The Flames of Passion
"Ash!" May, Alexa and Delia said in unison. May handed Manaphy to Ritchie and the three girls ran outside and saw a burned Ash laying on the ground unconscious in front of his Charizard. May collapsed on the ground next to him and hugged his limp body, sobbing into his chest. Ash opened his eyes, for he was just pretending to be knocked out.
"Hey May," Ash said. "I'm ok. I was just kidding… kind of."
May got off of Ash and slapped him across the face, followed by a punch to the stomach, causing Ash to grunt in pain. May then clasped her hands over her mouth, once she had realized that she probably had aggravated Ash's battle wounds. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! You're lucky I love you so goddamn much, or I would kill you."
"I'm sorry," Ash replied. "I think I have the perfect apology though." Ash got up from the ground on one knee.
"Ash, what are you doing?" May said in an almost panicked voice.
"May, for 11 years you have stood beside me," Ash said looking into the eyes of the woman he loved.
"If this is one of your sick jokes again… I'm not falling for it!" May said.
"You have truly touched my heart in a way that nobody else has," Ash said to his love. "My only regret is that I didn't ask you to be my girlfriend sooner."
"I'm serious, Ash," May said, holding back the tears.
"If it's alright with you, I would be honored to call myself your husband. May, will you marry me?"
May smiled, putting her hands over her mouth, allowing the tears to run down her face. "Yes. Yes I will marry you." She kissed him deeply and released him. As Ash put the ring on her finger, Delia and Alexa began to clap.
"It's perfect!" May exclaimed holding her hand up, examining the ruby, sapphire and emerald gemstones in its band.
"Woah, woah, woah, Ash," Alexa said, pulling her brother to the side. "Didn't you guys just start dating a couple months ago."
"I'm not sure what to tell you sis. When you know, you know," Ash said smiling, turning back towards his new fiancé, who had a large smile plastered on her face.
"Maybe you will understand someday," May said to the teen, which earned a 'Yuck' face from Alexa.
"I'm going to see Paul now. And I think I need some medical attention. I'm actually in some serious pain right now," Ash said out of breath, clutching his abdomen where Entei had sunk its teeth into him (which just so happened to be the same spot where May punched him.)
"Jesus Ash!" May said. "Why couldn't you have done that first?!"
"I couldn't wait any longer," Ash said. "Charizard pulled me from the fire as my life was flashing before my eyes, what can you expect? If you guys want to head back down to the field, I'll meet you down there later."
"Of course," May said. "Just please get looked at."
"I call Charizard!" Alexa said running up to Ash's trusty Pokemon, who blew a large Flamethrower into the air out of excitement. Alexa threw out her partner Riolu and the two climbed onto the back of the Flame Pokemon. Charizard, along with Ash's other Pokemon, were very friendly towards Ash's adopted sister due to her admiration towards all of them. Delia and May turned and walked down the road into the woods, with Charizard flying closely behind, with Alexa riding on his back.
Ash entered the hospital room Paul had been kept and saw Dawn sitting in one of the chairs next to him. She rose up out of her seat and ran across the room towards Ash. At first, Ash expected to be hit for being partially responsible for Paul getting hurt. Ash was surprised, when he looked down and saw Dawn embracing him in a hug. He then wrapped his arms around Dawn and hugged her too.
"Thank you for saving him," The coordinator said. "If it weren't for you and Lance, who knows what would've happened. He's sleeping now, but Paul is gonna be alright."
Ash smiled at his old travelling companion from Sinnoh and took the empty seat next to her and Ritchie who was still holding Manaphy.
"Hey Manaphy," Ash said, taking the child from Ritchie. "Were you well behaved for these guys?"
"Mhm," The Sea Prince said, as Ash began bouncing him on his knee.
"Well you look pretty chipper for just coming out of a battle against a freakin' Entei!" Ritchie shouted at Ash. "I mean good Lord, Ash! Look at you!"
"I can't be too sad…" Ash said. Cracking a smile. "I just proposed to May."
"That's awesome, man!" Ritchie said, patting Ash on the back (which made him wince a little.)
"AHHH Congratulations!" Dawn exclaimed. "She did say yes, right?"
"Yes she did," Ash said, which caused Dawn to squeal with excitement.
After about 30 minutes had passed Ritchie and Dawn decided that it was time to return to all of their Pokemon at the field. Ash, on the other hand, opted to stay put until Paul woke up, handing over a sleeping Manaphy to Ritchie so it could go back to his 'Mama'. Dawn then made Ash promise to call her as soon as he had reawoken, and the duo left the hospital. Ash sat in the room staring at his unconscious friend for another 20 minutes, until the trainer had opened his eyes.
"Ash..." Paul said weakly. "Please... Never have me do that by myself again."
"I'm sorry that this happened Paul," Ash said. "If I had known that this would have put you in that much danger..."
"Don't say anything about it," Paul said. "It's my fault. I thought that I could take Entei on... Maybe even catch it for myself. I was greedy and cocky."
"It's ok Paul. It's over now."
"Did you catch it?"
Ash pulled the Ultra Ball out of his pocket and set it on the table. "I caught it, but it took a toll on my Pokemon. Took me a couple of tries to catch it too."
"Good," Paul said before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.
"Rest well Paul," Ash said before leaving his room to head back to the field, but comedically fell on the ground before exiting the hospital. Lying there staring up at the ceiling, he said, "I'm gonna need to find that nurse now."