Chapter
25
"Don't
let go"
"Want
some more?" Tana asked.
"Oh sure! I'd love some more, especially coming from you," Brock chuckled nervously.
"C'mon, Tana, let me have a turn. You've been hogging Brock up for the last five minutes," Jamie protested.
"It hasn't been a full five minutes yet, has it?" Tana asked disappointingly.
"I'm afraid so, girl, now hand them over! I wanna feed Brock now!" Jamie protested.
"Alright fine," Tana said.
Could it get any better than this? Brock thought to himself while he lay on a lounge chair. He had his hands resting behind his head while he stared up at the blue sky above. His face was coyest as Tana got up off his left leg and handed the stem of grapes to her friend. Tana kicked the sand playfully at Jamie, disappointed that her turn with Brock had expired.
Jamie approached the lounge chair and sat down on the side next to his legs. She dangled the stem of grapes playfully over his eyes in order to entice him.
"You don't mind us feeding you, do you, Brocky?" Jamie asked playfully.
Brock felt his hands sweating as this beautiful girl was playfully teasing him with a stem of grapes. He found it hard to keep his eyes from wandering and being the typical guy – his eyes often took snapshots of her chest as she leaned over to him. He tried to hold back his temptations and his nervousness as Jamie and Tana hovered over him.
"I don't mind at all!" Brock said, "Believe me, when I get full I'll tell ya!"
"Sounds good," Jamie said, plucking a single grape from the stem.
She placed the grape softly on his tongue, in which he didn't hesitate closing his mouth and chewing. Jamie brushed her hair to the side, waiting for him to swallow before plucking off another grape. Tana watched with her arms behind her back as her eyes scanned every inch of his body. They wanted him - badly, nearly as much as Brock wanted them. If they weren't on a public beach out in the open with many people walking and playing in the sand, things might have gotten really serious.
She placed her hand down on his chest while leaning over and placed another grape in his mouth. Tana walked up to her friend, placed her hand on her shoulder, and whispered something into her ear. The two girls giggled while Brock could only fathom what they were saying.
He forced his eyes to stop wandering to certain body parts that their swimsuits were concealing. If he waited this long for girls to show him affection, he knew that he couldn't afford to blow it.
Keep your eyes on their faces, Brock reminded himself.
*~*~*~*
On the other side of the beach, Ash and May were standing in the shallow water with the surfboard floating next to them. Corphish and Squirtle, Ash and May's Pokemon respectively, were standing in the shallow waves waiting for further instruction from their trainers.
"Corphish cor cor!" Corphish said energeticly.
"Calm down, Corphish, I'm just going to tie this tether around your body," Ash said, approaching the lobster with the rope, "It'll be like you're wearing it around yourself."
"Corpheeeesh!" Corphish bantered, jumping out of the way.
Ash tripped over the rope as Corphish jumped back on the sand. He screamed in shock as he fell face first into the sand. May and Squirtle watched cautiously, wading in the shallow water as a disgruntled Ash picked himself up.
"Corphish! Did you really have to jump away from me when I was trying to tie this around you?" Ash asked, irritated.
He brushed off the sand that was sticking to his body and watched Corphish prancing around, opening and closing its pincers. He grunted as the jolly lobster continued to make fun of him.
"Poor, Ash," May said to her Squirtle, "Looks like Corphish isn't to keen on the idea of participating in the race."
"Squirtle, squirt," Squirtle said innocently, clinging to her leg.
May bent down and picked up her little Squirtle in a loving manner. The Squirtle buried its head in her chest as she squeezed it with her arms wrapped around its shell.
"Aw, are you worried about this too, Squirtle?" May asked softly.
"Squirtle…" it replied, gazing up at her.
"Don't be scared," she said, stroking its blue head, "It's going to be a lot of fun. Look at all the other trainers here."
May cradled Squirtle in her arms, facing it toward the festive acts in the water. The wide-eyed Pokemon watched in awe at the various degrees of feats and amazement there was to behold. May joined in on the astonishment, as the two gazed in unison.
A young couple screamed in joy while holding onto the tethers of their surfboard, as their two Pokemon – Luvdisc and Walimer, breezed along the waves, pulling them along. May and her Squirtle were unable to shift their gaze, as the two Water Pokemon sped up a ramp and into the air. May and Squirtle gasped at how high the surfboard was flying in the sky. The couple shouted again as the surfboard floated in mid-air for a few seconds before landing back down on the water and continuing to ride on the current.
