May rode her bike down the path to Oldale Town with Ash on her shoulder. Neither one said much as they went, content to just go along together. That was until a little blue Pokemon with a tail that resembled a ball hopped into the road in front of them. May gasped and skidded her bike to a stop.

"What's that?" she asked curiously. The little Pokemon heard her voice and looked at her curiously.

"Azu!" she said.

"It's so cute!" May exclaimed. She pulled out her Pokedex and scanned Azurill.

"Azurill, the Water Ball Pokémon. Azurill is able to throw its tail like a lasso, using the momentum to move about." The device explained.

"Alright! I'll try my first catch!" May declared. She hopped off her bike and grabbed an empty pokeball from her bag.

"Pika?" Ash wondered. May immediately threw her pokeball at the Azurill and he gasped.

"Pi-"

"Azu-" Azurill yelped as the ball hit her in the head. It opened up and she was trapped inside the ball.

"Yes! I did it!" May cheered. But almost immediately after she said it, Azurill popped back out of the pokeball.

"Azu!" she said defiantly.

"Huh?! Hey, what gives?!" May gasped.

"Pi! Pi Pikachu! Pikachu." Ash called, jumping off her shoulder and waving his arms. May looked at him and raised an eyebrow in confusion. He sparked his cheeks a little and smiled at her.

"I gotta battle her?" she guessed. Ash gave her a nod and she took a deep breath. "Oh boy...alright. But...who should I use to battle...?"

"Pika!" Ash volunteered, raising a paw.

"You...want to battle with me?" she looked at him in surprise. He nodded, clearly excited to give it a try. May smiled appreciatively and gave him a nod back. "Alright...our first battle. Let's do it. Use Thundershock!"

"Pikaaachuuu!" Ash yelled, sending electricity towards the little Pokemon and shocked her hard. Azurill shouted in pain and became a little dizzy from the attack.

"Yes!"

"Pika!" Ash cheered, happy that he had finally managed to land an attack properly and with some real power. He then remembered that it was still possible for the Azurill to get away. "Pikaka pi!"

"Oh right!" May gasped, quickly grabbing an empty pokeball. Azurill was still dizzy from the Thundershock but managed to stumble away and towards a nearby lake. "Hey wait! Come on Pikachu!" she yelled as she and Ash ran after her. However, when they got past the bushes in the way, they were surprised to find the little one hiding behind two other Pokemon that looked similar to her but were much bigger.

"A Marill and Azumarill…!" Ash recognized them.

"Marill Mar!"

"Azuma!"

"Huh?!"

"Pika!" Both Pokemon glared at the two intruders and fired off a Water Gun attack right at Ash.

"Pikachu look out!" May tried. Ash made an attempt to dodge, but the two attacks together left him with nowhere to go and he got hit hard. He was blown back and ended up crashing into May, drenching both of them. She fell backward into the newly formed puddle with Ash laying on his stomach in her lap as the three Pokemon dove into the lake and escaped. "Ow..."

"Pika..."

"Are you ok...?" Ash shook the water out of his fur and flashed her a smile. "Sorry...guess I didn't do a great job giving commands did I?" she sighed with an embarrassed smile. Ash simply smiled at her, remembering his first attempts at catching Pokemon as well. "Guess we'll try again some other time."

"Pi!" he nodded and then jumped into her arms for a hug. May hugged him back and laughed.

"Let's see about finding that Pokémon Center before we freeze." She suggested. With a nod from him, she carried him back over to her bike. Ash found his favorite spot and resumed sitting comfortably on her shoulder. She kicked up her kickstand and continued on down the path.

As the sun began to set, the two friends came across what looked to be a set of ancient buildings on top of a hill.

"That's odd..." May commented. She headed up the hill and stopped in the middle of the site. Looking around curiously, they eventually spotted someone nearby. The man wiped some sweat from his face with the towel around his neck and turned around to see them.

"Hello there." He greeted them.

