What's this? Can it be?! A new story from yours truly?!
It's been a long time, but yes. You can thank wubbzy for inviting me to participate in the fanfiction contest on the Advancers forum. I'll explain where I went and what's been going on in the last year-and-a-half at the end of this story.
As always, feel free to rate and review, but please read the review guidelines on my profile before doing so. Enjoy!
All was quiet at Cerise Laboratory, as person and Pokemon alike slept in peace. The Pokemon were all healthy despite the sudden, deadly outbreak of Pokerus-X1, as their owners had been quick to ensure they couldn't get out. Many of them were frustrated by this, though some contented themselves knowing that it was for their own well-being that they stay inside.
Although humans were free to go around without risk of contracting the disease, as it was exclusive to Pokemon, many of them stayed with their Pokemon regardless. Trainers were prohibited from battling other trainers or catching wild Pokemon until either the virus could be contained or a cure could be found. Many gyms were closed while Pokemon Leagues around the world monitored the situation. While some regions implemented systems that were effective in curtailing the virus' spread, others had shoddy systems that left those living under them frustrated. Defiance was not uncommon in those areas.
Kanto's system, while frustrating, had nevertheless been effective, so the region went largely without incident. Few, however, were more frustrated than aspiring Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum, who was, in contrast to everyone else at the laboratory, wide awake. The day hadn't been anything out of the ordinary, but sleep didn't come to him this night. Knowing that tonight was just one of those nights, he'd long given up on falling asleep and simply lay there, thinking about his situation.
His new friend, Goh, was sleeping right above him in a bunk bed. Goh's friend Chloe was sleeping in another room, and her parents, including the laboratory's namesake himself, were in another. Ash sighed and looked over at the clock. It was 1 AM.
Seeing this, he decided he'd had enough of laying in bed waiting for a sleep that would never come. He carefully sat up and moved Pikachu, his first Pokemon, onto his pillow. Pikachu yawned cutely and rolled over, snuggling into the pillow. Ash smiled softly at this and stroked his best friend's fur for a moment before standing up. Careful not to wake anyone, he slowly walked to the door, making sure his footsteps were soft and quiet, and opened it. The hinges, thankfully, hadn't creaked since he caught the local Gengar, and he started walking out.
"Lu?"
He stopped in his tracks at the familiar sound, turning to see a small, blue canine Pokemon behind him. "Hey Riolu," he said with a smile, bending down to the Pokemon's eye level. "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"
"Lu," Riolu replied with a shake of his head.
"Yeah. It really is just one of those nights." Ash stood up and beckoned his Pokemon to follow him. "Come on. We can hang out together." He would have picked Riolu up and carried him out, but Riolu wasn't exactly one for that kind of treatment. Pleased with his trainer's invitation, Riolu smiled and walked beside him as they went into the laboratory's recreation hall. "It'll be nice to have someone I can talk to."
He sat down in one of the lounging chairs and sighed while Riolu reached up for the armrest. He was pretty short, so it was a long reach, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. He managed to grip the rest, then tried to pull himself up. He only got halfway before he started to fall down again, but he put his legs on the chair to steady himself. Even then, his legs continued to slip, prompting him to scurry up to keep from falling down.
Ash chuckled at his Pokemon's actions, finding them both cute and relatable. "Y'know something?" he said. "Aside from Pikachu, you're probably the closest friend I've got here."
"Lu?" Riolu blinked in surprise.
"Yeah," Ash shrugged, putting a hand behind his head. "I miss having people I feel like I can talk to."
Before Riolu could ask anything else, a light suddenly appeared on the edge of the room. The two of them turned to it in surprise and saw that it was from one of the PCs. Curious, Ash stood up and walked over to investigate. Riolu hopped down from the armrest and followed him. The words "Incoming Call" blinked on the screen.
"A phone call?" Ash wondered. "Who would be calling at this time of night?"
