Chapter 40
The bright sunlight radiated the room in the early morning, reminding the young couple that they only had a few more precious seconds of sleep remaining. Throughout the tosses and turns of the night, May and Ash had shifted positions while sleeping a number of times. Ash was resting on his side, with his legs inside the sleeping bag and his arms behind the pillow. May was sleeping to the left of him, with her legs on top of the sleeping bag and resting on her back. She had her arm over her forehead, while her silky brown hair tickled Ash's nose while they slept. Since the pair were sleeping closely, her hair made his nose twitch during the night. The boy even ended up sneezing a few times during the night because of her hair, amusingly enough.
Aside from sleeping next to her brother when she was very young, May had never slept so closely to another boy before. Ash and May had their sleepwear on of course, but she felt the warmth of his body as they slept, and it made her feel content and secure. He was there for her, and vice versa. They felt emotionally attached knowing that the person they cared for was safe, and in close proximity. Nobody could disturb the peace and tranquility of the room, nothing…except the annoying ray of sunlight and one other party.
Ash scrunched up his face as he felt something licking his cheek, and combined with the annoying sunlight that bothered his eyes, the boy had no choice but to wake up from slumber land. He moved his hand around tiredly to try and push away whatever was licking him, and lifted his head up while waiting for his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the room.
"Pikaaaaa," Pikachu cooed softly.
Ash raised himself up while leaning on his elbows, and yawned before rubbing his eyes once more. When he opened them again, Pikachu's bright smile was the first thing to greet him. Without saying a word, Ash smiled and let the small Pokemon crawl into his arms. He stroked Pikachu's yellow coat contently, while it snuggled its face into Ash's chest. The two were closely knit, and it was confirmed that their bond would not break even when love for another was entered in the equation.
Ash looked down to his left and saw the sweet girl still sleeping contently. Her hair was a mess, just like it always was when she slept. Like always however, she was still an adorable looking girl, one whose smile could cheer up even the most depressed individual. While Ash watched her breathing softly, he was reminded of the time he did the same thing when they were back at Atona beach. He just watched her sleep peacefully back then too, and he received the same feelings of warmth and passion from her. Only this time however, he knew what he was feeling. He loved this girl, there was no easier way to express the feelings in his heart. It may have taken a long time, but he was finally able to understand what he felt without being confused or unable to accept them. He was still nervous about the idea of a girlfriend and where this would lead him, but he was just content knowing that she was his.
Ash thanked Pikachu for being so considerate to let May sleep next to him rather than itself. Pikachu and Ash had always slept close together, whether it be in the same bed or in the same sleeping bag, the two enjoyed being in each others company for the night. This time however, was the first time Pikachu contently allowed another person to sleep near Ash, and instead slept contently up on May's bed instead. Whether Ash knew it or not, Pikachu was quite thrilled at the idea of May being a love interest, and it wanted to help out if need be. Pikachu being close to May might have also had something to do with it, as the little Pokemon liked May almost as much as Ash. Perhaps Pikachu could sense the same kind of spirit and vigor inside May as it did its own trainer, and that's why it was pleased at the idea of the two together.
The clock was ticking, but Ash decided to let May sleep a little longer. He leaned down toward her, and without making a sound, gently stroked her forehead and pushed her hair out of her eyes. The girl muttered something in her sleep and turned her head slightly. Ash smiled warmly at her, it was as if waking her would be a shame.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Caroline was sitting in her bathrobe reading a newspaper. Ash, after taking a shower and getting fully dressed, walked downstairs to get a bite to eat. When Ash and Caroline spotted each other, both were a tad embarrassed. Caroline was only in a bathrobe with nothing on underneath, and it was an embarrassing sight to see the mother of your girlfriend wearing so little. Ash blushed heavily and apologized before scampering out of the room, but Caroline got up and reassured him that it was alright. She explained how she always came downstairs in her bathrobe during the morning as routine, but now with Ash staying over at the house too, she somewhat forgot that routine had to be broken.
She told Ash that he could help himself in the kitchen and make whatever he wanted as she walked upstairs to the second floor. Ash breathed a sign of relief as Pikachu chortled, and the two quickly went to the refrigerator to fix themselves a bite. Since Caroline and May just went to the supermarket yesterday, the fridge was packed, much to Ash's delight, and he started preparing himself something that was way too big to be considered breakfast…for any other normal person at least.
Caroline walked up the last step to the second floor, where all three of the bedrooms were located. Before she went back to her own room, she decided to check up on May on her own, curious about the electric show she almost witnessed yesterday. The door was unlocked, so she gently pushed it open. The smell of smoke and charcoal was gone, but the slight damage to some of the furniture remained. Some of the dressers and drawers had scorch marks on them, much to Caroline's dismay. She then took a peek in the hamper against the wall, and picked up May's fried shorts and t-shirts. She sighed and dropped them back inside before walking over to May, who curiously enough, was sleeping in Ash's sleeping bag rather than her bed. The thought of Ash and May sleeping next to one another never crossed her mind however, as she knew the two kids were too sweet and innocent to even think of such a thing. She just believed that May was being generous and allowed Ash to sleep in her bed this time, which would have actually been the case, if Pikachu's plan never came into fruition. She noticed her daughter was sleeping peacefully, thus she smiled contently while leaving the room and shut the door so she could sleep longer.
