No Misty, yet. Don't expect her until chapter 11. Just like chapters 6 and 7 before them, this chapter quickly grew out of control, forcing me to break this hypothetical chapter 9 into both chapters 9 and 10. We hear from Max and Brock in this chapter, showing that I haven't completely forgotten them. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let's get this train wreak a-rollin'!
"This is Cerulean City, right?" May asked Ash as they arrived in the Pokémon Center.
"Yeah, what about it?" Ash answered her, not knowing where she was going with it.
"Isn't this where your friend Misty lives?" May asked him.
"Yeah, and what about that?" Ash replied as they walked to the counter. "Hey, Nurse Joy!" Ash said as he rung the bell on the desk.
"Hello, and welcome to our Pokémon Center," the ever familiar Pokémon Nurse stepped out and introduced herself. A large, pink round Pokémon stepped out behind Joy. She had a plain looking smile on her face. On top of her round, egg shaped body was a small nurse. She also wore a small apron,
"Chansey!" the Pokémon greeted the visiting trainers.
"Joy, do you have any male relatives that run a Pokémon Center in the wilderness?" Ash asked her.
"Did you run into Joseph?" Joy got an annoyed look across her normally calm face.
"Uh, yeah," May interrupted, "Why is that?"
Joy sighed, "He's one of the very few boys born to our family this generation. He's a good doctor for the Pokémon, but he keeps that Skarmory around."
"That did seem a little off…" May mentioned.
"That Skarmory was his first Pokémon, and together they promised that they would be the greatest Pokémon Center running team in the world," Joy told them the short story. "The problem is that Skarmory isn't the gentlest of Pokémon, even though she means well."
Ash wanted to get to the chase. "Well, we have some friends there, and we'd like to have the number for that center so we can call them."
"Oh," spat Joy, miffed that the people who she was talking to seemed to want to move on and leave her alone to be lonely again, "here's the number." She handed Ash a piece of paper with the phone number hastily scribbled on it. Ash and May left their Pokémon with the nurse (including Pikachu this time), and went to call their friends.
"Ash! May! You're both okay!" were the first words out of Brock's mouth, having answered the phone. Hearing the shout, Max, Drew, and Doctor Joseph ran over to the monitor to see if he was telling the truth.
"May!" Max leapt in Brock's face to see his sister. She smiled back at him and nodded through the monitor.
"Maybe we should all use different phones?" Brock suggested, moving Max back into the background.
May and Max went to separate phones on their respective sides of the phone and called each other. Brock and Ash continued their conversation uninhibited. Ash told Brock that they had fallen into the lake, but he had saved himself and May. He also noted May's quick response to his wounds for saving his life.
"That sounds bad, Ash," Brock commented this far into the story, "Are you and Swellow alright?"
"Yeah," Ash smiled to his friend, "like I told you, May ripped her bandana off and used it to bind my wounds. I calmed Swellow down, he's alright." Ash continued his story, talking about how May and himself camped out, found food the next morning, and found the trail to Cerulean City. He, of course, left out details like May borrowing his shirt and the food-fight they had. He did mention the Watmel berries and the story of the sign.
"I remember that sign," Brock laughed, "That was a long time ago. I'm surprised it didn't get replaced before now."
"I'm kinda glad it wasn't," said Ash, "it's kinda like an artifact from my early days. I still thought it was pretty funny when May wrote over it, though."
"Yeah," Brock agreed, "And see if you can't get May to spare some of those Watmel berries. I think I can make a great batch of Pokémon food with at least one of those."
"Alright, I will," Ash agreed.
"Oh, did you have any plans of seeing Misty while you were in town?" Brock asked him.
"I did. I have some stuff I gotta talk to her about," he told Brock. The former Gym Leader nodded, wished Ash good luck, and told him that he, Max, and possibly Drew would be rejoining them soon. Ash nodded, thanked his friend, and hung up the phone.
