(Ok, forget what I said about this not being AAML, (Ash & Misty) because
after pretty much finalizing the plot of this story, I've decided for
several reasons that it's a lot better off as an AAML, but apart from that
there is going to be another pairing also which I'm not revealing until I
put the actual chapter up.
Chapter four's up! Please R&R. Greatest Apologies for the long wait! ^^)
Chapter 4: "Meeting the New Enemies"
"C'mon May! Hurry up, I have to get to Petalburg City to challenge the Gym Leader!"
"You still have to go through Odale Town first Ash.." May called trailing behind him
"I know, but we'll never get there if you keep that pace up! You've been walking behind me ever since we left Littleroot."
May stopped in her tracks at those words and her silence made Ash stop too. Why was he being so harsh towards her, didn't he understand how hurtful his words had been? May stared at the ground and folded her arms, she tried to hold back the tears, what would Ash think if he saw her crying..and why was she feeling so much hurt at what he'd said.. There was silence between them for a few moments until May slowly looked up at Ash, anger pulsing through her veins as well as the hurt she still felt.
"What! I have not been walking behind you ever since we left Littleroot! I can't help it if I'm starving with nothing to eat! If I had my bike we'd probably be in Petalburg already!"
"Er.." Ash started nervously as May advanced on him
"Er! I'll give you Er!" May yelled even angrier now, one of her hands balled into a fist as she advanced further
Ash caught May's fist, as it was only inches away from him, shocking her slightly
"Look, May." he said taking her hand gently "I'm sorry, ok, I didn't mean to sound so..harsh. I guess I was just a little too excited about earning my first Gym Badge, at least that's how it was with Brock and Misty."
Ash gave a sad sigh
"W-who are Brock and Misty?" May asked in a concerned way
"They're my best friends." Ash slowly took his hand from hers and sat down on a nearby rocky ledge
"-but," May sat down next to him and absent-mindedly lay her hand on his shoulder "why aren't they here with you in Hoenn?"
Ash stared blankly ahead of himself
"Their families both run Gyms in Kanto.Misty had to look after her Gym in Cerulean City, while her sisters were away and.Brock had to.he had to go back to his family's Gym in Pewter City.."
May put an arm around Ash, who looked as though he was on the verge of crying
"I'm sure you'll meet again, Ash.I mean it can't last forever can it."
Ash took her hand as his best friend's aquamarine eyes sparkled and the orange sunset seemed to melt into the purple-pink sky behind her.
"Until the day we meet again!" they said in unison.
Then she faded away in front of him, as Ash snapped back into reality.
"I'm sure you'll see each other again" May smiled sympathetically, her brown hair shining in the sunlight
"..i hope so.." Ash turned to her as a single tear fell down his cheek "Until the day we meet again.."
A little further up the path towards Odale Town, May glanced at Ash then at the Pikachu on his shoulder
"Ash?"
"Hmm?" Ash turned to face her
"I was just wondering, your.Pikachu? Why isn't it in a Poke'ball, like my Torchic?"
"Oh," Ash laughed, "Pikachu didn't seem to like being confined in a Poke'ball, I had a lot of trouble persuading him to get inside.so in the end I just decided to let things stay that way."
"Oh, right." May replied quietly
"You're really lucky, considering that Torchic didn't have any trouble getting into its ball"
"I-guess"
Ash then realizing that he didn't know all that much about Torchic, decided to bring up information on his Poke'dex, but just as he took the small red device from his pocket, something jumped out in front of him.
It was a small blue mouse-like Poke'mon with a spherical ball on the end of its tail, which was almost as big as it's body. May fumbled for her own Poke'dex, she had to find out more about this Poke'mon, it was so cute!
"Oh, so that's an Azurill!" Ash practically blurted out, as he looked back to his Poke'dex, making May regret the fact that she'd failed to hit him earlier.
It was her first wild Poke'mon encounter, why did Ash have to go and ruin it for her! Ever since her first day of becoming a Poke'mon Trainer she'd wanted the chance to do everything right, even the small things like finding out about the Poke'mon she'd encountered before anyone else did!
"Well this one's mine!" May grinned as she snapped her Poke'dex shut and pulled out a Poke'ball from her beige waist pack
Ash stood a little behind May to let her get on with things, it was just like the time when he and Misty were in Viridian Forest, the time when he'd caught his first Poke'mon, Caterpie! The memories all flooded back to him, there he was in the lush green forest, holding up the red and white Poke'ball for all to see, he was so happy back then and if he'd known where he'd have ended up now, well..
"Poke'ball Go!" May yelled, a small grin still visible upon her face as she watched the Poke'ball fly towards the small pre-evolved Poke'mon, but instead of capturing the Poke'mon, the ball bounced straight off of the Azurill, where a rather shocked looking May caught it. Ash tried to keep back his laughter upon seeing the look on May's face, but failed.
