ground, not stopping as Ash leapt onto his back as he beat his wings hard and fast to catch up with Aerodactyl and May. The gap between the Pokémon was soon shortened and just as Ash was about to launch an Aura Sphere he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Altaria and Pikachu had followed them. Gaining control of himself and taking a moment to think Ash came up with a plan. "Charizard, get me in close then hit Aerodactyl with everything you've got. The Flame Pokémon grunted in understanding and did as he was asked, Ash then looked at Altaria and Pikachu. "You'll know what to do when you see it." They both nodded and readied themselves for anything.

Charizard dropped into Aerodactyl's blind spot and flew close enough for Ash to jump from his back onto Aerodactyl's talon, the Flame Pokémon immediately veered away and set himself up for an attack run.

"Ash!" May said happily over the sound of the wind.

"I'll get you out of here but you'll have to forgive me." Ash replied.

"Forgive you? For what?"

"This!" Ash formed an Aura Sphere and slammed it into Aerodactyl's leg forcing the Fossil Pokémon to screech in pain and release May from his grasp. May screamed and cursed Ash as she fell continuing even after she landed on Altaria's back and was flown back to the ground out of harm's way. Ash smiled and turned to see Charizard closing in on Aerodactyl shrouded in the draconic energy of Dragon Rush. Ash waited until the last second before jumping off Aerodactyl's talon and freefalling through the air, he watched the two Pokémon collide and then saw Charizard burst out of the resultant smoke cloud diving towards him with Aerodactyl snapping at his tail. Charizard dove level to Ash, allowing the raven haired Aura Guardian to get on to his back before pulling up sharply to evade a Thunder Fang.

"We need to finish this now, Charizard. Dragon Flame!" Charizard flipped around to face Aerodactyl as he charged a Dragon Pulse and powered it up with Overheat, the normally turquoise coloured ball of energy grew larger and larger as it turned a burning red with flames flickering inside it and along the surface. With a mighty roar Charizard launched the attack directly into Aerodactyl's snout, the explosion threw Ash and Charizard through the air and covered the sky with a thick cloud of dust and smoke. Aerodactyl fell out of the cloud, coated in dust and knocked out, the Fossil Pokémon crashed into the ground sending another cloud of dust into the air.

Ash and Charizard landed close by and as Ash carefully approached the downed Pokémon Charizard had flames lapping at his lips, ready to attack if needed. When Ash was close enough he saw the Aerodactyl was knocked out, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokéball, catching the Fossil Pokémon. The Pokéball disappeared in a flash of light as it teleported back to Professor Oak's lab.

"Alright Charizard, let's get back to the others." Charizard nodded and lowered himself to the ground so Ash could climb onto back once more As they flew Ash leant forward so he didn't have to shout for Charizard to hear him. "You happy now?" A pleased growl was Ash's only reply. "Thought you would be, no Jigglypuff to interrupt this time." They flew for a few more minutes before Charizard started to glide towards the ground, once they'd landed Ash got off of the Flame Pokémon's back and patted his neck. "Good job Charizard." As Ash turned he felt a hand crack across his face, wincing at the pain he slowly turned back to look at May's angry glare.

"That's for not telling me what we were getting into." She snapped.

"May, I…" Ash started before May cut him off by grabbing his collar and pulling him into a powerful kiss.

"That's for saving me." May said as she pulled out of the kiss and slapped him again. "And that's for nearly giving me a heart attack." Ash wisely stayed silent and nodded while massaging his sore cheek. They walked over to the Pokémon and Ash saw that there was still an Omanyte and Kabuto on the ground.

Master, we didn't have any more Pokéballs to capture these Pokémon. Do you have any with you? Lucario asked, Ash shook his head.

"I thought I'd have enough, I didn't think there'd be more Pokémon in the cavern." Ash replied, "Do you want to catch a couple of fossil Pokémon?" He asked, turning to May.

"Me?" May replied.

"Yeah, they'd be something new for your contests and they're really strong Pokémon. You'd be helping Professor Oak out too, when I told him about the fossil Pokémon and that I was coming back here he asked me to capture some of them so he could study them. It keeps them safe too, the world's changed a lot since they were born."

"Alright, I'll do it." May said, taking two Pokéballs from her bag and tapping the shell of each Pokémon catching them easily. The Pokéballs vanished in a flash of light and a couple of minutes later after Ash thanked May for pushing him out of the way of the Aerodactyl and they tended to their Pokémon Ash's X-Transceiver rang.

"Ash, my boy, you never said there would be so many fossil Pokémon. I'm not complaining, I just hadn't expected you to capture this many." Professor Oak said when the call was answered.

