The morning papers the next day proudly proclaimed the return of the champion and his new role in the pokemon league with focus on the planned facility in Viridian City to train young trainers. Renovations would start soon and Mr. Ketchum was scouting for possible employees in the meantime.

Four very moody young women sat around the breakfast table to listen to the matching radio announcement for the upteempth time. Misty, Dawn, Iris and Serena drank their morning coffee with varying degrees of visible contempt for the missing woman in their group.

May had been lucky enough to win at drawing straws. The decision had been made to divide their time with Ash, realizing the complications of catching up with an old friend on an individual level in a group of six people. Misty would go last because she has had the most time so far, which was fair but didn't mean she wasn't upset about it.

"Where is Ash anyway?" Iris asked, moodily poking her pancakes. "And why wasn't he with us when we woke up?"

Misty frowned. "He's an unnaturally early riser, only sustaining himself with a few hours of sleep. Nothing short of chaining the guy to the bed would work in my opinion."

The four looked down at their plates in deep thought. Three of them then glanced at Misty. Concern about Ash had driven them here, but now that he's back and under Misty's care, life would continue for each of them. Serena and Dawn had to go back eventually to continue their competitions. Iris was on her own training trip and next in line for her own pokemon gym in Unova.

The closest person to Ash after his return, geographically and emotionally, would be Misty in Cerulean City. How they felt about this situation, that's a whole different story.

Behind the Cerulean gym on a small grass field, Ash Ketchum had decided to have his first training session with Leaf. After a small warm up, they've transitioned seamlessly into a small mock battle with her Rattata against his Pikachu to gauge the current level of the girl and her pokemon.

"Rattata use Tackle!"

Leaf's little mouse listened to her without hesitation, taking a running start and hitting Pikachu with all of his might under the scrutinizing gaze of Ash. He thought what was clearly visible on Pikachu's face with every hit he took.

Rattata was really weak for its age.

Experienced eyes saw that something wasn't quite right with the way the purple mouse moved, like parts of a machine not working together properly. Taking into account where Leaf might have got him, an abandoned lab in a basement, and the possible reasons for this condition skyrocketed in number. Most of Team Rocket hadn't been about the goofy hijinks that Jessie and James were known for their whole career. Ash had personal experience with the more nefarious plots to gain wealth and power through pokemon.

Plots that involved unethical experiments among other things.

Rattata were disposable pests for most people and not really in demand for any serious trainer. That lack of interest and care made it more acceptable for the public to treat certain kinds of pokemon very badly.

"Rattata use Bite!"

Even with the full force of his jaws, Pikachu barely could even feel the teeth in him. Ash's heart fell for the small critter trying his hardest against unbeatable odds. Soon, Leaf's Rattata would notice and be devastated by the lack of results.

"Pi!"

Ash glared at Pikachu for his poor acting. Pretending to be hurt wouldn't accomplish anything and be more damaging than helpful. His eyes widened when he could see something wet shimmer across his yellow fur under the sunlight.

The little thing had drawn first blood. It had almost broken his own jaw to do it, but there was definitely a wound on his second strongest pokemon.

"That's enough guys, break it off!" Rattata let go of Pikachu, switching to licking the deep bite mark in apology. He received a pat on the head from his victim and a thumbs up, which almost sent the small pokemon into a state of shock from awe. Pikachu rolled his eyes and hopped on Ash's shoulder, getting a quick heal spray on the open wound.

"One morning and a total amateur actually manages to hurt your pokemon. You are either still a very good teacher or incredibly rusty from fooling around the gym," said a taunting voice, which turned out to be May coming towards them in large strides. The young woman just finished her morning jog, apparent from the shirt and bike shorts drenched in sweat. Ash couldn't help but notice how well the scrawny girl from Petalburg got into shape. Not a modicum of surplus fat had remained on her bones and only wiry muscle existed underneath the silky smooth skin.

She pulled on her collar to get some cold air into her shirt and Ash averted his eyes as more cleavage of May's generous bust was revealed. The young woman noticed and grinned, making a show of standing close to him and using her advantage in height to focus his attention on her assets. Ash might be Misty's guy, but a bit of teasing didn't hurt anyone.

