- 9 -

"Could you take our pokemon to the Center to be healed up?" Ash asked. Officer Jenny had arrived just a few minutes earlier, having been called for the attack. She took the pokeballs and Amber, and ran off toward the Pokemon Center.

The principal walked over, many of the smaller children following him. "Thank you, for saving the school from getting more damaged then what it was," he said.

Before either Ash or May could reply, the group of children clamored about them, excitedly begging them to play. They had been given the day off, due to the circumstances of everything being disturbed.

"You go on ahead," May said, "I'll play with them with you in a bit." Ash gave her an inquiring look, before letting the kids pull him away.

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May sat on one of the swings, letting it sway back and forth gently. She watched the kids run about and laugh with delight, before looking at Ash. He was laughing along with them, as he took chase of the little ones. Tag.

She smiled, watching as Ash purposely tripped to keep from catching up and tagging one of the giggling children. Sighing, she slowly let her mind slip off hazily. 'He is so good with children, even though both of us are barely adults...if we ever have our own...he'll be such a great father for them..."

Just as May had sank into her daydreams of the future (some, she guessed, where more then mere dreams...), she had been pulled back out. Miss Yoshi had appeared from the school building, her ponytail swinging as she walked across the playground. The blonde teacher put on a cute, sweet smile when she made her way over to the group of students and Ash. He hesitantly looked at her, looking unsure of whether or not he should return the smile or not.

Miss Yoshi, not even caring that several feet away May was sitting on the swings and watching her with narrowed eyes, gently ran her thin hands up and down the startled Pokemon Master's chest, mild shock covering his expression. He pulled back, trying both to get away and not step into the children at the same time. The young teacher followed, being quite persistent.

A pain shot through Miss Yoshi's head as someone yanked on her hair forcefully, making her stop. She turned to look eye-to-eye at the very annoyed, very jealous May.

"Touch my husband like that again, and I'll make sure you are landed in the hospital!" she said, her voice low and venomous. Miss Yoshi, shocked, stared at her. The group of students surrounding them gave them curious looks. Ash frowned, carefully getting the students back out of danger. When he knew they were safe, he walked over to the two glaring daggers at each other.

"May, let's just go," Ash suggested, cautiously taking hold of her wrist. Amber clutched onto his ankle, ears bent back, since she had sneaked away from the pokemon center fully healed. He didn't want a fight to break out between the two, and was going to do what it took to prevent it. "We could go to the gym so you could get a badge?"

She glared at Miss Yoshi one last time, before turning to Ash. "Alright, if you want to," May said.

After saying their good-byes (Ash having to get help from the principal to get the younger students off of him meanwhile), they headed away from the school.

When they were several streets away from the school, Ash slowed his steps to a mere crawl before stopping. "Thanks for the save, honey." May looked at Ash. He put his arm around her gently. "I have a moral code to uphold and I would have had to break it and hit her if she continued."

She gave him a slight smile. "You're welcome. Still though, it wouldn't of hurt you severely to do it to her anyway," she replied.

Ash stared at her, before laughing. They continued their walk around Rustboro. After only a few minutes of walking May stopped. He gave her a questioning look.

"Could we go to Devon Corp?" she asked. Ash's inquiring look changed to thoughtful then playful.

"Your wish is my command, milady," he replied, taking a hold of her hand and leading the way through the streets to the tall building of Devon Corporation. They both ignored the looks the people of Rustboro were giving them on the way.

"Welcome to Devon Corp," the woman near the door greeted them. Ash nodded his head to the lady.

"This is Devon?" May asked, staring curiously at the newest versions of the pokedex and navigation. Ash nodded, taking note of the fact that one of the pokedexs had a place to set a pokeball to check on the pokemon inside and making a mental note to get a new one. "What are these?"

"Running shoes," he said, lazily walking along the different glass cases to look inside at the items. "Huh!"

"What?" she asked, trying to see inside, around him. Ash quickly turned to her, grinning like a small child.

"That is the Double PokeBattler System," he said, "Brand new thing they've come up with."

