This story was a request from a friend, and unfortunately she passed away due to covid-19. As a posthumous tribute, I decided to publish this story that had been made for only her to have access to.
This work may have a few chapters or develop into something larger. Unlike other stories, this one doesn't have a complete outline yet, so I'll be developing the plot as I make the chapters.
Without further ado, enjoy the prologue.
Prologue – Inheritance Awakens
In the beginning nothing existed, and out of nowhere the Primordial Egg appeared. From that single egg was born the first sentient creature: Arceus, the firstborn.
Arceus created everything that existed out of his infinite authority and power, and with that the world was shaped in his image, soon after creating the first sentient creatures that would populate what would come to be called Earth.
They were called Pokemon.
The first to emerge were those responsible for helping to form the Earth as it is known today, and after countless millennia, the Pokémon that are known today have marked their presence on the four sides of the globe, but Arceus decided to create another category of Pokémon. living beings that would live side by side with the Pokémon.
They were called Humans.
Since the creation of humans, they have lived side by side with Pokémon in perfect harmony, and while there were always exceptions where humans and Pokémon performed evil deeds, the harmony was never destroyed.
Arceus in all his wisdom was sure that the world could go on without his interference, leaving to his children the responsibility of protecting the lives of both Pokémon and humans. But what he didn't foresee was that some humans throughout their evolution would develop certain abilities that shouldn't be in their hands, but in Pokémon's hands.
These humans were rare, but from birth they showed strange abilities, and human nature was cruel. They feared the unknown, and fear turned to hate, and eventually hate turned to ignorance.
Those with the special gifts were persecuted and killed for thousands of years, to the point where they eventually became extinct. Arceus was outraged to see his creations killing themselves for unjustifiable reasons, and as an act of punishment, he created a new class of creatures.
The True Ancestors.
They were identical to ordinary humans, except for one characteristic: They were not tied to the natural cycle of life and death. Superior creatures in both physical form and intelligence, they were Arceus's heralds in dark times, ending the bloodbath in what has been described as a "dark age".
These creatures were superior in every way, and didn't need much to live. Time was relative to them, as they could be killed, but they would never die of old age or any disease. The first ancestors were created by Arceus himself, and with the end of the war, their usefulness ended and they were allowed to live their lives as they saw fit.
Centuries passed and the stories of humanity's dark age were forgotten, the knowledge of who the True Ancestors were was lost in time and these creatures disappeared from the annals of history.
The True Ancestors related to ordinary human beings over time and their heritage was diluted in future generations, reaching the point where their offspring were completely human, having in their genetic code the inheritance of creatures of the past, waiting for a simple trigger to wake up.
Blood.
The True Ancestors differed from humans in addition to the fact that they possessed superhuman abilities, but also by the characteristic of having an insatiable thirst for human blood. It was a complete mystery why they were created with this trait.
Humans who were descendants of the True Ancestors would have a perfectly normal life as long as they never consumed human blood, no matter if it was just a drop. They would be born, grow up, age and eventually die like normal humans.
But if for any reason the blood of a human other than the person with that heritage were to intentionally come into contact with his mouth, it would trigger a series of mutations in less than a day, culminating in his transformation into a full True Ancestor.
The legends of mankind called them various things: Demons, Vampires, Monsters, and they had their reasons for doing so. When a True Ancestor awoke, he hardly had control of his urges, and his victims were naturally drawn to him, as it was in his nature to be attractive to the creatures he would target.
With the advancement of humanity, these creatures became a legend that bordered on mysticism and practically no one believed that they really existed.
What no one knew, was that after thousands of years, a new ancestor would be born.
XXX
Ash Ketchum was having a bad day. It all started when he and May had an argument about who was better: Coordinators or Coaches. It was a recurring topic in recent days due to May's defeat at the Great Kanto Festival, and seeing Ash winning the Battle of the Frontier didn't help the Coordinator's ego stand firm. And to make matters worse, Team Rocket had the brilliant idea of trying to kidnap May instead of Pikachu, with the plan to lure the group of travelers into a trap and steal all her Pokémon.
He admitted to himself, the plan wasn't a bad one, but no one would attack one of his friends and get away with it. After another confrontation with the trio of criminals, Ash and his friends emerged victorious again, but something unexpected happened.
In the explosion of the balloon that took Jessie, James and Meowth to take off, May fell to the ground and by a misfortune that only happened to the Maple family girl, pierced her finger with a small piece of wood.
