Chapter 11 Scraps with Scouts
Author's Notes: If you felt May and Misty were out of character last time apologies. I might have done the same thing with Norman as well, though it is a common thing in fanfics from what I've seen to have him be an overprotective dad. One of my favorite Advanceshipping stories is A Night to Remember where Ash and May get married with Misty and Dawn turning into the bad guys. I won't go that far here, the two of them should have things smoothed over in a couple chapters I think. Also, to the reviewer who wanted to see Ash use some of his old Pokemon please state the Pokemon you'd like to see return. I thought about getting Primeape, Pidgeot, Charizard and Squirtle back. I know in the Japanese version Pidgeot was meant to be goodbye for good, but I'm going by the English here as it's my native language. And Primeape has been gone too long, it was said to just be going on training. If you ask me it should have come back toward the end of Season 1 for the Indigo Plateau arc. Let me know in reviews what Pokemon you guys would like to see return to Ash, at Professor Oak's or otherwise.
Lastly thanks to the person who suggested a different ending for the last chapter, while I won't be changing it there I might use something like it here.
"Huh? How did you hear it?" Caroline asked.
"I set up listening equipment outside, I wanted to take all necessary precautions in case Team Rocket broke in!" Jenny said.
Misty suddenly blushed. She'd had more than just May listening in on her confession.
"Hey, I was trying to have a private chat with Ash!" she said.
"Safety comes before privacy," Jenny stated. "Now which girl was it?"
She looked from Misty and May. The girl in the green bandana stepped forward.
"It- it was me."
"I see. Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have order you to refrain from any physical contact with Ash," Jenny stated.
May looked down.
"OfficerJenny I don't think that's really necessary!" Caroline tried to intervene.
"The law clearly states that someone fifteen or older cannot date someone below the age of fourteen."
May snarled and clenched her teeth and fist.
"I hate this damn age gap! I've waited over three years to tell Ash how I feel!" she shouted.
"Hey… I waited over five!" Misty stated.
"Misty… May… please… don't fight!" Ash said putting his hands between both girls.
"Looks like you were right about May, Brock," Dawn whispered.
"Yeah. Though I never knew about Misty," Brock said. "Man! Ash has more luck with the girls then I've ever had! I'm so jealous!"
"My sister and Ash huh?" Max said as he looked at the two of them. "I always kind of liked seeing them together."
Misty and May continued to glare at each other than Norman came forward and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder
"May, come on-
"Shut up dad! Just leave me alone!" she shouted in a mixture of sadness and anger. "I wasn't able to confess to him first because of you and this stupid age gap! Just leave me alone!"
She shoved past her father and ran past everyone else. She made her way down the stairs, and they heard the front door slam.
"Well, looks like the party will have to wait," Delia said as she watched the commotion sadly.
Ash sighed. "Love," he sighed. "I always had the feeling it would be trouble."
"Pika," Pikachu sighed sympathetically as he recalled Buneary's affection toward him.
"Ash," Misty looked at him.
"Not now Misty!" Ash snapped.
She certainly hadn't intended for May to have her feelings hurt by all this. May was a good friend to Misty, this was actually the first time the two of them had ever argued like this. Misty had been impressed with the younger trainer's abilities, she'd watched May get into the Top Eight of the Hoenn Grand Festival, and even higher in the one here in Kanto. May had even saved Misty from falling to her death during the Mirage Pokemon Incident. She liked Ash, but she didn't want to lose her friendship with May over him.
Ash's anger at her vanished as quickly as it came. He sighed, "Sorry, I'm just a little overwhelmed right now. I… I gotta go comfort May."
She nodded. Even though she yearned to hear him say he'd accept her as his girlfriend she knew that would have to wait.
Jenny looked at Ash. "I suppose I can't arrest you for comforting a friend. But no kissing her, okay?"
Ash blushed and chuckled nervously. An image went through his mind of him kissing two girls, first May, and then Misty. Both girls had confessed to liking him. What was he going to do? He'd managed to avoid a romantic situation like this before with a girl named Macy at the Johto Silver Conference by running away while she had been arguing with Misty. Misty, Macy, May… how did he get three girls with the same first letter to like him? Ah well, that didn't matter. He had a sad friend that needed comforting.
Ash ran after May.
…
May ran out of the house in tears, she sprinted into the woods around Pallet Town as fast as her legs could carry her. Her shot at Ash was in jeopardy, first Drew cheated on her and now she liked a guy that she couldn't legally date while he had another girl that he could! Couldn't she catch a break?