Ten or so minutes later, Caroline returned downstairs in her usual orange and brown dress. What she returned to was a shock however, as the entire kitchen table was filled with food on various plates…and they were all going to be eaten by Ash! Ash sat there with a fork and knife in his hands, a napkin tucked under his shirt, and a happy-go-lucky expression on as he cut himself some pancakes. On the plates nearby was some toast, scrambled eggs, cereal with milk, two bananas, an orange, a slice of cherry pie, some cream cheese, a box of peanuts, and a couple glasses of grape juice.
Ash clenched his teeth as he smiled at the dumbstruck mother. "My Mom always said that you can start the day off right with a big breakfast! I hope you don't mind," Ash said happily, chomping down another pancake in one bite.
"Oh, no of course not, help yourself," Caroline said politely, closing her eyes and grinning.
"I'll make sure to leave some over for May, don't worry!" Ash said while stuffing himself.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu added.
"Oh boy," Caroline said quietly, "I sure hope Ash's love for food hasn't rubbed off on May in some way. If she became a glutton too, they'll eat us out of house and home. Ah well, at least Max doesn't go overboard."
After a hefty and rather large breakfast, Ash ran outside the Gym to do a little training. He started challenging some random trainers who walked by to a battle, and after they accepted, Ash beat every single one of them. Pikachu made short work of its opponents, as the opposing Pokemon ended up fainting after one or two Thunderbolts. Ash was pleased with his victories, and continued to train some more by himself while waiting for everyone else to wake up.
Shortly thereafter, May and Max were fully dressed in their regular attire and ready to take a stroll through Petalburg City with Ash. It was their hometown after all, and May and Max already knew some of the best places to hang out and visit. May, of course, was eager to do some shopping, and almost begged Ash and Max to come with her to the shopping departments that she considered to be the best in all of Petalburg City. The two boys desperately tried to wiggle their way out of it, as there was nothing more boring than to tag along with a female who loved to shop, but May got too excited and dragged the poor boys by the arms with her into the shopping stores anyway. Ash and Max sighed in despair together, as they knew the next hour or so would be excruciating, especially since she dragged them into a clothing store. If they could somehow manage to survive May spending an hour looking at clothes, they hoped to look around the mall themselves and see what the other stores had to offer.
"HEY!" May scowled, "You two aren't even paying attention!"
May stood posing for the boys in a yellow tank top, a white belt, and a turquoise mini-skirt, the apparel she changed into in the fitting room. Ash, Max and Pikachu sat on the bench next to the fitting room, all three of them bored out of their minds.
"Well, what do you guys think?" May asked again, holding her head up and strutting her body at them.
"May, you're boring me to tears," Max said bluntly.
"Who cares? Anyway, Ash you think I look good, don't you? You have to at least be somewhat interested in what I wear, right?" May asked enthusiastically.
"I don't know, whatever you wear is fine, really!" Ash said, somewhat disinterested.
"Hm, you guys aren't being very good reviewers," May sighed. She looked at herself in the mirror and did a little twirl, admiring herself in the cute mini-skirt. "I think I look adorable in this, I'm definitely going to buy it!"
"With whose money?" Max asked.
"With my money of course, why ask such a question?" May retorted.
"Meh, forget it. I'm just wondering if there's anything around here I can spend my $100 on," Max said.
"That's right, I almost forgot you still had the money I gave you," Ash said, "Your mother put the other $200 of it in the bank, right?"
"Yep, so I'm at least grateful she's letting me spend this amount in the first place," Max said happily.
"I never bought you that replacement Premium Ball either, I'm sorry, Max," Ash said, "If I see one in this mall, I'll definitely get it for you. I want to make up for Latrommi's Premium Ball going rogue and being smashed to pieces."
"Thanks, Ash, makes me wish May would hurry up and get done even more, I want to check out the other stores!" Max squealed.
"Heh, ok. I think I've tortured you two enough," May said, "If you want, Max, you can go along with Ash to the other parts of the mall."
"Really? Thanks a lot, May!" Max said excitedly, jumping up from the bench.
"Ash, make sure not to lose my little brother, ok?" she instructed.
"I won't, it's more likely that Max will end up losing me!" Ash said.
"You guys need to cut this kid stuff, I can take care of myself too you know," Max said snobbishly, "C'mon, Ash, let's get going."
Ash, Pikachu and Max ran off together, as far away from the clothing stores as possible, to hopefully catch something that might be of relative interest. A beautiful fountain of water was in the center of the mall, it was all white with a statue of a Gyarados on top that the water poured out of. The water flowed out of the tip of the mouth, and poured down into the stream below filled with lily pads and roses. Pikachu found the fountain to be very pretty, as did Ash and Max, who decided to admire it for a while before moving on.
"Ash, can I ask you something?" Max asked.
Ash looked at the boy who seemed to be curious about something. "What is it?"
Max took a deep breath. "Yesterday when my Dad pulled you inside his room to speak with you alone, was he talking about the future of the Petalburg Gym?"
"Norman did talk to me about the Gym, it got kind of complicated from there though," Ash sighed.
"Oh, so he didn't mention me at all, did he? Shame, Dad must still think I'm not ready," Max frowned.
He walked over to the fountain and gazed at his reflection in the water. Ash walked beside him and sat on the edge of the fountain. Before Max elaborated, Ash already knew where the conversation would lead. Therefore, he decided not to go into detail about what Norman and he discussed. If Max knew that Norman would offer the position of the Gym leader to Ash over his own son, it would hurt the boy a lot. Ash was still taken back that Norman picked him over his own flesh and blood, but Max really did have a lot of growing up to do. If Norman decided to put Max through the same kind of trial to become a Gym leader that his father put him through, Max would have to be in a very tight situation.
