"Wait! Wait for us!"
"Pika Pi!"
Ash and Pikachu cried out as they ran towards the ferry.
"Oh man, we're gonna miss it! I knew we should have waited until we got on the boat to eat!"
"Pika! Pi Pikachu!"
"Stop lecturing me Pikachu! I know I was wrong, okay? Right now we gotta to focus on getting on that ship!"
Pikachu shook his head as he continued to help his trainer call out. They both made it to Viriadin City in time to get on the ferry. In fact, they had so much time left over that Ash decided they grab a quick bite to eat before they left.
The problem, however, was the 'quick' in his plan.
But that was all water under the bridge now. Right now, they had to focus on getting on the ferry, otherwise they'd have to wait another two weeks before the next one came in, which was something Ash could not afford to do.
"Wait! Wait! Please don't leave us behind!"
"Pika Pika!"
The chief mate looked up from his post to see a raven headed young man and his Pikachu running towards his ship. He got up from his seat and walked down the boarding ramp to go greet the youth.
"Well, ahoy there, lad. What be your name?"
Ash skidded to a halt before hunching over, trying to catch his breath.
"My…my name's…Ash…"
"Pi-ka…"
"Are…are we too late?" Ash asked as he straightened up.
A small smile spread across the sailor's face. "Nope. You just made it."
"Really?"
"Aye. You're a lucky too. I pressed the cap'n to wait a few extra mins, case we had some late passengers. Looks like you're validating what a said, lad," the broad man said as he backslapped Ash, nearly knocking Pikachu off his back.
"Gee, uh, thanks. Thanks a lot," Ash said as he began rubbing his sore back.
"No problem, buddy. Better board on quick. We 'bout to depart soon."
"Right! Hey, thanks for waiting for us!" Ash said as he began to sprint up the boarding ramp of the ship.
The sailor shook his head as he looked at the youth.
Boy, what a lad. Humph. Johny will never hear de end from me.
"Ahoy, Sammy! Cap'n said to load up! We 'bout to ship out!" A sailor called from the deck.
"Aye-Aye, Matey. Be up in a jiffy."
Sammy took one last look around the port, before boarding the ship and drawing in the stairs.
Yes siree, Johny won't be yo-ho-hoin' at sunset.
Ash began looking around the room as he entered the lounge area. When he heard a cry, he looked around the room, but he didn't see anything.
It wasn't until he felt something tug on his leg that he saw who it was.
"Charmander?"
"Char!" the little fire type cried.
"Well, hey there little buddy? What're you doing away from your trainer?" Ash said as he began petting the small pokémon on her head.
"That Charmander isn't away from its trainer."
Ash looked up to see a pigtailed magenta-headed girl looking at him. It took him a few moments, but he finally recognized who the little girl was.
"Hey, Melanie. Long time no see."
"Speak for yourself. I take it you're going to Hoenn too?"
"Yep. Visiting a friend. What about you? I thought you were gonna go to Pewter City to try to enter the Pokémon League in Kanto?"
"Was. But then I decided to get some new pokémon for my team. Preferably, not from this region. It'd be nice to enter a competition with pokémon that's rare to the region, yah know?"
"Uh, yeah. So did you catch any new pokémon yet?"
"Did you not just hear what I said? I'm trying to catch pokémon rare to the region."
Ash rolled his eyes. "Gee, what happened to the sweet little ten year old I meet back at the lab?"
Melanie crossed her arms and smirked.
"Oh, she's still here. She's just away for a little while."
"Away?"
"Yeah. I heard you were dense…"
"What?" he said slightly annoyed.
"… So, I just wanted to see for myself. Looks like they were proven right cause you're validating what they said. You are dense."
Ash cut his eyes at the little girl.
She flicked her hand. "Anyway, you're still my hero, Ash."
"Gee, thanks."
"But, since you asked, I did manage to catch another pokémon to add to my team. You wanna meet it?"
"Well…"
"C'mon out, Volteen!" Melanie cried out as she threw her pokéball.
A small wool pokémon materialized in front of her trainer.
"Wow, Melanie! You caught a Mareep?"
"Yep. Ash, meet Volteen. The very first pokémon I caught. Say hello Volteen."
