May couldn't believe her eyes. Not to long ago she was about to be crushed by an infected Steelix. Now she was safely out of harms way with none other than a familiar looking teen standing in front of her

She realized he must have pushed her out of the way before the infected could land the hit and for that she was grateful... however she had a million questions running around in her mind at seeing him here of all places

She saw he hadn't changed much since she last saw him. His whole appearance screamed that of having been caught up in a fight, with his blue jacket having holes pretty much everywhere, his black sneakers seemed to have seen better days and his indigo shorts were all messed up. He was also missing his signature hat that he always wore

"Ash! What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed as Ash turned slightly to face her, his eyes holding a dangerous glint in them that she knew was directed towards the infected Pokemon

"Now is not the best time to catch up May" he told her and May realized that he was right. They were facing an infected, a Steelix nonetheless so perhaps she should wait until they were clear to catch up with him

"What do you plan on doing? My arrows wouldn't work against him and I doubt you even have a weapon with you" May said as her eyes slowly found Brendan, still trapped and wanted to go help, but knew that if she moved, they would give away their position which was currently unknown to the infected since it was moving around looking for his prey

Ash didn't answer. He wasn't sure what to do to be honest. His Pokemon were still weak after the last encounter with the infected... now he wished he could have gone to get them healed up... asking May for hers was out of the question too

The infected roared as Ash gripped his head. He heard May shout his name, but he couldn't answer her... his aura was once again acting up... wait a minute... that's it! Maybe he could use his aura to help them out here

"Ash! Please don't tell me you got hit!" she exclaimed as quietly as she could watching as Ash shook his head, making her sigh in relief but still had a worried look

"I'm fine. These infected just have an aura that-" he cut off his explanation as he felt another jolt of pain

"Aura? I didn't realize you could still use it. I thought it was a one-time deal" she said helping him back onto his feet as the infected Steelix kept looking for them

Ash couldn't say anything again as his eyes widened and pulled May out of the way, just in time as a familiar looking rocky tail slammed where May had last been standing

The two were close, very close to each other that May was sure her face was a deep red. Ash wasn't looking at her, his attention on the infected that had wanted to kill May once again. Ash could feel something inside him want to be released, it was taking everything he had to not let it... he wasn't dumb, he knew what it was... he just didn't know if it would hurt someone should he lose control

"Pikapi!"

"Ash!"

Turning around, Ash saw Pikachu and Riley had finally caught up to him. Also, to be honest, he had forgotten about them once he had heard May screaming

Riley saw the infected Steelix before him and cursed as he grabbed a hold of his pokeball and released Lucario "Don't let him land a hit or bite you. Keep your guard up at all times" he told the aura Pokemon who nodded and was seen engaging the infected using only long ranged attacks

Pikachu also joined in on the fight to help distract the infected from their trainers as the two Pokemon seemed to have a plan of sorts judging by the way they were attacking

"Ash, you still feel it don't you" Riley said as soon as he turned towards the Pallet native while May made her way towards the still intact bow lying on the floor. She grabbed it, slinging it over her shoulder and ran towards Brendan why it was safe

"I can't control it Riley... no matter how hard I try to ignore it!" he angrily shouted, not knowing about the slight blue glow surrounding his eyes

"You need to calm down!" Riley shouted, gripping onto the teen with more force than necessary

"That thing almost killed May! You really think I can calm down?!" Ash countered, not realizing how even his hands were starting to glow softly

"If you don't want to be the cause of all our deaths I'd calm down" Riley seriously said glancing down at Ash's hands, which the teen followed and realized what Riley meant. He took a deep breath, trying to reign in his emotions and slowly sighed in relief once he saw the blue glow disappear

"Well, your eyes are still blue, but that's to be expected since you're still mad. However, you need to learn to not let your emotions get the best of you Ash. Your powers are growing, they're starting to appear more. Try and remember that next time you get angry"

"How do I control it?" Ash quietly asked, his eyes not able to meet Riley's as the older aura user sighed

"It's your power Ash. I can teach you to use aura, but in the end the only one who can control it is one person. No one can control your powers, but you" Riley told him, leaving him to check on Lucario and Pikachu who had been able to somehow cave in the infected Pokemon and kill it as a result

Ash moved over to May, helping her move the teen that he saw before out of the debris. His attention soon shifted to the girl before him, seeing how much she's changed since he last saw her in Sinnoh. She no longer had a bandana on her, instead having replaced it with a red and white bow. Her hair was styled into a bob cut just above her shoulders, a scarlet red tank top, white shorts with black legging underneath, still wore a fanny pack on her and had what looked like a quiver full of arrows on her

"May, you cut your hair or something? Never seen you wear like that before" Ash commented as May grabbed a hold of a small strand of hair and gave him a sad smile

"It was actually cut by an infected. I was lucky it was my hair and not my head. I actually like it this way to be honest..." she explained as Ash nodded

"It looks nice on you. Plus, the bow has a nice touch" he agreed as May had a light blush on her face as she thanked him for his opinion

"You look good. Blue eyes suit you in a way" May said having taken note of the fact that his eyes weren't their usual auburn colour

"Yeah... that's recent" Ash sheepishly said as May got the hint that Ash didn't want to really talk about this so she changed the topic

"What happened to not the best time for catching up?" she said with arms crossed

"We were in the middle of a battle May!" Ash cried out, throwing his hands in the air

"I'm just messing with you Ash. I know why you couldn't, but I wish our reunion could have been better... not on the run or in the middle of a battle"

Ash sighed as he nodded "Same, but we don't always get what we want, remember. Besides I'm just glad you're alright... I almost thought I wouldn't see you again" he sincerely said as May was about to respond to him... but they were interrupted by Riley

"We need to keep moving. Catch up later, we don't know how long until more infected decide to come" he said as Ash nodded leaving a crestfallen May at having their small reunion interrupted

The small group of Ash, May, Riley and a now conscious Brendan slowly left the Oreburgh Mines... however the same blue Pokemon that had been following May was once again seen, this time his eyes trailing after Ash as he followed after the group

Alright I know many of you probably wanted more so I decided to update it to give you AdvanceShippers some AshxMay moments. So yes Ash doesn't face the infected Steelix, sorry people. I feel that Ash wouldn't be able to do much even if he could use his aura, he doesn't exactly have control using it so no fight there. Also next chapter will feature a meeting between Ash's group and another small group ^^