Walimer shot out a jet of water from its mouth and aimed it at the floating red buoy in front of them. This propelled the surfboard in a different direction while the Luvdisc swam underwater. The couple continued to shout in unison as the surfboard was pulled under a man-made tunnel and through the opening on the other side.
"Amazing," May said, absolutely speechless.
"Squirtle!" the Pokemon echoed its trainer.
"See? You're going to be swimming in the water just like you always do. The only difference is you'll have a little rope tied around your body so the surfboard gets pulled along with you," May instructed gleefully, "Just remember not to crash into any buoys or into any walls 'k?"
"Squirt," Squirtle laughed.
"Yeah, cause then you'll get a big boo-boo on your head, and we don't want that," May smiled, hugging her Pokemon in her arms.
"CORPHISH! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Ash shouted.
Corphish sped along the sand with Ash chasing after it furiously. The lobster enjoyed making a fool out of its trainer as it zoomed along, trying not to bump into any people along the way. Ash darted after it as fast as he could, losing a bit of his temper every step of the way.
"Corphish, this isn't funny!" Ash yelled.
"Corpheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!" Corphish sneered.
It pranced around, flinging its pincers mockingly at him. Ash finally caught up to his Pokemon while trying to catch his breath.
"Alright, Corphish, enough games," Ash said, panting.
"Cor…cor," Corphish grinned.
"How about you stop acting this way and come with me back to the surfboard? All I'm going to do is tie a little rope around you! It's not that bad!" Ash pleaded.
"Coooooooor-phish," Corphish shook his head sturbbornly.
Ash could feel his anger burning up inside of him. He could tolerate fun and games but not when it came to the expense of a Pokemon disobeying its trainer. He grinded his teeth while looking down at his Pokemon agitated.
"Let's go, Corphish, come with me back to where May and the surfboard are. I'm going to tie that tether around you whether you like it or not!" Ash said angrily.
Corphish responded by picking up a clot of sand with its pincers and flinging it at Ash's face.
"GAH!" Ash screamed as a large patch of sand smacked him in the face.
He stood silently with the clot of sand completely covering his entire face.
"Corphish, corphish! Cor Cor!" Corphish jeered, laughing uncontrollably.
He wiped the sand off his face with one stroke of his hand. His eyes buldged, his eyebrows twitched, and his hands started to clench into fists.
"NOT FUNNY!" Ash screamed.
"Corpheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!" Corphish grinned, running toward him.
"What the heck are you doing now?" Ash gasped.
Corphish ran straight toward him and knocked him to the side in the process. The feisty lobster ran back toward its Pokeball which was resting in the sand next to Squirtle's ball. Corphish pressed the button on the ball with its pincer, and quickly enough, the red laser retracted it back inside its Pokeball.
Ash smacked his head stubbornly against the sand while he lie on his stomach. Annoyed and browbeaten, he slapped his face irritably.
"That's just great," he moaned, shaking his head.
May giggled with amusement while walking with Squirtle in her arms toward the Pokeballs on the sand.
"I'll repeat, poor Ash," she said cheerfully.
Ash walked back toward her while trying to brush all the sand off his face and body. He looked up at her disappointingly.
"So much for that idea," he said.
"Don't be silly, Ash," May said, placing Squirtle down on the ground, "I think Corphish will warm up to the idea as soon as he gets a good look at all the people and Pokemon racing in the ocean."
"Maybe," he said looking at Squirtle, "So are you ready for this, Squirtle?"
"Squirtle!" Squirtle replied, clasping its hands.
"That's right, Squirtle and I are going to do our very best in this race," she chuckled, "Unless you can get Corphish to come out of his Pokeball, looks like we'll be practicing by ourselves."
"Wait…I want to practice too!" Ash said with the palm of his hand raised, "If Corphish is too stubborn to try this right now, why don't we just practice racing with Squirtle?"
"But, Ash, remember our weight?" May asked, "We may be too heavy for Squirtle to move all by itself."
"Squirtle…squirtle squirt," Squirtle shook his head.
"What? You mean you think you can pull us both along while we stand on the surfboard?" May asked her Pokemon.
Squirtle nodded.
"But…" May tried to say before her voice trailed off.