May whipped round to face Ash
"What's so funny!?" she called over Ash's laughter
"Y-you can't just throw a Poke'ball and expect to catch it!" he said a little guiltily, remembering how he had caught his first Poke'mon using the same technique "You have to battle the Poke'mon to weaken it first, then throw the Poke'ball"
"Oh.ok" May blushed taking Torchic's shiny Poke'ball from her waist pack "Go Torchic!"
A small orange chick-like Poke'mon appeared, it flapped its tiny wings happily while giving a small "Torchic!" Grinning from behind Torchic, it's trainer, May took her battle stance and was about to command the small Poke'mon to attack, but stopped when she realized that she didn't actually know any of Torchic's attacks.she flipped her Poke'dex back open and looked up Torchic's information, it's only attacks right now seemed to be Tackle and Growl.May found herself frowning a little at this, but she really did want that Azurill.
"Ok, Torchic, Tackle that Azurill, now!"
At May's command Torchic ran forward, heading straight for the blue Poke'mon in front of it, but was unfortunately stopped when Azurill let out a "Water Gun" attack, soaking Torchic in the process and making it faint. A small whimper could be heard from behind; as the Azurill began hopping happily back to where ever it had came from.
Ash got ready for the fatal blow. The moment when the one next to him, May, would, well I wasn't sure what her reaction would be, but judging by the way she kept whining it wasn't one he'd want to hang around for.
"Why! Why?!" May whined "Why do I have to have the worst of luck.."
Blinking a little out of surprise Ash watched as she collapsed to her knees and picked up the motionless form of Torchic, returning the small Poke'mon back to its ball. There was a moment's silence until May spoke again.
"Ash we have to get Torchic to a Poke'mon Centre, I'm worried" she said quietly looking up at Ash from the ground on which she knelt. Ash nodded helping her up.
On the way to the centre Ash couldn't help frowning slightly as May fixed her gaze firmly on Torchic's Poke'ball and clutched at it nervously.
"The Poke'mon Centre must be close now!" May moaned, adjusting her Poke'ball Bandana with her free hand only to be answered by the silence.
"Ash?"
Still nothing
"Ash!" May whirled around wildly to see the black haired Poke'mon Trainer, with a Pikachu peering over his hat, staring curiously at some strange.May moved closer.
Ruins!? In the middle of nowhere!?
May thought this somewhat strange as she approached Ash and glanced at the Ruins too.
A small laugh was heard in the background this made the two of them turn around in shock, as if they'd been doing something they shouldn't.
"I've never seen anyone younger than yourselves take an interest in those Ancient Ruins."
May blinked up at the tall, dark haired man who stood in front of them.
The man looked down at May's face, maybe he thought she was giving him a quizzical look because the next thing he did was apologize and introduce himself.
"I'm Umezu!" he smiled kindly "I'm a Poke'mon Archaeologist, I study those these Ancient Ruins"
He took a deep breath.
"So, what brings you too here anyway?!" he finally asked, smiling again
"Oh," Ash gulped slightly, interrupting May, who had just opened her mouth to speak. "We're looking for a Poke'mon Center, do you know if there's one nearby?"
"There's one just ahead of those Ruins, in Odale Town!"
"Thanks!" May piped up, speaking suddenly for the first time, as she grabbed Ash's arm and began to pull him hurriedly in the direction of Odale Town, Torchic's Poke'ball clutched tightly in her other hand.
"I'm afraid your Poke'mon will have to be kept in overnight." The Poke'mon Nurse of Odale Town smiled sympathetically.
"Oh," May whimpered "Is it really that bad!"
The Nurse smiled again
"Don't worry, your Torchic just needs to recover its full physical strength, so you're welcome to stay here overnight, if you want"
"Thanks, Nurse Joy-" Ash smiled leaning slightly on the front desk "but do you have a phone I can use?"
May gave him a swift look
"The Video Phone's just over there" she smiled some, gesturing to a corner
"Hello?" came an elderly voice and a smartly dressed, white haired Poke'mon Professor appeared on screen.
"Hey, Professor Oak!" Ash gave a small wave to the screen
"Oh, hello Ash! How are things going?" the Professor asked fiddling with some papers on his desk
"Well, we've just arrived in Odale Town!" ash grinned
May seeing her chance at this point pushed Ash aside.
"Hi Professor!" she waved cheerily "I'm May, it's great to finally get the chance to meet you! My younger brother's a big fan of your Poke'mon Lecture Show"
The Professor gave a small laugh. "It's nice to meet you to, May and I'm pleased your brother likes my show!" Professor Oak began to fiddle with his papers again "I'm sorry but I'm really busy at the moment and I really must go!"
