This is the last new chapter before I go to college. Which is tommorrow, by the way. Anyway, I'll have a two and a half hour ride down there, so my Lappy and I can can write more on the way. The next chapter will take longer to do. Band Camp is gonna take all day, I feel.
And we begin with more dreams! Huzzah!
"May, you are the image of loveliness," Drew declared to May while kneeling before him.
"Oh, Drew…" May blushed. She held out her hand, and he took it in his.
"Hey!" Ash shouted. He ran toward them, but was stopped by an invisible wall. Drew kissed May's hand gently, and continued to plant kisses up her arm, on her neck and finally, on her lips. When their lips met, May embraced Drew, pulling him in tightly.
"No! Stop!" Ash shouted, pounding on the unseen obstruction. Suddenly, he felt his breath be taken away from him. He was at the bottom of the pool in Cerulean Gym. He turned to see a large, blue Pokémon, ready to swallow him
Ash awoke from this last nightmare. He glanced over at the VCR again. The sky was still dark. The VCR told him 6:25. He grudgingly got up, fed up with the constant stream of nightmares he was being dealt. This is as good a time as any to get something for breakfast, he decided. He carefully slipped out of the covers without waking Pikachu, and wandered into the kitchen to fix him something small to eat.
Opening the refrigerator, he saw they had about one and a half cartons of eggs in there. He decided, rather simply, to make a big batch of scrambled eggs for everyone in the house. He found a large pot and sat it on the burner. He pulled open several drawers before giving up on finding a whisk and decided to use a large spoon instead. Turning back to the refrigerator, he pulled out half a stick of butter and nine eggs. He figured that the humans would eat two eggs worth and Pikachu would eat only one. He then thought of how he was supposed to feed his other Pokémon. Since going to the center would thrust him into the public, would he be able to feed them? How bad was it out there, truly? He figured that he had to wait at most a day before Brock would show up with their supplies, so he could ask May to spare some Pokéblock in the mean time.
Ash began to crack open the eggs when he heard steps coming down the stairs. A glance at the window showed that the sun had risen, as it had already begun to shine directly into the window. He looked out the open doorway to see a groggy May stepping into the kitchen to see what was making the noise.
"G'morning, May," Ash greeted her, cracking open the last egg.
"Morning, Ash," she yawned, "you get some sleep?"
"Not really," Ash admitted, "I had too many nightmares."
"About what?" May asked, curious.
Ash shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he said, "just bad dreams." He grabbed the large spoon he had set aside earlier and began to break the yolks.
May walked over and peered into the pot. "Are you making breakfast?" she asked.
"Yeah," Ash nodded. "I figure that Cyndi and Raine will like to wake up to breakfast. Do you wanna help?"
"Sure, I guess," May shrugged. "What'cha need?"
Ash thought for a moment. "I don't really wanna put any salt or pepper in 'em," he said out loud, "they might not like that. Do you know a good egg cooking temperature?"
May turned to the stovetop and clicked a knob. "There! All set!" She eyed the butter sitting on the countertop. "Umm, Ash," she said, "the butter goes in first and melts, then the eggs go in."
Ash looked at her for a moment, then looked at the forgotten ingredient. "Oops…" he muttered.
May sighed, searching the cabinets for a large bowl. She found one, rinsed it out, and took the pot away from Ash. "Honestly," she sighed, "you're lucky I woke up. You'd have gotten most of the eggs stuck to the bottom of the pan!" She poured the pot into the bowl, using the spoon to get every bit out she could. She then placed the emptied pot on the burner she had turned on, and tossed the half a stick inside.
Ash almost jumped, "Are you sure we should be using that much butter?" Ash asked.
"Why not?" May looked at him. "My mom uses that much butter all the time at home."
"Yeah, but butter is more expensive than margarine!" Ash explained. "You can't just waste that!"
"Margarine?" May asked. "What's that? Some kind of cheapo butter?"
Ash's mouth dropped. Then he got angry. "Hey! Margarine is just fine! Not everyone gets a Gym Leader's salary, you know!"
"Would you two keep it down?" a sleepy-eyed Cyndi asked, wandering in. "You two sound like my mom and dad when they try to cook together."
Ash and May looked at each other and blushed. May turned her attention back to the cooking. The butter had melted sufficiently, so she poured in the eggs into the pot and began to cook them with the spoon she took from Ash's hand.
Ash stepped back and let May cook. He turned to Cyndi and asked her why they don't get margarine instead of butter, considering the price. "My mom doesn't want to use it," she explained, "'cuz she read in a magazine once that margarine is one molecule away from being plastic." Ash leapt up at the information, but decided that he still liked margarine anyway.
