It was the early afternoon of that day when May arrived back in Petalburg City. She had made good time on her bike down the path between Oldale and Petalburg. Ash was still asleep on her shoulder as she pulled her bike up at the Petalburg Gym just after lunch.
"Alright. Back again." She announced to herself. At the sound of her voice, Ash stirred and drowsily woke up on her shoulder.
"Ppiikkaa…?" he yawned as he sat up.
"Well hey there. Good afternoon." She chuckled. He cooed at her and nuzzled her chin in greeting, causing her to giggle. "That tickles!" Ash smiled brightly at her, happy to see her still in a good mood. She smiled back at him, causing him to blush slightly. May walked her bike to the garage and then used her housekey and walked into the foyer. "Hello?"
"May!" her little brother yelled as he ran to see her. May smiled a little, surprised that he was happy to see her.
"Hi, Max. Good to see you." She replied.
"What Pokemon did you get!? Does this mean you'll leave Pikachu here? Can I have him?" Max asked quickly.
"What?! No!" she yelled.
"Well, it was worth a shot." He shrugged. She sighed as Ash rolled his eyes. Somehow Max's true motives didn't surprise either of them. "So what did you get?"
"I'd like to show everyone at once. Where are Mom and Dad?" she questioned.
"Mom is out shopping and Dad's training with his Pokemon." Max explained.
"I see. Guess we'll hang out for a bit." She concluded. With a nod from Max, she headed to the living room and found a spot on the couch. Ash hopped off her shoulder and laid down in her lap, looking up at her and causing her to smile back. "Comfy down there?"
"Pikachu." He chuckled. She began stroking his fur, causing him to snuggle into her lap further and purr. "Now this I could get used to…"
"Pikachu seems extra friendly towards you May." Max commented as he sat beside her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Well he likes everyone, but he seems to just adore you." Max explained further. May glanced at Ash and smiled a little.
"Well...he's my best friend." She replied. Ash blushed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Pikachu..." he mumbled. He curled up a bit more in her lap and relaxed into her stroking hand. He laid content in her lap until the front door opened and the three of them saw Caroline walk inside with her bags. She gasped happily when she saw May and quickly set her things down in the kitchen.
"May! Welcome home dear!" she exclaimed.
"Hi, Mom." May greeted as she got up from the couch and shared a hug with Caroline.
"How was the trip down to Littleroot?" Caroline asked.
"It was good. Pikachu and I decided to head to Rustburo City first. So we decided to spend a night here before heading out." May informed her.
"Well, I'm glad you did. You two are always welcome to come back home." Caroline reminded her. As if waiting for his cue, Norman entered the room from the back door and smiled when he saw May.
"May! Welcome back!" he smiled.
"Hi Dad!" she replied, giving him a hug.
"So how was the trip? Have you given thought to where you'd like to go next?" he questioned her.
"Pikachu and I decided to head for Rustburo City first. So we thought spending the night here would be much better than camping out." She explained again.
"Well, it's always good to see you." He answered.
"You guys too." She smiled.
"Everyone is here now May!" Max suddenly yelled. "Show us what Pokemon you got!"
"Alright Alright." May said, pulling out Torchic's pokeball from her fanny pack. Ash smiled and watched from the couch. He really liked May's family and was sure Torchic would as well. "Torchic come on out!" May called, throwing her pokeball. The ball opened and Torchic popped out, landing on the ground and ruffling her feathers.
"Tor!" she cheered.
"Everyone this is Torchic. Torchic, this is my family." She introduced everyone.
"Tor torchic!" Torchic smiled.
"What?! Why'd you pick Torchic?! If it were me, I'd have definitely picked Treecko!" Max remarked. Torchic glared at him with annoyance.
"Torchic!" she yelled. She leapt at him and began using Peck on him repeatedly.
"Gah!" he yelped. May gasped at her starter's actions and put her hands out towards them.
"Wait Torchic stop!" she called.
