A/N: I'd just like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this fic! It means a lot to me and I greatly appreciate your reviews! This chapter is somewhat of a 'filler' so not that much is going to happen… but I promise that the next chapter will definitely have a lot more action in it! So without out further ado, let's continue with the story!
Chapter 3Morning came and the sunshine arrived pouring through the windows in Ash, May, Misty and Pikachu's room. Brock had not come back from his date with Vivica so there was one empty bed in the room. Gary said he wanted his own room; this was a wise thing to say because he didn't know what could have happened if he was in same room with Misty. When everyone got dressed, they all went straight to the lobby to pick up their pokemon.
"There you are. All of your pokemon are doing just fine. Have a nice day!"
"Thanks Nurse Joy! Have a nice day too!" replied May enthusiastically.
May had time to think over who her secret admirer could be. She still had no clue who it could have been, well maybe one clue. It could have been her mystery man who wore all black, which would be the reason why the rose had been wrapped in black tissue paper. But what did she know? The secret admirer could have been some stranger whom she never laid eyes on before. May thought and thought but she came up with nothing. However, she was filled with hope because it was a bright and beautiful day outside. Who wouldn't be in a good mood with this kind of weather? As she thought of this, May spotted Misty looking around nervously.
"Uh, Nurse Joy? Has someone by the name of Gary picked up his pokemon yet?" asked Misty quietly before leaving the counter.
"Why yes. As a matter of fact, he picked up his pokemon just a few minutes before you three. He also turned in his room key. Said something about having things to do and people to see."
"Oh, I see. Thank you Nurse Joy, have a nice day!"
Misty felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Now she didn't have to worry about Gary Oak anymore. She could enjoy herself with her friends and nothing could go wrong.
Even though Misty had spoken quietly to Nurse Joy, May had heard their conversation. So while Ash was busy checking to see how his pokemon were doing, she took Misty aside to speak to her.
"What's up May? Did you figure out who sent you the rose?"
"No Misty. Unfortunately, I haven't. But that's not what I want to talk to you about."
Misty's expression turned serious.
"Oh. Well, then is something wrong? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. The person I'm worried about is you."
"What? May I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me!" Misty said trying to sound convincing.
"I don't think so. Why were you so curious to know about Gary back there? And what really happened yesterday?"
Misty looked down at the ground and then sighed.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course! You can tell me anything! That's what girlfriends are for!" May said cheerfully.
"Thanks May. Well, you see, there was no baby Spheal, and there wasn't a pack of Ninjasks. Gary pulled me aside into the forest, and then he asked me out on a date."
"WHAT?"
"Shh! May, I don't want Ash to know! He'd get so angry! And we know what happens when he gets all riled up."
May frowned but nodded her head in agreement.
"Well I of course told him that there was no way I'd ever go out with him, but then he tried to persuade me by- …by trying to kiss me."
May's eyes bulged and she had to put her hand over her mouth to stop from screaming out loud. Misty put a hand on May's shoulder and calmed her down.
"It's okay May. I pushed him away before he could do anything, and then I slapped him."
"Serves him right! I would have loved to do the same! What a loser!"
"Yeah, I know. So then I started to run away and well, next thing you know, we bump into you guys and I have to make up some lame story so that Ash doesn't explode."
"Why would I explode?" asked Ash with a smile and chuckle.
Misty froze in place while May tried to come up with an answer to his question.
"Uh, well we were just saying how…you would explode if you lost all of your gym badges now that you've reached the Hoenn League."
"Yeah! You've worked so hard Ash, we wouldn't want you to lose all of those hard earned badges!"
Ash nodded, agreeing to what they said.
"You're right. I would explode if I lost them. That's why I'm keeping them safe with extra precaution!" he said, patting his pocket where his gym badge case was held.
"So, are we going to head on up to the stadium then? The tournament starts in a couple of days Ash."
"I know Misty. That's something I'd never forget!"
The three of them laughed as they stepped out of the pokemon center. They stopped short at the sight of the two people in front of them. They were laughing uncontrollably while a child was playing in his stroller.