Ash noticed that she was getting a bit worried that her young Pokemon was going to have to do all the work itself. He watched her stand there frantically, her brown hair blowing in the wind with a troubled expression on her face. He knew he wanted to reassure her, as seeing her uneasy always compelled him to show support for her. But for some reason, this time he couldn't budge.
He just stared.
He watched her stand there, with her legs twitching holding her hands behind her back, looking cautiously at her baby Squirtle. Her dark red bikini contrasted with her sapphire eyes, as her skin seemed to glow in the heat of the sun. Her face was filled with doubt, yet also with compassion and concern. She cared deeply for her Pokemon, so much that she was worried about the extra weight it was going to have to pull along.
Ash tried to shift his gaze, or blink, or turn around, or do anything, but for some reason he couldn't. He was fixated on May, for a reason he couldn't figure out.
It wasn't just because of her looks, even if she appeared to be strikingly beautiful against the backdrop of the orange sun and sparkling ocean behind her. Compassion always came before beauty for him, but yet May – possessed both.
He noticed that she looked over at him out of the corner of her eye, somewhat expecting him to say something to her. Instead, he continued to just stand and watch as her Squirtle wrapped its hands around her leg.
She bent down and patted the little turtle on its head. She smiled sincerely as the Pokemon returned the affection.
Then - it hit him.
She was as endearing and compassionate about Pokemon as he was. No matter how much she wanted to practice for the upcoming race and win the swimsuits, her concern for her Pokemon came first. The bond she showed for others is what was more important - such as her love for her brother, friends, and Pokemon, not about her own personal gain.
"Ash?" May asked him somewhat dubiously.
"Eh?"
Ash closed his eyes tightly and opened them, trying to shrug off the stare he had given her.
"Wakey wakey!" she smiled, waving her hand in front of his eyes.
He was surprised that she knew he was staring and trailing off into thought. His eyes widened as he responded with a friendly gesture.
"C'mon, I think the two of us should give the surfboard a try without our Pokemon," May said innocently, "If our Pokemon watch us practice standing on it, they probably won't be as nervous."
"Squirtle…squirtle," Squirtle agreed with its trainer.
"That so, Squirtle?" Ash uttered.
Squirtle nodded. Ash shifted a glance toward May for her approval and then walked over to his Pokeball on the ground. He picked up the Pokeball and released Corphish from inside. The red lobster materialized in front of him as it moved its pincers erratically.
"CORPHISH!?" Corphish screamed.
"Relax!" Ash said, "I know you're probably mad I let you out again, but I just want you to see what we're actually going to be doing."
"Cooooorphish," Corphish warned its trainer by pointing a pincer at him.
Ash chuckled, "You can just sit on the side and watch, Corphish, don't worry, if you don't want to race with us then I won't force you."
"Corphish?" Corphish said, somewhat surprised.
"Squirtle!" Squirtle said cheeringly standing next to it.
"Alright you two," May instructed, "Time to watch and learn!"
May quickly ran over to Ash and grabbed him by the hand. She smiled, pulling him with her back toward the surfboard floating in the water. Ash stumbled in the sand surprised at how enthusiastic she was while leading him by the hand.
"OK!" May said, "We just have to stand on the surfboard, right, Ash?"
"Well of course," Ash snickered, "That's why there's room enough for both of us to stand right behind each other."
May stepped one foot on the surfboard before looking back at their Pokemon, "I hope you two are watching!" she called out.
Corphish and Squirtle uttered less than enthusiastic replies.
"Looks like they're still not excited," Ash said disappointingly.
"Oh they will be, we just gotta give them some time. You know that right, Ash?" May asked.
She stepped up on the oval surfboard and stood in the center. She placed her hands on the small raised pillar in the middle, moving aside the two tethers that were tied through the small circular opening in the center. The raised pillar went up to her belly button, she placed her hands on the ropes, as she imagined her Pokemon were swimming and pulling her along. She flicked her hair in the wind and cheered triumphantly.
"Mission one accomplished!" May cheered, "I didn't lose my balance or fall off the surfboard!"
"That's an accomplishment?" Ash asked, still standing in the water.
"Sure," she winked, "I was afraid the whole surfboard would start shaking if I stood on top of it, but I'm perfectly steady."
"Yeah, that's what the shopkeeper said when we bought the surfboard from him. It's made of sturdy material and it's easier to balance on than a normal surfboard. Probably because this one is more oval in design and it's enclosed on all sides but the back. It's hard to fall off the edges when the material reaches your ankles too!" Ash said.