"He saw me referee the match at the Gym yesterday, I know all about the rules of battling and which Pokemon to use, and Dad even knows that I'd love to become the Gym leader when I get older," Max said frustrated, "Why does he never make an effort to accept me as a valid candidate?"
"Hey, calm down, Max!" Ash said, trying to comfort the boy, "Your father told me himself that he's aware of your dream to become the new Petalburg Gym leader. These things don't happen overnight, Max, they take time. It's fairly obvious that he's waiting till you become a trainer before he even talks to you about it, so why get so angry now?"
"I won't be able to become a trainer for another year, but that doesn't mean he still can't help prepare me for it in the meantime," Max pouted, "If Dad knows I want to take over the Gym in the future, why is he not teaching me things so I can get a head start? Before I met you, Ash, as you know my Dad never even let me watch his Gym matches, because he was afraid I would distract his opponents. I understand that while I'm traveling with you, Dad can't help teach me because I'm away, but I'm home now! May said we're only going to stay home for another couple of days, so why doesn't Dad take advantage of what precious time we have together? I love playing with Slakoth and Vigoroth in the greenhouse, but simply playing with them is not the same thing as training with them. Why is Dad waiting for the last possible minute?"
"I'm…not sure what to say, Max, he's your father so I can't say I know what's going on in his head. I think he means well and wants the best for you and your sister, but he's being very…what's the word?"
"Prudent?" Max said, looking up at Ash.
"Uh…I'm not sure what that word means but it sounds like it fits the situation!" Ash grinned dubiously.
Max laughed, "Dad is just being too cautious and overbearing. It's incredibly annoying that he knows what I want to do yet he's too protective or laid back to do anything about it. At this rate I was surprised he allowed me to referee the match you had with him yesterday instead of Kenny."
"Why don't you ever talk to him about it?" Ash asked.
"Are you crazy? If I ask my Dad about it that might screw me out of my only chance to have the Gym in the future! I don't want to push my luck, yet at the same time, I can't help like feeling this is a missed opportunity."
"Max," Ash cooed, no matter how long they knew one another, he was still surprised with how incredibly mature Max was.
Max took his glasses off his face and rubbed his eyes before placing them back on. He stepped away from the fountain and motioned for Ash to walk with him. Pikachu hopped back on Ash's shoulder as they followed him through the mall.
"Can I say one more thing, Ash? I know this topic is probably boring you, but I want to get it off my chest," Max said.
"I'm all ears, Max, don't forget that. I'm more than happy to listen to you!" Ash said, "Pikachu will always be there for you too!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said.
Max started to blush nervously. "I just want to say that you're a great contrast to my father, Ash," Max said, slightly embarrassed, "I've…I've learned so much from watching your battles and how understanding you are with your Pokemon. The fact that you actually explain things to me when I ask about them and always listen to me is what I like about you a lot, too. You've been like a big brother to me during our journey together, and well…when I become a trainer, I really want you to become my mentor."
Ash was shocked, "You're totally serious about that?"
"Sure am," Max nodded, "You mentored my sister during the start of her journey, remember? You taught her all about Pokemon and exposed her to a world of battling that she originally despised. Even though the two of you are in totally different fields, you being a trainer going for Gyms and my sister being a coordinator going for ribbons, you've managed to teach her so much that she's now getting so far into all her Grand Festivals. I want to have the same kind of dynamic with you that my sister had, I really want you as my teacher."
"You're flattering me, Max," Ash blushed, "You always gave me the impression that you would travel by yourself when you became a trainer, do you really want to continue traveling with me instead?"
"I do. God knows I'll never be able to get this kind of training from my Dad, despite him being the Gym leader and all. And traveling with an experienced trainer like you sure beats traveling by myself without anyone to help point out my mistakes. If my sister continues to travel with you too, then it'll be just the three of us together, all working toward our goals but with you being there for us every step of the way," Max bemused.
"Wow," Ash thought.
"So you agree then?" Max asked impatiently.
"I…I…y-eah, of course! I'll be glad to mentor you, Max," Ash said, "I think it's a good idea."
"Thank you, Ash, it means a lot to me," Max said happily, "One thing though, is when you become my mentor, you can't act all silly and clueless like you are now."
"What?!"
"You need to be confident and never crack jokes unless they have secret words of wisdom in them. Oh, and you'll need to shave your head too so you look old and wise," Max concluded.
Ash closed one eye and grunted, "Maybe I spoke a little too soon about accepting this mentor role…"
"Ha, I'm just kidding! You can stay just as naïve as you are now, you won't even have to learn what words like "prudent" mean either. You can just be Ash, and that's fine with me," Max boasted.
"Sometimes, I wonder," Ash rolled his eyes.
~*~*~*~
Ash and Max had met up with May again an hour or so later, after they scanned the rest of the stores in the mall with little of interest to spend money on. The trio were now enjoying their ice cream cones, as they were baking in the sun while sitting on some concrete steps outside the mall. The siblings were sitting a few steps down near the bottom, while Ash and Pikachu were sitting near the top by the railings. May and Max were both eating vanilla ice cream with sprinkles, while Ash was sharing his chocolate cone with Pikachu.
Ash watched the siblings eat their cones ahead of him, as he realized quite a bit about them. He spoke softly to Pikachu so they wouldn't overhead his conversation.
"It's not just May, Pikachu, I really am becoming important to their entire family," Ash realized, as he licked the side of the ice cream.
