Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon, its characters, locations, or names. All of them, with the exception of original characters, ideas, and places, belong to Nintendo.
Credits: Vanika, Silvanus, Gwen, Carina, and all locations involving Nara belong to me.
AN: This is actually the chapter where part of it was used for an English assignment, but I did change some of the wording in it for uploading to FFN, as I had to use big words I normally wouldn't use (Ambiguous? Pfft).
As for the character Carina, all I can say is that the storyline involving her, MPL#5 (which shall remain nameless/topic less until Chapter Eighteen), was inspired by an episode of Smallville. o.0 If any of you can tell me which one and what in it inspired this, I'll give you an E-Cookie.
Warning: None.
- Chapter Seventeen: An Ocean of Trouble -
The phone rang shrilly. Reaching an arm back, Ash plucked the received from its cradle and pressed it against his ear, closing his eyes when he was able to settle back down on the couch. "Hello?" he asked.
"Ash? Do you have the time to come over to the lab?" His eyebrows shot up; it was Professor Oak. Sitting up quickly, he noticed the elder sounded like something was wrong, and he frowned.. "Could you bring May over?"
"Oh, um..yeah, I can probably manage it-" There was a shout in the background, and Ash jumped when he heard another voice shouting back. "Is now really a good time though? It sounds like World War III over there."
"Yes, yes it is," Oak said, hanging up on him. Ash stared at the phone, wide eyed; whatever was happening had to be important. Carefully setting it back down, he looked around, thinking over where the girl could have ran off to. Try the fields, a bored voice said, and he saw Silvanus staring dully at him from the staircase, green eyes narrowed.
"Thanks, Silvanus." When the dragon shrugged, Ash hopped up, hurrying outside to find his missing girlfriend. "What could be going on that Professor Oak is in such a hurry to see us?"
Just then, Ash realized that 'the fields' could be anywhere around Pallet; it had a field that stretched to the ocean, then fields on all sides that either connected it to the next town, or to the surrounding water mass. He swore under his breath, calling for Pikachu to join him. The yellow creature poked its head out of one of the second floor windows, and he put his arms up to catch the thing as Pikachu leaped down. "I need some help finding May," he said, and Pikachu's tail twitched.
"Pikapika? Chaaaaaaka." Thrusting his small black nose into the air, Pikachu sniffed, pointing toward the southern part of town. Letting his companion climb up onto his head, Ash ran toward the shoreline, clenching his teeth in concentration; the last thing he wanted was to end up falling flat on his face.
When the dusty ground started changing to the grassy plain, he started slowing his steps. Ash peered around the wildflower covered field, shielding his eyes from the sun, and not seeing nor hearing any sign of another human being in the area. He saw something flash past him, and disappear again before he could get a good look at it. "What the hell was that?"
"Chu..." Pikachu smirked. Before Ash could ask his snickering pokemon what was so funny, he heard rustling behind him, and found himself on the ground when the rustling changed to a shout.
"Ash!" May held onto his neck as he recovered, shaking his head. "What're you doing out here?"
"I came to find you." He smiled when she pounced into his arms and clung onto him, pressing her cheek against his. Too bad it's to most likely ruin your mood...aw, at least we've had a couple days to rest. "Professor Oak called and said he wanted us to see him at the lab."
"What for?" May asked, and all Ash could do was shrug; he hadn't a clue, and had a feeling he would be regretting finding out. "Now?"
"He sounded in a hurry." He apologetically squeezed her when she looked toward the expanse leading to the open sea sadly. "We'll come out here later...without Vanika or Silvanus hanging around."
He heard the former of the two dragons laugh, and knew that his assumption that she was there was correct. May smiled, and nodded. "Let's go see Grandpa then."
- - -
Ash stared in shock when they entered; the lab was in chaos, Pokemon freaking out, people yelling, and Oak standing in the middle of it all, shaking his head. "What...Professor, what's happening?" he asked as the old man neared them.