"Chic?" Torchic asked, stopping her attack and looking up at May.
"That's just my little brother." May explained, shooting Max a quick glare. "With a big mouth."
"So that's what a Peck attack feels like...pokey." Max commented, now covered in bruises on the ground. Torchic glared at him again, but May quickly began to stroke Torchic's head to calm her down. Torchic back down quickly and leaned into her hand, cooing softly and allowing May to sigh in relief.
"I think you picked a fine Pokemon May." Norman commented.
"And she's cute as a button too!" Caroline smiled.
"Thank you, guys." May smiled back. Ash watched them with a smile of his own. Somehow, he expected the meeting to go pretty much just like this. May picked Torchic up in her arms and Ash happily hopped onto her shoulder. "The three of us are going to be awesome."
After a late family lunch and a chance to catch up with her family, everyone split up to relax for the day. Max headed up to his room to play some video games, Norman resumed his training in the Gym, and Caroline began preparations for dinner. May took some time to relax and watch some TV in the living room, but the lack of sleep from the night before began to catch up to her. She laid down and rested her head against the arm of the couch. She closed her eyes to rest as Ash and Torchic watched her drift off to sleep. Ash sighed to himself and looked out the window as the clouds drifted by on the wind.
"Mom...What do I do..?" he wondered. As much as he loved spending time with May's family, it also made him miss his family all the more. Torchic noticed his drop in mood and walked up to him.
"Berry for your thoughts?" she asked, nudging the last Oran Berry from her lunch towards him.
"Oh! Thank you Torchic." He smiled as he accepted the berry and ate it.
"Of course. So what's going through your head?" she asked again. Ash sighed and scratched his head a bit.
"My mom mostly...and my friends...I managed to contact her while we were at the Pokemon Center…She's always worried...but I've never seen her look so broken as she did when she first saw me again..." he explained.
"The woman you and May were arguing about...? That was your mother?" Torchic asked in surprise.
"Yeah…" he sighed.
"...You must miss her a lot..." she said quietly.
"Of course I do..."
"...You want to go back to her?"
"Well...yes...but May doesn't understand...and I don't know how to help her to..." he clarified.
"My Mom told me it takes a while before humans and Pokémon have a close enough bond to understand each other..." Torchic recalled.
"Yeah...It does...I had just learned to understand my Pikachu fairly recently before I was turned into one. Later this month I'll have had him for two years..." Ash explained.
"You had a Pikachu?" she wondered with a tilt of the head.
"He was my best friend..." he nodded.
"I see...perhaps that's why you became a Pikachu specifically..." she guessed.
"Maybe. He was used in the spell itself." Ash sighed. Torchic took a moment to think before looking back at him.
"...If they find their way to you...will you leave me and May?" she asked. Ash bit his lower lip. He made a promise to himself that he would stay with May and give her an amazing adventure. And to add another layer, it was getting harder to deny the feelings he had for her. It was getting stronger every day and yet…he still wanted to see his friends and family again as well.
"Well...I'd be happy to travel with all of us as a group..." he admitted, seeing that option as the best one he had at the moment.
"But surely you have your own life to live. Your own journeys to go on." She pointed out.
"But I also love being with May...She wouldn't understand if I had to leave...If she knew I was a human she'd get it then, but..." he tried to explain.
"There's also the problem of what happens when they find you...they could end up having May arrested. For all they know she could've bought you from the poachers..." Torchic mentioned.
"My friends would know better than to think anything like that...but my Mom...I am worried about her reaction..." he admitted.
"How come?" she questioned.
"After all this time, I'm just worried about how desperate she may get to bring me home..." he explained.
"Really? Has she done something crazy like that before?"
"No. Nothing crazy. She just worries a lot...I'm not sure how much she can handle..." Ash answered with a sigh.
"Oh...Well...I'm sure things will work out...somehow..." she offered with a little smile.
