Guest: Reader: Thanks, thank you for the nice ideas.
RHatch89: Thank you!
Guest: You mean like what if one of Wally's pokemon gets sick? Well, not any time soon now.
Guest: Well, it won't be too long before Wally gets a Mega Accessory. Gotta say, I haven't really given its shape much thought though...
Guest: Hmm, not either of this pokemon but I do have a certain choice from Kalos to add eventually. It's a pokemon I really like so I'm looking forward to that point. And no, I don't have any plans for him to get a fossil. I see what you mean about Wally being kinda like Sawyer, not Trevor though.
Yeah, that part with Croagunk was...well, yeah it looked insane but totally hard to believe. Not surprised it wasn't mentioned with everything else going on though. I haven't actually played any of the pokemon ranger games so I doubt I would be making a story about that.
Wally and Max sat with Kirlia in a pokemon center's hall, waiting for the others, ready to go on their way...
"Wait, Kirlia chose which form he wants? Which is it?'' Max asked excitedly.
"Well...'' The former looked at his partner, who only smiled and lifted a hand to his mouth. ''...guess it'll have to be a secret.''
"Aw, come on-you can't just drop a line like that and not say anything!'' Max's eyes narrowed at Kirlia, whose expression could only be described as cheeky. ''...You're just doing this to mess with me, aren't you?''
The pokemon just laughed, Max's retort was cut when he heard the sound of footsteps as a Mightyena walked by. ''Ah, a Mightyena!'' The dark type paused, looking at the boy curiously. ''It's been a while since I've seen one...reminds me of the reserve.''
Wally remembered that story too ''You mean that Mightyena you want to catch when you become a trainer?''
"Yup! He was great-he worked so hard. Seeing him evolve was amazing...'' Max held his hand before Mightyena, who licked it after a moment. ''...yeah, the other Mightyena looked scary but they're nice, just like this one.''
Mightyena relaxed as the boys took turns petting it, turning when a new voice called it. They were approached by a tall boy with his hair in a pompadour and sharp violet eyes. Despite his somewhat intimidating appearance, his expression was friendly ''What's up, girl? Find some new pals?''
He grinned as Mightyena nudged Wally's hand, the boy laughing as he continued petting her ''She's really friendly.
"Heh, for sure. She's a sweetheart off the battlefield but when you're fighting her-look out.'' The boy declared proudly, his eyes falling on Kirlia then. ''Hey there...'' Kirlia trilled a greeting in return. ''...this one looks tough too. Name's Hodge, I'm heading off to get my next gym badge.''
"My name's Max and this is Wally. Wally and Ash are competing in the league too.''
"Oh, yeah?'' The boy looked pensive. ''Wait, those names...you're traveling with three others-Ash, May and Brock, right?'' The confused boy nodded. ''Aha, called it! I heard about you guys from my Gramps. See, I'm from Lavaridge, my family runs the hot springs there. Gramps and Mr. Moore go way back so he heard a bunch about how you guys helped Flannery. Sounds like you guys really bailed her out of a jam, she was pretty happy. She's really shaping as a gym leader now.''
"That's good-I mean, she's tough and we knew it but things were kind of...'' Max trailed off, wondering how to put it.
"Yeah, Mr. Moore's cool but he's always been kind of a space cadet.'' Hodge nodded. Recalling how he finally decided to check on Flannery, Max had to agree. ''But man, I never thought I'd run into you guys. Any chance you'd be up for a battle?''
"Well...'' Wally glanced at Max before they looked back. ''...we were planning on leaving soon so I think it depends on our friends.''
Max had a thought "Say, what kind of pokemon do you have?''
Hodge smirked ''How about I just show you?''
"I can't wait to till we get to Fortree, wonder what the gyms going to be like...'' Ash was saying to Brock as they entered the hall.
"Hearing what the city is like, I'm really curious too-but Ash, there's no rush. You do remember your promise, right?''
The boy laughed weakly 'Come on, Brock, it's not like I'm just going to hightail it to the gym first chance.''
Brock smirked ''Experience tells me otherwise, buddy.'' He chuckled as Ash gave them the stink eye.
Huffing, the Kanto trainer began looking around ''So, where's everyone else?''
"I saw Pikachu going over to Wally's team in the garden and I'm pretty sure Wally and Max are still there. Not sure about May though...''
Hodge's team consisted of Mightyena, Hariyama, Golduck and Trapinch, the four were becoming acquainted with Wally's team. Hodge looked on with interest ''So, Kirlia was your first pokemon, Wally?''