"My son is what happened," Oak sighed, waving a hand in the direction of the bickering couple that stood near the back of the room. Ash and May peered around him to see who he was referring to, and gawked at them; they were yelling at each other, arguing angrily as they ignored the newcomers, and shooing off the aides that tried to pacify them. "This is why I stopped letting them in here at the same time." He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.
"Who are they?" May looked from her grandfather, to the pair, then back at him. Oak smiled weakly, the strain of having his son and his ex-daughter in law around showing on his face.
"Your parents. Gary took it upon himself to...well...inform them of your return. I haven't been able to get rid of them since." As he finished, they quieted down, and looked at the trio standing at the entrance. "Finally. They'd been at it for an hour."
That bastard needs his tongue ripped out, Ash thought vehemently as the aging woman approached, the man following on her heels. "...I'll...leave this to you four," Oak said quietly, ordering his helpers out, and following suit. When the door clicked shut, May looked at Ash desperately as the strange woman hugged her, her confusion showing on her face. "My darling little girl," her 'mother' cooed, stroking her hair gently, "we've been looking for you for so long..."
"Gary told us you'd been in Nara. How'd you get that far away?" Her 'father' pried the crying woman off May, and gave her his own embrace. "How'd you get back?"
"I'm with Ash," she said, and frowned when her sobbing birth mother turned to him. Ash waved his hands, backing up to keep from having her latching onto him. It was obvious to him that the statement had been taken the wrong way.
"Oh, oh, thank you, thank you for bringing her back to us! You don't know how much we appreciate-" May cut her off abruptly.
"I didn't come back for you." The blunt statement startled both of the parents, and they stared at her. She pulled away from the trembling man in favor of being comfortably held by Ash; she smiled. "I came back because I wanted to be with Ash."
May nuzzled him, and Ash blushed faintly. She looked at her dumbfounded creators. "I'm sorry that I hurt you," she continued, her voice firm, "but you aren't my parents. Even though you are why I'm even alive, you aren't the ones that raised me. Vanika and Silvanus did."
The older woman's face contorted as she took a step back. Ash was amazed that someone could look so offended, as she exchanged glances with her ex-husband. "You say that without giving us a chance?" the saddened man asked.
Tears trickled down her face. "You can't do what they did," May said quietly, and Ash noticed the hesitance in her voice.
"We know that...that you have your own family, but don't just write us off? You don't know how much hell we've gone through in looking for you!" her father pleaded. You obviously didn't look very far, Ash thought scathingly, She was only in the continent next to this one! He scowled. "Just give us one chance, just one..."
"I don't know..." When both parents looked about to protest, May shook her head quickly. "I don't know."
"Just one!"
"Lay off." They turned to look at Ash, who glared at them. "Quite frankly, you'd be better off just letting it go. You've missed ten years; another couple days isn't going to kill you."
Flabbergasted, they fell silent. "Ash..." May said, watching him as he crossed his arms with a scowl. He mumbled under his breath.
"Who exactly are you?" the old man asked, staring intently at him. Ash smiled humorlessly.
"Oh, I guess you didn't pick up on my name earlier. I'm Ash Ketchum," he replied, resisting the urge to snicker as the parents of his baffled lover gawked at him. "I guess you could say I'm a self proclaimed guardian of sorts."
The mother's eyes narrowed. "Why are you hanging around? This doesn't have anything to do with you any longer."
The smile widened. "Not true." he said cheerfully, "Let's just say I rather not have my girlfriend getting upset again because of yet another family member being a bitch to her."
A muscle twitching in the corner of his mouth, May's father took hold of Ash's sleeve, pulling abruptly. "I will not allow a punk like you to keep me from my daughter," he growled.
"I hadn't planned anything of the sort." Giving the young man a sharp look, he scowled, and stomped out. "Geez, temperament much?"
Quietly, the older woman followed after, uneasy with the situation. "Just...contact your grandfather, when you decide?" she asked.