"Thanks, Torchic..." he said genuinely. "I just wonder how long it'll be..."
"Hard to say...Hoenn is a big place...maybe we can find a cure along the way." She suggested.
"Yeah...fair enough..." he nodded. Torchic stepped closer and nuzzled him in an attempt to comfort him. Appreciative of her efforts, Ash nuzzled her back.
That evening, back in Littleroot Town, at the very same port that Ash had arrived at months earlier, a passenger ship blew its horn loudly signaling its arrival. The gangplank was lowered down and passengers began to disembark and disperse into the town. Two specific passengers stopped short of heading into town, taking a minute to look around before heading in. The older one wore a brown jacket with an orange collar. Under it, he wore a green undershirt, his shoes were dark blue, and his new backpack was a lighter blue. The younger was wearing a yellow sleeveless top with a large blue button on the front and matching colored shorts. There was a dark-red tank top underneath and short pale and burnt orange ankle boots. There was a small backpack designed to look like a Spheal on her back and a little Fairy-Type Pokemon in her arms.
"Here we are Misty. He couldn't have gotten too far since that call...the problem is figuring out where..." the older trainer explained to his friend.
"But Brock who knows where he'll be by the time we get there..." Misty sighed. Brock put a hand on her shoulder and pulled out the map he had printed on the ship.
"Well judging by this map we should be at the Pokemon Center in half an hour. We could ask Nurse Joy what she knows." He assured her.
"I just…I hope he's ok..." she whispered, putting a hand over her heart.
"He managed to make a call from a Center. I'm sure he is..." he said, giving her a tiny smile.
"But what if he was sold to someone...or caught by someone? Who knows what a pokeball would do to a human..." she worried.
"I won't deny those are plausible possibilities." He acknowledged. Misty tightened the fist positioned over her heart. "Between us, Mrs. Ketchum, Tracy, Gary, and the Professor we'll find him in no time." Brock said. But even as he did, Misty watched him look down, unsure of his own words. She took a deep breath, gave a small nod, and began their trip to the Oldal Pokemon Center. By the time they reached it, the sun had long since set, and they walked inside just as Nurse Joy had waved off Alden for the night.
"Nurse Joy...?" Misty asked, gaining the Nurse's attention.
"Hello there. How may I help you?" Joy greeted.
"We had something we needed to ask you." Brock replied, knowing that right now they had more important things to do than flirt with the Nurse.
"We're looking for our friend...a Pikachu with a hat..." Misty added.
"A Pikachu with a hat? Oh, you must mean the Pikachu that belonged to May. You just missed her. She and her Pikachu left early this morning." Nurse Joy explained.
"B-Belongs to...?" Misty studdered. Ash was a human being! How could anyone possibly think that he belonged to anyone?!
"Who's May?" Brock covered, able to sense Misty's growing anger.
"She's a new trainer that registered the other day. The two of them were a big help when the center was attacked that evening." Joy continued. Misty's eyes widened as her mind began to race. Ash was not only with another trainer, but another girl. How could that be possible? He had always had a way of getting out of tough situations ever since she'd known him. Why couldn't he leave this new trainer and come find them? The answer then hit her like a ton of bricks.
"He...he was sold to her...by poachers..." she gasped.
"What!? That can't be possible, The pair were inseparable and saved the Pokemon Center along with all the Pokemon being treated. There's no way she could have been associated with poachers. Not to mention she's just ten." Joy countered.
"I-It has to be! There's no way he'd go willingly with another woman...! Er...I mean...another trainer...he's with us." Misty rebutted. Brock sighed, once again stepping in to try and cool things down.
"Do you have any idea where they were headed?" he asked.
"Judging the direction they were headed, I'd have to say they were on their way towards Petalburg City." The nurse replied.
"How far is that?" Misty demanded.
"It's the next town over west. A bigger city, you can't miss it." Nurse Joy answered. Misty quickly looked up at Brock, fire evident in her eyes.