"Hi. What is this place? I've never seen it before." May asked.

"These are the Oldale Ruins. Legend states that there's a stone chamber here that's a bridge between our world and the ancient Pokemon world. I'm on an expedition to unravel the secrets to it." He explained.

"Wow...I've gone through here a lot but I've never seen this before." She informed him. Ash looked around curiously from her shoulder, earning a chuckle from the man.

"Your Pikachu seems very interested."

"I am too." May nodded. "I'm May by the way and this is Pikachu."

"Pika!" Ash greeted.

"I'm Alden. Where were you off to in such a hurry?" he asked.

"The Pokemon Center." She replied, chuckling nervously. "We had an unfortunate encounter with an Azurill and her family."

"Well, you do look a tad wet." He noted with a smile.

"Heh...yeah..." she sweatdropped.

"Well, you're in luck. You're almost there." Alden informed her as he pointed down the other side of the hill. "It's right over there."

"Oh great! Thanks!" she grinned, quickly heading in that direction. Alden waved them off and she waved back before heading out of the ruins site. Once she arrived at the front door, she parked her bike outside and walked into the lobby. Inside were plenty of other trainers talking, eating, and relaxing. Ash smiled at the familiar setting while May looked around in awe. He could tell it was her first time in a Pokemon Center so he tapped her shoulder and pointed to a lady who was working at the front desk nearby. May nodded and walked up to the desk as the woman noticed her.

"Hello." She greeted. "My name is Nurse Joy. Welcome to the Pokemon Center."

"Hello." May echoed.

"How may I help you?" Joy asked.

"Do you have any rooms available? I'd like to stay the night if that's ok." May asked.

"Indeed we do." Nurse Joy nodded. "I'll just register you and get your key." She explained, getting right to work. As she worked and May waited patiently, the gears in Ash's head began to turn.

"...This is the first Pokemon Center I've been in since living with May...I...really should see what I can do..."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." May smiled as the nurse handed her the room key. Ash hopped down from May's shoulder and looked over to the video phones. May noticed his departure and looked at him. "Pikachu?" Ash turned to her with a nervous smile and waved her off. "Aren't you coming?"

"Pi Pika." He replied, holding up a finger.

"In a minute...?" she guessed. He smiled and nodded. "Alright...just be careful." He gave her a reassuring smile and she headed back towards the room she was assigned. Once she had gone, Ash headed to the phones and struggled to pull off one of the phone receivers. Once he managed to pull it off, he dialed the Oak Laboratory in Pallet Town.

"I can at least let them know I'm safe…"

May unlocked the door to her room and went inside, surveying the room. Since it was just her and her Pokemon, Nurse Joy had given her a single room. There was a bed and a desk, along with a few bookcases and a private bathroom.

"Wow. This is nice." May smiled. She took off her fanny pack and set it down on her bed. She glanced behind her, hoping to see Ash joining her. But he still had not returned. "I hope he's ok..."

"Pika!" she suddenly heard in the distance.

"Huh?" she wondered and began heading back towards the lobby.

Ash sat in front of the videophone, anxiously waiting for someone to pick up. Suddenly the screen lit up and Professor Oak appeared on it.

"Piiiiiikaaaaa! Pikachu! PikaPi! Pika, PikaPi!" Ash cried happily. Professor Oak recognized the hat on his head and his eyes widened.

"Ash is that you!?" he gasped.

"PikaPi! Pikachu!" Ash nodded with a bright smile.

"I'm so relieved beyond relief to see you're alright!" the Professor informed him. Oak turned his head and seemed to be calling to someone else in the room. "Delia! It's him! He's on the phone! He's alright!" As soon as Ash recognized his mother's name, she had run over to the phone and was on the screen beside the Professor.

"Ash?!" she called to him.

"PikaPi! Pikachu!" he nodded as he began to tear up. "Chaaa..."

"Oh honey I was so worried about you! Where are you?!" she asked.