"Pikachu, pika," Pikachu nodded.
"Norman said he already considered me to be part of the family, I get along with Caroline really well, Max sees me as a big brother and wants me to mentor him in the future," Ash said, noting the family members.
"PIKA!" Pikachu shouted.
"Yeah, and then there's May of course," Ash smiled affectionately, "I care for her a great deal, she's become very special to me."
Pikachu took a lick of the cone while Ash's eyes were glued on the siblings from afar.
"I've…never been in a situation like this before, Pikachu, it's kind of overwhelming," Ash confessed, "May said she loves me and her family is fond of and expects great things from me. I…I can't disappoint any of them. It's like in addition to my Mom, I'm getting an entire second family entered into everything."
"Pi-pikachu, chu," Pikachu cooed.
"I know, Brock would definitely be able to reassure me at a time like this. Funny, I've always considered Brock to be my mentor, and now that he's gone, I feel like I've moved into that role myself. Brock did a heck of a lot better job than I ever will though, he knew exactly how to keep us out of trouble and set us on the right path if trouble was brewing. Plus he knew how to cook, and I can't cook to save my life."
Pikachu chortled.
"I hope we hear from Brock again soon, I wonder if Tana and Jamie are still really attached to him. It would be nice to hear what he would say about all this, even though I'd probably be incredibly embarrassed to even talk to him about it in the first place," Ash said, "I wonder what Brock would say if he knew how strongly I feel about May now, how much she means to me…it's kind of crazy to think about."
Ash turned to Pikachu and scratched his buddy behind the ears. Pikachu cooed as it cocked its head.
"You'll always remain my best buddy, Pikachu, and thanks for listening to all this gibberish. I don't have anyone else to tell this stuff to, I'm glad you're here," Ash confessed, "Maybe one day when I get used to all this, I'll be able to say all this stuff to May instead. It still feels a little awkward to confess how I feel about the whole situation to her, as much as I want to."
Max was licking the side of his ice cream but the cone accidentally wobbled out of his hands. The entire cone fell to the floor and cracked. Max pouted as his ice cream fell to the floor, but May said that he could have hers. She handed her ice cream cone to him and let him finish the rest. Max thanked her for it and didn't hesitate to gobble what remained of the vanilla ice cream. May licked her fingers and smiled gleefully at her brother.
Ash watched contently, and leaned back on the step, "Norman wanted me to continue looking after his children too. Pikachu, do you think Norman would be mad at me if he knew that May and I…?"
"Chu, pikachu, pika!" Pikachu shook his head.
"Heh, you're probably right. Even though Norman just thinks we're best friends, he probably would be fine with the idea of May liking me," Ash said, fondly looking at May in the distance. Her brown hair was glimmering in the sunshine, her face filled with hope and innocence. Ash almost felt himself lost while staring at her, as if he was being pulled toward her without realizing it. He blinked and then continued to talk to Pikachu. "Jeez. It's almost like she's a whole new person now, best friend May is gone, and now she's girlfriend May instead. This is really crazy."
"Pika, pika,"
Ash stretched out his arms and legs and tried to relieve himself of his anxiety. Perhaps the last couple of days have been too overwhelming for Ash Ketchum, and everything was finally catching up to him.
"Ash!" May shouted.
"WUH?" Ash said, startled.
"Max is done with his ice cream, you wanna get going?" she asked.
"Uh, sure!" Ash said, handing his full cone over to Pikachu. The Pokemon politely decided to finish it off as Ash walked down the steps with May and her brother.
May pulled Ash by the arm and whispered into his ear. "When we get home, I'll show you the present I bought for you."
Ash looked at her, bewildered.
"I told you I wasn't going to just let you buy me that Skitty/Torchic bikini without me getting you something in return. Don't look so shocked, Ash, you're creeping me out," May smiled.
"I…ugh…uh," Ash shook his head, "Uh, thank you!"
"I'm sorry that I couldn't spend as much on your present as you did for mine, and its only a really small one, but I hope you'll like it," May said, as she moved closer and kissed his cheek tenderly, "Now c'mon, before Max thinks we're up to something."
May stepped away from him and ran down the rest of the steps toward her brother who was looking down the street. Ash stood there flabbergasted, waiting for someone to give him some moral support. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and snickered.
"This…really is overwhelming," Ash gasped, "If I ever end up losing it because of all this, I hope you'll snap me out of it with a Thunderbolt, Pikachu."
Pikachu agreed, "Pikachu!"
"ASH!" May and Max shouted.
"What are you waiting for, we'll miss the trolley that takes us home!" Max shouted.
"Yeah, and we need to load our packages on the thing too, hurry up!" May added.
"Oh boy," Ash slapped his forehead, as he ran down the steps to catch up to the weary siblings.
~*~*~*
The trolley let the kids off a few blocks away from the Petalburg Gym, so they had to walk the rest of the way from there. May had one big shopping bag in her right arm, filled with the clothes she bought for herself and a little token of her appreciation for Ash. The bag was kind of heavy for the girl, and since Ash was unaware of what being a gentlemen was like, he never offered to hold the bag for her. May didn't mind however, as the thought never came to her to ask Ash to hold it either.
Standing on a streetlight over their heads, the small impish Sableye spotted them walking. Its jeweled eyes showed the reflection of the children, it had a sly intention in league with its trainer for the travelers. It lowered its body as it hung from the bottom of the streetlight like an ape, and then jumped to the side of the store shops across from it. Sableye's body allowed it to walk sideways across walls, and the goblin quickly scampered across the side of the shops to meet up with its trainer again.