"Oh ok, bye Professor Oak!" Ash and May both smiled, waving their goodbyes to the screen, before the image of the well-known Poke'mon Professor disappeared.
May turned to Ash, looking somewhat flustered before glancing around the Poke'mon Centre curiously as this was the first time she'd actually been inside of one.
After giving May a quick tour of the Poke'mon Center, the two sat down on a nearby bench just outside the centre, night was beginning to fall now and thousands of tiny stars lit up the dark sky.
".. He can't be that strong, can he!" the excited voice of a black haired Poke'mon trainer rang out "I mean, after all he's only the first Gym Leader!"
"Well, you never know." another boy with sandy hair frowned "I guess it all depends on what types he uses and how well he's raised his Poke'mon. I heard Norman's daughter's just begun her Poke'mon Journey, and if Norman's hard to beat, then his daughter's definitely something.
"Yeah, I suppose your right." the sandy haired boy replied
Ash listened to the boys' conversation intently, while May blushed deeply, she knew they were talking about her father. Norman the Petalburg City Gym Leader.
"I can't wait to challenge the Petalburg City Gym Leader!" Ash said excitedly, looking up at the starry sky "My first Gym Match in the Hoenn Region, Yeah!"
May said nothing, she just gave a small nod, who could blame her, she was embarrassed enough having to listen to excited kids everywhere talking about her father like that.
"I see you two, finally made it to the Poke'mon Centre, then!"
Ash looked up, standing in front of him, was Umezu.
"Oh, hey Umezu, what're you doing here?" Ash asked obviously surprised to see him
"Well, I've discovered something about the Ruins and I wanted to talk to Nurse Joy about it.."
"Uh, why Nurse Joy?!"
"She knows a lot about those Ruins, one of her cousins is also an Archaeologist as well as a Poke'mon Nurse."
"Wow, I never knew." Ash said blinking some "So what do you want to see Nurse Joy about?"
Umezu laughed and pulled a small photograph from his pocket.
"This," he started, as he showed the two the small photo of a catfish-like Poke'mon "is Renlicanth. Renlicanth is an ancient Poke'mon, which I'm sure, if I was unable to unlock the chamber leading to the Ruins, that I would find this Poke'mon there, that's why I have to talk to Nurse Joy, she may be able to help."
Ash nodded
"I see, is there anything we could do to help?!"
"You know..uh.." Umezu hesitated realizing he didn't know Ash or May's name
Ash laughed a little
"I'm Ash and this is May" he gestured to his friend
"Oh, heh, well you know Ash, there just might be something you can do..we'll see."
After explaining to Nurse Joy the predicament, Nurse Joy apologetically told Umezu that she had no idea where he could find the secret keys capable of unlocking the Ruin Chamber.
Umezu sighed, just as a police officer that Ash recognized as officer Jenny arrived.
"Jenny?!" Nurse Joy gave her a quizzical look "Something up!"
"There certainly is!" Jenny sounded alarmed "It's been reported that a group of thieves have been spotted near the Odale Town Ruins!"
"What!!" now it was Umezu's turn to sound alarmed "Sorry, but I've got to get to those Ruins now, I'll catch you later!"
The four watched as the figure of Umezu disappeared out of the Centre's door and into the darkness outside.
"I hope he knows what he's doing.." Nurse Joy frowned
"Well, it's not just the Ruins these thieves are planning to ruin, I had word from a another officer near the site that they were planning to cut the Poke'mon Centre's power supply, that's why I'm here!"
"Oh!" Nurse Joy bit her lip, her eyes widening slightly
"That's terrible!" May started sounding concerned, just as the whole Centre was thrown into darkness
"All the Poke'mon! They won't be able to recover!" Nurse Joy said, panic in her voice.
"Don't you have a backup power supply or something" Ash asked remembering the time when he'd been in the Viridian Poke'mon Centre and they'd needed to activate the backup supply of power supply.
"That's it!" the Poke'mon Nurse smiled then frowned "..but we'll never be able to see in this darkness.."
"Don't worry, Nurse Joy, we'll help you find it" Ash said, trying to sound helpful
Nurse Joy gave a small sigh
"Even if we did find the room it would be impossible to open, since it can only be opened with a card key and the electricity's off, the only way we could get to it is through the air duct, somewhere on that wall.but I wouldn't fit through there either."
Ash looked on as the Nurse pointed to the dimly moonlit wall ahead of them.
"I think the two of us could fit through there." May added, worried about her Torchic
"Ash will you hurry up and get us out of here, it's too cramped and stuffy and I can hardly breathe" came the moaning of none other than May from inside the cramped air duct.