He sat down on the chair in front of the phone and picked up the receiver. As he prepared to answer the call, he looked down at Riolu. "Wanna sit in my lap?" he asked, as there was no armrest. Riolu seemed perplexed and uncertain, so Ash turned back to the phone and pressed the "Answer" button. "Hello?" he said. "Cerise Laboratory."
The screen was blank for a moment. Then a voice rang out from the other end, though no video feed appeared.
"Hello? Cerise Laboratory?"
"Yes, that's what I just said," Ash nodded. Riolu looked up at the screen curiously.
"It is? Really?"
"Yes, really," he chuckled.
"Are you absolutely sure? I've already gone through a dozen phone books just to get the right number -"
"Yes," Ash said over the caller's babbling, laughing while keeping his voice quiet so as not to wake anyone. "I can assure you with 100% certainty that this is Cerise Laboratory stationed in Vermilion City." The caller was still babbling about accidentally looking through a dictionary. As they did so, Ash noticed something. "Wait a minute," he said, looking intently at the still-blank screen, "who is this?"
"Oh!" the caller exclaimed. "A-Ah, sorry. I just needed to have a call forwarded to Professor Oak's lab. I wanted to check on my -"
"May?"
The caller stopped mid-sentence. "What?"
"Is that really you?" Ash asked, his eyes lighting up. Riolu's curiosity got the better of them, and he reached up for the side rim of Ash's chair.
"Wait, who is this?" the caller asked, confused. "Oh, I called the wrong number again, didn't I?!"
"No!" Ash exclaimed, raising his voice slightly. In his excitement, he pulled his chair forward, yanking Riolu forward with it. The Pokemon's grip on the chair slipped, and he toppled over. "No, this is Cerise Laboratory, you have the right number, please don't hang up!" he said rapidly.
"It is?" came the voice. "But who -?"
"May, it's me, Ash!" he pressed the video button. The red light on the computer indicated that his camera was on.
"What?" the caller's voice came again. "Ash?" a video feed finally popped up on the screen, showing the caller's face. Sure enough, a curious brunette's face popped up on the screen, eliminating any doubt in Ash's mind thanks to her signature v-shaped hair and sapphire eyes. A bright smile lit up her face as she shared his excitement. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "It is you, Ash!" She quickly resumed her confused expression. "But what are you doing answering for Cerise Laboratory?"
Ash chuckled at her confusion, which was adorable as always. "We've got a lot of catching up to do," he said. Riolu got up from falling over earlier and looked up at his trainer as he started talking to his friend over the phone with excitement. As he did so, he sensed Ash's aura flaring to life, but it was different here from how he remembered it the night he hatched. Back then, his aura burned with a passion for battle: a determination to defeat any opponent. In the months since, he remembered feeling that same aura many times as they fought strong opponents. Even when Riolu wasn't battling, he could still sense Ash's powerfully passionate aura. Now, however, his aura was different. It was still passionate, but it was a different kind of passion. He had never sensed such an aura before; it never even occurred to him that another kind of aura existed. With his curiosity stronger than ever, he renewed his efforts to get up on the chair with Ash and figure out what was making his aura flare to life this way.
"So you're doing research for Professor Cerise and travelling around the world?" May said. "That's awesome!"
"Yeah," he agreed. "Well, at least I was before this outbreak hit. Now I'm stuck here with my Pokemon."
"Well at least you can still train with them, right?" she said.
Ash just chuckled. "Glad to see you're still optimistic as ever, May," he smiled.
May giggled while blushing slightly. "What's wrong with seeing the bright side?" she asked with a playful wink.
"Well, you might go blind after a while," Ash responded. As the two of them laughed, Riolu managed to pull himself up onto the chair. He hopped into his trainer's lap and looked at the screen with a curious gaze.
"Whoa!" May exclaimed. "Who's this cute little guy?"
Ash chuckled again. "Looks like Riolu wanted to say hello!" Riolu glared at May when she called him cute, but that only made him more endearing to her.