The poor girl cried in pain as she comically ran around in circles, causing everyone in the group to look in confusion at the coordinator.
"May, stop it you're being more clueless than usual." Max yelled at her, and initially believed he had succeeded in calming May down, only for her to punch him in the head in anger.
"Shut up Max! I got hurt and it hurts a lot, Brock help me." She said in a tearful voice to the Pokémon creator. The former gym leader was going to get first aid when Ash took the girl's hand where the small piece of wood was.
Ash looked at May and she was confused by her friend's sudden action. Pikachu was confused too, but remained faithfully on his trainer's shoulder.
"Ash what are you going to… AAAAAAAAA!" Ash unceremoniously ripped the piece of wood off May's finger, causing the poor girl to cry out in pain. Blood started to drip from her finger and May looked at it with fear. She wasn't used to getting hurt this way, and when Ash saw her friend's discomfort, she realized that perhaps she had overreacted to her actions.
"I'm sorry May, I just wanted to help you." May ignored the apology, still angry with the boy.
"Really Ash? Why won't your apologies help me ease my pain, look at my finger, it's full of blood, I should make you clean it." May said the first thing that came to her mind, but she didn't remember a small detail.
Ash was terribly clueless when it came to Pokémon.
"Okay, if you insist..." Without a second thought, he took May's hand again and took her injured finger into his mouth.
A silence descended among the group. Pikachu fell off his trainer's shoulder at the sight of such a lack of social tact. Max was in disbelief to see his idol with his sister's finger in his mouth, and Brock for some reason felt enormous pride to see his friend unconsciously performing an action he would most certainly try to repeat when he met the next Nurse Joy.
The most shocked was May, who ignored the pain at seeing her friend with his injured finger in her mouth. Her face turned red with embarrassment and she quickly walked away. Ash looked at the girl in confusion and May wanted to be anywhere but in front of her mentor.
"Why did you do that?! You can't just put a girl's finger in your mouth, I'd expect that from Brock, not you!" She screamed extremely embarrassed at the trainer.
"Ash don't put anything in your mouth, you don't know where my sister might have put her hand and lately she hasn't been showering much..." He never finished his sentence as May ran towards him and started comically strangling his little brother.
"I'll show you who doesn't shower!" She screamed as she shook her brother by the neck.
"I don't understand, she asked me to clean her finger and I did what I could at the time, it even stopped bleeding." Ash honestly was doubtful, and it didn't help that Brock put a hand on his shoulder as he looked on with an oddly proud expression, which for some reason made him uncomfortable.
"You did it without even knowing what it could mean. So much potential...Ash, I envy you sometimes, keep it up and you can be my squire on the path of love!" Brock started rambling on about something involving Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. Pallet's trainer backed away from his old friend as Pikachu snapped out of his shock and jumped back onto his human partner's shoulder.
"Pikapi" Ash looked at his yellow friend and scratched his cheek, much to the electric Pokémon's delight.
After a while everyone calmed down and continued their journey towards Terracotta, the Maple brothers' last stop in Kanto and the end of the group of friends' journey together. May and Max would go back to Hoenn, and May would go to Johto along with her rivals.
Even with the constant bickering, it was undeniable to everyone that Ash and May were trying to enjoy these last few days in their own way.
May looked at Ash as he walked a little ahead of the group and started to think about everything she had lived through these two years traveling through Hoenn and Kanto. She was a girl who hated Pokémon until the moment she met him. Ash didn't ignore her, quite the contrary, he took her under his wing and turned her into a talented coordinator even without knowing anything about coordination. He also saved her countless times from the dangerous situations they had found themselves in over these two years.
She had always considered him a friend, no, her best friend. But ever since she'd made her decision to travel without Ash by her side, a strange feeling had been nagging at her. May didn't want to lose her friend, she was afraid he would forget about her after they went their separate ways. She knew this was all a huge mistake, and unlike her clueless friend, May knew what was going on and it scared her. May has had small crushes on boys in the past, but it was all fleeting, even Drew who gave her roses whenever he got the chance was nothing more than a good rival for the girl, but with Ash it was different. She felt safe around her and was jealous whenever he interacted with a girl her age.
She was starting to fall in love and feared that it would affect their friendship. It didn't help that Ash, being incredibly dense and socially tactless, unconsciously ended up doing the 'right' things to further strengthen her feelings.