They let May cook the eggs for them. Ash began to toast some bread for everyone. During this time, Pikachu and Raine stepped into the kitchen, having smelled the eggs from around the building and Ash brought the chair back in from the living room. They all sat around the table as May began to distribute the eggs and toast around the plates. Ash watched her face light up as she placed the eggs on the plates, cutely placing a piece of toast the side of each one. Raine had poured each of them some orange juice.
But Ash could only focus on May. Images from Pikachu's espionage from last night came back into his mind. Drew kissed her. Did he do it on the lips? With his tongue? Ash shook his head. There's no way May would let him do that! he told himself. Perhaps on the cheek. He wanted to do that. Ash began to blush when he thought this. He shook the thought from his head, and after sufficiently salting and peppering his eggs, he began to eat.
May looked at Ash with guilt in her heart. She knew that she couldn't tell him. It would hurt him so bad, she thought. I don't want him to be angry with Drew, especially when he agreed to help Ash train. She sighed, remembering the images from her dream. She knew she couldn't have them both like that. Ash, being who he is, would be far too jealous. And Drew would upstage Ash at every turn available, further forging a gap between them. She ate her eggs, making a sort of half sandwich with her piece of bread. Raine heard a knocking at the door and went to see who it was. She shortly returned with Drew in tow.
"Oh, hey Drew!" May greeted him, smiling. Ash bit his fork when she said his name.
"Hiya, May," Drew greeted her coolly. He turned to Ash. "Are you ready for training, Ash?" he asked.
Ash stood up, fire in his spirit and determination in his eyes. "Yeah!" he shouted. "Let's get going."
Ash ran into the living room to collect his stuff. May looked at Drew. "You want some eggs?" she asked.
"No thanks," he motioned, "I already ate this morning." He changed the subject as Ash reentered the room. "Do you guys know how bad it is out there?" he asked. Ash and May shook their heads. "There are posters for the battle on nearly every wall. I managed to sneak one here." He reached into his jacket and pulled out the poster.
It displayed the a rather menacing looking drawling of Ash and May glaring from the darkness as Misty and Harley stood in the spotlight, ready to face off against them. The words "CONTEST BATTLE" where written across the top in yellow. Below was the date and time, which was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, at noon.
"More of Harley's propaganda…" May sighed, "will we ever get a break?"
"Let's go," Ash said, turning to Drew. The male coordinator agreed, and he, Ash, May, Pikachu, and Cyndi left the house for the river not far from town. It was, however, far enough out of the way to prevent any onlookers from drawing attention to the trainers. They could see Cerulean across the river, but it was far enough away that no one could accurately identify them. Cyndi and Pikachu sat in the grass, watching the other prepare for the training.
Ash called his Corphish out from his ball, and immediately Drew began to criticize. "Oh, man, this is your Corphish?" he asked. Corphish shook his claws angrily at Drew. "The thing's got no style at all. Maybe doing some flips or something when he comes out of the ball would help?"
Ash nodded and instructed Corphish. The Pokémon nodded, and after being recalled into the ball, was immediately resummoned. This time, the Water-type attempted to flip, but landed face first on the ground. "Ah, forget it," Drew sighed, "we can work on that later."
May had brought Squirtle out of his Pokéball and was following along with Drew in the training exercise. She figured it would help her as well when they had to battle. The tinyturtle Pokémon came out of his ball spinning, before sticking his arms, legs and head outside the shell. Drew clapped and commended May. She and Squirtle blushed, while Ash and Corphish growled. Ash for the attention that Drew was giving May, and Corphish for being upstaged by the younger Water Pokémon.
The next thing Drew tried to help with was attack appearance. "Alright, Corphish, show us your Bubblebeam!" Ash declared in a commanding voice.
"Cor-" The Pokémon wound up his claw. He flung it forward with an intense force, shouting, "-phishpishpishpishpishpish," as the yellow bubbles flew from his claw.
"That's not an ordinary color…" Drew noted. At that, Corphish grinned, changing the color of the beam from yellow to green to purple to blue and back to yellow. "When did your Corphish learn to do that?" Drew asked.
Ash had to think for a moment. "I think it was when we were about to leave Lilycove City…" he recalled. "I think he changed the color to impress this Mawile there, but she ignored him, and I guess he hadn't changed the color since."
Drew shrugged. "Okay, Corphish," he told the Pokémon, "what you need to do is keep the colors rotating. That'll impress the judges in the contest." Corphish smiled and nodded, having impressed the coordinator.