"Brock? Vivica?"
"Oh hi guys! We were just about to check up on you!"
"Good morning! I do hope you all had a nice night. By the way, have any of you seen Gary?"
Misty and May looked at each other but said nothing. Thankfully, Ash replied.
"Actually, we haven't. He must have gone off already."
"Oh. Well I'm sure he's fine. He always knew how to take care of himself."
Johnny started to cry in his stroller and Brock picked him up and started to rock him back and forth. May and Misty began to laugh at the sight of Brock being so fatherly.
"Well Brock, I guess we should get going then. Johnny needs his nap."
"You're always so smart Vivvy!"
"Vivvy?" asked a confused Ash.
"Uh, yeah," replied Brock blushing.
Vivica started to blush along with him.
"It's uh… my nickname… really sweet of Brock to give me one."
Brock regained his composure and stood up straight and confident.
"Well guys, I guess this is good bye then."
"WHAT?" Ash, Misty and May said at the same time.
"I'm going to go back to Pallet Town with, uh, Vivica. I think you three can take care of yourselves."
May was the first one to come back down to earth.
"Well, thanks Brock for everything you've done for us. Have a safe trip!"
"Yeah Brock, you've been so helpful from the first day we met."
Misty looked from Brock to Ash and they smiled at each other.
"We'll miss you Brock, and of course your famous cooking."
"Haha, well I guess you won't have that to look forward to every morning. It's been great you guys. I'll miss you too! Good luck in the Hoenn League Ash."
"Thanks Brock. Well bye then!"
"Good bye guys! See ya later!"
Brock, along with 'Vivvy' and Johnny, left and they were gone from their view. Suddenly, Pikachu perked up its ears and started to run off in the direction of the forest nearby.
"Pikachu! What's wrong with you?"
They ran after him but May was the only one who noticed what it was chasing. There was a man covered from head to toe in black running through the forest. She picked up her pace and soon she was out running Pikachu. May cut through the forest and went in after the mysterious stranger. Whoever it was looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was there, and then he spotted May catching up to him. He stopped in the middle of his tracks and turned around to face her. May was caught off guard and ran straight into him. The man caught her in his arms and held her close to him for a second before letting go.
"What are you doing this time?" asked May while her heart began to pound faster and faster even though she had stopped running.
"I was simply taking a walk in the wood's, when your friend's Pikachu came running after me. Probably thought I was, up to no good."
His voice was as melodic as it had been the first time she heard it. Instantly her knees began to lose their strength and she started to wobble in place. The man caught her before she hit the ground and May looked into his deep emerald eyes. Before she knew what she was doing, she felt herself put her arms around his neck and lean forward towards him, but the moment was cut short.
"MAAAYYY! May where are you?"
"MAY! Can you hear us May?"
The hooded man helped May stand straight up. May looked towards the path outside the forest where she saw Ash and Misty looking for her. When she looked back, her mystery man was gone, but on the ground where he stood seconds before, lay a long stem rose, the same one she had received the previous night.
"May! Thank goodness you're all right! What was all that about-," Misty gasped as she saw what May held in her hand, "it's the rose! May, where did you get it?"
May smiled softly and told Misty everything. Ash tuned in and out of their conversation. He never knew why girls liked to talk so much. After about what seemed like forever, he finally interrupted the girly chitchat.
"What does it matter if he's all dark and mysterious? You don't know what he's like; he could be a criminal for all we know. And if you girls mind, Pikachu and I, I don't know about you two, but we would like to make it to Ever Grande City sometime today!"
Misty grinned and spoke with an air of superiority.
"Ash, dear dense Ash. If you wanted to go, then why didn't you say so? Girls can talk while they walk you know. So if you insist, then we shall go. Come on May."
Ash crossed his arms, but followed the two girls who were still talking endlessly. He couldn't believe how long they could talk for. Pikachu and Ash were now staggering behind the lively girls, because they couldn't take all of the chatter and squealing. They reached a clearing in the forest near the ocean. There stood before them a magnificent view of the ocean that they had traveled on the previous day. Ash was so desperate to get away from their voices, that he ran straight towards it, not noticing that he was about to run off of a cliff.