Since the events at Samiya's temple where he was ready to drown just to save her along with Manaphy and Pikachu, the feelings have grown strong, almost unbearable. She'd decided that she was going to ignore her passion to protect the friendship they'd both built. May was afraid of being rejected, and most of all, afraid of getting hurt by traveling longer with Ash while she kept to herself how she felt.
Her pent-up emotions spawned conflicts between her and her best friend, events that led them to their current situation, heading to Terracotta and thus ending her journey with her mentor.
A scream snapped her out of her thoughts as Brock ran towards Ash, who had fallen to the ground while writhing in pain. Max was at a loss as to why the trainer had collapsed and Pikachu was scared as he refused to walk away from his trainer, with his ears down.
May was in shock for a few seconds, before running towards the boy she 'secretly' liked.
Ash was frighteningly pale, and his breathing was shallow, something that alarmed Brock, he was the only one with basic knowledge of medicine in the group and he knew his friend's situation could be worse than it appeared, and it was getting dark, the which made a hasty trip to Terracotta, which was a full day away, impossible.
"Back off, I need space to help you. May, help Max set up camp, it's getting dark and we're going to spend the night here, it's dangerous to travel in these conditions and Ash's health is what matters right now." Max started to pitch a tent and May stood next to her friends. Brock was going to scold her, but when he saw the girl's fearful eyes, he didn't know what to say.
"Brock, is Ash going to be okay?" she asked as she held back her tears. One moment Ash was fine, embarrassing her without even knowing what she was doing, and not an hour later he was agonizing in pain. It scared her and her heart sank to see such an important person in her life in such a state, without her being able to do anything.
Brock was older than his friends, and he knew that look very well, he suspected that the brunette saw Ash as something more than a friend and the way she worried about the boy in this situation only confirmed his suspicions.
"I'll do what I can, no need to worry, go help your brother, I'll take it from here." Reluctantly May pulled away and started helping Max with the tent, but whenever she could she looked to Ash as she prayed for his recovery.
It didn't take long for night to break out and after Brock stabilized Ash's situation, he put him in the tent while asking May to stay by the trainer's side monitoring him to report any changes in his health.
Max didn't like seeing his sister next to Ash in this state. "Brock, are you sure May is the best choice? She's incredibly clumsy, what if she hurts you?" The Pokémon breeder laughed at the boy's naivete.
"Your sister is the last person who would hurt our friend. When you are older you will understand." The cryptic answer made Max uncomfortable, but he decided it wasn't important.
Pikachu wanted to stay with its trainer, but a look from Brock made him give up on the idea, and the electric Pokémon decided to stay close to the Pokémon creator while May took care of its trainer.
XXX
His head was throbbing with pain, a steady rhythmic drumbeat was echoing in his ears and a feeling of thirst took over his body.
Ash slowly opened his eyes and didn't understand where he was, all he remembered doing was walking with his friends and suddenly everything went dark. His vision was blurry and the sound of drums continued to echo. When his vision got a little better, he realized he wasn't alone.
May was beside him looking with barely contained happiness, and the trainer noticed that the sound of drums was coming from his friend, he was not understanding what was happening, the thirst was getting more intense.
May was unaware of Ash's intense internal debate and threw herself on her friend hugging him.
"Finally you woke up Ash, I was so worried, you passed out and started to turn pale, come to think of it, you're still pale but I don't care, you woke up and that's what really matters." She cried with joy as she held Pallet's trainer as if he was going to disappear at any moment.
Meanwhile Ash was frozen with his friend's sudden action. The thirst was getting unbearable, he could smell the peach from the shampoo that May usually uses, his gaze was on her friend's neck, his instinct was asking him to do something unthinkable.
bite it.
The thought panicked him and without thinking about his actions, he pushed May away from him.
Ash trembled with fear at his own thought, while May looked at him with a mixture of amazement and hurt.
"May...stay away from me, I don't know what's happening to me, but I need you to stay away." This hurt May more than a slap, she started crying in sadness as she came to her own conclusions.
"I…I'll leave you alone. I'm sorry for hugging you, it won't happen again…" She prepared to leave the tent, but was stopped by Ash, who grabbed her wrist.
She looked at her friend and her heart sank at the startled expression on Ash's face, while his pupils were dilated and his eyes took on a reddish hue in contrast to his pale skin. He was shaking.
"May... I don't know what's happening to me, I'm afraid... afraid of hurting you." This left May in shock. Was Ash afraid of hurting her? He was the one who protected her most of the time. Something was wrong and May Maple doesn't give up when she makes a decision.