May looked at it. It was a model of a stadium arena, with the normal training boxes, except there were four, one on each side of the battle area. "What's it do?" she asked.

"What's it.....! May! With that, you can have a two on two trainer battle, so it'd be two pokemon battling against two pokemon, not just one- on-one!" Ash said, his voice turning excited.

"I am thrilled to know the Pokemon Master approves of our new type of battling arena." Both Ash and May turned to see a man walking toward them, smiling. "It's a honor to meet, you, Mr. Ketchum. I am Mr. Stone, the President of Devon Corp."

Ash smiled at the older man. Unlike the past Pokemon Master, he wouldn't let it go to his head, the reputation and the popularity. "Same for you. This is my wife, May," he said, putting his arm around her waist gently.

"You are quite a lucky man to have found such a beautiful and loving woman such as her, and at so young an age!" Mr. Stone commented, smiling. Ash gave him a grin, and tightened his grip on May. He bent down slightly to give her a very quick kiss, before replying, "I know I am. I'm the luckiest man in this whole world."

A ringing noise came from the PokeNavigator hanging at Ash's hip. Using his free hand, he put it to his ear and listened quietly, before replying, "Yes, thank you. We'll be there for them in a bit."

"Who was that?" May asked, as Ash put the now silent PokeNavigator in its place. He gave her a quiet smile.

"Just Nurse Joy. She said we could pick up Millenia and the others now if we want to. And we also still have to go to the gym....." he replied, looking around again.

"Ah! You planning on challenging the leader to a battle?" Mr. Stone asked, leaning back against the wall, watching Ash. Suddenly, Ash laughed.

"No, not me, I don't need to.....May is, aren't you?" Ash said. She looked at him, her expression clearly stating that she could not believe he was asking such a thing.

"Need you ask?" she asked.

"I'm just making sure," he replied, giving May a sheepish smile. "As I think Amber wants to go to the Pokemon Center, we have to be going. It's been a honor talking to you, Mr. Stone."

The older man nodded gently, pushing away from the wall. "When we finally release the new system, I'll make sure you are the first-along with your opponents and ally-to use it," Mr. Stone said, "And good luck with the gym battle, May."

Ash stared at him, before the blank look disappear and a delighted one replaced it. Mr. Stone waved them away, smiling.

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"They all are perfectly healthy and healed!" Nurse Joy said, giving the handful of PokeBalls to both Ash and May. They thanked her quickly, and let the pokemon out.

The pokemon ran to their trainers. Millenia pawed softly at May, until she picked up the firebird. The young pokemon snuggled up against her "mother's" chest, squawking. Beautifly and Groyvle tightly (or as tightly as they could manage) hugged her. Elena rubbed up affectionately against her legs, letting loose a happy bark.

Ash gave May a smile, even though his pokemon where also trying to keep his attention. Amber squeaked, clutching onto his shoulders, almost falling off once or twice in the commotion of the others. Charizard stood proudly next to his long time friend and trainer, roaring. Ryudo clutched onto Ash's ankle, staring up at him with Dustox.

"OK you all," he said, trying unsuccessfully to calm the pokemon down, "Back into the pokeballs for now, alright?"

Hesitantly, all of their pokemon, minus Amber, willingly got sucked into the seven pokeballs. "So, what now?" May asked questioningly.

"Um.....its only noon, how about we go to the Gym?" he suggested, "So you can challenge the leader? I'll do my battle later, since I want to see what you got!"

May smiled, noticing that Ash's voice had turned playful. "You like to see me worked up, don't you?" she whispered into his ear.

A small shiver ran down his spine, startling the small mouse pokemon. "Chuu?" she said, hanging onto his shoulder.

"Oh, quiet!" Ash said, tapping Amber on the head, before finally leaving the Pokemon Center to go to the Gym.

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When the three arrived, a lecture was going on. A large group of Junior Trainers were sitting on the sidelines, viciously taking notes as the Gym Leader talked. It seemed like she was already in the middle of the lecture.