Meanwhile, May and Max held their conversation. May told her brother about the night they first arrived at Dr. Joseph's Center. She mentioned Pikachu, Drew (who was standing in the background behind Max, but well within earshot), and Ash. She told him about her talk with Brock, and the subsequent failed plan they had developed.
"Man, I can't believe Ash would ever say something like that to a girl!" Max was blown away. "I mean, Ash is really cool and tough! He's like my second hero! And he says he likes you! And you're just my dumb ol' girly sister." May got an annoyed look on her face and continued to tell the story. Like Ash, she left out the part about Ash's shirt, but she mentioned the food fight, although not in much detail. The thought of Ash and his sister throwing things at each other brought a smile to Max's face, like May thought it would. He asked her if she saw any Pokémon in the forest, to which May replied no, but she didn't find that out of the ordinary. She continued the story, skipping over the part about the sign, fearing Drew's reaction to hearing what she had done.
She finished telling her story, and Max began to explain what had been going on at the center. Brock was worried about them, but he didn't phone their dad or Ash's mom, feeling himself responsible. Drew was out almost constantly riding on Flygon, trying to see if he could find them. He couldn't find any trace of them from the lakeshore, so he continued to fly, but the thick trees prevented him from seeing anyone. "He was out for like eight hours at a time looking for you guys!" Max exclaimed, seemingly having gained a good deal of respect for Drew over to course of the two days without his sister. Having heard that remark in his favor, Drew drifted out of the background. Max continued telling the story. Dr. Joseph continued running the center as if nothing was wrong, occupied in his belief that his was the greatest Pokémon Center in the world. He was concerned, however, as Max noted seeing Skarmory following Drew.
"But May, have you picked one yet?" Max asked out of the blue.
"What?" May was shocked, "What do you mean?"
Max took a quick look around on his end to make sure no one was listening in. "I mean have you picked Ash or Drew yet?"
"What's it matter to you?" May asked her kid brother.
"Well, part of me is thinking how cool it would be to hang out with just Ash and Brock without having you around. You know, just the guys?" Max explained. May nodded, indicating for him to continue. "But another part of me is really gonna miss you if you leave, even if that means you making kissey faces at Ash."
May knew that Max was going to be a large factor in her decision. Even when she fought with her brother, she really cared about him. "Well, to be honest," she told her sibling, "I haven't really decided yet. I'll come up with some kind of choice by the time you guys get here, alright?" She was hoping this answer would satisfy him without forcing her to choose.
He nodded and flipped out the PokéNav, indicating that Cerulean was three days travel from their current location, giving May three days to choose one of them. "We'll be leaving for Cerulean in the morning, so you can relax, tonight, alright sis?" Max informed his sister. She nodded to the information. Max began saying his goodbyes when May interrupted him.
"Hey Max, wait!" she began, "I wanted to talk to you for a little bit longer."
"About what?" Max asked his sister.
"Well, I feel like I haven't done a good job being an older sister these past two days," she told him with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry I left you behind. I was worried about you, Max."
"I was worried about you, too, sis," Max responded, "but don't be so hard on yourself. You didn't know what could have happened with Team Rocket. Although I would have liked to be in on your plan."
"Sorry about that, too." May smiled at him.
"Is that all?" Max questioned her.
"No, there's one more thing. Regardless of whom I choose, I want you to know that you'll always be my little brother, and I'll always love you." May told him.
"Thanks, May," Max smiled, "I love you, too. See you in three days!" They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.
Ash and May collected their recovered Pokémon from Joy, but before the nurse could ensnare them in another conversation, they quickly asked for their room. They mentioned that they would need the standard double bunk bed room, because they had two friends coming in a few days. While in their room, Ash set down his backpack full of the Watmel berries they had collected. May left both of hers in the room, and after May took a moment to adjust the hat she was wearing in the mirror, she and Ash wandered to the cafeteria. They ordered their food and sat down in one of the booths.
"So, what did you talk with Brock about?" May asked him, before taking some of her ramen in her chopsticks.
"I talked to him about what happened to us," Ash stated. "He and Max were worried about us." He took a bite from his hamburger. He looked at it for a moment, and then began to wrestle the ketchup bottle out of Pikachu's hands.