- - -
It appears things didn't go so well, Vanika said dryly, as the teenagers dropped wearily onto the couch, taking to leaning against each other for support. "'Didn't go so well' is an understatement. I'd swear your family is out to get us, May," Ash sighed, staring up at the ceiling, "and seem to not realize that stopping a search at the continent boarders does not count as being a 'long search.'"
"Why'd you get mad at them?" she asked, and Ash shook his head. You argued with them too?, the female dragon guessed, getting a laugh out of both of the depressed humans.
"Almost, yeah. They just pissed me off. Honestly, like they really went out of their way to find their beloved child. I doubt they stepped outside of Kanto." The scowl returned, and May put her arms around his neck, peeking at him nervously from behind. "And it's like they think that a 'hello, we looked!' is going to make up for everything."
Are you sure you aren't jumping to conclusions? Silvanus had snaked his way back downstairs. Ash frowned, and shrugged. "They didn't say much else," May said.
"Yeah...after I jumped in, they kinda ran for the hills." He had to wonder about what bothered them about him that they'd want to avoid being in a conversation with him; he knew her father felt threatened, but her mother? "Now I'm going to be thinking about them the rest of the day. Ugh."
"Shouldn't I be the one feeling bad?" she asked, "I'm not."
"Usually. Actually, I don't know who to feel worse for; you for having a family like that, or them for not knowing what they've missed." Vanika gave them a look. Feel good. At least with it this way, you won't have...what are they called? Laws? "In-laws."
May looked at him in confusion. "Ignore us," Ash finished gently.
- - -
"I don't like something about him." Gary yawned, listening to the ranting of his mother. He couldn't believe he had been dragged away from work to hear about how the meeting went. "Something about that boy just isn't right."
"I told you that before," he said, "when I was home from one of my trips. He's my rival, remember?" Her eyes narrowed, remembering back when her son was a mere boy of eleven years old. "Even if I do hate her...do you really want that fool in the way while you are trying to get your kid back? He's the only thing fighting you."
"No..." she started slowly, eyeing him, "What do you have in mind?"
The brown haired man's smile was enough to give her an idea that whatever he was thinking of wasn't going to be nice. "You'll see soon enough, when May runs to you for comfort. Who else will she have after I finish with them? I certainly won't be going out of my way to help her."
All he wanted was to make both his rival and his sister as miserable as possible, and knew exactly how to manage it without looking like the guilty party. All he needed was to contact an old friend...
- - -
Sucking on his index finger, Ash winced painfully; the bleeding cut smarted, stinging when he pulled his hand back to look at it. "This is what I get for not paying attention," he said, smiling when he heard laughter float in from outside. "Now..."
Looking at the dinner that was nearly finished, the pain dissipating into nothing, Ash returned to chopping vegetables, tossing them unceremoniously into the pot that was sitting on the stove. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Delia to let him do the cooking; she had never once seen him manage to make something without hurting himself or something else, and was reluctant to let him be alone with any kitchen utensils.
In the end, after much pleading on Ash's part and several promises that the house would, in fact, not be burned down, Delia left it to him and went to visit Oak for the evening. "Finished!" Ash cried, to happy applause from Pikachu, "Get me those containers!"
Pushing the box of plastic lids and bowls over to him, Pikachu growled under his breath. "Chuuuu, Pikapi..."
"I know. I feel really bad though." Ash looked at his pokemon sadly, frowning. "I drag her all the way here, and then she keeps getting tormented."
"Pikapika chaaaaa, Pikapi chu." Putting dinner into its containers, he tossed a portion to Pikachu, grinning when the ravenous rodent squealed in delight and caught it, chewing quickly. "Kaaaaaa!"
"What do I need to do now?" the teenager asked himself, looking around once the meal was safely in its basket and set to the side. Seeing the box that was waiting for him by the door, he realized that he still had to go talk to Professor Oak, and slapped a hand against his forehead. "I forgot about that. Dammit, that means having to get him away from Mom for awhile."
Pikachu licked his paws, and peered up at his master. "Pika, pikachu Pikapika chuuuuu?" the creature cooed.