"Found it!" Ash grinned happily carefully climbling out of the air duct and into the room in which it led to.
"Uh, Ash, a little help would be nice!"
Ash looked back to the air duct to find May struggling to get free. He walked over and helped pull her free.
"Right, now to get the key!"
Ash walked over to the desk in the room and stared searching it for the key, they needed to activate the backup power, Nurse Joy had told them about.
"It's under the desk, remember!" May whispered as she took the tiny key and switched the huge power generator, in the far corner of the room, on.
"C'mon!" she grabbed Ash by his shirt sleeve "We'd better go meet Officer jenny and Nurse Joy, they told us to meet them back outside"
Once outside Ash and May were thanked greatly by Nurse Joy and were told by Officer Jenny that Umezu had called to complain of even more trouble, so they'd better get there right away to see what was going on!
"The keys must fit in here somewhere!" came a masculine voice
"Try that Ruin over there, you might have better luck!" this time the voice was feminine
"What's going on!" Ash whispered as he, May and Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny had had to leave, saying something about getting back up to deal with the situation, approached a calm looking Umezu.
"The thieves over there are known as Team Magma, I've heard them talk about some rival team named Team Aqua or something like that, but right now they're trying to unlock the chambers with the keys, they stole from me."
"You don't seem all that worried about them though." May said looking up at him.
"Well May, that's because in order to unlock the chamber the keys, I've discovered have to be put in a certain order." he smirked
"Huh?" Ash wondered aloud "What do you mean?"
"The keys, they're not like normal keys, they're of a spherical shape, and they only fit into one of the Ruins, and need to be put in using a certain combination, which Team Magma don't know."
"Right you!" Umezu was taken a back as a woman dressed in a Team Magma uniform, which was slightly different from the rest of the members, grabbed his shirt collar "Give us the combination for the secret chamber now or we'll trash this place, and destroy all your precious Ruins!"
Umezu's eyes widened
"No, please don't, destroy them! You've damaged them enough already and they can't take much more, they mean a lot to me."
The magma woman signalled to the others who instantly began inflicting harsh blow on the Ruin like tombs.
"So, you'll help us then!" she said, her shoulder length black hair swaying in the wind.
Umezu sighed.
"Ok..ok, I'll tell you.."
The woman let go of his shirt collar
"Good boy! Keep this up and your little Ruins, should be.ok." her eyes flashed dangerously "Now show us how to open this tomb!"
Desperately Umezu fiddled with the four spheres he'd been given and unlocked the tomb.
Inside it was beautiful, a small stream flowed down one side of the room and the walls where painted with lots of ancient Poke'mon such as Kabutops and Renicanth with inscriptions written underneath each one.
"This is exactly what we've been looking for!" came the voice of the Magma woman "Shame Team Aqua are missing out of all the action!"
The other members of Team Magma all laughed at this
"You three! Stop laughing and start photographing these walls, the information on them, may prove valuable to our research!"
Immediately the other members started taking several pictures of the walls, using the cameras around they're necks.
"Hey, you can't take pictures of these walls, It's illegal!" Umezu called out furiously from behind
"Oh, dear! What a shame, is it really!"
"Watch it!" Umezu threatened, staring at the Magma woman.
"Well, I think we've spent enough time here!" the woman told the others as she winked at Umezu and threw what looked like a smoke ball into the air, letting it explode. The tomb was covered in think black smoke, and as the Ash and the other fell to the ground coughing and spluttering, Team Magma saw their chance to escape, running to the end of the tomb they got into a black helicopter and took off laughing at their victory.
Bright light, shone in though a crack in the tomb as May, and the others woke up. Umezu gasped and pointed to the stream.
"Look, Relicanth!" he grinned, "I've waited a long time for this!"
Ash seeing his chance, took a Poke'dex entry, as did May and after staying a while longer the four of them headed back to the Poke'mon Centre where May happily received Torchic.
Nervously May let Torchic out of its ball to check on its condition. Torchic gave a happy chirp as it was released and May picked it up happily hugging the small Poke'mon.
Outside the Poke'mon Centre, May and Ash waved Goodbye and were about to set off, when they were stopped by Umezu.
"Wait!" he called running up to them "Here, I meant to give you this!" he handed a small slip of paper to May, on it; a phone number had been scrawled. "If you ever need any more information on Poke'mon, just call me ok.." he smiled.
May thanked Umezu and Ash and herself headed off on their way to Petalburg City.
"I knew Umezu, recognized my great talent as a Poke'mon Trainer, that's why he offered me his advice, if I ever needed it.."
May blinked, as she walked a little behind Ash, there he was again bragging about his so called talents..and he wasn't really right about Umezu giving him his advice.after all Umezu did give her, the number.