"Who said I'm a good teacher?" Ash said with a blush, which delighted May and puzzled Leaf. Boss was the picture of coolness whenever he talked about pokemon, but as soon as these girls were involved he crumbled like a cookie in milk.

"You taught me, didn't you?" May clapped him on the shoulder and he felt his bones rattle from the impact. "If it weren't for your mentoring I'd still be a little brat that hates pokemon."

"You were his student?" Leaf asked with stars in her eyes.

"He showed me the ropes." May's words were wistful and full of warmth for the day's past. Ash had fond memories as well, remembering their times on the road through Hoenn in search of becoming better pokemon trainers. She was unrecognizable from the whiny girl back then and being in part responsible for her transformation filled him with pride.

"I assume you need people to get your new gym off the ground. Do you accept applications?"

Ash couldn't hide his surprise. "I thought you already run a gym? Aren't you busy enough as it is?"

"I am," May replied and her smile became less sugary. "but this is purely out of self-interest. Working with the champion would be invaluable to me."

A fair enough reason in Ash's opinion and at least she was honest about the selfish nature of her motives. Getting experience was everything for a pokemon trainer and as the strongest he had that in spades to share.

"Are you up for making this job interview a little bit more interesting?" May asked with a sly grin and a foreboding feeling overcame the young man who it was directed towards.

The inkling turned out to be correct when May grabbed one of her pokeballs and threw them. Ash formed a deadpan expression, a trained reflex after getting challenged from hundreds of trainers. It helped not to insult his opponent by showing obvious disappointment or boredom for the battle ahead. Most of the time, he had to fight harder against a building yawn than the pokemon thrown at him.

"BLAZIKEN!"

In front of him materialized the familiar tall figure of the fire fighting type pokemon. Familiar yet not, as one glance at it was enough to peak Ash's curiosity. Similar to Rattata earlier, the champion had not only an eye for weaknesses but also the strengths of pokemon.

This could be an opportunity.

He whistled once, letting the shrill tone ring through the empty courtyard until a loud roar answered his call. A flying shadow over them signaled the arrival of Ash's strongest pokemon. Charizard plummeted to the ground like a meteor, landing with all the theatrics the fire lizard loved to show.

"Charizard?" May asked, looking at the large fire pokemon in awe. "You really aren't holding back for dear old me, huh?"

"Call it a hunch, but I think that won't be necessary…"

They chose the large open field behind the gym as their arena. Although Ash had done this more than any trainer in recorded history, something like a deep gut feeling told him that this wouldn't be as straightforward as it should be. May seemed too confident in the face of Charizard and so was her pokemon. Cockiness had been the downfall of many trainers and he would regret having to instill this lesson once again into her.

"No point in starting slow…" Ash fought and gave his first order. "Charizard use Flamethrower!"

"Blaziken, answer it with your own flamethrower!"

Ash went wide eyed at her brashness. She couldn't possibly think her pokemon could match the firepower of Charizard?

Two massive fire blasts collided with an earth-shattering boom that engulfed the whole area. Pikachu, Leaf and Rattata dived behind a small hill nearby as every window in half a mile radius rattled and dozens of car alarms went off. Amidst the flaming inferno, Ash cursed himself for getting carried away. He began walking through the flames to check for his opponents safety when a sudden voice stopped him.

"Are you sure about that? Leaving your position during a match means you forfeit, you know?"

Through the smoke and flame, he saw two silhouettes getting sharper. Blaziken stood unharmed on his feet with May behind him, patting out her burning shirt and shorts.

"He's distracted, use Megakick!" May yelled while Ash stared flabbergasted at her smoking form.

Charizard was equally dumbstruck as Ash about the current situation of not winning in one hit, so he took the full brunt of the flying kick against the temple. The head of the red dragon flew to the side as the teeth in its mouth rattled from the force. Blaziken created distance with a backflip, preparing himself for retaliation, but what followed agitated him and May.

Both, trainer and pokemon alike, had the biggest grins on their faces. "That actually hurt you, didn't it Charizard?" Ash asked with excitement, which his pokemon answered with happy growls. "Don't get carried away! It could be a fluke…"

May's left eye twitched. "There are limits to how much you underestimate an opponent!"

The two pokemon began to exchange blows with no orders from their trainers. A wild flurry of punches, blocks and dodges with none getting an obvious upper hand over the other.