She zipped up the tent and sat down across from her friend. "Ash Ketchum, you're going to tell me what's going on and I'm not leaving here until you tell me the truth." May's tone left the coach no wiggle room.
"I don't know!" He yelled, startling May. His tone of voice dropped as Ash looked at the floor as he held his own arms trying to calm himself. "I don't know what's happening to me, I feel weird. I hear drum sounds, I can smell her shampoo even from a distance and… I'm afraid I'll hurt you May." Ash looked straight into May's face, and his voice shook as tears began to stream down his face.
May still didn't understand why her friend was acting this way, but when she looked into Ash's eyes, she froze. She lost herself in those eyes that had taken on a shade of red, her favorite color. Unconsciously May approached while Ash backed away trying to hold back his newfound instincts. Soon the boy ran out of space and May managed to get closer.
"May please stay away, I won't be able to control myself..." He pleaded as his gaze glazed over as he focused on his friend's neck. May regained her focus, but felt that she needed to push for an answer. She broke the coach's personal space.
"I care a lot about you, tell me what bothers you, I just want to help." May's pleading tone broke Ash's heart as he mustered the last of his strength to control the urge he felt.
"Please stay away, I don't want to hurt you, I would never forgive myself if I hurt you, you are very important to me." Ash's gaze made May freeze. He was scared, but he was saying what he really felt. May's heart raced, she knew her friend too well to know that he was perhaps the densest person on the planet when it came to love, but this was as close as she was going to get to Ash without rubbing in his face that she liked it. him more than a friend.
Trying to calm him down, she flashed him a serene smile. "Don't be afraid, I'm not going anywhere, not after you told me that." She started to approach as Ash tried one last time to dissuade her.
"But May..." He was silenced when his friend did something he never expected to experience. She kissed him and it left the trainer not knowing what to do. He knew he cared for May in a different way than any of his friends, but he couldn't understand how he really felt about May. He wasn't a complete idiot, he knew what he could be, but he'd denied it during the time he'd traveled with the coordinator, as Ash was pretty sure she didn't see him as anything but a friend.
Apparently he was terribly wrong.
The agonizing feeling that was consuming him, along with the overwhelming thirst Ash felt, made him perform actions practically on instinct. He hugged May as he responded to the girl's kiss with an intensity that surprised her. What was innocent turned savage as Ash began to sink his tongue into his friend's mouth.
May couldn't believe what was happening. First she kissed Ash and when she feared she had ruined their friendship, then her incredibly dense friend surprises her by taking control of the actions. The surprise turned to relief when the girl also deepened the kiss as she hugged the coach's neck.
After nearly a full minute, they broke apart as they stared at each other, flushed and panting. Ash's mouth was slightly open and May could see two teeth in his upper jaw lengthening and becoming sharp.
Like prey.
The voice of reason in her mind screamed for her to run, but May refused. She could practically see the steam coming off her friend's breath as he shivered.
"I won't be able to control myself May, please run away from here and stay away, I don't want to hurt you..." It was heartbreaking to see the boy she loved in such an emotional state, and she made a decision that anyone rational would call stupid.
But she didn't care.
May smiled and approached. "I'm not leaving Ash, I don't know what's going on with you, but I want to help you. I'm not afraid if you hurt me, you've saved me so many times, now it's my turn. She blushed like a tomato at what she was going to say next, letting her mind misunderstand Ash's request. "Do what you want, but be kind."
Ash would have blushed with embarrassment if it had been any other time, but hearing those words broke his urge to control himself. He gently hugged May as he whispered in her ear.
"I'm sorry…" And with that he bit into May's neck with surgical precision. May let out a sigh of shock at the Pokémon trainer's action, and a strange feeling surged through her body. She warmed up and her blue eyes widened. Her breathing became erratic and an indescribable feeling, but one she didn't want to end, washed over her. "Ash" she whispered the name of the boy biting her.
Ash was sucking blood at an alarming rate, and when he heard his friend's voice, he came back to consciousness and tried to free himself, but was surprised when May stopped him.
"Go on…I don't care." His friend told him practically in a whisper, and unable to control himself, Ash obeyed.
A minute passed, but to both of them it felt like an eternity. Finally, Ash's thirst was quenched, allowing him to regain control of his own actions. He immediately freed himself from his friend as he looked in shock at what he had done.
He had done something horrible.
He hurt May.
He was a monster.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry May, I... I didn't mean to do this, I need to get away from you, I don't know what's going on, I'm a monster... I need to get out of here." He tried to leave the tent, but was stopped by May who hugged him.