"I can't wait to finally get to Petalburg!" Ash continued, "With Pikachu by my side, we're unstoppable!"
May walked slowly, blushing from behind, she could certainly wait to get to Petalburg....
Chapter 4: "Meeting the New Enemies"
"C'mon May! Hurry up, I have to get to Petalburg City to challenge the Gym Leader!"
"You still have to go through Odale Town first Ash.." May called trailing behind him
"I know, but we'll never get there if you keep that pace up! You've been walking behind me ever since we left Littleroot."
May stopped in her tracks at those words and her silence made Ash stop too. Why was he being so harsh towards her, didn't he understand how hurtful his words had been? May stared at the ground and folded her arms, she tried to hold back the tears, what would Ash think if he saw her crying..and why was she feeling so much hurt at what he'd said.. There was silence between them for a few moments until May slowly looked up at Ash, anger pulsing through her veins as well as the hurt she still felt.
"What! I have not been walking behind you ever since we left Littleroot! I can't help it if I'm starving with nothing to eat! If I had my bike we'd probably be in Petalburg already!"
"Er.." Ash started nervously as May advanced on him
"Er! I'll give you Er!" May yelled even angrier now, one of her hands balled into a fist as she advanced further
Ash caught May's fist, as it was only inches away from him, shocking her slightly
"Look, May." he said taking her hand gently "I'm sorry, ok, I didn't mean to sound so..harsh. I guess I was just a little too excited about earning my first Gym Badge, at least that's how it was with Brock and Misty."
Ash gave a sad sigh
"W-who are Brock and Misty?" May asked in a concerned way
"They're my best friends." Ash slowly took his hand from hers and sat down on a nearby rocky ledge
"-but," May sat down next to him and absent-mindedly lay her hand on his shoulder "why aren't they here with you in Hoenn?"
Ash stared blankly ahead of himself
"Their families both run Gyms in Kanto.Misty had to look after her Gym in Cerulean City, while her sisters were away and.Brock had to.he had to go back to his family's Gym in Pewter City.."
May put an arm around Ash, who looked as though he was on the verge of crying
"I'm sure you'll meet again, Ash.I mean it can't last forever can it."
Ash took her hand as his best friend's aquamarine eyes sparkled and the orange sunset seemed to melt into the purple-pink sky behind her.
"Until the day we meet again!" they said in unison.
Then she faded away in front of him, as Ash snapped back into reality.
"I'm sure you'll see each other again" May smiled sympathetically, her brown hair shining in the sunlight
"..i hope so.." Ash turned to her as a single tear fell down his cheek "Until the day we meet again.."
A little further up the path towards Odale Town, May glanced at Ash then at the Pikachu on his shoulder
"Ash?"
"Hmm?" Ash turned to face her
"I was just wondering, your.Pikachu? Why isn't it in a Poke'ball, like my Torchic?"
"Oh," Ash laughed, "Pikachu didn't seem to like being confined in a Poke'ball, I had a lot of trouble persuading him to get inside.so in the end I just decided to let things stay that way."
"Oh, right." May replied quietly
"You're really lucky, considering that Torchic didn't have any trouble getting into its ball"
"I-guess"
Ash then realizing that he didn't know all that much about Torchic, decided to bring up information on his Poke'dex, but just as he took the small red device from his pocket, something jumped out in front of him.
It was a small blue mouse-like Poke'mon with a spherical ball on the end of its tail, which was almost as big as it's body. May fumbled for her own Poke'dex, she had to find out more about this Poke'mon, it was so cute!
"Oh, so that's an Azurill!" Ash practically blurted out, as he looked back to his Poke'dex, making May regret the fact that she'd failed to hit him earlier.
It was her first wild Poke'mon encounter, why did Ash have to go and ruin it for her! Ever since her first day of becoming a Poke'mon Trainer she'd wanted the chance to do everything right, even the small things like finding out about the Poke'mon she'd encountered before anyone else did!
"Well this one's mine!" May grinned as she snapped her Poke'dex shut and pulled out a Poke'ball from her beige waist pack
Ash stood a little behind May to let her get on with things, it was just like the time when he and Misty were in Viridian Forest, the time when he'd caught his first Poke'mon, Caterpie! The memories all flooded back to him, there he was in the lush green forest, holding up the red and white Poke'ball for all to see, he was so happy back then and if he'd known where he'd have ended up now, well..
"Poke'ball Go!" May yelled, a small grin still visible upon her face as she watched the Poke'ball fly towards the small pre-evolved Poke'mon, but instead of capturing the Poke'mon, the ball bounced straight off of the Azurill, where a rather shocked looking May caught it. Ash tried to keep back his laughter upon seeing the look on May's face, but failed.