"Pika..." he replied. He didn't know how to explain. Luckily for him, Professor Oak was already tracing the signal.

"The call is from a Pokemon Center in...the Hoenn region." He realized.

"The Hoenn region?" Delia asked.

"A very tropical region south of Kanto. No more than a day's travel by ferry." Oak explained.

"May will be waiting for me. I can't stay on the phone much longer..." Ash worried.

"How do we get him home?!" Delia demanded.

"Pi! Pikachu! Pi Pika Pi!" he tried to explain, holding up the phone.

"Professor what is he saying?!" Delia begged the older man for an answer.

"I can't be sure..." he admitted. Trying to contain the outpouring of emotions, Delia turned back to the screen.

"We're going to get you home as soon as we can! I promise!" she yelled as the call suddenly disconnected when the phone glitched.

"The signal's gone..." Oak said sadly.

"No..." Delia whispered.

"Don't worry...We know he's alright now. We're bringing him home..." he assured her.

"Please bring my baby home..."

Ash put the receiver back on the hook and hopped down from the desk. But when he turned around, he was shocked to see May standing behind him, almost in tears. His eyes widened as he looked up at her, dropping his ears.

"Ch-ChuPika..?" he asked, wondering how much she heard.

"You're leaving...?" she responded. Realizing she must've only heard the last bits of his conversation with Delia and Professor Oak, he figured out that she must've heard his Mom promise to bring him home…to take him away from May.

"Pi!" he gasped. He frantically waved his paws at her and shook his head. "ChuPika Pi Pikachu! Pi Pi Pi! Pika!"

"I heard what they said...about bringing you home..." she sniffled.

"ChuPika..." he whispered. "Oh May...if only I could tell you..."

"I can't believe you want to leave...I told you I'd take you back if that's what you wanted...but you said no...and I thought that meant...that you wanted to stay by me..." she cried. Ash shook his head vigorously trying to protest what she was saying.

"ChuPika! Pi Pi Pi! Pikachu!" he yelled, clinging to her leg. May looked away from him as a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"I heard what they said...that they'll bring you home...to Kanto…" she insisted.

"ChuPika...Pi Pi Pika..." he shook his head as he nuzzled her leg sadly.

"If you want to go just go...there's obviously people who miss you and want you back..." she said. Ash shook his head one more time and then jumped into her arms to force the issue. May managed to catch him, despite being caught off guard. He cuddled up to her body and held on tight.

"Pika!" he protested.

"...If you don't want to leave...why were you talking to those people...?" she asked.

"PikaPi..." he whimpered, clinging to her even closer.

"...You...really want to stay...? You're not just sparing my feelings...?" she cautiously asked. Ash hugged her tighter to try and show her his dedication. May finally allowed herself to break down and cry as she hugged him back.

"Pika..." he whispered, rubbing her cheeks with his paws. She eventually sniffled softly and wiped her tears away. Ash helped her out and wiped the last tear from her cheek.

"Thank you..." she smiled a little. He gave her a smile back, happy that things had been mended, at least for now. "You...want to see the room?" With a nod, May began to carry him back towards the room. He snuggled deeper into her arms. One day he'd be able to tell her the truth. That as much as he wanted to go home, he also wanted to stay with her. And someday…he hoped to have both.

May walked back into her room in the Pokemon Center with Ash in her arms. Everything looks pretty standard based on the other Centers Ash had seen in his travels.

"Here we are." She announced. Ash hopped down from her arms and smiled. May smiled a little and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Pika." He commented, hopping up beside her.

"You know Pikachu I was wondering...what would you say to looking more into those ruins Alan was at? I'd love to learn more..." she suggested.

"Pika!" he nodded. No matter the form or journey, he was always up for discovering more about Pokemon.

"Alright. Let's go back first thing tomorrow." She agreed. She then stifled a bit of a yawn and stretched a bit. "For now...I need some sleep..."

"Pika..." he replied.

