Chapter 6: Was It Fate?

So far: Max has reluctanly agreed to meet with the girl he saw at the plaza.

Dylan's dragons returned with the girl. Max wasn't sure he was ready.

"What if she doen't like me" Max asked nervously.

"Maybe she won't, but it will all work out." reassured Misty.

"How do you know" asked Max, eyeing her.

"Well, when I first met Ash, I was angry at him for wreaking my bike."

"Hey, technically, it was Pikachu" retorted Ash.

"Pikapi" said Pikachu warningly, sparks flying from his cheeks.

"And if she doesn't like you at first, I'll help you try again" vowed Brock.

Max sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, Max." said May. "It'll work out."

Max turned and looked at his sister. "What do you know? You didn't tell Dylan about your crush on him until now"

Dylan's temper got the best of him. "Listen, squirt" he said, lifting up Max by his shirt collar. "You didn't have a crush on anyone until now"

May put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "You can put him down now."

Dylan set Max back down. "Sorry." he said.

A knock on the door made Max jump.

"She's here." said Dylan with a satisfied grin.

"I'll get you for this." muttered Max as he went to answer the door.

There was the girl, with her long, black hair, partly hidden under a winter hat.

She had a confused look on her face, but her eyes were full of fear.
An Azurill was purched on her shoulder, sitting on its tail, looking as confused and afraid as its master.

Her name was Carol.

She was sitting in her cabin with her big brother when she noticed a Flygon looking at her through the cabin window.

The Flygon motioned to something out of view to come closer.

To Carol's shock and horror, a Charizard, Dragonite, and Salamence came to the window.

The three Pokemon got excited when they saw Carol.

The Dragonite, obviously the gentlest one of the group, motioned for Carol to come outside.

Carol, nervous but curious, put on her jacket and such, and went outside to the four awaiting Pokemon.

The Dragonite lifted her up, and placed her on the Charizard, which gave a mighty roar, and flew off, leaving the three other dragons to follow.

The cabin door opened, interupting her thoughts.

A boy about her age was standing there. He wore black glasses, a green polo shirt, and tan shorts.

"H-hi." he said.

Max felt his stomach flip-flop like it did when he first saw her. He never noticed the Azurill on her shoulder.

Max quickly turned towards his friends. They all gave him a look that said Introduce yourself!

"I'm Max." he said, sticking out his hand.

"Carol." said the girl, shaking Max's hand.

"Come in."

Carol entered the cabin, feeling very nervous and afraid.
She spotted five other people in the cabin. They were all Pokemon Trainers. Carol could tell by the Pokeballs attached to their belts, just like her brother.

One trainer, the oldest, has spikey hair and dark skin. He was sitting on the couch, reading a book.

Another trainer, with dark hair and blue eyes, was making something in a pot, then poured it into seven mugs.

A girl with brown hair was helping the dark haired boy. Carol assumed she was the dark-haired boy's girlfriend.

The final two trainers were sitting on the loveseat. The boy had black hair covered by a Hoenn League ball cap. A Pikachu was sitting on top of the boy's head.

The girl had red-orange hair and was resting on the shoulder of the boy with the Pikachu on his head.

"I'm Ash." said the boy with the Pikachu.

The red-haired girl introduced herself as Misty.

Max came up and said "Why don't you take a seat"

"I'm Carol" she said as she sat down. "And this is my Azurill, Splish."

The Pikachu lept of Ash's head. "Pikapi" it said happily.

Ash laughed. "He wants to play with Splish"

"Azu" Splish jumped down to play with Pikachu.

"Hot Chocolate, everyone" called the dark-haired boy as Pikachu and Splish ran off.

"By the way" he said to Carol as he handed out the mugs. "I'm Dylan."

"I'm May, Max's sister." said the brown-haired girl.

The spikey-haired trainer said he was Brock.

"Carol, would you like to spend the night" asked Max.

"Sure! I just need to tell my brother."
"Wait a sec" intrupted Ash. "But tonight's Christmas Eve"

"So" asked Misty.

"She should be with her family"

Dylan shook his head. "Nope, Christmas is a time to be with loved ones. We spend time with our family on New Year's. It's no problem."

"Yeah" agreed May. "We could have a slumber party"We can watch movies and eat popcorn"

"Sounds good to me" said Brock.

Max grinned. This was going to be a very Merry Christmas.

End of Chapter 6