May had never felt this anxious in her entire life, seeing the fruits of her labor tested against something who could shatter it with one tiny mistake. Ash felt the complete opposite by getting challenged from a trainer whose pokemon don't seem to be made of cardboard against his team. After years of lackluster exhibitions, he could actually show some of his stuff without fear of breaking the opposition.

He itched to use a classic from his youth. "Charizard use Geotoss!"

The dragon dived for his opponent but Blaziken used a fistful of dirt to throw it into Charizard's eyes. The blinded behemoth grasped at nothing, leaving his outstretched arm open for a hold and Blaziken's knee shot up without hesitation towards the joint.

Ash's pokemon took the hit by flexing his muscle, but the whole sequence of events turned the smile on him into a frown. He noticed now the subtle nuances of the fight, which his enthusiasm had made him overlook. Every move of Blaziken was tailored to inflict permanent damage and most pokemon would have been crippled into retirement by half of those attacks.

And all of a sudden, the joy was sucked out of the battle for him. "Charizard, go all out and finish it quickly."

Charizard stilled for a moment in disbelief. They haven't done that for ages because there was no simply no need. After a red blur and a deafening sound of impact, Blaziken laid on the ground out cold and unmoving. May blinked, not fully realizing the fight had ended already, until Charizard walked off the field to a spot of green grass for a nap.

"That's the pokemon master for ya, isn't it?" she said and recalled Blaziken into its pokeball, approaching her opponent for the afterfight handshake. Ash just stood there without saying a word. May was quite a bit taller than him, nonetheless, the young woman felt very small under his judging gaze. "So, do I qualify for the job?"

Ash turned to Leaf. "Go to Misty and start helping with the chores. I want to talk with May in private"

The little girl wanted to protest but one look at her boss and his serious expression was enough to stomp out that impulse. She left over a small hill and Ash waited until the little girl put enough distance between them before turning his attention towards May.

"How a trainer fights says a lot about them. I don't like what I've seen from you, May."

She waved off his criticism. "Did you actually think I could defeat you?"

"No, and you know that's not what I'm talking about," he said, his expression softening. "What happened?"

May swallowed hard. "Life, let's leave it at that."

"I won't." Ash shot back without hesitation and grabbed her by the wrist to stop May from leaving. Even after all those years, Ash had managed to preserve a part of his childish kind of determination to jump into the darkest pit after you for rescue.

"May…"

"Fine…"

Misty was a lucky girl and May would be there if she'd ever forget it.

They two sat down on an unscorched piece of grass, him drilling into her with his questioning gaze until she finally cracked. "Hoenn has become dangerous since Team Aqua and Magma have joined forces."

That was certainly news to Ash. He hadn't kept track while training and had been too occupied with becoming and staying champion afterwards.

"Ironically, the fusion of two environmental terrorist groups turned them into regular criminals. I was approached after winning my first regional tournament. They offered a lot of money to fix my matches."

Illegal betting had been a plight on pokemon battling like any other professional competition. His ascent to fame all but killed that due to nobody betting against him. Apparently the underworld had turned to the next best profitable circuit with Coordinator tournaments.

"Naturally, I refused the offer and reported their illegal activities to the authorities. I hadn't even been on their radar, but from then on Team Aqua and Magma would come after me for spoiling their plans."

Ash has an inkling of what that entailed.

"I retired as a coordinator after sabotage of our equipment during a match almost killed my Beautifly, running back home like a coward to hide from the world under the pretense of taking over the Petalburg gym."

She laid down on the grass, staring at the sky with regret and disdain clearly visible on her face.

"A year later, they came after our gym for protection money and something in me snapped." May said, and Ash saw her satisfied smile as she recalled the incident. "I fought back on their level, dirty and brutal, until my reputation as a ruthless gym leader made all the thugs and trainers in search of easy badges flee for the hills."

Ash couldn't argue with the results after witnessing the amazon in front of him. She was already more capable than most trainers he'd faced in recent years, but the glaring weakness in her methods couldn't be overlooked.

"You're always one battle away from losing everything."

May nodded, her lips pressed firmly into a thin line. Reputation was a fragile thing and one moment of weakness would cost her dearly. Things needed to change but in the short term, there was only one thing Ash could do for her.

Make sure she won't lose and show May how to win the right way.

"You're hired."