"Please don't do anything stupid. I don't know what's going on, I love you and I won't let you go anywhere. I felt weird while you…bited me, but it wasn't bad." She blushed at the comment and Ash turned around as he stared at the girl in shock.
"After what I've done, do you still want to be with me?" he asked in genuine doubt. May looked at the stupid boy in front of her and started laughing.
"Of course I'm sure, after what you've done I'm not going to let you get away, and considering how dense you are, I'm going to have to do what would normally be YOUR responsibility." May emphasized the last part of the sentence as she crossed her arms below her chest.
"You're dating me from now on Mr Ash Ketchum, and we're going to find out what's going on with you together." Again Ash was in shock, he pinched himself to make sure he wasn't in a strange dream, drawing another laugh from the girl in front of him. He saw a small amount of blood running down her neck and gently wiped it away with a finger, which strangely stopped the blood coming out of the wound, leaving two marks on her neck that could only be seen if someone took a few seconds to look at the spot. . Looking at his finger smeared with her blood, without a second thought, he brought his finger to his own mouth as he wiped it away.
Such an action made May blush in embarrassment as Ash again did something to her that would be an obvious flirtation, but he was stupid and did such actions with no ulterior motives.
Later that night, Brock checked in on how Ash was feeling, and as he unzipped the tent, he smiled to see Ash and May sleeping in each other's arms.
"Who knew you'd get a girl before me Ash, well that means I have more work to do." Brock zipped up the tent and Max walked over with Pikachu sleeping in his arms.
"How is Ash doing Brock, and where's my sister?"
"They're sleeping, let's leave them alone."
And with that the two of them went to sleep, unaware of what had happened between the pair of friends, who had become a couple under bizarre circumstances.
XXX
Days passed and the group said their goodbyes after Ash and May tied in the Terracotta Pokémon Contest, where they split the ribbon into two halves. May surprised Brock and Max by deciding to go to Pallet with Ash instead of going back to Hoenn. Brock accompanied Max on the ship to Petalburg so as not to leave Max alone. May thanked him and soon the group broke up.
May and Ash did their best to keep their relationship a secret while they were still together with Brock and Max, they feared they would react negatively, but there was also another reason.
The changes that happened to Ash.
In the last three days there hasn't been any crisis involving Ash and his 'thirst' with him acting normally. There was no fainting or anything like that. Pallet's trainer tried to ease his girlfriend's worries as they traveled to their hometown, but May was adamant in making it very clear to Ash that they needed to keep the boy's 'wild' side a secret, as she came to call the strange impulses. .
The trip to Pallet also served to break the ice between the two. Ash was still very naive about how to act with May now that they were no longer just friends, and the girl happily took the lead to teach him.
Also, the opportunity to embarrass her boyfriend was too good to pass up.
As they approached Pallet, the pair stopped on a hill that gave a full view of the small town of Kanto. Ash pulled May into a hug, surprising the girl.
"I don't know what to do May, I've changed so much and I'm afraid of hurting you, or anyone else. And I can't even talk to my mom about it, I feel horrible having to lie to the person who raised me." May returned the hug as she tried to comfort her boyfriend.
"You won't hurt anyone, I'm with you because I love you and also to help you. Don't blame yourself so much, we'll find a way to get you back to normal and well…" She blushed as she looked away. "I kind of like that side of you that only I know about." Ash blushed in embarrassment, not believing what May had said. She always spoke her mind, but he didn't know that side of the girl.
"May! Don't say things like that." a cheeky smile crept across her face as she slowly approached the poor boy.
"Why not Ashy? Don't be afraid, I don't bite... that's your job." Ash blushed even brighter as he wished he could transform into a Digglet and simply disappear down a hole.
"Did you have to say that May?" The brunette laughed and lightly kissed her boyfriend's lips before smiling at him.
"I got those thoughts out of your thick head, now come on, I want to get to your house soon, we need to call my parents." May took Ash's hand and the two walked towards the pallet.
"Wait a minute, do I also have to talk to your parents?" Ash asked doubtfully and May let out a defeated sigh.
"Ashy I love you, but you're an idiot."
"Pi PIkapi Kachu!"
"Hey! I just asked a question. And Pikachu, don't agree with May, I'm your trainer and you should defend me." May looked at her boyfriend's face in disbelief at the boy's density level.
"You know, I still can't believe you're 15, sometimes it doesn't even seem like it. Ashy, you're my boyfriend, aren't you?" He didn't understand what May was getting at with this conversation.