Against the wall in an alley, Ross had just finished smoking and dropped his cigarette to the floor. He stepped on top of the cigarette to put it out, and looked out at the open streets at the people passing by. Once he spotted a middle-aged woman holding a rather large pocketbook, he knew she was his next target. He grinned sneakily, waiting for his moment to put his plan into action. Before he walked out of the alley to follow the woman, Sableye returned and jumped off the side of the building.
"Sableye! Sableye!" Sableye informed him.
"Not now, Sableye, tell me later. We have another target," he said confidently, pointing toward the middle-aged business woman.
"Sableye!" the Pokemon uttered, spying the woman from afar.
"Yeah, that's the one. You remember what to do, right?" Ross asked.
Sableye nodded. It started to form a dark ball of energy in its hands, after its jeweled eyes registered what the woman's pocketbook looked like. The dark sphere of energy began to form into an object, as the Pokemon was concentrating on getting the shape of the object just right. Ross quickly peered down the street hoping that the woman didn't get too far, but to his relief, she stopped at a store window and began to admire the clothing behind the glass.
"Excellent, she stopped to look at some clothes. Heh, women are all the same," Ross snickered, "You must hurry, Sableye!"
In a blinding flash, the object in Sableye's hands resembled the brown pocketbook that the business woman was holding, right down to every last detail.
"You made sure it's the proper weight too, right? We need them to be identical in every sense of the word," Ross instructed, "Your Substitute attack sure works great, I'm glad you were able to perfect it."
"Sableye, eye!" Sableye nodded, handing Ross the brown pocketbook that it had fabricated.
"Incredible, it feels and looks just like the real thing. Now let's hope that woman actually has something of worth in hers, or else this'll be a dull switch," Ross said.
Ross walked out of the alley holding the fake pocketbook, while Sableye crawled sideways across the storefront walls. The unsuspecting woman was still admiring the clothing in the store windows, unaware of what was about to befall her. When Ross was standing next to the woman, he looked up at his Sableye and nodded. Sableye flashed its eyes to use the attack, Confuse Ray, in which it aimed it squarely at the woman.
"Ugh," the woman grunted. She brushed her forehead as she felt a bit dizzy. A few seconds later, she started to lose her balance.
Right before the woman fell, Sableye quickly used its Fake Out attack to hover her pocketbook off her shoulder and into the air. The floating pocketbook was quickly turned invisible by some light tricks and optical illusions known only by the small impish Pokemon, so nobody walking around would be able to see what was happening.
"Nooo!" the woman faintly gasped as she felt herself falling to the floor.
Ross rushed to the woman's aid and caught her before she hit the pavement, and put his hands under her back. Before helping her back up, he hastily put the fake pocketbook onto her shoulder, so she wouldn't suspect that it came off in the first place. Ross and Sableye exchanged glances, and the Pokemon waved the now visible pocketbook in the air. It then quickly scampered across the rooftops and back into the alley with the purse in its mouth.
The Confuse Ray attack began to wear off, as the woman could now see clearly again and no longer felt dizzy. Ross helped her to her feet and asked her if she was ok.
"Thank…thanks," the woman said, "I dunno why, but I felt so dizzy all of a sudden."
"Lucky I was there to catch ya, huh? In any case, you should be all right, take care, miss!" Ross said politely.
The woman smiled at her hero as she watched him walk away. After a few more moments, she continued down the sidewalk, unaware of what just happened.
In the alley, Ross and Sableye caught up with one another. The Pokemon grinned devilishly as it handed the real pocketbook up to its trainer.
"This trick works like a charm every time," Ross sneered, peeking inside the pocketbook. After pushing through some useless apparel, he managed to find her wallet which was filled with cash and credit cards. "Looks like we hit pay dirt once again, ha, I knew picking the woman with the huge pocketbook was a good idea," Ross said.
"Sableye!" Sableye cheered.
Not too far from the alley, Ash, May and Max were admiring the store windows as they walked. Suddenly, the screeches of a middle-aged woman caught their attention.
"What's happening? My pocketbook!" the woman gasped.
The fabricated pocketbook was starting to disappear, as the substitute attack only lasted about a minute. The woman's eyes widened in disbelief as her pocketbook began to fade out of existence before her very eyes.
"WHAT THE HELL!" she yelled as the fabricated pocketbook completely disappeared.
She then started yelling nonsensical words as she ran down the sidewalk, thinking she was going nuts because of her dizziness and disappearing purse. Ash, May and Max quickly moved out of the way as the woman nearly ran into them, and they watched her with confused expressions as she continued to run down the street.
"What's up with her?" May asked.
"I dunno, all I heard was a bunch of screaming. Think that lady is some kinda nut or something?" Max asked.
"Pika," Pikachu said.
The gang shrugged their shoulders, unaware of the thievery that just occurred, and continued walking down the sidewalk.
In the alley, Ross dropped the pocketbook to the floor, as now that he had her wallet, the rest of it was useless to him. He cackled while slipping her wallet into his leather pants.
"Heh, this money will surely let me get that tattoo on my *** that I wanted, good times," Ross said.
Sableye suddenly remembered what it saw a little while ago, and began to inform Ross about the trio that were walking down the street.