May whipped round to face Ash
"What's so funny!?" she called over Ash's laughter
"Y-you can't just throw a Poke'ball and expect to catch it!" he said a little guiltily, remembering how he had caught his first Poke'mon using the same technique "You have to battle the Poke'mon to weaken it first, then throw the Poke'ball"
"Oh.ok" May blushed taking Torchic's shiny Poke'ball from her waist pack "Go Torchic!"
A small orange chick-like Poke'mon appeared, it flapped its tiny wings happily while giving a small "Torchic!" Grinning from behind Torchic, it's trainer, May took her battle stance and was about to command the small Poke'mon to attack, but stopped when she realized that she didn't actually know any of Torchic's attacks.she flipped her Poke'dex back open and looked up Torchic's information, it's only attacks right now seemed to be Tackle and Growl.May found herself frowning a little at this, but she really did want that Azurill.
"Ok, Torchic, Tackle that Azurill, now!"
At May's command Torchic ran forward, heading straight for the blue Poke'mon in front of it, but was unfortunately stopped when Azurill let out a "Water Gun" attack, soaking Torchic in the process and making it faint. A small whimper could be heard from behind; as the Azurill began hopping happily back to where ever it had came from.
Ash got ready for the fatal blow. The moment when the one next to him, May, would, well I wasn't sure what her reaction would be, but judging by the way she kept whining it wasn't one he'd want to hang around for.
"Why! Why?!" May whined "Why do I have to have the worst of luck.."
Blinking a little out of surprise Ash watched as she collapsed to her knees and picked up the motionless form of Torchic, returning the small Poke'mon back to its ball. There was a moment's silence until May spoke again.
"Ash we have to get Torchic to a Poke'mon Centre, I'm worried" she said quietly looking up at Ash from the ground on which she knelt. Ash nodded helping her up.
On the way to the centre Ash couldn't help frowning slightly as May fixed her gaze firmly on Torchic's Poke'ball and clutched at it nervously.
"The Poke'mon Centre must be close now!" May moaned, adjusting her Poke'ball Bandana with her free hand only to be answered by the silence.
"Ash?"
Still nothing
"Ash!" May whirled around wildly to see the black haired Poke'mon Trainer, with a Pikachu peering over his hat, staring curiously at some strange.May moved closer.
Ruins!? In the middle of nowhere!?
May thought this somewhat strange as she approached Ash and glanced at the Ruins too.
A small laugh was heard in the background this made the two of them turn around in shock, as if they'd been doing something they shouldn't.
"I've never seen anyone younger than yourselves take an interest in those Ancient Ruins."
May blinked up at the tall, dark haired man who stood in front of them.
The man looked down at May's face, maybe he thought she was giving him a quizzical look because the next thing he did was apologize and introduce himself.
"I'm Umezu!" he smiled kindly "I'm a Poke'mon Archaeologist, I study those these Ancient Ruins"
He took a deep breath.
"So, what brings you too here anyway?!" he finally asked, smiling again
"Oh," Ash gulped slightly, interrupting May, who had just opened her mouth to speak. "We're looking for a Poke'mon Center, do you know if there's one nearby?"
"There's one just ahead of those Ruins, in Odale Town!"
"Thanks!" May piped up, speaking suddenly for the first time, as she grabbed Ash's arm and began to pull him hurriedly in the direction of Odale Town, Torchic's Poke'ball clutched tightly in her other hand.
"I'm afraid your Poke'mon will have to be kept in overnight." The Poke'mon Nurse of Odale Town smiled sympathetically.
"Oh," May whimpered "Is it really that bad!"
The Nurse smiled again
"Don't worry, your Torchic just needs to recover its full physical strength, so you're welcome to stay here overnight, if you want"
"Thanks, Nurse Joy-" Ash smiled leaning slightly on the front desk "but do you have a phone I can use?"
May gave him a swift look
"The Video Phone's just over there" she smiled some, gesturing to a corner
"Hello?" came an elderly voice and a smartly dressed, white haired Poke'mon Professor appeared on screen.
"Hey, Professor Oak!" Ash gave a small wave to the screen
"Oh, hello Ash! How are things going?" the Professor asked fiddling with some papers on his desk
"Well, we've just arrived in Odale Town!" ash grinned
May seeing her chance at this point pushed Ash aside.
"Hi Professor!" she waved cheerily "I'm May, it's great to finally get the chance to meet you! My younger brother's a big fan of your Poke'mon Lecture Show"
The Professor gave a small laugh. "It's nice to meet you to, May and I'm pleased your brother likes my show!" Professor Oak began to fiddle with his papers again "I'm sorry but I'm really busy at the moment and I really must go!"
"Oh ok, bye Professor Oak!" Ash and May both smiled, waving their goodbyes to the screen, before the image of the well-known Poke'mon Professor disappeared.