"Riolu?" she blinked in surprise. Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Wait, doesn't a Riolu evolve into Lucario?"
"Yeah, it does!" Ash nodded.
"Oh wow!" she exclaimed. "That brings me back to our adventures at the Tree of Beginning!"
"Yeah," he agreed, becoming slightly wistful. Riolu sensed this and looked at his trainer in confusion.
"Looks like you haven't told Riolu that story," May noted.
"No I haven't," Ash said, looking down at his Pokemon. "But since we're here, you might as well know." With that, he recounted the adventure he shared with his friends and Sir Aaron's Lucario, and how they saved the Tree of Beginning together. When he finished his story with Lucario's sacrifice, his voice was noticeably shaky.
"Are you okay, Ash?" May asked, concerned.
"Yeah," he nodded, though his sad smile didn't go away. "I'm just remembering those last moments with Lucario."
"Lu," Riolu murmured, a mix of awe and sadness in his eyes.
"You weren't yourself for a while after that," May recalled.
"No, I wasn't," Ash agreed. "If it wasn't for you guys, I probably would've been that way even longer than I was."
"Well, what are best friends for?" she replied, giving another playful wink. For a moment, Ash's smile brightened up. But as her words resounded in his mind, his face fell again as the reality of his present situation caught up to him. He gave a quiet sigh, though May still heard it over the phone. "Does it still make you sad, even after all these years?"
"Huh?" he blinked, snapping out of his small funk. "Oh, I wasn't thinking about Lucario just now," he said.
"Then what's getting you down?" she asked.
Ash opened his mouth to say something, but before any words came out of his mouth, he came to a realization. Riolu, who had been mulling over his story, suddenly snapped back into reality when he sensed his trainer's aura flaring again. Once again, it was different from his battle aura, but as Riolu concentrated, he began to sense the aura's flow. It was a gentle flow, more like a river than the flaming energy he was accustomed to. Despite this, he could tell that it was no less passionate than the aura Ash exuded in battle. Eager to fully understand this aura, Riolu hopped out of his trainer's lap, sat on the small table that the monitor was on, and closed his eyes, concentrating his mind on the flowing aura.
"You don't seem like yourself," May went on. "Is something wrong?"
Ash sighed and looked down. "I don't know," he said in a defeated tone.
"Ash, if something's wrong, you know you can talk to me about it," she said. "I don't like seeing you sad."
He looked up at his friend on the screen. She was gazing at him with concern. A small smile formed on his face. "Thanks May," he said. With that, he began regaling his troubles to her:
"You know how I told you already about how Professor Cerise asked me to aid in his research?" he began. "And that I'm doing it with my friend, Goh?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "By the way, is that short for anything?"
"Huh?"
"Goh. Is that really his name, or is it just short for something else like, say, Gordon?"
"Uh, no," he shrugged. "That's just his name: Goh."
"That right?" she mused. "Huh. What a strange name."
"Anyway," Ash went on, "Goh's a good friend, and he really knows a lot about Pokemon, but he's still new to being a trainer. And compared to my other friends like you, he's kinda immature."
"Sounds like a certain little brother I know," May snickered. The two of them chuckled.
"Anyway, Goh has a friend named Chloe: the professor's daughter, to be exact. She spends a lot of time in the lab."
"Oh yeah? Is she nice?"
"That's the thing," Ash said. May's eyes widened a bit. "I've tried reaching out and being friends with her, but she always gives me the cold shoulder. And even though her dad is nice, he's always busy with his research." Her eyes lit up as she understood what her friend was saying. "Just today, a bunch of Goh's Pokemon got restless. The three of us had to step in and stop them from mauling each other. When it was all over, Goh and I were laughing about it. When I said something about this being the end of another great adventure, Chloe just huffed and walked away. I decided to try and reach out to her and ask if she thought it was at least a little fun, and she snapped at me and told me to go take my adventures somewhere else." He sighed. "I guess she just doesn't like me."