"Of course I do, May."
"Then you should know that we need to talk to my parents because YOU are my BOYFRIEND, and you need to ask for their approval. Get it now?" The sarcastic tone at the end was ignored as Ash froze as he finally understood what May was getting at with the conversation. The poor kid started imagining a certain Gym Leader overly protective of his daughter sending Vigoroth to 'pay a visit', and he suddenly managed to turn even paler than usual.
Pikachu started to laugh at his trainer's misfortune, but Ash ignored him.
"Your father is going to kill me..." He groaned as May shook her head at the boy's antics, and they both headed towards the Ketchum residence. When they arrived, Ash rang his doorbell.
"Wait a minute, I'll answer you right away." A muffled voice came from inside the house, and soon Delia opened the door, and when she saw her son, she broke into a huge smile. Pikachu jumped on May's shoulder knowing what would come next.
Delia hugged Ash tightly. "Ash you finally came home, I missed you so much, you look pale, have you been eating right? Is sick? Hungry..." Delia squeezed the poor boy very tightly as he struggled for some oxygen.
"Mom...I can't...breathe..." Delia blushed in embarrassment as she released her son, who was breathing as if his life depended on it. The woman's attention went to the girl accompanying her son and a serene smile appeared on her face.
"May, what a surprise to see you here. Where are Brock and Max?" May smiled at her boyfriend's mother and tried to leave a good impression of herself. She already knew Delia, but now it was different and a part of her feared that Ash's mother wouldn't approve of their relationship.
"Brock accompanied my brother to my house in Hoenn, I decided to accompany Ashy here." Delia didn't miss the nickname May used and narrowed her eyes.
"Ash, May, is there anything you would like to talk to me about?" The duo froze, May began to stutter and surprisingly, Ash took the initiative.
"Well Mom, May and I are dating, so she came to accompany me." Delia opened her mouth in shock, Mr. Mime who was sweeping the house fainted from shock when he heard Ash and May's words along with Pikachu looked surprised at the trainer.
May pulled herself together and flashed her best smile to make the situation clear to her boyfriend's mother, and hugged Ash while kissing his cheek, making him blush in embarrassment.
No one expected Delia to collapse with swirls in her eyes, startling the teenage couple.
Finding out that her son, romance's #1 enemy, was dating, came as a huge shock to the poor woman.
Ash and May stared at each other, not quite understanding what had just happened, and brought Delia into their house.
Meanwhile, outside the terrestrial plane of existence, Arceus watched the boy who held the title of "Chosen one" with renewed interest as he saw the ancient bloodline resurrecting in him of all people. Undeniably things would be more interesting, being an Ancient Ancestor was a blessing and a curse at the same time, and the young trainer would discover the hard way that the human being does not tolerate what he does not know.
XXX
Ash was in a cold sweat and May was looking at her boyfriend with pity. Over the videophone, the Petalburg girl was dialing the contact number for the Maple residence. When he finished, the face of Caroline, her mother, greeted them with clear surprise.
"May, Ash! I didn't expect to have the two of you together calling me, weren't you coming back to Hoenn dear?" Both teenagers rubbed the back of their necks in nervousness, something Caroline noticed and couldn't help but smile at the adorable scene.
"I've decided that I'm going to continue traveling with Ash." Her daughter's comment surprised the Maple matriarch, as May had so confidently affirmed her decision to follow rivals into Johto... what had happened to drastically change her plans?
Narrowing her eyes, Caroline looked at the pair. "May Maple, what are you not telling me?" May swallowed hard and Ash decided that this was the moment where he should take the lead in this conversation.
"Caroline, could you call Norman into this conversation? We have something we would like to share with you both at the same time." May looked gratefully at her boyfriend and Caroline was genuinely confused but shrugged her shoulders in acceptance of the strange request.
"Norman! May and Ash are on the videophone and they want to talk to you!" The unexpected scream was accompanied by the sounds of something falling at the back of the Petalburg gym.
Not long afterward, Norman Maple appeared alongside his wife, smiling at the duo on the other side of the screen. "Daughter! I thought you were coming home with your brother, and Ash, I heard about your conquest in the frontier battle, what an impressive performance!" His girlfriend's father's friendly tone soothed the poor boy a bit who was about to ask a definitive question in his newly started relationship with the girl next to him.