May turned to Ash, looking somewhat flustered before glancing around the Poke'mon Centre curiously as this was the first time she'd actually been inside of one.
After giving May a quick tour of the Poke'mon Center, the two sat down on a nearby bench just outside the centre, night was beginning to fall now and thousands of tiny stars lit up the dark sky.
".. He can't be that strong, can he!" the excited voice of a black haired Poke'mon trainer rang out "I mean, after all he's only the first Gym Leader!"
"Well, you never know." another boy with sandy hair frowned "I guess it all depends on what types he uses and how well he's raised his Poke'mon. I heard Norman's daughter's just begun her Poke'mon Journey, and if Norman's hard to beat, then his daughter's definitely something.
"Yeah, I suppose your right." the sandy haired boy replied
Ash listened to the boys' conversation intently, while May blushed deeply, she knew they were talking about her father. Norman the Petalburg City Gym Leader.
"I can't wait to challenge the Petalburg City Gym Leader!" Ash said excitedly, looking up at the starry sky "My first Gym Match in the Hoenn Region, Yeah!"
May said nothing, she just gave a small nod, who could blame her, she was embarrassed enough having to listen to excited kids everywhere talking about her father like that.
"I see you two, finally made it to the Poke'mon Centre, then!"
Ash looked up, standing in front of him, was Umezu.
"Oh, hey Umezu, what're you doing here?" Ash asked obviously surprised to see him
"Well, I've discovered something about the Ruins and I wanted to talk to Nurse Joy about it.."
"Uh, why Nurse Joy?!"
"She knows a lot about those Ruins, one of her cousins is also an Archaeologist as well as a Poke'mon Nurse."
"Wow, I never knew." Ash said blinking some "So what do you want to see Nurse Joy about?"
Umezu laughed and pulled a small photograph from his pocket.
"This," he started, as he showed the two the small photo of a catfish-like Poke'mon "is Renlicanth. Renlicanth is an ancient Poke'mon, which I'm sure, if I was unable to unlock the chamber leading to the Ruins, that I would find this Poke'mon there, that's why I have to talk to Nurse Joy, she may be able to help."
Ash nodded
"I see, is there anything we could do to help?!"
"You know..uh.." Umezu hesitated realizing he didn't know Ash or May's name
Ash laughed a little
"I'm Ash and this is May" he gestured to his friend
"Oh, heh, well you know Ash, there just might be something you can do..we'll see."
After explaining to Nurse Joy the predicament, Nurse Joy apologetically told Umezu that she had no idea where he could find the secret keys capable of unlocking the Ruin Chamber.
Umezu sighed, just as a police officer that Ash recognized as officer Jenny arrived.
"Jenny?!" Nurse Joy gave her a quizzical look "Something up!"
"There certainly is!" Jenny sounded alarmed "It's been reported that a group of thieves have been spotted near the Odale Town Ruins!"
"What!!" now it was Umezu's turn to sound alarmed "Sorry, but I've got to get to those Ruins now, I'll catch you later!"
The four watched as the figure of Umezu disappeared out of the Centre's door and into the darkness outside.
"I hope he knows what he's doing.." Nurse Joy frowned
"Well, it's not just the Ruins these thieves are planning to ruin, I had word from a another officer near the site that they were planning to cut the Poke'mon Centre's power supply, that's why I'm here!"
"Oh!" Nurse Joy bit her lip, her eyes widening slightly
"That's terrible!" May started sounding concerned, just as the whole Centre was thrown into darkness
"All the Poke'mon! They won't be able to recover!" Nurse Joy said, panic in her voice.
"Don't you have a backup power supply or something" Ash asked remembering the time when he'd been in the Viridian Poke'mon Centre and they'd needed to activate the backup supply of power supply.
"That's it!" the Poke'mon Nurse smiled then frowned "..but we'll never be able to see in this darkness.."
"Don't worry, Nurse Joy, we'll help you find it" Ash said, trying to sound helpful
Nurse Joy gave a small sigh
"Even if we did find the room it would be impossible to open, since it can only be opened with a card key and the electricity's off, the only way we could get to it is through the air duct, somewhere on that wall.but I wouldn't fit through there either."
Ash looked on as the Nurse pointed to the dimly moonlit wall ahead of them.
"I think the two of us could fit through there." May added, worried about her Torchic
"Ash will you hurry up and get us out of here, it's too cramped and stuffy and I can hardly breathe" came the moaning of none other than May from inside the cramped air duct.
"Found it!" Ash grinned happily carefully climbling out of the air duct and into the room in which it led to.
"Uh, Ash, a little help would be nice!"
Ash looked back to the air duct to find May struggling to get free. He walked over and helped pull her free.