"Yeah, which was yours?''
"Hariyama.'' He patted the fighting type's back. ''We met because of Gramps and we've been best buds for a long time. Couldnt imagine starting my journey without him.''
The boy glanced at Tropius, tilting his head ''...Y'know, I always wondered what a Tropius' fruit tastes like. You mind?'' Smiling, the fruit pokemon lowered her neck so he could reach. ''Thanks...oh, this is damn good!''
"Hodge, your Trapinch is huge!'' Max looked on in awe.
"Yup, I think she's close to evolving but she probably needs a bit more.'' He shrugged and they nodded. After all, even if pokemon were physically ready to evolve, emotionally...it could be a different story. It was awesome to see my pokemon evolve but I've seen trainers forcing their choices on their teams a lot and they really piss me off.''
"Yeah, that would suck...'' Max proceeded to recount how Wally let Kirlia choose his own final form and his firm choice to wait until Feebas was ready to evolve, leaving Hodge impressed.
Wally didn't see it as anything special ''They're my friends; of course I want them to make the choice.''
Hodge grinned ''Knew you're all right, Wally. You totally get it!''
This talk reminded Wally of his growing suspicions about Feebas, something he'd only mentioned to his parents, Kirlia and Mawile. It had just been a thought but it made an awful lot of sense. However, it hadn't been until talking to Professor Oak that he could decide what to do from there.
Shaking the thought, he willed himself to focus in time to hear Hodge say ''I'm going to Fortree's gym too, just wanted to train first so we can take things at our own pace.''
"I hear you...''
"No, you back off!''
Max blinked at the sudden cry. Was that May?
It didn't take them long to spot the girl arguing with Ash not too far away. The two were practically butting heads while Brock and Pikachu looked on with growing exasperation. Heading over with the others in two, Max asked what was happening. Brock was only able to say that Ash went to bet May before the girl intervened.
"I was just getting ready but Ash had to ruin it all because he couldn't wait a little longer. He basically dragged me out here without listening to a thing I said. Talk about rude and impatient!''
The boy immediately reacted ''Excuse you! We've been ready to go for a while, you're the one slowing us down!''
She glared back ''Oh, I'm so sorry for trying to look my best.''
Ash pretended to give her a once-over ''And how do you look any different?''
"Well, it would've been obvious if you hadn't been hounding me like a jerk!'' She snapped. ''You're supposed to learn to be patient. Charging ahead into everything worked out great before didn't it? One would think youd learn by now!
He countered her glare with one of his own. ''You're just going to keep bringing that up, aren't you? First of all, what happened that day had nothing to do with you. And second, I've been trying but you're just being obnoxious!''
"What was that?!''
"You heard me!''
Max sighed ''You're being ridiculous...'' The two harrumphed, looking away from each other.
Having no luck getting through to the pair, they opted to leave them and carry on with their plans. They were joined by Hodge, who wanted to get to know them better.
After taking a bit to snipe at each other, Ash and May still flat out refused to even look at one another. Pikachu made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with this, opting to stay with Wally. Hodge wanted to groan ''How long is this gonna go on?''
"Knowing how stubborn Ash is? A while.'' Brock admitted.
"A long while,'' Max deadpanned, after all May could be pretty hard-headed herself.
"What should we do?'' Wally wondered.
"I'd say they should sort themselves out...'' Hodge stopped as they turned a corner, Ash and May glowering at each other when their gazes met. ''...on second thought, that might be too optimistic.''
It wasn't long before the others began sharing stories of their travels, Hodge looking more and more impressed as time went by. ''Damn! And I thought my days were hectic...you guys sure have colorful times.''
"Colorful is right, some of them still amaze me.'' Max mumbled.
Wally gave him an amused look ''It's been amazing. I wouldn't change it for anything.'' The boys couldn't help but smile at the sincerity and happiness in his tone. ''Just think what your journey's going to be like, Max.''
"Yeah, little guy, not many get a chance like this. Bet you're really gonna be kicking butt and taking names when it's your turn.'' Hodge added.
"That's for sure,'' Brock agreed. ''I bet you're making loads of plans already.'' The boy just grinned. ''But on that subject, do you have a specific pokemon you'd want to start with? Like maybe one of the starters or a Slakoth like you said Norman suggested?''