May kicked her feet gently against the enclosed sides of the surfboard, happy that it was made of strong material too. She looked back down at Ash curiously.
"What are ya waiting for, Ash? Come up!" May said encouragingly.
Ash picked up his foot and pressed it down on the edge of the surfboard, the board began to wobble a bit but May still stood her balance. He picked up his other leg now standing atop the surfboard with two feet. Ash stood right behind May in file, as it was impossible to stand side by side due to the enclosed spaces.
Ash tapped her shoulder from behind, "Looks like Mission two is accomplished!"
"What did we accomplish now?" May asked playfully.
"We both managed to stand on the surfboard without falling over of course!" Ash smirked.
May chortled while sticking out her tongue. Her eyes shifted as two more couples on surfboards began to ride through the waves near them. Upon seeing them in formation, she noticed that the person in the back was holding the person in the front around the waist. In fact, she discovered that nearly everyone practicing in the waves were holding onto each other for support. She turned her head back toward Ash innocently and smiled.
"Um…Ash? I just thought about this while watching the other people surfing, and wouldn't you lose your balance back there while we're racing?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked, standing right behind her.
"Look at all the other people racing," she said pointing, "The person in the front is holding onto the two tethers that are tied around the Pokemon, and since the Pokemon are racing at super-fast speeds, if you're not holding onto anything you'll go flying off the surfboard."
"Hm, I noticed. Good thing those tethers go through that circular opening in the middle of the pillar, otherwise you wouldn't have anything to hold onto to keep your balance," Ash said, "I knew that already, May."
"That's not all, dummy!" May mocked, "The person in the back also has to hold onto something too or they'll fall off while we're moving. And from what I've seen, nearly all the people standing in the back are holding around the person in the front around their waist."
"Uhhh…so?" Ash asked confused.
"That means you'll have to hold onto me!" May yelled.
Ash looked rattled, but he shrugged it off as it was no big deal. Coming into physical contact with her was happening more frequently, and after sharing the moment of hugging on the bed in the hotel room, this would be no different.
"So…do I just have to hold you around the waist or something?" Ash asked shyly.
"Um, yea I think," May responded with a small tint of red appearing on her face, "When our Pokemon are swimming we're going to be moving like crazy, and if you're not holding onto anything you'll fly right off. I guess these surfboards were kinda designed this way on purpose, right? You know, where one person has to stand behind the other and they have to hold onto each other to stay balanced?"
"In this case I'm kinda glad we couldn't find Brock. I can't imagine wrapping my arms around his waist the entire time while we race," Ash bemused.
"Heehee, I think I saw two guys holding onto each other too around the obstacle course on the other side," she giggled immaturely.
Ash rolled his eyes as he approached her from behind. He slowly wrapped his arms around her belly button, holding her around the waist as he pressed himself against her. He pressed his chest flat against her back while clutching her tightly from behind.
The small red tint on May's face grew slightly bigger, as she felt the full embrace of him holding her around from behind. Her eyes began to twitch as her mouth went dry upon feeling his warm skin rest against her own. His arms seemed to melt along her smooth stomach as the warmth radiated between their bodies.
She tried to utter a sound, but her voice managed to escape her. She could feel his breath blowing into her ear, as he was standing right behind her, but in turn this made her feel a little lightheaded.
He's holding onto me, she thought to herself.
Her eyes began to water with a hint of jubilation. She was completely lost in his masculine embrace.
For Ash, the feeling was mutual. The breathtaking scent of her hair filled him with astonishment. Holding onto her was more than a feeling of obligation, but he felt compelled to her. Her body felt so fragile in his arms, almost as if she would fall into pieces if he let go of her. He had to hold her around, there was no other way around it. Yet at the same time, it felt endearing.
At that point, everything happening around them was irrelevant. The people cheering in the waves and surfing around them seemed to disappear. The sounds of the waves splashing along the shore were faint in the background. Corphish and Squirtle seemed to fade entirely from their minds. There were no people, no Pokemon, no commotion, and no sound. There was just a feeling of two bodies pressing together in an empty sea, nothing more, nothing less. He was just holding her, and she felt him clutching her around from behind.
Emotions that neither Ash nor May ever knew they had seemed to radiate through their bodies during the embrace. Neither could move or budge, or say anything. They wouldn't dare. Being held around by Ash was enough to make her stare blankly into the open sea, with the support of him by her side. While holding around May was enough to make Ash feel that she was his.