"Right, now to get the key!"
Ash walked over to the desk in the room and stared searching it for the key, they needed to activate the backup power, Nurse Joy had told them about.
"It's under the desk, remember!" May whispered as she took the tiny key and switched the huge power generator, in the far corner of the room, on.
"C'mon!" she grabbed Ash by his shirt sleeve "We'd better go meet Officer jenny and Nurse Joy, they told us to meet them back outside"
Once outside Ash and May were thanked greatly by Nurse Joy and were told by Officer Jenny that Umezu had called to complain of even more trouble, so they'd better get there right away to see what was going on!
"The keys must fit in here somewhere!" came a masculine voice
"Try that Ruin over there, you might have better luck!" this time the voice was feminine
"What's going on!" Ash whispered as he, May and Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny had had to leave, saying something about getting back up to deal with the situation, approached a calm looking Umezu.
"The thieves over there are known as Team Magma, I've heard them talk about some rival team named Team Aqua or something like that, but right now they're trying to unlock the chambers with the keys, they stole from me."
"You don't seem all that worried about them though." May said looking up at him.
"Well May, that's because in order to unlock the chamber the keys, I've discovered have to be put in a certain order." he smirked
"Huh?" Ash wondered aloud "What do you mean?"
"The keys, they're not like normal keys, they're of a spherical shape, and they only fit into one of the Ruins, and need to be put in using a certain combination, which Team Magma don't know."
"Right you!" Umezu was taken a back as a woman dressed in a Team Magma uniform, which was slightly different from the rest of the members, grabbed his shirt collar "Give us the combination for the secret chamber now or we'll trash this place, and destroy all your precious Ruins!"
Umezu's eyes widened
"No, please don't, destroy them! You've damaged them enough already and they can't take much more, they mean a lot to me."
The magma woman signalled to the others who instantly began inflicting harsh blow on the Ruin like tombs.
"So, you'll help us then!" she said, her shoulder length black hair swaying in the wind.
Umezu sighed.
"Ok..ok, I'll tell you.."
The woman let go of his shirt collar
"Good boy! Keep this up and your little Ruins, should be.ok." her eyes flashed dangerously "Now show us how to open this tomb!"
Desperately Umezu fiddled with the four spheres he'd been given and unlocked the tomb.
Inside it was beautiful, a small stream flowed down one side of the room and the walls where painted with lots of ancient Poke'mon such as Kabutops and Renicanth with inscriptions written underneath each one.
"This is exactly what we've been looking for!" came the voice of the Magma woman "Shame Team Aqua are missing out of all the action!"
The other members of Team Magma all laughed at this
"You three! Stop laughing and start photographing these walls, the information on them, may prove valuable to our research!"
Immediately the other members started taking several pictures of the walls, using the cameras around they're necks.
"Hey, you can't take pictures of these walls, It's illegal!" Umezu called out furiously from behind
"Oh, dear! What a shame, is it really!"
"Watch it!" Umezu threatened, staring at the Magma woman.
"Well, I think we've spent enough time here!" the woman told the others as she winked at Umezu and threw what looked like a smoke ball into the air, letting it explode. The tomb was covered in think black smoke, and as the Ash and the other fell to the ground coughing and spluttering, Team Magma saw their chance to escape, running to the end of the tomb they got into a black helicopter and took off laughing at their victory.
Bright light, shone in though a crack in the tomb as May, and the others woke up. Umezu gasped and pointed to the stream.
"Look, Relicanth!" he grinned, "I've waited a long time for this!"
Ash seeing his chance, took a Poke'dex entry, as did May and after staying a while longer the four of them headed back to the Poke'mon Centre where May happily received Torchic.
Nervously May let Torchic out of its ball to check on its condition. Torchic gave a happy chirp as it was released and May picked it up happily hugging the small Poke'mon.
Outside the Poke'mon Centre, May and Ash waved Goodbye and were about to set off, when they were stopped by Umezu.
"Wait!" he called running up to them "Here, I meant to give you this!" he handed a small slip of paper to May, on it; a phone number had been scrawled. "If you ever need any more information on Poke'mon, just call me ok.." he smiled.
May thanked Umezu and Ash and herself headed off on their way to Petalburg City.
"I knew Umezu, recognized my great talent as a Poke'mon Trainer, that's why he offered me his advice, if I ever needed it.."
May blinked, as she walked a little behind Ash, there he was again bragging about his so called talents..and he wasn't really right about Umezu giving him his advice.after all Umezu did give her, the number.
"I can't wait to finally get to Petalburg!" Ash continued, "With Pikachu by my side, we're unstoppable!"
May walked slowly, blushing from behind, she could certainly wait to get to Petalburg....