"Any of them would be great!'' He returned brightly. ''Slakoth might be a bit difficult to work but I've always wanted to train one and I learned loads about them from Dad. And it'd be great if I get to see Mightyena again and...''
Brock smiled to himself, thinking back on May's comment about her brother's choices before. Treecko had been his obvious favorite and he seemed to care little for Mudkip and Torchic but look at him now...
He had to hold back a sigh as his eyes fell back on Ash and May, who were still walking away as far away from each other as possible. Tempers may have ran a little high but surely it didn't merit all this, here they were having fun but they were clearly too stubborn to do a thing. The boy didn't miss Wally glancing at the pair in obvious concern. Placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him approaching them, Brock whispered ''How about we leave them be a little longer?''
Pikachu seemed to agree, patting the boy's arm reassuringly. Wally gave a small smile, stroking his fur and eliciting a happy cry from the electric type.
"Oh, what do we have here?''
The group stopped in surprise as a man and a woman bedecked in fancy clothes. Their attention was mainly on Ash and May, the woman smiling ''Oh my, trouble in paradise?''
"That implies that we're a couple. Which couldn't be further from the truth.'' The latter countered.
Ash was in agreement for once ''As if. That's a laugh.''
"Hardy har har.'' May shot back.
The woman looked puzzled ''My apologies, I'm usually right about those things so I suppose I simply assumed...'' She smiled. ''...My name is Andy and this is Oscar, we were looking for trainers to challenge.''
"You just want to battle?'' Ash clarified.
"Exactly!'' Oscar chimed in. ''Our specialty is double battles so that's what we wish to use today-if any of you are interested?''
"I sure am!'' He said at once.
"Me too!'' May exclaimed.
Oscar was pleased ''Splendid! Then let's be on our way!''
The two looked all set to go until Brock spoke up ''Hold on, are you sure about this?''
The rest were equally skeptic. After all double battle required teamwork and they definitely weren't ready to be anything close to a team right now...
"It'll be fine.'' May waved off and they followed Oscar and Andy.
"...This won't end well.'' Max muttered.
None of them were surprised when Max was proven right. The battle was a disaster.
Oscar and Andy turned out to be an excellent team employing a Nidoking and a Nidoqueen who faced Skitty and Corphish. Ash and May on the other hand...
Well, one could say they were being dysfunctional at best.
Skitty's Assist created an Ember which clashed with Corphish's Bubble beam, leaving the two vulnerable to their opponents' counter attack.
May scowled ''Skitty, Assist!''
"Wait, again?'' Hodge blinked. ''Why? It might be a handy move but she should be trying something else already!''
The Assist turned to be a String Shot which Nidoking simply dodged, but Corphish tripped over it moments later.
"Corphish!'' Ash glared at his partner 'Thanks a lot for that!''
"What, you're blaming me?! How about you tell Corphish to watch where he's going?!'' May fired back.
"How about you stop messing things up?!''
What did you say?!''
"Ugh, it begins...'' Max wondered if they even remembered who they were supposed to be battling at this point.
Corphish struck Skitty by accident as she suddenly jumped in his way and Skitty wound up freezing him when firing a Blizzard. This of course did little but make their trainers even angrier at each other.
"Guys, the battle!'' Wally reminded. ''They're...''
But there was no use, by the time the two were able to pay attention, Nidoking and Nidoqueen were already charging up their next attack. The combined Hyper beam was the blow that served to end the battle.
Oscar and Andy went on their way, wishing them well but things had only worsened. Ash continued to blame May for the loss while the girl insisted that he didn't even want to consider working with her so it wasnt her fault. The squabbling got on Hodge's last nerve ''All right already! It's both your faults.'' The two looked mutinous. ''No! You're gonna listen. Of course you got creamed, you stubborn blockheads!''
"Exactly.'' Brock's stern tone stopped any of their protests. ''You didn't take the battle seriously, its little wonder you lost. You didn't even try to be a team.'' He sighed. ''But I see we're not getting anywhere like this-let's take a break.''
Max approached his sister while Brock and Wally were preparing lunch ''How long are you going to sulk?''
She huffed ''It's Ash's fault!''
"Hodge called it; you're both being stubborn blockheads.''
"Whose side are you on?!''
"No one's, obviously.'' was the immediate response. ''We're not taking any side. It's just like when you called me out after the way I talked about Dad and the gym. You were right, I messed up. All you're doing is being petty and giving everyone grief. I just thought you were better than this but if you want to sulk, it's your problem.''