"Ash!"
Misty caught him by the sleeve just in time. May and Pikachu caught up to them and they looked down from atop the cliff.
"Wow, that's a long way down. Good thing Misty caught you before you fell!"
"So Ash, this makes it twice in two days! You are lucky aren't you?"
Misty smiled and Ash chuckled sarcastically. They were all heading back to the forest, when all of a sudden three familiar voices were heard.
"Pika! Pika Pi!"
"Hahahaha! Prepare for trouble, like we always say,"
"And make it double, we're going all the way,"
"To prepare the world for devastation,"
"To unite all people's within our nation,"
Ash, May and Misty all rolled their eyes, and then they nodded to each other. Team Rocket was shocked when all of a sudden, below them stood the twerps, in the stupidest uniforms with an 'R' on the front.
"To recreate the pain when you soar into the bright blue sky,"
"To make sure you have a nice trip flying so very high,"
The 'twerps' pulled off their uniforms and introduced themselves.
"Misty,"
"Ash,"
"Team Rocket, you always blast off at the speed of light,"
"Surrender now, or prepare to have a not so nice flight!"
"I'm May, and am here to say, that's right!"
"Pika! Pikachu!"
Up above them, Team Rocket started to have a fit.
"Hey! That's my line!"
"How dare you mess with our motto? You good for nothing twerps!"
"Jesse, are we going to go on with the plan or not?"
"Of course we are James!"
"So then why are ya takin' so long wit it?"
Their argument was cut short by a blast of a thunderbolt from Pikachu. Up, up, away and gone.
"I can't believe they are still trying to steal our pokemon!" proclaimed May.
"You think you're annoyed with them? Try adding an extra two years to what you have gone through."
Ash and Misty laughed and soon May joined in as well. They were almost at the path in the forest when Pikachu spotted something.
"Pika, pi pika pi!"
To the left of them was a small entrance to a cave that was covered by some trees, which was the reason why they hadn't realized it before. Ash's sense of adventure drew him to the mysterious cave and he couldn't resist exploring it.
"Come on Misty, May! Let's see what's in this cave!"
Misty sighed and May chuckled.
"Don't bother arguing. When he wants to do something, he's going to do it."
The group was walking toward the cave, when all of a sudden when they reached the entrance, two Poochyena's jumped out of nowhere. Behind them was a tall man dressed in a raggedy red hooded outfit.
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know who I am. But you three have trespassed on Team Magma's secret grounds. So now you have to pay!"
"What? Team Magma?" asked May nervously.
"Don't worry May. Pikachu! Thunder, now!"
The yellow pokemon nodded and jolts of electricity started to spark from its cheeks.
"Piii, kkaaaa, chuuu!"
The two Poochyena's were knocked out just like that and the Team Magma member had to recall them.
"Poochyena! Return!"
The man ran off inside of the cave and yelled back to them.
"You just wait! The boss will have something to say about this!"
His footsteps were now a faint echo until they couldn't be heard anymore.
"Ash, come on, let's get out of here! This place seems dangerous!"
"Misty I know, but if Team Magma's anything like Team Aqua… well you know what they're capable of," Misty bit her lip and nodded, "we have to go after him and find out what's going on here."
Ash, Misty and Pikachu were already inside the cave when May called out to them.
"Hey guys! Wait! Come back here! Guys?… GUYS! Wait for me!"
……..
A/N: I'd like to thank you again for reading this chapter, in its entirety, so as a bonus, I'll give you some hints as to what the next chapter has in store!
Someone gets kidnapped! (O,O)
A life-changing event happens to one of the characters!
Someone will betray another's trust, or at least the judgment of that character…you'll see what I mean lol
Okay, that's enough hints for now lol. I'm not sure when I'll update, but I hope that it'll be sometime soon! (Because I don't want to leave you hanging to long!)
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS AGAIN! (I'd insert a smilie but for some reason, when I upload this, it doesn't show up…lol just pretend there's one there lol)