Instead of holding onto the tether, she moved her hands down and put them over his arms. It wasn't enough for her to feel his arms wrapped around her waist, but she wanted to hold onto his arms as well to make sure he was real and not some fantasy conjured by her imagination.
The two continued to stand while wrapped in a whimsical embrace, staring absentmindedly into the open sea.
"Cor-phish?" Corphish asked slyly, watching them from the sand.
Squirtle looked at it confused, "Squirtle?"
"Corphish…coooorphish," Corphish said, trying to hint something at Squirtle.
He pointed his pincers toward Ash and May on the surfboard, who both looked like their minds had left their bodies. Squirtle scratched its blue dome of a head and sat itself down on the sand. Corphish walked up to Squirtle and whispered something into its ear.
"Squirtle squirtle?!" Squirtle replied, shaking its head, "Squirtle!"
"Phish!" Corphish replied naughtily.
Corphish started walking silently in the sand toward the water. Squirtle watched anxiously of what it was about to do.
"Corphish, corpheeeeeeeeesh," Corphish chuckled to itself devilishly.
It entered the shallow water and started swimming toward Ash and May. It approached the edge of the surfboard and looked up at the two trainers. They were both completely unaware that Corphish was next to them, they were still trying to get over the feeling of emotional contact they were having.
Corphish looked back toward Squirtle on the shore, put his pincer in front of his mouth and whispered, "Ssssssshhhhhhhh!"
Squirtle put his hands over his eyes as it didn't want to watch what Corphish had in mind. Although after a few seconds, it moved one hand away from its eye to take a peek.
Corphish took a dive underwater right beneath the surfboard. It waded its way to the front of the surfboard, still moving silently through the water. Its small head surfaced right in front of the surfboard, but not high enough for either Ash or May to see him. It grinned wickedly as it was preparing to make its move.
"Squirtle…" Squirtle said in shame.
Ash and May stared silently into space, when all of a sudden a huge shadow jumped out of the water right in front of them.
"Hei hei!" Corphish screamed at the top of his lungs.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Ash and May screamed in unison.
The two quickly snapped back into their senses and toppled over backward in shock at something jumping toward them. Ash stumbled backwards, and while still holding onto May, made her fall backward with him.
"GAH!" May cried as she landed on top of Ash's lap.
"What was that?!" Ash said, still in shock.
Ash sat on the surface of the surfboard with May sitting in his lap, the two looked up at their aggressor – Corphish.
"Corphish, corphish, cooooor-phish!" Corphish laughed mockingly, standing on the pillar in the middle of the surfboard.
"Squirtle…squuuuuuuirt!" Squirtle chuckled from the sand.
Ash and May looked irritably at Corphish.
"Why did you have to scare us like that?!" May demanded, still sitting atop Ash.
"You could have given me a heart attack!" Ash gasped.
Corphish didn't enjoy their reactions to its practical joke very much, and in spite, Corphish hopped off the surfboard and back underwater. Just when the trainers thought it had left, the entire surfboard began to wobble.
"What's going on now?!" May shrieked.
"It must be Corphish again….!" Ash cried.
The entire surfboard was flipped over by Corphish underwater. Ash and May splashed into the water and fell face first in the waves. Corphish began wading its way back to the shore now that its job was complete.
Ash and May emerged from the water panting and rubbing their eyes.
"Corphish just flipped the whole surfboard over!" Ash said.
May squirted out a trickle of salt water from her mouth.
"Blech, I just got my mouth filled with salt water. I didn't want a mouthwash," May whined.
"Corphish why'd you do that?!" Ash screamed out.
Corphish walked back beside Squirtle on the sand. The two laughed uncontrollably as they did a high-five with their pincer and hand respectively.
Ash and May continued to float in the water, leaning against the edge of the upside-down surfboard. Not only were they both a little miffed about Corphish scaring the living day-lights out of them and knocking over the whole surfboard, but they were also annoyed that their moment in contact came to an abrupt end.
"I'm sorry, May, I don't know what's gotten into Corphish," Ash groaned, "Maybe I really should use one of my other Water Pokemon that I left with Professor Oak."
"Well look on the bright side, Ash, the competition doesn't start for another six days, remember? We have a whole week to practice surfing and convince Squirtle and Corphish to race with us," May said.
"Corphish, pheeeeeeesh cor cor!" Corphish pranced in the distance.
