A/N: Again, only one review! Damn… And by the same person no less! Whatever, I might just be talking to myself but as soon as more chapters are posted this story will get more attention…

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Don't sue me please. These ideas are in my brain and need to be let out.

Summary: May and Merrick find the rest of the gang and they arrive at Merrick's house. Taking up May on her request, Merrick shoes the gang his Pokémon. But then someone new enters the story...

Pokémon: Maverick from the Dark

Chapter 3

"May, May," a voice said, "May wake up." May opened her eyes and saw Merrick looking down at her. She blushed.

"Good morning, Merrick," May said. She sat up and looked around the camp. Her Pokémon were just getting up, but Munchlax was still sleeping. Noticing that Merrick's Pokémon were not around she asked, "Merrick, where are your Pokémon? I thought you said that Sneasel was afraid to go into a Poké Ball."

"Yeah, um, last night when you were asleep, I allowed them to go hunting." Merrick said.

Puzzled, May said, "They went hunting?"

"Yes, even though that they are my Pokémon and they are on my team, I think it's still good that they can take care of themselves. They are healthier eating the food they ate before they were caught than eating human food. Plus, my Absol loves meat, and doesn't like berries much."

"Okay," May got up and went to her pack and pulled out her Pokémon's Poké Balls. "Return, guys." In several flashes of light, all of May's Pokémon disappeared into the Poké Balls. Going behind a bush, May changed into her traveling clothes.

She came back to the camp just a Merrick was reattaching his packs to his waist. Straightening out his long coat, he stretched. May saw his muscles flex and relax. He certainly is well built; I wonder what he does to keep in shape.

"Is there something wrong, May?" Merrick asked. May realized that she was staring at him and looked away.

There was a rustling of leaves and Sneasel leaped from the trees and landed in front of May. May jumped, startled at the amazing speed of the Pokémon. Just as soon as she recovered her wits, Absol bounded into the camp from the dense trees. "Your Pokémon sure are fast."

"Yeah, Absol and Sneasel are naturally very fast Pokémon." Sneasel hopped up to Merrick's shoulder and pointed back towards the trail. "It seems that rather than hunting last night, my Pokémon have found your friends."

After they finished cleaning and packing up, Sneasel leapt into the trees once again. Leading the way, Absol left the camp and went back onto the trail.

Acknowledging the crisp morning air, Merrick said, "It's a beautiful day today, I'm sure we can make it to Riktor City by midday."

Trying to keep up with the small talk May said, "Hey, Merrick, I've been wondering. How old are you?"

"I'm 18." He replied.

"Then how come you own a big house and a Pokémon Center?" May asked. She didn't know that he was that young.

"Well, I'll just say that I'm a very successful Pokémon trainer. I'll leave it at that."

After talking about the weather and the forest around them, they found that there was nothing to talk about. Silence fell over them for several minutes. The silence was broken when Absol said, "Sol."

"It would seem as if my Absol has found your friend." Seeing the in the distance walking towards them. "See? There they are."

Picking up the pace, May and Merrick ran up to Ash and Brock. "Where have you been? Did you get lost?" Max said really worried as he hugged his older sister.

"Yeah, when we got back to the river, Munchlax wasn't there. We got lost finding him." May explained.

"Fortunately, my Absol tracked you down and here we are." Merrick added. Pulling something from his long black coat, he said, "I believe that these belong to you, Ash." He handed Ash back his underwear.

A puzzled Ash said, "Where did you get these?"

"May had them in her pack," Merrick said, "We used it as a source for your scent."

Pulling May aside so that no one could hear, Ash asked May, "What are you doing with my underpants?"

May laughed nervously, "I . . . they, um . . . they got mixed up in the laundry." She knew perfectly well that there was no mix up. But Ash believed her.

"Excuse me, Max, may I see your Pokénav?" Merrick asked.

"Um, sure." Max pulled out his Pokénav and handed it to Merrick. After a couple beeps, he handed it back to Max.

"Your Pokénav is downloading the new version of its software via satellite."

"Really? Wow!" Max was excited, "Okay, lets get going." They all turned and headed down the road.

While they were walking, Merrick called back his Absol into its Poké Ball, "Absol, return." Absol disappeared into the Poké Ball.

After the group was walking for an hour or two they saw a city in the horizon. "That's Riktor City," Merrick said. "My mansion lies on the outskirts of town. We should head there first because right now it's closer than the city. Didn't you say you wanted to meet my other Pokémon, May?"

"Other Pokémon?" Ash said, "You have more?"

"Yeah, in my eight years of Pokémon training I've come a long way and I've caught a lot of Pokémon." Merrick said.

Sure enough after several more minutes of walking, they reached a high concrete wall, at least 9 feet tall. "This is the border of my Pokémon ranch. I have so many Pokémon that more than four fifths of my land was made into makeshift habitats for them. Another ten minutes and I say we'll reach the entrance to my house. Once inside I'll have the cook make us breakfast." Checking his watch, Merrick corrected himself, "Or, I mean lunch."

Walking along the wall, the small group finally came across a large black steel gate. Reaching inside is long black coat, Merrick pulled out a big black iron key. Inserting the key into the padlock between the two doors of the gate, Merrick said, "Welcome to my home."

As they stepped into the front courtyard, May, Max, Ash, and Brock could not believe their eyes. Out of sheer astonishment, Pikachu fell off of Ash's shoulder and landed flat on his face. Sneasel hopped off of Merrick's shoulder, and help Pikachu recover from its shock.

"Sneasel, go tell Daniel that I'm here." Merrick said. Sneasel immediately got up from a dazed Pikachu and ran towards the mansion at an incredible speed. It was just a black streak going across the driveway.