Misty had done what she had been too nervous to do from the beginning. She had a lot of guts. Usually, it was the guy that confessed to the girl but Ash being as dense as he was with so little care for the idea of romance. The girl had to make the move when the guy wouldn't. She should have told him how she felt when they had their little 'lunch date' back in Viridian City. She should have stayed with him rather than choose to follow Drew to the Johto Region.
The image of Ash and Misty together haunted her, along with Drew presenting a rose to Brianna. May sniffled as her heart broke for the second time in only a few months.
Snap. The sound of a twig snapping entered May's ear. She looked in the direction of the sound with a pair of teary eyes. She saw a pair of men in black uniforms with an all too familiar red R on it. A pair of Team Rocket grunts, apparently scouting the woods around the Ketchum residence.
"Uh oh, we've been spotted!" one of the grunts stated.
"It's just one girl!" the other said. "Get her! Go Golbat!"
He threw a pokeball into the air and a blue pokemon with purple trimmed wings appeared.
"Air cutter!" the grunt who'd called it out ordered.
The bat pokemon flapped its wings, sending shuriken waves of wind at May who screamed and dodged it. She hid behind a tree.
When I'm not getting my heart smashed! I'm getting my life in danger! May thought. My luck is the worst!
She wanted to call for Ash to save her like he always did. Somehow, she had a feeling he was coming. Just like when he'd come for her when she'd been being chased by the territorial grass pokemon.
"I'm coming May!" Ash shouted as he swung down on a vine like Tarzan with Pikachu on his shoulder as always.
He landed in front of her, and she said "Ash, you're here!"
She'd been expecting him. May deep down knew that she could always count on Ash to be there for her when she needed him.
But she was not some helpless victim or a novice trainer anymore! She didn't need to rely on the more experienced ones to protect her all the time! She'd managed to get through Johto on her own, she could handle these two! May drew a pokeball from her fanny pack.
"Glaceon, ice beam!"
She threw the pokeball and her ice type pokemon appeared, it sent a beam of cold at the Golbat hovering above. It froze instantly and fell to the ground, breaking the ice.
"Golbat!" the grunt said as he saw the swirling eyes.
"Let's get out of here!" the other one said as he threw a pokeball. "Koffing! Poison gas!"
He threw his own pokeball which revealed a bumpy purple sphere like pokemon with a skull pattern on its lower part. It spit out a cloud of foul-smelling gas. May tried to cover her mouth, but Glaceon was caught in the attack! The blue ice pokemon began to cough.
"Glaceon!" May ran to her pokemon and reached for it, taking her hands off her mouth.
Immediately the gas entered her lungs. She began to cough and succumb to the effects, collapsing next to her pokemon as she saw the two Team Rocket members making their getaway.
…
Ash caught a glimpse of May running into the woods nearby. He immediately ran after her, but she vanished.
"Pikachu can you track May?" Ash asked.
"Chu!"
The electric mouse pokemon jumped off his shoulder and sniffed the ground. Then its ears perked up as though it heard something.
"Pika!"
It ran in a certain direction where it heard the noise. There was the distant sound of an ice beam that Ash could hear faintly. Then a shout sounded.
"Let's get out of here! Koffing poison gas attack!"
The sound of a Pokeball opening filled the silent woods and a horrible gas filled the area.
"Glaceon!"
Ash recognized May's voice coming from the direction of the gas. He heard coughing! She was in trouble! Ash reached for Staraptor's pokeball. He'd have his trusty bird Pokémon from Sinnoh blow this gas away.
Then something huge flew past him! He caught a glimpse of a brown body with a long red and yellow plume! His eyes widened as the massive bird pokemon flapped its wings, blowing away the gas before Ash could call on Staraptor! It revealed May and Glaceon on the forest floor looking ill. In the distance, Ash spotted two figures in black run into the woods.
"Come back here you cowards!" Ash shouted.
The figures paid him no mind and vanished.
"Oh no!" Ash said as he turned his eyes back to his downed friends. "May! Glaceon!"
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in concern as it ran to Glaceon's side.
"Geot!" the bird pokemon above them squawked.
Ash looked at it again and saw it. Pidgeot!
"Pidgeot?" Ash asked.
"Geot!" it squawked in confirmation.
It was his Pidgeot!
Well I wanted to give May a little chance to stand up for herself in this chapter rather than be the helpless damsel she has been. At least somewhat, but then I had the idea to bring back Pidgeot in this chapter and this is how it played out. Don't worry, May will get a chance to fight and come out completely on top sooner or later rather than have Ash save her all the time.