"Squirtle!" Squirtle joined jumping up and down.
"Something tells me this is going to be a long day," Ash groaned.
The two trainers wearily made their way back to shore, tugging the surfboard behind them. After 15 more minutes of failed attempts to get Corphish to race with them, they decided to take a break and watch the other surfers performing instead. Ash brought the surfboard to a vendor where he could leave the board for the meantime instead of carrying it around everywhere. The vendor placed their surfboard against a rack next to the rest of the boards he was storing. Ash signed a piece of paper in order to keep track of whose board was whose, and handed it to the man as he taped it atop his surfboard.
Ash and May held their Pokeballs in their hands while Corphish and Squirtle walked behind them. The two figured that if Corphish saw enough Pokemon having fun with their trainers in the water that he would eventually want to participate as well.
There were several wooden seats along the side of the beach, mostly for spectators to sit down and relax while watching the people surfing in the water. May suggested that they should get a front row seat so they can pick up techniques from their competition. Ash and May sat down quite enthusiastically on the seats facing the ramps and the small wooden tunnels. Corphish and Squirtle stood beside their legs. The seats appeared to be filling up fast, with many people deciding to kill some time and watch trainers and Pokemon practice for the competition.
Ash smirked as he noticed that his Corphish began to take notice about the Pokemon swimming with the tethers around them. The lobster watched starry eyed as a Seadra and a Seaking intertwined together to get an extra boost of speed in the water pulling along their trainers at an amazing rate.
"Looks like fun, huh, Corphish?" Ash asked.
Corphish turned his head away quickly to pretend he wasn't interested. Ash sighed and turned his attention back toward the surfing. May then got an idea, and whispered something into Ash's ear.
"Hm, sounds good," Ash winked.
"Corphish?" Corphish asked, looking up at them.
"Lookie there, Ash, a Crawdaunt!" May said, pointing.
Corphish looked at the ocean and saw a Crawdaunt shooting Water Gun to propel itself over a wall with its trainers trailing behind it. Corphish turned his head away in disgust.
"I see it, May, you have to be really strong to compete in these races," Ash said mockingly, "I guess we can't expect our Corphish to compete, it probably knows it doesn't stand a chance against the competition."
"Corpheeesh," Corphish sneered.
May winked at Ash to continue. Ash crossed his arms and grinned while closing his eyes.
"Yep, I guess it was a waste trying to make Corphish race with us after all. I guess I'll just have to send it to Prof. Oak and use one of my other Water Pokemon instead. No big deal, it knows that a Crawdaunt would just leave it in the dust," Ash sneered.
"So much for that," May smiled, tapping her knees, "Even my baby Squirtle at least has the determination to race with us."
"Corphish corphish!" Corphish bantered, jumping in front of Ash and May.
It started pointing its pincer toward the sea while yelling over and over again. The other people sitting around Ash and May noticed how frustrated Corphish looked.
"What's this, May? Looks like Corphish actually wants to compete now!" Ash snickered.
"Oh my! I would have never guessed, Ash!" May said, putting her hands on her cheeks.
Corphish knew the two of them were teasing him, as his face started to swell with anger. Squirtle quickly walked aside as it knew what was coming.
"Coooooor-pheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!" Corphish cried, jumping into a battle position.
Ash, May and the rest of the people sitting looked at him with startled expressions. Corphish then began to fire its Bubblebeam attack from its pincers, as huge brusts of bubbles began smacking into the people.
"Corphish, wait!" Ash cried.
It was too late as the Pokemon angrily fired its attack toward Ash and May, knocking them over in their seats. The Pokemon then went beserk, firing its attack at all the other people sitting as well. The other trainers jumped out of the way, frantically screaming with their hands over their heads.
"Corphish, cor cor!" Corphish cried, firing in every direction.
Ash brought his arm around May, bringing her to the ground to avoid the attack, she looked at him frantically.
"This was a bad plan, Ash, there's no stopping Corphish when he gets like this," she said.
"I think we should have teased it a little less harshly," Ash said as he slapped his face.
"Somebody stop that Pokemon!" an angry male trainer cried, ducking for cover.
"Put that thing back in its ball!" a lady yelled running for cover.
Squirtle shook its head and sighed. It sat itself down lazily on the floor waiting for Corphish to calm down.
The Bubblebeam attack got so strong that the force of it began destroying the small wooden chairs. Ash and May held their hands over their heads as they heard the wood breaking around them. After a few moments, the two of them were the only trainers in the vicinity as everyone else ran out of the way.