"What? You mean you saw Norman's kids?" Ross asked, amazed, "Excellent, I knew that standing across the street from the Gym would allow us to run into them eventually. Now that I think about it, getting that last Gym badge should be a piece of cake if we play our cards right. We can manipulate objects with your power, but you have to see it first in order to fabricate a duplicate. Since we don't know where Norman keeps his damn badges, we won't be able to form a compelling copy. Damn."
Ross peeked around the corner, and smiled as he saw Ash, May and Max walking naively down the sidewalk.
"Sableye?"
"Yeah, I know, the mother isn't with them. Crap, she's the one I really want to make a point with," Ross said. He took out his digital camera and flipped through the photos of May and Caroline that he took in the parking lot. "Heh, all in good time," he smirked.
As Ash and the siblings walked past the alley, they heard someone whisper to them from the shadows. The trio stopped and looked into the alley.
"Did someone just call us?" Ash pondered.
"Yeah, it was me," Ross said, emerging from the shadows.
"You, again?" May gasped, "What the heck are you doing here?"
"It's a free neighborhood, I was standing in an alley to kill some time," Ross said contently.
"Do you always hang out in an alley that smells like urine and gutter trash?" May asked.
Pikachu and Sableye glanced at one another, Pikachu could sense some bad intentions.
"This is the same guy that challenged your father," Ash remarked.
"You're pretty smart for a kid that lets a Pikachu sit on his head," Ross snickered.
"Pikachu, pika," Pikachu scoffed.
"Uh, Ash?" Max asked, "Why are we even talking to him? C'mon, lets go home, my feet are killing me!"
"Yeah, your probably right, lets get out of here," Ash said, turning around.
"Hey, wait a sec!" Ross called out.
"If it's about the badge thing again, you can forget it," May said, "I'm not going to hand you over a badge because my Dad banned you from the Gym."
"No, no, nothing like that, sweetums," Ross said, nicely, "Since you're the Gym leaders' kids and all, I'm just wondering if you know about any other Gyms around here. I need only one more to enter the Pokemon league, and I have some from the most popular Hoenn Gyms. Any advice on where to head next?"
"Have you been to the Mauville Gym?" Ash asked, "Its not too far from here, and I won a Gym badge there myself once."
"Mauville, eh? Sounds pretty nifty, maybe I'll check it out," Ross said, scratching his chin.
"And when you challenge the Mauville Gym leader, make sure not to make yourself look like a complete loser by insulting the Gym leader if you end up failing," May said.
"Still upset about that, huh? In any case, thanks for the advice. One more thing though, is your mother a size C or D cup?" Ross asked.
"What?" Max yelled.
"Let's get out of here, Ash," May said, agitated.
Ash nodded as the gang continued walking down the sidewalk. Something about Sableye bothered Pikachu, and the Pokemon continued to glance at the goblin as they walked. Ross smirked as he watched them while leaning against the wall.
"Feh, I'm not wasting my time running to Mauville when I can get a badge one block ahead of me instead. Screw that, and I have to get back some of my dignity after Norman and his wife lambasted me," Ross said, "Sableye, we'll need to continue to spy on them a bit more. If we can get one of the kids to break, we may be able to find the location of the badges."
"Sableye," Sableye nodded.
"I'm not going to run the risk of breaking into the Gym and potentially being caught by the police, not to mention that 800 pound Slaking would probably murder me if I stepped inside their house," Ross said, "Time to do some more thinking."
~*~*~*~*
Kenny made his rounds through the house, having just finished grooming Slaking, he was quite exhausted and ready to take the rest of the night off. He asked Norman and Caroline if he would be needed to help prepare dinner for the night, but they decided to make the most of their time while their children were around, and decided to eat out with them instead. Kenny thanked the parents for the night off and exited the Gym when his shift was over.
Norman didn't hesitate to invite Ash along to the restaurant, which of course Ash was more than happy to attend, but once he said it was an all-you-can-eat buffet, Ash's eyes lit up with glee. There was nothing better than being treated by a respected Gym leader to an expensive restaurant in Petalburg City, getting VIP treatment, and complete with the finest food the entire Hoenn region had to offer. Since Norman and his family were quite famous in Petalburg, they wouldn't even have to make a reservation, as the restaurant would easily accommodate for Norman and his family no matter how crowded they were.
May and Max were quite eager to dine out as well, it would be the perfect way to end the evening after shopping for the majority of the day. Before they got ready to leave however, May wanted to show Ash the small gift she bought him. In her bedroom, Max was sitting on the bed petting Pikachu while May started to fold up her newly purchased clothes and place them inside her drawers. Ash waited by the doorway, insisting that May hurry up so they could get to the restaurant sooner rather than later.
She reached into the shopping bag and pulled out a small piece of apparel for Ash. "I hope you'll like this," she said, handing a red and white hat to the boy.
"You bought me a new hat?" Ash asked, surprised.
"I figured you would need a new one by now, you've been wearing your current hat since we first met back in Littleroot town!" she exclaimed.
Ash took off his current hat and dropped it to the bed. He took the new hat and admired it for a moment, the red color was similar to his current hat, only that the brim was white. It had a small symbol of a Pokeball with a cute little Pikachu silhouette inside in the center of the hat. Ash smiled and pushed the new hat down on his head.
"They said one size fits all, so I figured it would fit your big head regardless," May teased.
"It fits snug too, thanks a bunch, May!" Ash said, pushing his hands down on the sides of the hat, "What do you think, Max?"
"I think it looks cool. I love the Pikachu silhouette too, I bet that's why my sister picked that one," Max said.