Next was Crabhammer. "Can you try to change the color, Corphish?" Drew asked. "I mean, it can't be that much harder than with bubble beam, right?"
Corphish grunted and strained, the glowing claw slowly began to rotate between various colors. The Pokémon was putting considerable effort into this, and began to strain his muscles. "No, just blue is fine, Corphish," Drew told him. "That looks harder for you to keep up, so one color on your claw should be good. Maybe blue, seeing as to how it's a Water-Type attack." Corphish nodded, and his claw changed to a sky blue. This was much easier than rotating between colors.
During this time, May was practicing Squirtle's attacks. While he couldn't change Bubble's color, May knew that her true ace in this battle would be Ice Beam. She tried to teach Squirtle how to widen the beam. The river they were training next to was about as wide as the Cerulean Gym's pool, so May thought that this would be a good practice target. The Ice Beam began with its normal width, but as Squirtle tried to widen it, the beam became much less powerful. May's goal now was to help Squirtle widen the beam while maintaining the same power as the focused beam.
"May, is Squirtle alright?" Drew asked, walking over to them.
"Of course he is!" May smiled at her fellow coordinator. "We're just working on a new trick."
Drew placed his hand on May's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "Well, don't over exert yourself. I don't want you missing any of my lesson," he told her, his face close to hers. Suddenly, a bright green glow came from behind them.
"Corphish!" the Pokémon shouted, glowing green for a moment.
"That must have been Harden!" Ash shouted. He kneeled down next to Corphish and began to rub the Water-Type's head. "Great job, buddy, you're really getting the hang of this!" he commended.
Corphish smiled and waved his claws into the air. May smiled at the extraordinary bond that trainer and his Pokémon. Drew saw her smiling and put on a frown. He began to walk up to Ash. "Hey Ash, why not try what we've learned so far in a practice battle?" he asked.
"Sure," Ash nodded. Corphish shook his claws in agreement.
Drew and Ash stood at the opposite ends of the clearing. Corphish stepped up in front of Ash.
"Absol, go!" Drew shouted, tossing the Pokéball containing his Dark-Type. The long-haired grey Pokémon stood before Ash and Corphish. May paused her training momentarily, sitting with Cyndi and Pikachu in the grass to watch. Pikachu leapt into May's lap and the coordinator wrapped her arms around him.
"Alright, Corphish, let's start with Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded. The Pokémon obeyed, launching a very impressive ray of rainbow-colored bubbles at Absol.
"Absol, Razor Wind!" Drew ordered. The Pokémon wound his head back, then launched the bladed attack from the blade on his face. The Razor Wind cut through all of Corphish's bubbles and slammed fiercely into the Ruffian Pokémon.
"Corphish, Crabhammer!" Ash commanded. The Water-Type leapt into action, his claw glowing sky-blue.
"Absol, Iron Tail!" Drew retaliated, a small grin on his face. Absol's tail blocked Corphish's attack and stopped him cold.
"Corphish, use Vicegrip on Absol's tail!" Ash shouted. Corphish gripped Absol's glowing tail tightly in his grip. The Water-Type flung Absol into the ground, shaking the ground nearby.
Absol rose to his feet, ready for more. "Alright Absol, use Razor Wind!" Drew ordered the Attack.
"Corphish. Harden!" Ash ordered. The crustacean stiffened his muscles and emitted a red glow momentarily. The Razor Wind slammed into Corphish, but the small Pokémon managed to endure it.
"Corphish, dig under the ground!" Ash commanded his Pokémon. Corphish spun his claws around very quickly, tunneling bellow.
"Absol, flush him out with Water Pulse!" Drew commanded. An orb of water appeared before Absol. The Pokémon mentally forced it to the ground, and a wave of water slid across the ground, quickly entering and filling Corphish's hole. The Water-Type, taken by surprise, leapt from the hole into the air, water following him. "Absol, Flash!" Drew commanded. The Dark-Type emitted a sharp, white glow, blinding Corphish momentarily. "Iron Tail!" Drew continued the offensive, his eyes filled with fury. Absol lunged at Corphish, slamming his glowing tail into the opposing Pokémon. Corphish flew backwards at Ash, zipping past him into a tree. As the Water-Type began to slide down the tree, Drew continued. "Razor Wind!" He commanded. Absol obeyed, flinging another attack at Corphish. Still reeling from the previous two strikes, Corphish couldn't move fast enough to evade the attack and took it full force. As the small Pokémon cried out in pain, Drew ordered Absol to finish Corphish off with Iron Tail, and the Disaster Pokémon began to charge at the slumped over Water-Type.