"So was Drew, apparently," May hinted before slurping down more of her ramen. Ash raised an eyebrow while he squirted some ketchup on his burger before handing the bottle back to an annoyed Pikachu. May explained what Max had explained to her.
"Anyway," Ash continued, "I told him about what happened yesterday and today. I feel kinda bad because I didn't tell him the whole story."
"You left out the shirt thing, didn't you?" May smiled at him from across the table.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Ash looked at her inquisitively.
"I didn't tell Max that either," she giggled.
"Great minds think alike, I guess," he chuckled as well. "I guess you didn't mention the food fight either, huh?"
"Actually, I did, but I left out the wrestling part," May smirked, "I don't think Max would be very happy if he knew I brought you to the ground." Her eyes looked deep into Ash's. It was that look he remembered from earlier that day.
Ash audibly gulped. "T-then," he continued, "He wanted me to ask you if you would save him some of the Watmel berries we collected. Said he wanted to make some new Pokémon food with it."
May's eyes returned to normal. "I don't see anything wrong with it." She slurped down more of her ramen.
"Oh, he also asked me if I was gonna visit Misty," Ash recalled, "so I planned on going over to the Gym tomorrow. Would you like to come?"
"Sure," May said enthusiastically, "I'd love to see Misty again!"
"So what did you talk to Max about?" Ash asked his companion.
"After telling me how worried everyone was, he asked me if I had made up my mind yet," She said, blushing.
"About what?" Ash asked, clueless about what Max could have asked about.
"If I had chosen between the two of you yet…" May trailed of, looking into the bowl of ramen. There were only a few noodles left.
"Two of… you mean Drew and me, right?" Ash asked her. She nodded. "What did you tell him?" Ash asked, also wanting to hear her answer.
"I told him I hadn't decided yet. I also said that I'd have the answer by the time they arrive, three days from now." May explained to Ash. "So I'm gonna have to think about it during that time."
Ash nodded, finishing his burger. "Well, I've been thinking, too," he said. He looked her in the eyes and said, "I want you to be happy, May. I want you to do what you want. If you want to go with Drew, then I don't want you to have any regrets. If you leave, I promise I'll take care of Max for you."
"Ash…" she whispered, "why would you do that?"
"Because I want to do what is for the best," Ash told her, "Not just for you, but for everybody. Max'll miss his big sister, so I can act as his big brother for him if I need to."
"Ash," her eyes teared up, "you're already a big brother to Max. He feels comfortable around you, and sometimes I feel like Max can relate to you better because you're a boy."
"But-" Ash started.
"No, Ash," she reached across the table and took him by the hand, "Don't talk like you're going to give up. That's not the Ash I know. That's not the Ash… that's my friend." She looked up at him, tears slowly sliding down her face. "Like I said, it's my decision. I'll take try to take everything I can into account." The tears came down in a steady flow now. "Don't say things to try to get me to go with Drew." She stood up, crying and shouted at Ash's face. "I'll be the one to choose! You can't force me one way or the other!" She ran out of cafeteria, tears running down her face.
Everyone else who was eating at that time has turned to look at Ash. He turned deep red. A group of girls came over to Ash and asked what he did to 'his girlfriend.' They had a few other choice words for him, as well, calling him a womanizing pig and a sexist punk. They poured their soft drinks on him and stormed out. Ash quickly grabbed Pikachu and ran out of the room, hoping to avoid any further luck.
One person didn't pay attention to Ash's spectacle. His purple eyes were squarely focused on the door May left through. He gripped his chopsticks and broke them, dropping an octopus dumpling back onto his plate.
"May…" he grumbled, "I'll get my revenge…"
May got upset in this chapter. Why she did may be unclear, but that's part of the next chapter. I hope that I'm telling this well enough for you all to understand what made May upset, but I try to explore it more in the next part.
Do that Review/Comment/Question thing you guys do oh-so very well! And then maybe click over to the next chapter!