"If we hurry we can catch up with them!"
"It's already after sunset..." he pointed out. "You sure that's a good idea?"
"But he's so close...! We can catch up and finally save him! It's been so many months…!" she begged.
"I know, but it's best we save our strength for the journey. We just got here today if we push ourselves too far we're just going to make things worse for ourselves." He tried to reason with her. Misty had just about had it. They had spent so many months doing nothing but try to find Ash. And now they finally had a lead after running into dead end after dead end. He was less than a day's walk away, they were finally so close. She glared at Brock and grabbed his ear as hard as she could.
"No Brock!" she yelled.
"Ow, the ear!" he yelped. Misty began to pull him away from the desk, determined to find Ash as soon as she could. Brock struggled as best he could in her iron grip.
"Ow! Misty! Come on, I want to see Ash as much as you do, but we can't get hasty! I'm sure we can catch up if we leave first thing in the morning!" Brock tried to compromise. Misty stopped and considered his words. As much as every fiber of her being was telling her to keep going, there was just as much exhaustion on those same fibers.
"...Fine." she finally relented, letting his ear go. "But we're leaving at sunrise."
"Alright." He agreed, rubbing the pain out of his ear as Misty walked back to Nurse Joy.
"Do you have rooms available?" she asked.
"Yes, we do." Joy nodded.
The following morning in Petalburg, May slowly opened her eyes, finding Ash and Torchic cuddled up beside her in bed. With a quiet smile, she got out of bed, being careful not to wake them, headed to the bathroom to take shower. While she was gone, Ash and Torchic began to wake up as well. He yawned and stretched out while she shook out her feathers.
"Morning..." he greeted.
"Good morning." She replied. Ash rubbed his eyes as his ears picked up the sound of the shower, answering the question of where May was before he could ask. Torchic meanwhile sniffed the air and smiled. "I smell food."
"Great!" he cheered. Both Pokemon ran out of the room and down the stairs, finding Norman and Caroline already up and enjoying breakfast.
"Good morning you two." Caroline smiled.
"Pika!" Ash waved.
"Tor chic!" Torchic echoed. Norman smiled at them and placed bowls of food down for them. Both eagerly ran over to the bowls. Torchic dug right in while Ash hesitated for a moment.
"I miss human food..." he sighed before beginning to eat. He ate until he finished his bowl and then heard May walking down the stairs. He smiled and ran over to her, climbing right onto her shoulder without hesitation.
"Good morning." She smiled. "Sleep well?" he nodded and nuzzled her cheek as she turned her attention to Torchic next. "Good morning Torchic."
"Chic!" Torchic replied.
"Good morning Mom, Dad." May greeted her parents.
"Morning May." Norman answered.
"You guys sleep ok?" she asked as she grabbed a seat at the table and some food for herself.
"Yes. Yourself?" he questioned.
"Absolutely." May nodded.
"Good." Caroline added.
"We're going to head out right after breakfast." May informed them.
"Make sure you have safe travels May." Caroline reminded her.
"Don't worry we will." May assured them. After a good breakfast, May worked with Ash and Torchic to restock her supplies, adding some more for the long trip through Petalburg Forest.
"Pika pika!"Ash smiled.
"There." May confirmed, zipping up her bag and clipping it on. "That should be plenty to get to Rustburo."
"Tor!" Torchic agreed. May smiled and recalled Torchic to her pokeball before heading out to the garage and grabbing her bike. She walked her bike out front where she met with the rest of her family to say goodbye again.
"Stay safe out there honey. And Pikachu make sure you look after her." Caroline smiled.
"Pikachu!" Ash said, giving both her parents a tiny salute from May's shoulder. May giggled a little at his antics and gave each member of her family a hug.
"Bye, you guys! I'll call soon I promise!" she said, climbing back onto her bike.
"Good luck May." Norman nodded. Giving them all one last smile, May rode off on her bike towards Petalburg Forest.
To be Continued...