He turned to leave, missing May's expression changing at these words.
Wally saw Brock approach Ash, having finished setting everything up. As much as he wanted to help, he didn't know how. Thankfully, Brock and Max seemed to have it covered. He just hoped this could be resolved soon...
"Is it really so hard to apologize, Ash?''
The boy didn't even look at Brock ''Why should I? I didn't do anything wrong!''
"Is that what you think? Really?'' He prodded, only to be met with silence. ''I expect May's going to see it soon too but the fact is, neither of you are innocent here. May was out of line but you shouldn't have pushed her so much either. Just take a moment and really think about what you should do now.''
Ash's gaze lowered to the ground. Okay...maybe he really had gone too far. Brock knew him well enough to see what really sparked his ire, May bringing up the Mt. Chimney incident like this. As if he didn't feel terrible about it already, Wally may not blame him but the boy still felt responsible. Ash may still get carried away sometimes but that didn't mean he didn't want to keep his promise to his friends, he owed them that much.
He...really had gone overboard today, hadn't he?
"Uh, Wally, Brock, quick question?'' Hodge was staring to their left. ''What's he doing?''
He' meant Pikachu, who was busy digging around in Ash's bag for something. Brock quickly caught on, his suspicions proven accurate when the mouse plucked out a ketchup bottle. Hodge nearly did a double take as the mouse pokemon added some to his plate ''Is that normal or just a Pikachu thing?''
Torchic pulled a disgusted face while Corphish and Mudkip shook their heads emphatically. Oh, it was definitely just a Pikachu thing.
Hodge stood once he and Wally made sure the pokemon were fed ''Okay, I think we need to shake things up a little so whaddya say to a battle, Wally? Just a little practice before lunch.''
"Eh? Well...'' The boy started as Tropius nudged him, smiling. ''...all right then.''
Tropius and Mightyena faced each other, the latter's Intimidate ability kicking in and stopping the fruit pokemon's first attack. Hodge seized the opportunity to have his pokemon retaliate with Crunch.
"Good, now Ice Fang!''
"Use Gust!'' Wally called, the sudden winds nearly throwing the dark type down. The boy hesitated for a moment before mentally shaking himself ''...Let's give this a test run. Tropius, Twin Blast!''
The command threw nearly everyone for a loop but the fruit pokemon immediately unleashed a wave of Razor Leaf and another of Magical Leaf. The two merged in a spinning twister that sent Mightyena into the air.
"Wait, wait-what was that?!'' Hodge gaped.
"I've been thinking about how to improve our battling style for some time. It came to me after working out a performance with Kirlia so we've been preparing some combination moves.''
Brock found himself thinking back to the times Wally would head off on his own to train. Sure, it wasn't unusual for them to take time to do so alone but those instances had increased in frequency recently. Had the boy beee thinking about this all along?
"Emerald Spiral!'' This was the combination of Gust and Leaf Tornado Wally revealed in his match against Roxanne, except now it was much more refined. Hodge tried to get Mightyena to dodge but the attack's range was too wide, it wasn't logn before she was caught.
Ash looked on in awe, he knew Wally was clever and resourceful but that was impressive. Wally admitted to being relieved, he'd been hesitating due to uncertainty whether the attacks were battle-ready. This elicited a small smile from Ash, Tropius' immediate reaction, the way she'd applied the combination and its appearance all spoke of high skill and a lot of practice. They had obviously worked hard and it was really paying off.
An amazed May couldn't help thinking that those combinations would look great in a contest. But then, that had been what inspired Wally, wasn't it? Thinking back on the performance with Kirlia, she could easily picture how it could be used in battle. Wally's hesitance was no doubt partly fueled by his concern for his team so it was little wonder he'd want a chance to test this plan out first.
But more than that, both sides looked like they were having fun. May almost smiled at this, the battle really was a nice change of pace. She didn't even think they would care who won, Hodge had quickly proven to be quite friendly and he got along great with the others. The girl wished the same could be said for her but...well, she knew she really had been terrible today.
A part of her immediately regretted bringing up Mt. Chimney once she said it but she was too angry to take it back. Ash steamrolling over her out made her so angry that she wanted to get back at him. That didn't make it right though. She was quite aware how Ash felt about that day, rubbing it in his face like that was uncalled for. And if that wasn't bad enough, their attitude just got worse and they messed up the battle. The others were just trying to help but the two of them were just too proud to let it go. Looking back, May was getting more and more embarrassed by her behavior today. Max was right-what had she been thinking?