"Brock will accompany Max to Petalburg, we are in Pallet at Ash's house. So daddy…me and Ash have something we need to talk to you two about." Norman narrowed his eyes with a slight suspicion of what might happen, while Caroline didn't hide the smile on her face.
Ash took a deep breath and looked at May's parents, held the girl's hand and said the 'magic words'. "Norman, Caroline, your daughter and I are dating." Caroline's smile widened even more as Norman blinked a few times to make sure he'd heard correctly what Ash had said.
When he finally realized it wasn't a joke and that Ash had actually said he was dating his daughter, Norman Maple did something that no one, not even his wife, expected.
He laughed.
"There is! I knew my little girl wouldn't get that bush head, did you hear Caroline? Ash finally realized that May liked him. After two years our daughter has broken through the final density barrier!" For some reason Norman's words made Ash more angry than relieved.
"Hey! I may have a hard time realizing that May liked me, but it's all settled now." May couldn't believe that her father, the most overprotective person she'd ever met, was so easily accepting of their relationship, it was like a dream come true.
"Alright Ash-boyo, I'll pretend to believe you. So... when are you coming to Petalburg? We need a beer celebrating the good news, so we're going to a club a friend of mine recommended…" A punch to the gym leader's head, courtesy of an angry Caroline, sent him comically sprawling to the floor.
"Stop it Norman! Ash is still a minor, and since when have you been so willing to accept our daughter dating? I'm not complaining, Ash is the best option for our girl out of all the others who've tried before, and you've become infamous in our town for having Vigoroth chase any boy who looks at May for more than three seconds."
Being reminded of Vigoroth made Ash mildly worried, while May was curious as to why her father was so willing to accept Ash as her boyfriend. Norman stood up and looked at Ash with a serious expression.
The joke was over.
"Ash, I'm not going to lie. When I met you, I was terrified of having my daughter traveling with a boy, and letting Max go along was a guarantee that you weren't alone with May. But you surprised me by showing unshakable character and you kept your promise to protect my children during these two years. So Ash Ketchum, what are your true intentions with my little girl?" The atmosphere grew tense, but Ash was surprisingly at peace.
He knew what needed to be said, just the truth. "I've never dated anyone before Norman. And frankly, if it weren't for May's attempts, we wouldn't have ended up together for my lack of tact in anything that isn't Pokémon related. I know I'm dense ok? I'm trying to change that, but it takes time, so all I can ask is for you to be patient with me. And about my intentions with May, I can assure you that I will do everything to continue taking care of her, and valuing every moment we are together. She has earned a special place in my heart and even if we weren't dating, all I could wish for would be to see her daughter happy."
Norman smiled approvingly at Ash's response. Any fears had been resolved, he would make a good boyfriend for May, and well...if for some reason their little girl was hurt, Slaking and Vigoroth were always ready for a hunt.
May did her best to hold back the tears in her eyes, for a long time she had dreamed of hearing these words from Ash and now it had finally happened. The girl hugged her boyfriend's arm and kissed his cheek, making Ash blush in embarrassment.
The moment was interrupted by Caroline, who looked at Norman with feminine fury and a little…envy? She began comically beating Norman as the poor man held out his hand crying out for mercy. "Why can't you do something like what Ash did for our daughter? Even he who is a romantic disaster did something adorable for our little girl, while you tried to bribe daddy with a Pokémon battle. In our wedding vows you threatened to beat the priest for not remembering to write even a sentence!" Comical beads of sweat appeared on the back of the young couple's necks, and after facing each other, May turned off the video call.
"So... your parents accepted me as your boyfriend?" Ash was still uncomfortable with where the conversation had taken. May tried to lighten the mood with a smile, taking his hand and giving him a light kiss on the lips.
"Dad and Mom accepted but no one deserves to see one of their stupid fights, they love each other but when they argue, someone always ends up embarrassed and is never one of them."
Ash nodded silently and as they started toward the living room, they saw Delia smirking as she leaned against the wall. "so my baby has a girlfriend... i thought i had a dream, and such a lovely girl chose him. Oh, I can't wait to show you pictures of Ash when he was a baby..." Immediately May adopted the same mischievous look and with an 'innocent' giggle ran to stand beside Delia, and the two women excitedly went to the living room to check out the infamous Ketchum family album.
"Why did I..." Ash cried comically as Pikachu gave him little pats on the back with a paw, he didn't quite understand how human relationships worked, it was all very complicated, but it seemed that his friend's partner was already showing domain.
Regardless of species, females were scary. Pikachu has particularly been on guard these past few days with May's Eevee advances, he just hopes it doesn't end up in the future the way Ash is right now.