"What about you?" she asked. Ash looked down in thought. As much as he knew May wasn't ready to know who he really was, he felt like he just had to tell someone the truth.

"Well...I could try writing...or..oh what to do, what to do...?!" he screamed. He suddenly gasped with an idea. "Pi!" he yelled, running over to her fanny pack.

"Huh?" she wondered. He ruffled through her bag until he found Torchic's pokeball and he held it out to her.

"Pikachu pika!"

"You want...Torchic out here?" she guessed.

"Pi!" he nodded.

"Well...a-alright." May replied, opening her pokeball. Torchic materialized on the bed beside Pikachu and gave a big yawn before shaking out her feathers.

"Tor?" she asked. With a small smile, Ash walked over to her to strike up a conversation.

"Hello." He greeted. Torchic looked over at him curiously, having never really spoken to him yet.

"Oh hi. You were at the lab weren't you?" she recalled.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I've been living with May's family for a couple of months now. I'm just not officially part of her roster." May smiled a little at seeing her two Pokemon getting along and left them alone to get ready for bed.

"You're wild?" she asked.

"...Sort of..?" Ash admitted. Torchic blinked in confusion and he took a deep breath to prepare himself to talk about his secret. "I haven't had an opportunity to talk to another Pokemon about this in ages...The truth is...I'm not actually a Pikachu...I'm a human..."

"Huh?" she asked, glancing over at May and then back at him. "But she's a human."

"...Some friends and I were helping a magician with a spell...but the instructions were smeared and the spell went wrong, it turned me into a Pikachu instead of what it was supposed to do...and the next morning I lost my ability to communicate with people at all...I've been this way ever since..." he explained.

"Really? But that sounds impossible..." she informed him.

"Impossible or not it's what happened...One moment I'm a human, and one faulty spell later I'm a Pikachu...when I fully transformed the next morning I ran away in panic then I was caught by a group of poachers and brought here to Hoenn..." he explained further.

"Poachers...?" Torchic asked, trembling a little at the mention of the Pokemon thieves.

"Yeah...I'm lucky I'm even alive..." he nodded. "...This is the first chance I've gotten to tell anyone about this..."

"Oh..." she commented. Ash's gaze slowly shifted to May, who was by this point brushing her hair out before bed.

"I just wish I could tell her..."

"Why?" Torchic asked, following his gaze to her new trainer.

"W-well..." he stammered, blushing faintly. "Well...I want her to understand obviously...we've gotten attached to each other and she sees something's hurting me but can't help...and...well..."

"You want her to be your mate?" Torchic suddenly blurted out. Ash's face turned bright red at her bluntness.

"What!?" he gasped.

"What?" she blinked almost cluelessly. Hearing his outburst, May glanced over at them to check on them. Seeing her looking, Ash's blushed even harder and tried to hide his face. May raised an eyebrow at his actions, but decided to give them their privacy and continued getting ready for bed. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing. Nothing." He tried to wave her off. He couldn't believe that this little Torchic had deduced his feelings in a matter of minutes. His ears drooped sadly, after all, if this little Pokemon could read him that easily that quickly, how long would it be until May picked up on his feelings? Torchic suddenly nuzzled his cheek with her own. He looked at her in surprise, only able to blink.

"Please don't be sad..." she requested.

"O-oh. Alright. I'll try my best..." he promised, giving her a small smile which she returned just as May walked back to them.

"I'm heading to bed you two. Feel free to stay up as late as you need." She informed them. Both gave her a smile and moved a little to allow May to lie down on the bed. Once she had settled in, both Pokemon snuggled into her side and settled in for bed as well. "Goodnight guys..."

"Pika..." he replied.

"Tor…" she added. May smiled at them both before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. Ash gave Torchic one more smile for her support.

"Thanks for listening Torchic..." he said, shutting his eyes. Torchic closed her eyes as well with a smile on her beak.

"You're welcome..."

To be Continued...