"Wow, your Sneasel runs faster than a Dodrio!" Max said.

"Thank you." Merrick reached inside his coat and released him Absol from its Poké Ball. "Absol go join the other Pokémon." Absol raced across the courtyard to the side the house and disappeared into the back yard. Absol may not have been as fast as Sneasel, but he was close.

Walking across the courtyard, they reached the front doors. Pushing them open, Merrick stepped into a huge foyer. Followed by the rest of the group, Merrick said, "Feel free to stay with me during your stay here at Riktor City. I'll get the housekeeper to set up your rooms. As for now you can leave your things here."

The group set down their things, still stunned by the sheer size of the house. They followed Merrick through the entrance hall into a kitchen. A female chef walked up to Merrick and asked, "Would you like lunch for you and the guests, Master Merrick?"

"Yeah, sure. The usual, please." Merrick said. He took a seat on a stool by the counter. Every one followed suit and waited for the host to speak. After a moment of silence Merrick said, "So, how do you like my house?"

The instant the words left his mouth, the four young trainers were attacking him with questions.

"Your house is so big!"

"How did you pay for this?"

"Where are your Pokémon?"

"How did you get so rich?"

Waving his hands in front of him, Merrick said, "Whoa! Hold it, one question at a time."

Ash spoke up first, "Merrick, your house is so big!"

"That's not really a question, but thanks." Merrick answered.

"How did you pay for this?" Brock asked.

"Yeah and how did you get so rich?" Max added enthusiastically.

"Well unlike most trainers nowadays, my work is completely dedicated to Pokémon training. To answer the question of how I pay for all this, I'll just tell you that my employer is very generous." Merrick explained. As a side note, he added, "It also helps that I'm very good at my job.

"To answer your second question, I worked my way up to where I am today. I started out a rookie trainer just like you, Ash." At that last comment, Ash suddenly looked a little red. Merrick corrected himself, "Not that you aren't a rookie trainer anymore, of course."

Knowing that it was her turn, May asked, "So where are your Pokémon?"

"That will have to wait until we finish lunch." Merrick said, just as the female chef came back holding a tray with five bowls of ice cream.

While Merrick ate in silence, Ash and the others started talking to each other about everything that was going on. By the time everybody finished, Max had already had two brain freezes.

"Now let's take a tour my Pokémon ranch." Merrick said, hopping off the stool.

"Pokémon ranch?" Ash asked, confused.

"Yeah well, I have so many Pokémon that I set up a 'Safari Zone' that my Pokémon can live in."

"You have that many Pokémon?" Ash said, clearly impressed.

"Yeah, and I've taken time to train almost each and every one individually. So with a vast variety of Pokémon, I can set up a team to take down almost any opponent. Of course I don't own every species of Pokémon, but I do own a vast majority." Merrick said. They walked out of the kitchen, then out to a back patio. Stretching in front of them for acres was the Pokémon Ranch.

Each portion of the ranch was a different habitat. There was a forest, some grassy plains, mountains and caves, a desert, and even streams and a very large lake. This was by far the largest artificial ecosystem that any of the young travelers have ever seen.

And that wasn't all. There were Pokémon everywhere. Pokémon of all types and species were living in their respective habitats, as if they have never been captured in the first place.

To the side of the house was a large pool for humans, and beyond that an elevated battled field.

"May, didn't you say you wanted to see my Pokémon?" Merrick said, walking off the patio towards the pool.

"Yeah . . ." May and the others were awestruck.

Snapping out of his astonishment, Ash said, "You must be a very powerful trainer to have all this."

"Yep, I am. Maybe we could have a battle later." Merrick said.

Ash eyes lit up at the chance for a battle, "Okay, but be prepared to lose."

"Don't worry, Ash, I'll go easy on you." Merrick said.

As the two trainers were talking, a young woman with sky blue hair and dark gothic clothing ran up to the group. Brock immediately saw this specimen of beauty.

When the woman came up to the group, she said, "Hi Merrick. You've been gone a while now. Welcome home."

Merrick turned from his conversation with Ash. "Hi Karen, did you miss me?" he said with a smirk. May noticed a twinkle in his eye when he said that.

Who is this woman? For some reason May was jealous. Noticing her figure, May quickly got mad at herself for having not passed through puberty all the way yet.

Brock was instantly on one knee, holding the woman's hand. "Oh Karen, my beloved Karen," Brock said, acting goofy. "Would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend? Ouch!"

Max had Brock by the ear and was pulling him away from Karen. Karen giggled, "Sorry. I'm taken."

Upon hearing these words, Brock's heart broke. With tears streaming from his eyes he asked, "Who? Who is it that has taken you from me?"

"Um, Merrick." She said. Instantly Brock fell back on the spot, stunned.

"Merrick's your boyfriend?" May asked. She wasn't showing it but she was extremely jealous. Way to go May! Get your hopes up, and then shoot yourself down.

"Yeah," Merrick said, putting an arm around her waist.

"I. . . I see." May said. She looked down at the ground, she was instantly depressed.

After wrestling down a struggling Brock, Max said, "Wow! Are you Karen? The Karen!"

Karen looked at him with slight pride in her eyes, "What do you mean?"

Max could not believe his eyes. "Are you The Karen, The Dark-Pokémon trainer of the Johto Elite Four?"

Taking pride in herself, she said, "Yes, I am."

Character

Karen, Fourth Member of the Johto Elite Four

Gender: Female

Age: 19

Height: 5' 4'

Weight: 120

Eyes: Violet

Hair: Sky blue

A/N: Karen is not an original character. If you've played Gold, Silver, or Crystal, you might remember her as the sexy Dark Pokémon Trainer in the Elite Four.