"Yes, would you?" Grateful for such a thoughtful friend, Ash watched Pikachu streak out of the kitchen, waiting until he heard the playing group outside to move away before finally taking the box, and going off on his errand; he had a lot to do before finding May and showing her what he was up to. A smile lit up his face at the thought of how she'd react. If she thought that ring was amazing, this'll will knock her backwards.
- - -
"How much longer do I have to keep my eyes shut?"
"Just a few more minutes." May pouted, her lower lip sticking out cutely when she pulled her fist back to give Ash a smack to the chest playfully. Blocking it with his free hand, Ash silently counted the creatures that were within his sight, and found that they all were sent like he had requested; Pikachu, Swellow, Bulbasaur, even Muk and Cyndaquil, and his pokemon glanced up at the sound of their arrival. Seeing it was only their friend and trainer, they returned to playing in the quickly darkening grass. "One...two..."
Before the word 'three' could even leave his mouth, May ducked down to get away from him, and she darted off to keep him from catching hold again. Finally able to look, she blinked, her mouth hanging open in amazement. "What are these?" she asked, crouching down to look at Totodile, pulling at the Pokemon's arm curiously.
"Toto!" Jumping up and down, Totodile waved his arms. Ash laughed when the small Starter leaped up to latch on, legs flailing about as the others swarmed around the confused girl – until Muk dived into the fray, smothering her in a hug.
"Ash!" May yelled, her cries nearly inaudible as she clawed to get out from under the massive sludge pile that was the poison-type, being swamped again as more creatures surrounded her, trying to pull her out. "Aaaaaaaaash!"
"Muk! Get off!" he growled, pulling at the pokemon hurriedly. Creeping off, Muk took to clutching onto Ash, and he gave the thing a dark look. "Off. Go play, all of you."
Reluctantly, they scurried away, leaving the two teenagers to their own devices. May looked at Ash curiously, panting from the attack she had received from the friendly group, and poked at him when he plopped down onto the ground next to her. "I'm hungry."
"I'm amazed that you still want to eat after all that." Ash made a face, remembering the day he had caught the Sludge Pokemon; when he had picked up the poke ball, he had had to send it straight to the lab, as the stench had leaked through the very walls of the orb. May leaped at him, and they tumbled along the slight slope that led down toward the ocean.
"You don't like being jumped on, do you?" she questioned, and Ash shrugged.
"When Muk does it, not exactly. My nose is killed for about an hour after a jump from that thing!" Noticing three of his smaller pokemon pulling on the blanket that was nearby, Ash motioned for them to work together to move it closer. "Now you on the other hand..."
"Hey, what are they doing?" May rolled over to watch them, as the Pokemon spread the blanket out and smoothed it down, while the third pulled the basket over and set it down at one corner. "Ohhhhhhh!"
"See? I told you I had plans. And I told you we'd come out here 'later'." Ash crawled over to the checkered blanket, kneeling on it as he carefully pulled their dinner out, setting everything down in certain spots. Feeling May behind him, her hands on his back as she peered over his shoulder to watch, he opened the containers with a flourish. "I did everything myself."
Scooting over to sit beside him rather then behind, May looked into one of the bowls, looking from it to Ash, then back at it. Carefully tasting it, her eyes narrowed to slits, and Ash deflated, his shoulders slumping. "Its...um..."
Trying his own, he turned his head and spit it out. "Too much salt." he said, eyeing May when she giggled, "I never did say I was a master chief."
Regardless of the failed meal, May hugged him, smiling. She liked it, regardless of whether it was any good or not. "At least you tried!" she snickered, and Ash laughed.
Haphazardly tossing everything into the basket again, not daring enough to attempt to digest the rest of the food that had been prepared, they took to laying on the blanket, watching the groups of pokemon play in the steadily darkening field, and watching the calm surface of the ocean reflect the the rising moon and the setting sun.