The Gym Leader herself was a girl around 16 years old. She had on a gray business-like uniform with a red tie and two red ribbons in her hair. Her purple eyes swept across the group as she talked. t
Ash and May carefully walked around the class, and stood silently as the very edge of the arena to listen in on the lecture. The Gym Leader caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye. She stopped in the middle of a sentence, her breath caught in her throat. "Ash Ketchum?" she stated, "Pokemon Master?!"

The Junior Trainers gasped and started backing away. Ash's soft laugh seemed louder in the silence, as they walked into the arena. "Yes, I am he," he said, smiling.

The woman stood in slight shock, before recovering herself and bowing down in respect. "Hi! I am the Gym Leader of Rustboro Gym, Roxanne! It is quite the honor to meet you, sir!"

Roxanne looked the younger Pokemon Master up and down, with a lot more subtlety then most did. She quickly stopped, before any of the trainers or the couple would notice. Smiling, she put her hand out.

"None of that 'sir' business, please?" Ash asked, shaking her hand, "I'm not old enough for that!"

He was silent for a minute, before continuing. "We are on a Pokemon Journey, and have come here to request a Gym Battle with you."

Her eyes slightly widened, as she gulped. Fear shone in her eyes, as she looked at Ash. It would be extremely difficult to beat the Pokemon Master, if not impossible!

Ash laughed, noticing the look Roxanne had. "No, I won't be fighting you today!" he said, to try to sooth the fear.

Her fearful look was replaced with confusion, as he smiled. He motioned to his right, where May stood. "This is my wife, May. She would like to challenge you first today, for the badge."

Every female Junior Trainer got shocked looks, been they changed to envy. May put a hand over her mouth, to cover the smirk she had. Their expressions where priceless, and it was obvious they knew she was married to the very best man in the world.

Roxanne cleared her throat quietly, regaining her composure. "Of course. It would be an honor to test the skills of your lovely wife here," she said, and turned to face the class, "Everyone, your attention please! A battle against me for the Stone Badge has been requested by May Ketchum!"

The inside of the gym buzzed with the soft murmur of the class for several seconds. Roxanne looked at May, staring directly into her emerald eyes. "This will be a two-on-two match, with no time limit. You are allowed to make substitutions during the match, but I am not. Accept?" she asked.

"Yes, I accept," May replied, looking at her. Ash gently kissed her on the cheek, and walked away to go to the stands to watch her first gym battle.

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Sitting up in the stands behind the rest of the class was two figures, who were watching the scene unravel. They had been following the couple from the minute they had left the school. The woman crossed her arms across her chest, with a frown. "Pfft, that puny wife of Ash's won't last long, I know that for sure!"

Her companion frowned also, before he shrugged. "I personally don't think she's 'puny' at all. In fact...she looks...delicious," he said, licking his lips.

She rolled her eyes, annoyance etched on her face. Whatever. You can have her if you like them scrawny like her. She sneaked a lingering look at the pokemon master, licking her own lips, barely blemishing her lipstick. "Just let me have her husband!"

"What do you think he is, dinner?" he asked, before getting a nasty look from her, "We are here for Team Magma, anyway, not for our own wants."

They looked at each other, before going silent. The key to their plan was precise timing. The only action they could take at that moment was monitor the battle between the gym leader Roxanne and May. Roxanne called out Geodude, while May called Grovyle.

The battle was about to begin!

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Here is the next chapter of The Amatuer Trainer! I like the way it went, even though it took forever to write.. -cough- yeah....anyway, I'll update this again sometime, after I update League Team. Anyway, any suggestions taken and concidered...as long as they are reasonable o_O;; anyway, here is the reviews:

DJ Rodriguez- thanks ^__^

Dragoon knight- Possibly. Maybe. Lol. It could always happen....

Akiko Koishii- Thanks, I'll try to.

Melo- -blinks- This...is...a...first. Interesting idea, but most likely won't happen in this fanfiction...but neh, who knows. Might happen, might not happen. And I'm not seperating them. Hell would freeze over first.

Darth Revan0518- I'll try!