Tanking a strong Gust attack, Mightyena used Ice Fang to stop the consequent Razor Leaf on command. But this quickly turned out to be a distraction as she was pelted by a wave of Magical Leaf a moment later, the move being quite hard to dodge.
"All right then, Snarl!''
Growling, Mightyena began letting out loud cries that caused shockwaves which made Tropius wince. Wally had her fly up, hopefully out of range. The fruit pokemon was able to do it, albeit a bit shakily.
"Ice Fang, Mightyena!'' Hodge called.
"Razor Leaf!'' Wally countered.
We can totally stop that, remember?'' The former cut in.
But Wally wasn't deterred "Magical Leaf on the same area, Tropius!''
This struck them as odd but then while Mightyena was able to fend off the Razor Leaf for the most part, what came next was the unexpected part. With the Magical Leaf pushing the first move forward, Mightyena was nearly blinded by all the leaves.
Max looked taken aback ''That was his aim all along?'' Pikachu and a few of the other pokemon let out a cheer, glad to see their friends doing well.
Tropius continued the onslaught with Leaf Tornado at Wally's behest, taking the bite pokemon off guard. Mightyena was left struggling to get up but then Tropius surprised everyone by diving at her as a blue aura flared to life around her body, the next strike making her opponent fall.
"Hey, I think that was Dragon Hammer!''
Brock nodded at Max's proclamation, Wally's evident surprise left him to conclude that Tropius might have just learned it. He had to smile as a number of the pokemon made sure to congratulate Tropius, the rest of her team and Grovyle leading them.
Hodge patched Mightyena up ''Good job, girl. They were just a bit better today.''
Wally patted the fruit pokemon's head ''Thanks, that was a great job.'' Tropius gave a pleased cry, nuzzling him back.
"l'll say.'' They looked at the approaching Hodge and Mightyena. ''Man, you guys are good. But don't be I'll satisfied with this, you won't have it so easy next time so look out!''
"I'm not about to just settle for this either.'' Wally smiled, earning a grin from the older boy.
Max turned slightly, noticing May leaving from the corner of his eye. What took him back was the sight of Ash heading in the same direction. Were they finally going to talk?
"Hey, so ah-listen...''
"I-um...''
Ash and May fidgeted a little but then ''I'm sorry!''
The two shared surprised looks, awkward silence settling in but they couldn't help laughing afterwards.
Ash sighed ''Yeah, I know I keep saying I'll try to be more patient but I kind of suck at actually proving that, huh?''
"Changing yourself isn't easy. You're trying, that's enough.'' May assured. ''Talking about that fiasco in Mt. Chimney like that was way out of line, I don't blame you for getting mad. And I was taking my sweet time there...''
"Well, I can't say I don't get you wanting to look good but then again that's not too different from the norm.''
May blushed a little, smiling at him. Ash exhaled ''Man, I don't know how everyone put up with us today. That must have been a pain.''
"I know, right? We should know better. It feels nice getting this off my chest.''
"Totally, I say it's high time we get to fixing things.'' Ash's declaration earned a nod. ''And we can start right with lunch!''
"Of course that'd be your priority, huh?'' May grinned slyly.
Both started at the sound of a rumble, the girl groaning in embarrassment as she realized it was her stomach. Ash smirked ''Sounds like it's your priority too...''
"Shut up!''
He snickered ''Come on then, we can work on some training and get better as a team. Then come the next double battle, we'll be sure to win!''
May returned his smile with one of her own ''Sounds like a plan.''
Well, let's stop here.
I hope this was good, I haven't had much of a motivation to write fanfiction in a long time. I really don't like leaving things unfinished if I can help it, so if I post a story here, I'll do my best to see it done.
That fight episode sort of got on my nerves but I thought I could put my own spin on things. It did start the same way, not much happened. Ash just pushed May far and ruined her preparations so she's getting back at him. Ash and May both messed up and they see it too but this can be something to bring them a little closer. The idea to use Hodge came from a review a while back. He's going to be a rival, but more for Wally than Ash. I can't actually remember if they mentioned what his first pokemon was in the anime so Ill just stick with Hariyama. I've been thinking of combinations for Wally's team for a while now and I think I have everyone covered; it's still a work in progress so he only used it when there was no choice. Some of the combinations are still being fixed up, like with Manectric. Kirlia and Tropius are the ones who made the most progress but the rest will come eventually.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Till next time!