"Heh, sorry Professor. I just didn't think it would be right to leave them here after beating them and with it being a different time and all…" Ash replied.

"I understand Ash, I don't remember you mentioning any ancient Pokémon connected to Hoenn though."

"I didn't see any last time, you might want to be careful with Aerodactyl Professor. I don't think he's going to be very happy that I caught him." Ash felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see Pikachu pointing off to the side. "What is it buddy?"

"Pika." Pikachu ran a short distance away and looked back at Ash. "PiPika."

"Professor, can I call you back in a minute? I think Pikachu's found something."

"Of course Ash, I need to start cataloguing these Pokémon. Thank May also for her help in this endeavour."

"I will Professor, I'll call you back soon." Ash ended the call and jogged after Pikachu.

"Pi Pikachu." Pikachu had stopped and was pointing down into the cavern again. "Pika." The electric type ran down the slope with Ash following close behind. When they got to the bottom of the slope Ash saw what Pikachu wanted him to know about. Off in a corner of the cavern was a nest with three eggs nestled in it, in the shadows of the cavern Ash couldn't tell much about the eggs so he carefully picked them up and made his way back to the surface. Once he could see the eggs in the light, he called Professor Oak back.

"Professor, Pikachu found some Pokémon eggs." Ash took the X-Transceiver off his wrist and turned it so the camera was pointed at the eggs. "Are they what I think they are?"

"That depends, do you think they're Aerodactyl eggs?" Professor Oak asked, the eggs in question were a solid grey in colour.

"I think they might be."

"I'd have to agree with you Ash. When you get to the next town, express deliver them to the Lab by courier if you would be so kind. Having the eggs here may make Aerodactyl calm down, it would go some way to explain why Aerodactyl never flew away from the canyon. He was guarding the nest. I'll compensate you for the postage on them."

"I'll get to the next town as soon as I can." Ash replied, he felt Pikachu tug on his leg again and saw the Mouse Pokémon holding a small ball in his paws. "I think Pikachu found a Mega Stone too." Ash turned the X-Transceiver to look at Pikachu who held the ball out. It was about an inch in diameter and pearl white in colour with other colours reflecting from where the light hit it, there was a black swirling shape in the centre that stood out against the white background.

"That isn't a Mega Stone Ash, that's a Key Stone. I haven't been able to find one for May so this is a stroke of luck. Whatever you do, don't touch it, the research into Key Stones so far indicated that they only work for the first person who touches them. Have Pikachu hand that to May and I'll send the bracelet and arm band next time either of you switches Pokémon. It's just a simple matter of putting the Key Stone and Mega Stone into place then."

"Thanks Professor, I'll let May know." Ash ended the call after he and the Professor shared their goodbyes, he then carefully carried the Aerodactyl eggs back to where May and the Pokémon waited for them. Pikachu walked alongside Ash making sure to keep tight hold of the Key Stone and to keep it away from Ash so May could have it.

"Where did you two disappear to?" May asked as Ash and Pikachu came back, gently placing the eggs down Ash explained what had happened and Pikachu held the Key Stone out to her when Ash had finished. "So this is a Key Stone?" May said as she took it from Pikachu's paws, a ripple of pale blue light rippled across the surface of the Key Stone the second May's fingers touched it. "Do you think I should try it now?"

"Couldn't hurt." Ash replied, May reached into her bag and pulled out the Blazikenite.

"Blaziken, do you want to try Mega-Evolving?" The Blaze Pokémon nodded and took the Mega Stone, holding it tightly in her hand. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"How do we Mega Evolve?"

"You have to think about how well you know Blaziken and focus everything you've got on that connection." May nodded and closed her eyes, she thought about meeting Torchic, their first battle, their first Contest, evolving to Combusken and every little thing they'd been through since the beginning. A bright light made May open her eyes, she saw strands of pale yellow light flowing from the hand that held the Key Stone and from Blaziken's Mega Stone. As the light started to flicker she heard Ash shout to her.

"Don't lose your focus, keep thinking about your connection with Blaziken!" May nodded and concentrated on her memories and feeling towards Blaziken, the light stopped flickering and grew stronger. As the tendrils of light connected a blinding light surrounded Blaziken, the Blaze Pokémon emerged from the light with fire streaming from her wrists, the yellow feathers that covered her lower legs had changed to red and the red feathers from her upper legs turned black, the cream feathers that had hung from her head not stood up as an angle from the top of her head and a single fin-like protrusion stood straight from her head.