Getting up, May slowly walked towards the shore, crouching down at the edge to put a hand into the water and splash some of it back out toward the vast expenses, and stared when more moved in lethargically. "It kinda reminds me of home," May said quietly when she felt warm as Ash put his arms around her, his chin on top of her head.
"A bit." Regardless of being the only humans in the area, and of the privacy they had because of the abundance of wild pokemon that kept people out, it felt as if they had to keep their voices low, like the ocean itself was demanding the peace and quiet. "Oh, hey, I have something for you."
"Ohhh, what? Whatwhatwhat?" Tightening his embrace, Ash reached one hand into his pocket and withdrew a poke ball, holding it out in front of her. "A ball?"
"A poke ball," he corrected, as May took it and started turning it around, using her fingernails to try to open it. When it became apparent that it was failing, she turned to gnawing at it, digging her teeth into the button on it, and yelped when it enlarged; even though he tried to suppress it, Ash laughed loudly, biting his lip when the brunette gave him an impatient look. All it managed was to cause another eruption of giggles, as she had the orb held in both hands, and the button still in her mouth as she pulled and tugged to get it open. "Why don't you just try mimicking me again? I know you can!"
Putting her hands down, May stared at him, and a pink blush crept up when she realized what he was referring to. Thinking about the pokemon battles that had been part of the tournament of Nara, she rolled the poke ball between her hands, and the image of the trainer throwing it came to mind. Letting the orb fly, she watched in amazement as it spun in the air, opening and a red light escaped from it and hit the water.
As the ball flew back of its own accord, the light that had been unleashed took form; a round body, four long legs, and a spike on its head, and its colour turned blue and yellow. May's eyes widened as it skated across the surface of the water, little legs barely moving, the water barely broken by the movements.
When the arachnid-like Pokemon scurried onto the shore, the happy creature leaped up, and May had to throw herself backwards to catch it before it hit the ground again. "Skkkkkkeet!"
Before she could inquire as to the identity of the newcomer, Ash passed his pokedex over to her, amusement playing across his face. Tentatively opening it, it beeped, and a feminine voice spoke up as a picture of the bouncing creature appeared on the small screen, "Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokemon. They gather on puddles after evening downpours, gliding across the surface of water as if sliding. It secretes honey with a sweet aroma from its head."
"Where'd he come from?" May asked, hugging the squeaking Bug-type, already enamored with the creature. Surskit wiggled his front legs free, being held uncomfortably tight by the excited teenager.
"Hoenn. I had to get Professor Oak to get him from one of the guys there. I was lucky that they already had one and could send it right away, or he never would have had managed it so quickly." Ash watched Surskit for several seconds, before putting a hand on hers. "I think you're hurting it, May."
"I'm sorry!" Letting the squirming insect go, May looked apologetically at it, and Surskit tapped a foot on her knee before running off to explore. With her new friend safely out of the way, she jumped at Ash; even though he had braced himself for the attack long before it came, he still had trouble staying upright. "Thank you, Ash!"
"Your welcome." He gaped when she squeezed him, stuck her tongue out, and scrambled up, running off into the longer grasses. "What the..."
Slowly getting up, Ash stared mutely in the direction she had went, unsure of whether to run after her or to stay where he was and to wait. Turning to regard his team, they paused to look at him curiously when they sensed his attention was being drawn to them. He spun around when he felt something brush past him, but met only empty air. Putting his hands on his hips, the Pokemon Master taped his foot in disbelief. "Chuuu?" Pikachu asked, and the other creatures stared piping up with their own questions.
"I don't know what she's up to." He rose an eyebrow when May tapped him on the shoulder from behind, getting up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek and running off again. Seeing what her game was, Ash took chase. You don't know who you are playing with. "What!"
He slid when he saw the girl dart up beside him, Surskit on her head, and he pushed one foot on the ground, aiming to turn his momentum in her direction. May dodged to the side, and Surskit jumped up, using its spindly legs to land on Ash's shoulder. "Skeeeeet!" he cried, leaping up to knock Ash's hat off, and May grabbed it before the black-haired man could get to it.