"Hey, cut it out!" Cyndi shouted, leaping to her feet. Absol stood still, and looked to Drew. "I thought this was a practice battle, not a real one!"
"You stay out of this!" Drew shouted at the girl, noticeable anger in his voice.
"Corphish can't battle anymore! You're just bullying him!" Cyndi shouted at the coordinator.
"I don't think I should take advice from someone as young as you," Drew looked down his nose at her. "I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about."
"What, is it because I don't have breasts yet, that my opinion isn't important?" Cyndi snorted at him.
Drew was taken back, having been accused of womanizing by someone barely a young girl.
"You're just mad that Ash beat you last time, and now I don't know if you're trying to showboat or if you just want to hurt Corphish enough so that Ash can't be May's battle partner!" Cyndi accused him.
"Is that true?" May looked up to him, surprise in her eyes.
"Of course not!" Drew adamantly defended himself. He tried to shift the focus off of him to someone else. "Pikachu was spying on us when I kissed you last night!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the Pokémon in her lap. Pikachu leapt up from May's lap and turned to the girl.
"Pikachu, where you really spying on us?" May asked him. The Electric-Type nodded, shame across his face.
"I bet Ash put him up to it…" Drew smirked, trying to incriminate the trainer. Ash had turned to Corphish and picked him up during the scene Cyndi had created. He held the injured Pokémon in his lap, looking down at him. Corphish's eyes were still full of determination, but the Water-Type's body wasn't able to show the same energy.
"What?" Ash looked up, clearly not paying attention to what was happening. May looked at him with hurt in her eyes, Cyndi shot him a confused glance, and Drew had a smirk on his face, successfully changing the subject from his transgressions to Ash's.
"Did you send Pikachu to spy on Drew and me last night?" May asked him.
"What? Of course not!" Ash shouted, still holding Corphish in his arms. "Pikachu wandered off by himself. I went with Raine to help fix dinner."
"Yeah, I saw Ash walk off with her after you two left. He didn't tell Pikachu anything!" Cyndi defended him.
"So says the Ash fan girl," Drew smiled. It was so easy for him to blow holes in their defense. Cyndi quieted down, looking at her feet.
"Look, May," Ash turned to her, "I'm telling you, I didn't tell Pikachu to follow you. You can believe me, or you can believe Drew. It's your decision, not mine."
"I think…" May stood up, "that it's time for lunch." May smiled at the irritated group, trying to make even a temporary peace. They agreed, their arguing and training having worked up an appetite. Cyndi brandished a small cooking pot, and sat it on a pile of sticks. May used Combusken to light the fire like she did when she and Ash were lost together. Cyndi poured some of last night's stew into it to get heated up. Ash and Drew pulled bowls and spoons out of their packs and distributed them among the group. After May poured each of them some of the warmed stew, they began to eat. Ash took a spoonful and fed his injured Corphish. The Water-Type enjoyed the food as Ash took a spoonful for himself. Drew had given Absol some Pokéblock while the food was getting ready, but Ash was giving up part of his food for his friend. May saw this and thought very fondly of how Ash treats everyone. This was a stark contrast to how Drew had just been arguing with Cyndi. She smiled at the trainer as he cared for his injured partner.
Cyndi looked into the embers, the fire having been put out by Squirtle. To her, Drew had already proved that he was only nice to girls he found attractive. She saw Drew as a macho, sexist punk who needed to be put in his place. His harshness toward Ash and Corphish, and wanting to ignore herself made her dislike him even more. What does May see in him? she asked herself. I guess he's sorta cute, even if it looks like he doesn't eat well enough. And the roses are a romantic touch. Cyndi found herself wanting Ash to take on that quality. She sighed, and hoped that this afternoon's training would go better.
May looked into her stew and thought about what Drew had done. Why was he so desperate to change my focus from him to anyone else? Was he afraid that I would think badly of him? The scene replayed through her head. Drew had brought Pikachu up, even though he had nothing to do with the situation at hand. May pondered this for a moment, and then looked to the sky. The sun was already passed overhead; afternoon was drawing close. She hoped that Ash and Drew would get along better in the next round of training.
Drew's being intense in the training, and I think Cyndi has the right idea. He's truly giving him good advice, but is it for Ash's benefit, or because May likes it when he helps her friends?
As for Corhpish and the Color Changing, in AG105, the color of his bubbles changed, probably because of better special effects. I decided to twist it into the chapter.
And the margarine quip is something my girlfriend's mom told me once.