Blaziken looked at herself, as she felt a power surging through her body. Hopping from leg to leg Blaziken was itching to try her new strength out, she threw out a few test punches noticing her speed was higher than it had been. She jumped into a spin kick but due to her enhanced strength she lost control of it and landed heavily on her back but she quickly sprung back to her feet.

"It'll take Blaziken a while to adjust to the changes she's gone through." Ash said as May walked up to Blaziken and circled her, taking in the changes to her starter Pokémon.

"How does she change back?" May asked.

"Usually it happens when a battle's over, I think she should be able to change back on her own." Blaziken nodded and thought about her usual appearance, a duller light than before surrounded her and when it faded she stood as her usual self with the Mega Stone in hand. As she took a step towards May her legs gave way beneath her, Blaziken would've hit the ground face first if Sceptile hadn't rushed in and caught her. "Mega-Evolving for the first time must've taken a lot out of her. After some rest she'll be fine." May nodded and took the Blazikenite from the Blaze Pokémon and placed it in her bag with the Key Stone.

After making sure all their Pokémon were healed, Ash and May made their way to the nearest town to rest up properly and change their teams around. May returned Altaria, Deerling, Sunflora and Venusaur to the Lab, calling Wartortle, Vulpix and her two new fossil Pokémon, Omanyte and Kabuto. Ash sent Charizard back to Liza at the Charific Valley and sent Greninja, Gigalith, Infernape, Serperior, Butterfree and Sceptile back to the Lab, asking for the two Pokémon he'd had with him earlier, Meganium, Pikachu's Pokéball, Feraligatr and Talonflame. Ash couriered the eggs to Professor Oak while the holders for May's Keystone and the Blazikenite were transported over with Wartortle and Vulpix They rested for a couple of days before heading out again with their sights on the Seafoam Islands for May's next Contest.

"Ash, are you ever going to let me see those Pokémon you've been keeping hidden from me?" May spun around and started to walk backwards in front of Ash while she questioned him as they travelled down along a path. "Why are you keeping them hidden anyway?"

"I just wanted them to be a surprise for when they're fully evolved." Ash replied.

"So I can't see them till then?" May added a pair of large puppy dog eyes to her question, she could see Ash's resistance crumble way in seconds.

"I need Adam to teach me to resist that." Ash muttered as he unclipped a pair of Pokéballs from his belt. "Come on out girls." Ash tossed the balls into the air, they burst open and revealed a Combusken and a Marshtomp. Combusken had come out of her Pokéball with an additional flash of light due to her Shiny nature, she bounced back and forth on the spot while Marshtomp curled up a little and shied away. "Girls, this is May, my girlfriend." May smiled at Ash calling her his girlfriend. "May, meet Combusken and Marshtomp." May knelt down to the two Pokémon's level and smiled, Litwick waved from her place in May's arms and Glaceon stood at her Trainer's side.

"It's nice to meet you." She reached out and let the Pokémon reach back in their own time. Combusken immediately put her hand on top of May's while it took Marshtomp a little longer to decide before doing the same. "How did you get them Ash?"

"I asked Professor Oak to find some of my Tauros better homes, I've only ever called on the three strongest and it's not fair to the others to just be charging around Professor Oak's Lab. I found out which ones wanted to go on to something else and asked the Professor to check around ranches and farms to see if anyone wanted to trade. Combusken and Marshtomp are just a couple of the Pokémon I got through those trades." May nodded in understanding and Ash returned his Pokémon so they could continue on their way.

They passed the place where Togepi hatched, James' family mansion and passed through O-Hina Town, Ash was thankful that the Princess Festival had already finished, they kept travelling until reaching the port town where they would get the ship to the Seafoam Islands. During their travels May had been working on her Contest Appeal and having mock battles with Ash to prepare for the battles she'd have to win to get her next Ribbon. Standing on the sandy beach with the sun shining above them Ash and May looked out over the ocean, watching the light ripple over the gentle waves. Ash gave May's hand a light squeeze, smiling as she turned to look at him.

"Let's go and get that Ribbon." He said.

"And after that we win the Gym Badge from Cinnabar." May replied, going up on her tiptoes to peck Ash's lips. "The ship will be leaving soon, let's go." May took a step towards the port terminal and tugged on Ash's arm. "Come on, I don't want to miss it." Ash followed May but gave the horizon one last glance as a shiver ran down his spine. Something was coming, something bad.

That's all I've got for now, hopefully it was worth the wait.

Ash's Team

Pikachu

Lucario

Meganium

Feraligatr

Talonflame

Combusken

Marshtomp

May's Team

Blaziken

Glaceon

Litwick

Lilligant

Wartortle

Vulpix

Omanyte

Kabuto

Until Next Time

Basic Trainer