Ash picked up his old AG hat and smiled. "My mother bought me this old hat, so wearing it reminds me of her," Ash said, "Now I guess I have another hat that'll remind me of you, May."
"I'm happy you like it," May smiled, "I'm sure you want to head to the restaurant already, so we can talk more on the way."
Max snickered as he jumped off the bed. "I wonder who will end up eating more at the buffet, you or Ash!" he mused.
"I will of course," Ash grinned, "May might love food, but nobody can eat as much as I can!"
"You wanna make a bet about that, mister? I don't think you have quite the appetite that you used to," May teased.
"Heh, we'll see soon enough," Max smiled, "Mom, Dad…May and Ash are going to challenge each other to an eating contest!"
Max ran outside the bedroom and down the stairs to catch up to his parents.
"Is he really going to tell your parents that? They're probably going to think there's something wrong with us," Ash joked.
With Max out of the room, Ash wanted to thank May properly for the gift. He walked toward her and placed his hand on her shoulder, as May returned his affection by smiling.
"I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but I think I'm ready to give it a try," Ash said, softly.
"What do you mean?" May asked.
Hesitating slightly, Ash mustered up the courage to move his face closer to hers.
"Oh," May uttered in amusement, as her breath was cut off by Ash placing his lips gently on her own. He wasn't sure if he did it correctly, but he successfully managed to give her a brief kiss. May held his body as the kiss lasted briefly, but passionately, the two trembling a tad as their moist lips slipped against one another. Pikachu watched curiously, being the nosy little Pokemon it was.
Ash broke the kiss as their lips pressed apart. He trembled slightly and asked, "Th-that was ok, right?"
"Yea," May replied weakly, getting bashful.
"I-I just wanted to start it for once, usually you're the one to kiss first and I just try to kiss back," Ash said, embarrassed.
"You seem to be getting the hang of it," she smiled.
"Heh, maybe," he stuttered, his face blowing up red.
He looked like he wanted to run out of the bedroom as quickly as possible, and May teased that his face was getting redder than the color of his hat.
After a few flirty exchanges, Ash motioned for Pikachu to jump on his shoulder as the boy eagerly ran out of the room so he could go eat. May had a brief moment of bliss wash over her, as her hands felt the lips that Ash brushed his own against a moment before. That was the first time that Ash kissed first. He made the first move, and kissed her gently when she wasn't suspecting it. May was elated, she was happy with the fact that she and Ash were getting more and more comfortable with each other every day.
"Not bad for the first time you made a move on me, Ash," May said to herself, "Heehee, I think I did a better first kiss though, and I think I'll eat him out of that buffet later tonight too."
She squealed to herself immaturely as she pranced down the stairs, elated that not only was he starting kisses himself…he was getting better at them too!
~*~*~*~
Norman's family was given VIP treatment in the restaurant as soon as they entered. The staff recognized Norman, his wife and his children, but Ash was only considered to be a "guest" since he wasn't related to the family but a friend instead.
Once the group sat down at the table together, Ash almost immediately ran up to get some food for his plate. Being a buffet, the food was all set aside for anyone to fill their plates with a few steps away from the tables. Pikachu didn't bother to get any of the food being offered, it was content with just the ketchup bottle on the table of course! The electric Pokemon claimed the bottle of ketchup for itself, thus all the humans were out of luck if they wanted to add some ketchup to their food.
May got herself several bowls of ramen noodles, which were her favorite food. Using her chop sticks, she could scarf down filled bowls of ramen in seconds. Max had a hard time keeping track of who ate food faster, Ash could finish hamburgers in just three bites, and May could finish a whole bowl of ramen in less than 30 seconds. It eventually got to the point where Max just gave up, his sister and best friend both loved food…who really cared? He'd rather take his time eating and enjoy his food, rather than gulping down bite after bite while barely registering what the stuff tasted like.
"I would have said that I'm surprised with how much you're eating, Ash, if I didn't see you treat yourself to that humongous breakfast this morning," Caroline said.
"So that's where all the bread and eggs went," May said, disgruntled by the fact that she only had a single banana for her breakfast.
Caroline inched over to Norman and whispered into his ear. "It was a good idea to bring the boy to a buffet, he would have cleaned out our refrigerator had I cooked a meal for him at home."
Norman inched toward his wife and agreed. He whispered, "Indeed, this is why I decided on a buffet in the first place. At least here he can eat out the whole restaurant if he pleases, it'll still be the same bill in the end anyway. You just went to the supermarket the other day, you might have to make multiple trips there depending on how long Ash and the children stay with us."
Caroline chortled, "Makes me kind of hope they start traveling again soon, even with the salary of a Gym leader I don't think we can afford to feed them!"
Norman and Caroline enjoyed their dinner as they watched Ash and their children eat happily. Aside from the fact that this saved them money, it was also nice to have a family dinner together since May and Max had been traveling for far too long. It was an enjoyable night, with the group chatting about past events and Brock's whereabouts, as well as Caroline finally giving Ash and May a harsh scolding for frying most of the furniture in May's bedroom with Pikachu's electric attacks. Pikachu slid down in its seat and let Ash take all the blame, it was enjoying the ketchup far too much to bother.
~*~*~*
After dinner, Ash, May and Max wanted to stay behind and admire the night sky while Norman and Caroline returned to the Gym. The parents had to tidy up the Gym and get it ready for trainers the next morning, and had to get the battlefield looking in tip-top shape for tomorrows Pokemon battles. Ash and the others walked slowly while admiring Petalburg's skyline, seeing the night sky almost made them yearn to start traveling again. The kids waved goodbye to their parents and promised to return home before 9pm.