"Well, you do have a track record of bad first impressions," May chuckled.
"I know," Ash chuckled with her. "But you and the others all got to know me better, and we became best friends. Chloe doesn't seem to want anything to do with me." He sighed once again. "I guess I just miss having a friend I can talk to about anything."
"So, in other words, you're feeling lonely?"
Ash leaned forward and gazed intensely into her eyes. Even though she was on the other side of a screen, they still glowed with compassion and kindness. She really cared about him. What did I do to deserve a friend like you? he thought, though the only word that came out of his mouth was a small "Yeah."
"I'm sorry," she said with a frown. "I wish I called sooner to see how you were doing."
"That's not your fault, May," he replied with a small smile. "You didn't even know I was here."
"I guess so," May shrugged. "Plus, you always have your Pokemon with you."
"Yeah, but over the years I've realized that there are some issues that even Pokemon can't help with. It helps to have really good human friends you can talk to as well."
"That's true," she agreed with a nod. "I remember feeling lonely while travelling through Johto, and looking back, I get the feeling that the reason why I was struggling to win in contests was the same as what you're feeling right now. Meeting up with you, Dawn, and Brock for the Wallace Cup was probably one of the best decisions I ever made, since it helped me find my footing again."
"That doesn't surprise me," Ash smiled. "Even if neither of us came out on top, we still had a lot of fun together."
"We sure did!" May winked.
Ash chuckled and leaned forward, looking at his old friend with a wistful smile. "I've really missed you, May."
"I've missed you too, Ash," she agreed, still smiling.
"No, I mean really," he said, his gaze becoming more intense and focused, similar to how it would be in a battle. May blinked in surprise at his sudden change in demeanor. Riolu's eyes shot open as he sensed Ash's aura beginning to spike in power. "I'm not sure why, but I've been thinking about you a lot more lately. I've been thinking about all the fun we had travelling through Hoenn and Kanto, and how much we taught each other. I mean, I know I was doing most of the teaching, but to be honest, you taught me some stuff too. And, well, I know we had times where we fought, but, I mean, we always got along so well otherwise, and…"
As Ash prattled on. Riolu simply stared at his trainer as he felt his aura flow forward. While it had felt like a river ever since he answered the phone, it had started flowing faster and faster since he started going on about how he felt about his friend. As he observed the flowing aura, he glanced between his forlorn trainer and the girl on the screen. She was blushing slightly, her eyes glistening as she listened to Ash's soliloquy.
It was in that moment that Riolu understood just what the flowing aura truly was. Without another thought, he jumped down from his ledge and scuttled away, unnoticed by either of the trainers.
"...and, to be honest, those people were really big jerks," Ash went on, "and not just to me, but to you too. They forced you into being a celebrity when you were clearly uncomfortable with it, and then they -"
He stopped for a moment when he saw May's surprised expression. He blinked, then came back to his senses as he realized he'd been speaking for too long. "Sorry," he said. "That probably sounded really weird."
"Huh?" May blinked, realizing he'd stopped. "Oh! No, it was fine, Ash. Honestly, that's...really sweet of you."
"Really?" he said, blushing slightly. "You're not weirded out at all?"
"Not really," she shrugged. "Well, at least not in a bad way. I didn't realize you cared so much."
"Well of course I care!" he said. "You're one of my best friends!"
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," she replied. "I just meant...well, I mean...I just didn't realize that you missed me so much." Her eyes were glistening again as she blushed lightly.
"Neither did I," Ash said, mirroring her expression as he put a hand over his heart. "Now that I think about it, though, I...think I kinda miss you more than my other friends."
As May gazed into his eyes, a small smile formed on her face. It was different from any other smile she'd given during their call. It was soft, cute, maybe even a little...shy? Ash felt his own lips curve into that same smile as she put her own hand over her heart. For a moment, the two of them said nothing and just gazed into each other's eyes. Their eyes told a story, one so deep that it would be difficult to tell with just words alone.