Embarrassed by his partner.
XXX
After a few hours where Ash was forced to see the two women in his life laughing at the expense of his childhood photos, and Pikachu's traitor instead of defending him, went to play with Glaceon in the backyard. It didn't take long for the night to steal the show in the sleepy town of Pallet. The Ketchum family and their guest enjoyed a simple dinner, but no less tasty, well, Delia and May enjoyed, as Ash wasn't eating anything. The young couple's Pokémon were all housed on the Oak family's ranch, under the care of Professor Oak. The only exception was Glaceon and Pikachu, who insisted on staying with their trainers.
"Son, are you okay? Didn't even touch your meal." His mother was genuinely concerned, Ash was known for his infamous appetite, and seeing him stop eating was alarming to say the least.
"I'm just not hungry mom, I'm going to sleep early ok? May, mother, good night." Ash got up and quickly climbed the stairs, heading to his room on the second floor. May was worried about her boyfriend, he was a little dilated, slightly panting, exactly like...
Finally understanding what was happening, she looked at Ash's mother and forced a smile to avoid any suspicion. "Delia, can I sleep with Ash tonight? I'm a little worried." The older woman looked at the girl for a few seconds and let out a sigh.
"Of course dear, it was to be expected that you would like to be with your boyfriend, just don't do anything too rash, I want grandchildren, but it's still too soon." May blushed furiously and ran out of the kitchen, making Delia giggle at her successful teasing.
Going upstairs, May heard small noises coming from Ash's room, and quickening her steps, she soon entered that room, and what she saw brought tears to her eyes. Ash was sitting with his back against the wall, hugging his knees and crying silently.
"Ash..." was all May could say, and after locking the bedroom door, she slowly approached the boy. She knelt down and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him. When Ash and May faced each other, the girl saw the eyes dilated, the erratic breathing and even the fangs projected in his half-open mouth.
"May, I'm a monster. The thirst started to get to me again, hell, I thought about attacking my mother! I'm going to end up hurting someone, you need to leave me alone, you would never forgive me if something bad happened to you because of me..." That Ash wasn't the boy she fell in love with, where once there was a fearless, selfless and a little reckless, now he was just a scared kid, scared of himself. In her mind came several memories of when Ash comforted her in her defeats in contests and big festivals, or the times he put himself in danger, just to protect her and her brother and Brock.
It was your turn to help him.
Gently May pulled him into a hug, doing her best to comfort him. "I will never leave you alone. And don't ever say you're a monster Ash, I know you well enough to know that you're a person with a heart of gold, and I'm so lucky to have someone like you by my side. I don't know what you're feeling, sometimes I think it's just a bad dream all these strange changes you're going through. But like I said in that tent on the way to Terracotta, let's face it together, so don't give up without even trying."
Ash hugged her tightly and allowed himself to cry, the thirst hadn't abated, but he needed to release all that pent-up feeling, and he did.
"Where did you learn to talk like that?" May felt Ash's breath on her neck, and she knew what would happen, but it didn't matter. When she accepted him as her boyfriend, she knew Ash was no longer a normal person, and even with these strange changes, he was still the same person she'd grown to love.
"A certain messy-haired boy taught me, he's done it so many times in the past, I just thought I should follow suit." A laugh lightened the mood a little for the two teenagers.
They both knew what would happen next. Ash faced May and with a shy wave, she tilted her neck. Ash approached her and before biting her, whispered in her ear.
"I'm sorry, May…" And with that again his fangs slammed into his girlfriend's neck, with the urge to slake a bloodlust that terrified him. May gasped, still not getting used to the unique sensation she felt, Ash's body was tense, he was shaking, and the girl knew he was afraid of what he was turning into.
Even though he had his fangs fixed on his neck, May hugged him gently while caressing his back. With tears streaming from both teenagers' eyes.
Ash feared turning into a monster.
May cried over what was happening to her lover.
And they both knew they could only trust each other in the midst of such difficulty.
Again that night, the mutual commitment to face what was happening was reaffirmed.
No matter the challenges, the difficulties or even their families.
Even if the whole world decided to face them, they would face everything with a serene smile on their faces, because even in the darkest of nights, they both had each other.
Age of characters featured in this chapter:
Ash Ketchum - 15
May Maple - 13
Max Maple - 10
Brock Harrison - 20
Delia Ketchum - 35
Caroline Maple - 37
Norman Maple - 44