May twirled the straw in her soda bottle, sipping what remained from her dinner. Pikachu still carried the ketchup bottle in its hands, which it wasn't supposed to as it belonged to the restaurant, but since Norman was a Gym leader the staff let it slide much to Pikachu's delight. Ash pulled on the brim of his nice new hat that May bought, it really did feel more comfortable than his old hat.
The trio spent around 20 minutes hanging around the main Petalburg plaza, walking lazily after stuffing themselves full of food back at the restaurant.
"I wonder if we should have walked back with Mom and Dad to the Gym," May said, "We could have helped them clean up the battlefield for tomorrow."
"I think you're right, sis, maybe Dad would appreciate all the hard work I put into cleaning the Gym if we went with them. At this rate, I'm not sure if our parents will keep Kenny around much longer if they tidy up the Gym themselves," Max said.
"They need Kenny for the referee, Max," Ash reminded him, "Otherwise your Mom would have to be the judge, and I don't know if she enjoys doing that or not."
"Nah, I don't think Mom would enjoy spending all her time refereeing Dad's matches, its just too time consuming. I have to admire Mom for sticking so loyal to Dad throughout the years though, his job has basically become his life. I wonder if deep down, Mom ever gets tired of it all. Sometimes I wonder if she wishes that Dad wouldn't be the Gym leader anymore," May sulked.
"If Dad ever acknowledges me and lets me become the Gym leader some day, then he and Mom would have all the free time in the world. Of course, I still don't know if Dad will ever offer me the position anyway," Max frowned.
"Geez, you two sound so depressed," Ash said, "Why don't you guys cheer up? Your parents just took you out to a buffet so we could eat out together before we travel again. Max, I've told you before, your Dad is already looking for options to the successor of the Petalburg Gym, since I…uh…declined, I'm sure you're on the top of the list now."
"You what? Dad asked you over me?" Max gasped, "Now that makes it sound even worse."
"Seems like Dad really likes you a lot, Ash," May said, taking another sip of her soda.
"And Caroline always looks happy when we see her, she doesn't look stressed out or anything because of your father's job," Ash continued.
"No, but Mom's are good at hiding stuff so their children don't feel bad," May said, "Dad made her wait for 14 months while he traveled around to get Gym badges so he could get control of the Gym, and I'm sure that was far more agonizing than what she let on, especially since they were deeply in love at the time."
"Do…do you think Dad will ask me to do the same thing? When I become a trainer that is, and if he chooses me, do you think he'll make me travel around the region collecting Gym badges to prove myself too?" Max asked, anxiously.
"Dad isn't nearly as strict as grandpa was, so who knows," May shrugged, "You're…not going to travel by yourself though, right?"
"No, I made up my mind that I'm going to continue traveling with Ash. He agreed to mentor me!" Max said cheerfully.
"Yeah, I guess I did," Ash chortled, scratching his head.
May smiled and continued to twirl her straw in her soda bottle. "Looks like I'm going to be traveling with Ash and my darling little brother for a long time then," she said, "Sounds like a lot of fun."
"Hey, you don't have to rub it in, May! I may end up being taller than you someday!" Max pouted.
"Maybe someday, but for now you're still my darling little brother," May teased.
The group were approaching the Petalburg Gym, but something didn't feel right. May caught whim of it before the others did.
"I'll make you eat those words one day, sis, you know that, right?" Max asked. She didn't answer for a few seconds, so he repeated it, "Right, May?"
He looked at his sister but was aghast at what he saw. May stood there trembling, with a look of intense fear on her face. Her hands shook as her soda bottle dropped onto the floor. She looked petrified, and Ash, Pikachu and Max followed her fearful gaze.
The Petalburg Gym ahead of them was completely covered in flames. The entire structure was ablaze in a red and orange hue, flames were shooting out from the windows as thick black smoke filled the sky. The Petalburg Gym, their home, was a burning inferno.
"How…?" May gasped, as she desperately ran torward the towering inferno.
"May, wait!" Ash yelled.
Pikachu dropped the ketchup and ran after the girl with Max trailing weakly behind. In front of the Petalburg Gym, a man was on the ground motionless. May shrieked fearfully when she recognized the clothing on the man, it was her father!
"DAD?!" May cried, as she turned the man over on the ground so she could see his face. Ash and the others hovered over him.
Norman's face was bruised and bloody, he had a black eye as well as a stream of blood trickling from his mouth. May and Max were terrified, they began screaming to their father to see if he was alive. Luckily, Norman was conscious and was able to speak with them.
Norman struggled to sit up on the ground as May supported his back. Max was trembling, seeing his once proud father completely beaten and the Gym in flames scared the boy silent. Norman tried to speak while May was frantically shouting in his ear.
"Ugh, May, calm down," Norman panted, "It was just a fist-fight, I'm…I'm ok."
"WHO DID THIS TO YOU?" May gasped, "You're bleeding terribly!"
"Never mind that!" Norman grunted, spitting some blood from his mouth, "I'll live, the more important thing is that you're all ok, I shudder to think what might have happened if you were walking with us back to the house."
"Where's Mom? What happened to her?" Max blurted out in fear.
Norman wiped some more blood off his face as he struggled to catch his breath. He looked at the trembling faces of his children, he was almost afraid to tell them.
"Damn it, she's not here," Norman said, angrily.
"Then where is she?" May gasped.
"Your mother's been kidnapped!" Norman exclaimed.