"Riolu!"
"Huh?!" Ash jumped, startling the two of them out of their reverie. "Riolu, what are you doing?! You scared the Trubbish outta me!"
"What?"
"Wait, Riolu," Ash blinked, calming down, "what are these?" Riolu was holding a bunch of small flowers up for Ash to take. He took them carefully, keeping them together.
"What is it?" May asked.
Ash looked back at her and held up the flowers Riolu gave him. "It's flowers from the garden outside," he said. "I guess he liked them and wanted to share them with you."
May gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. If she was blushing before, then her face may as well have been hit with an Overheat attack now. "Oh, those are beautiful!" she breathed. "That's so sweet of you, Ash!"
"Me?" Ash blinked in confusion. "But I didn't -" he started to say, before he felt a nudge on his ankle. He looked down and saw Riolu giving him a stern look. Still confused, he just shrugged, only for Riolu to point back at the screen without so much as a word. Ash looked back at the screen and put on a smile. "Well, I can't really give them to you since we're not in the same place, but I'm glad you like them!"
"Remind me to give Riolu a big hug when I see you guys next!" May giggled. Riolu looked mortified at the thought.
"I'll make sure to do that," Ash chuckled with her. They laughed with each other for a moment (at a pouting Riolu's expense). As their chuckles subsided, Ash let out a long yawn. He blinked and realized his eyelids were getting heavier. "Ah," he said. "Looks like sleep's finally taking a hold of me."
"Aw, you're leaving already?" May moaned. "We were just starting to have fun!" The two of them chuckled at this, but not for long as her face fell. "I guess it's time to say goodbye then, huh?"
"No," Ash said, determination suddenly lighting up his face and startling her. "This isn't goodbye, May." He leaned forward earnestly. "Do you think we can set a time each week to call each other up so we can stay in contact?"
May's eyes lit up, and she smiled once again. "Yes," she said. "Let's call each other again in a week. Only this time, let's not do it so late at night."
"Deal," Ash said, pumping his fist.
"All right," she said, still smiling. "Get some sleep, Ash. It won't do you any good to stay awake all night."
"Yes, Mother," he replied in an exaggeratedly formal tone.
"Hey, I'm just looking out for you, you know!" May retorted. The two of them laughed again.
"All right," Ash smiled. "Take care of yourself, May."
"You too," she replied. "Good night, Ash."
"Good night."
With that, Ash hung up, and the screen he'd been talking to went dark. The sudden change from light to darkness threw off his vision for a moment. He blinked as his heavy eyes adjusted to their surroundings before standing up, rubbing them. He started walking back the way he came, with Riolu following not far behind.
"Let's sleep in tomorrow," he said to him. "Don't wanna be short on sleep."
"Lu," Riolu nodded.
Ash looked at the flowers in his hand, still confused. "And what's with the flowers? That was a little random."
Riolu just smirked.
That was a cute one. I hope you enjoyed it!
Now I explain what's been going on. Early in 2019, I started working full-time. My job is pretty far out from my house, so I spent quite a bit of time commuting. While I'm happy with my work, it's been an adjustment, as I don't have as much time to myself as I used to. This, combined with having to deal with a cold war on this website that centered around Pokemon fanfiction and two opposing groups of reviewers, kinda knocked my motivation out cold and left my creative juices shot.
I didn't start writing something serious again until a few months ago, but I've been getting the itch to start writing again. I'd love for this to be a starting point for getting back into it, and I'd absolutely love to bask in the spotlight and boast about this being my grand return to the writing world. However, I'm not gonna make that promise. We live in very uncertain times, and even though I've got more time on my hands since I'm working from home right now, I'm still struggling to pump those creative juices. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to come back.
Once again, I'd like to thank wubbzy for inviting me to participate in the Advancers fanfiction contest. Feel free to rate and review, but please follow the guidelines on my profile. With that, thanks for reading, and I'll catch ya later!