As the insect jumped back to his friend, May tauntingly placed the league cap on her own head, tilting it down in a good imitation of her panting boyfriend, and whisked toward the water. Growling, Ash followed. "Pikachu!" he yelled, and the yellow rodent appeared beside him, small paws beating the ground as it ran to keep up. "Stop her!"
"Pikapi, kaaa!" Pikachu streaked forward, zigzagging around various obstacles, until he was finally beside, then in front of, May. She jumped over the sparking creature, her feet hitting the water that had been right behind him, and took off at a run. The Electric-type gave his trainer a disappointed look.
"Leave her to me, anyway," Ash said, pointing to Surskit and smiling. Taking the hint, Pikachu aimed a weak Thunder Bolt at the Water-type as he neared at a trot, and Surskit flew away from May, landing farther out on the water. "Give me back my hat!"
May laughed, spinning to look at him directly, her steps slowing, giving him time to catch up. "That's not fun," she whined as Ash advanced on her, and tried to get away; however, she didn't have enough time to do it, and she was caught before she could run again.
"Give it back," he growled, getting silence in reply. May shook her head, staring off toward town, and Ash finally caved; he glanced over to see what had caught her attention, and saw a girl standing several feet away, hiding behind one of the few trees that were scattered around. She peered at them. "Who's that?"
She stepped out from her hiding place. "Ash!" she cried, trotting over to them, and throwing her arms around the confused man. He stumbled back.
"Um..." Looking at May, Ash shrugged, just as baffled as she was. "No offense, but...would you mind telling me who you are?"
"But we're...how could you not..." Clearly upset, she acceded. "Carina?"
Ash's eyes widened. "Oh!" he said, prying her off, "Carrie! What'd you do to yourself? You look different."
"Haircut, contacts, all the normal stuff." she replied vaguely. Turning to May, Carina stared at her suspiciously. "Who's this?"
"I'm May." When the girl moved to be beside him, still wearing his hat, Ash gently hugged her, plucking it off her head with a smirk. Putting it on, he smiled. Carina watched them silently, her eyes narrowed.
"She's..." Ash paused, thinking over how to word what he wanted to say, to get it just right. "Well, she's my girlfriend from Nara."
The look on Carina's face changed to hurt, then anger. "Girlfriend?" she started softly, her voice raising, "Girlfriend? Why are...how could you cheat on me?" Ash jumped back, his jaw hanging open.
"What in blazes are you talking about?" he asked, getting anxious when May gave him a confused look. "I've never been anything other then friends with you." Carina snorted.
"But...Ash!" She scurried forward, grabbing hold of his hands in a frenzy. "You...you said that we would get.." Carina started tearing up. "You said we'd get married when we grew up!"
Ash felt his heart sink, getting near identical looks from both girls – one hurt, one angry, both confused. He couldn't believe his luck; trying his hardest to have a good time, and managing to get disturbed by an old friend that was sorely mistaken. "What? Married? Since when?"
"Since we were seven! Ash, you said it yourself, you said that when you finished your training, when you became a Master, you'd come back, and we'd get married!" Ash rubbed a hand against the back of his head, staring in disbelief. "And I found out, you did it, you managed it, and you're here now..."
He sighed. "I was seven, then. Seven. A very dumb, seven year old kid. How could you honestly take that seriously?" Ash asked, amazed; he had almost totally forgotten about it. It had been an idle comment at the time, one made to get her off his back – she had already taken an interest in others of the opposite sex, and he had been the unfortunate victim of her attention, regardless of his ignorance of the actual concept – and that had, as he was just then realizing, backfired. "Get your head out of 1st grade."
"I don't care when it was said!" Carina yelled, pointing at him. Ash gaped, looking from her to May – who was tight lipped, her eyes betraying just how hurt she felt, Surskit returned to her side – and then at his own pokemon, whose ears had drooped. "Ash Ketchum, you cannot just change your mind like this! You'll see, you have to keep to your word!"
Feeling just as bad as he had that morning, Ash watched Carina run off.