"Corphish!" Corphish intimidated its trainers.
May picked her head up and grunted. She grabbed Ash by the arm and helped him to his feet. Once Corphish aimed its pincer back at the two again, May frantically hid herself behind Ash's body, pressing against his back.
"Ash, stop it already!" May cried, holding onto him.
"Corphish we're sorry!" Ash pleaded.
"Phish," Corphish said, its eyes narrowing with its pincer still raised.
"I'm to blame Corphish!" May confessed.
She moved away from behind Ash while leaving one hand placed on his shoulder. She pressed her other hand against her heart apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Corphish. I whispered the idea to Ash to tease you like that so you would race with us," May said, sniffling.
"Corphish?"
"I shouldn't have done that and made you mad, but please don't take it out on Ash," she said.
May walked in front of Ash and spread her arms out to the side.
"May, what are you doing?" Ash asked frantically.
"Corphish, if you want to put the blame on anyone it's me, so if you want to fire your Bubblebeam...go right ahead," she said, making herself a target, "I just want you to know that I'm sorry."
"May!" Ash shouted.
Corphish didn't lower its pincer, and continued to focus its gaze on May.
"Squirtle squritle!" Squirtle shook his head nervously.
"Pheeeeesh," Corphish said, its eyes narrowing.
"May, c'mon!" Ash said, tugging her arm.
The girl didn't move however. She continued to stare at Corphish sympathetically. Her eyes began to water as a somewhat sad smile appeared on her face. The other trainers all stared in shock waiting to see what Corphish would do. Would it fire its attack at May for mocking it?
"May…" Ash said softly.
Corphish could see the sincerity in May's eyes, and slowly it lowered its pincer. Its rage subsided as it walked over to her slowly. May watched it approach her still unsure what it would do. Ash had his hand on her lower back ready to pull her aside just in case. Squirtle and the other trainers held their breath as Corphish stood in front of her.
"Cor-phish," Corphish said, nodding.
It raised a closed pincer at her, ready to forgive her as well as apologize for its actions. May nodded and placed her hand on its pincer.
"Thank you, Corphish," May said happily.
"Corphish," Corphish replied.
The two shook "hands" as the other trainers watching began to clap. Ash was touched by the moment between May and his Pokemon.
Squirtle approached its trainer and tapped her on the leg. May quickly snatched up her Squirtle and hugged it in her arms.
"No hard feelings, right, Corphish?" May asked.
"Corphish," Corphish nodded.
"What a nice girl you are, is that your Pokemon?" a female surfer asked.
"Huh? No, it's my friends Pokemon," May said as Ash walked beside her.
"Yeah, Corphish is mine. Right, buddy?" Ash said leaning toward it.
"Phish," Corphish grunted.
"Either way, you two should make quite a team for the competition coming up," the surfer said, "If the bonds between the Pokemon and the trainer are strong, you'll have no problem in the race."
"Thank you, ma'am," May said.
"Ah, I have to get back to my surfing," the surfer said, walking off, "You two have fun with your Squirtle and Corphish, it's nice to see such a happy couple and their Pokemon bonding together."
Ash and May had tints of red appearing on their faces off that last remark. They took shy glances at each other and turned away, rubbing their toes innocently in the sand.
"Corphish," Corphish grinned, "Cor cor."
"Hey, you're not teasing us now are ya?" May asked, nervously.
Corphish rolled its eyes.
"Heh, you are one crazy Pokemon, Corphish. That's why I'm glad I caught you," Ash said.
"So, Ash," May said, holding her Squirtle, "Wanna get back to practicing?"
Ash chuckled.
"Whaddya say, Corphish? Want to practice with us?" he asked.
"Corphish, cor!" Corphish replied enthusiastically.
"Great!" Ash cheered, "Let's get our surfboard back from the vendor so we can practice racing!"
"Just one thing though, Ash," May said flirtatiously, "When we get back on the board can I stand in the back this time?"
"Uh…howcome?" Ash asked.
May walked ahead of him, squeezing her little Squirtle. She blushed, turning her face toward him.
"I'd like to hold you around this time," she said, giggling.
"Ehehe," Ash chuckled nervously.
"Corpheeesh, cor cor pheesh!" Corphish said teasingly.
"I guess I was right when I said this was going to be a looooong day," Ash smirked.