"Maree!" the little lamb said cheerfully.
"I caught this little cutie right before I boarded the ship."
"Where?"
"Friend of a friend."
"What?"
"A friend of mine's, Ash. A friend of my friend breeds pokémon. Just so happens she was looking for someone to take care of this little one. So I stepped up to the plate and agreed to take care of this little angel. Blaze did too."
"Char!"
"But, isn't Blaze a baby pokémon too?"
"Your point?"
Ash stared uneasily at the little girl before him. The silence between them was soon broken as a husky voice was heard over the intercom.
"Ahoy passengers. We be departing the port soon. So please take ye seats and prepare for departure."
"Guess we better take our seats."
"Aye, Matey. Let us each go to our quarters and rest up for da night," Melanie said as she recalled her Mareep into her pokéball.
"Why, are you talking like that?" Ash asked as he began to uneasily stare at the little girl once more.
"Oh, that? Meh." Melanie said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"What do you mean, meh?"
"See, this sailor challenged me to a game of chess earlier. He got upset when I beat him three times in a row. So then, he challenged me to a battle, which he still lost. He was talking like that the whole time. Called me a 'Scurvy dog' or something. But, hey. I don't mind. He got his battle and I earned myself 50 bucks," she said patting her pants pocket.
"You sound more like a pirate than a sailor."
"Is there really a difference?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A pirate is a sailor, but a sailor isn't necessarily a pirate." Ash corrected
"And again I ask, is there really a difference?"
Ash sighed.
"That's what I thought," She said as she put her hands on her hips.
He shook his head. "Well, congratulations. I guess."
"Whatever."
"Yeah, well. See you later, Melanie." He said as he began walking away.
"You going somewhere?"
"To my cabin. I'm flat out exhausted."
Melanie crossed her arms.
"Whatever. I'm gonna go see if someone else on this ship wants to battle. Let's go Blaze."
And with that, the little ten year old and her Charmander turned around and left, leaving Ash and Pikachu standing there with confused looks on their faces.
"Pika?"
"I don't know, Buddy. But something tells me that the sweet little ten year old we met back at the lab has gone away for a very long, long vacation. And I don't know if she's gonna come back. Ever."
Ash stood at the railing of the ship, watching the horizon with Pikachu perched on the railing, also looking forward to their eventual destination. There was no sign of the Slateport's coastline yet, but Ash knew there weren't far away from it.
"I'm almost there, May. I'm almost there. It won't be long til'…"
"Who's May?"
Ash nearly fell off overboard as he turned around abruptly to unexpectedly see Melanie looking up at him, curiosity in her big green eyes.
"Melanie? What…What are you…Don't do that!"
"Do what?"
"Sneak up on me like that!"
"I wasn't sneaking up you?"
Ash held his chest firmly as he tried to catch his breath.
"What are you doing out here by yourself anyway, Ash?"
After his breathing returned to normal, Ash turned back to look over the horizon.
"Just…thinking."
"Who's May?"
That question got his attention. "What?"
"You kept saying 'I'm almost there, May. I'm almost there.'…Who's May?"
Ash felt his throat grow dry as he tried to calm his nerves. "S-She's a friend."
"A friend, you say?"
"Yeah, a friend."
"Is she that friend you said you were gonna visit today?"
"You sure are asking a lot of questions, Melanie."
Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "I'm curious. I have questions that need to be satisfied."
"And I do not know how to satisfy their needs," Ash said as he continued to look over the horizon.
"You so do!"
"Why are you still here?"
"Why are you so defensive?"
Ash didn't answer as he continued to stare hard at the sea before him.
A large smile appeared on Melanie's face. "Oh my gosh! You like her don't you?"
Ash eyes widened. He turned around to face the little girl. "What?"
"You like her don't you? You so like her!"
"I…I…"
Melanie began pumping her fists. "Oh my gosh! This is so sweet!"
Ash put his hands over his eyes as he felt his face heat up.
"You have a crush on a girl named May!"
Ash sighed. He was starting to get frustrated. "Melanie…"
"I bet it's not even a crush. You love her don't you?"
"Melanie…"
"You love May! You love May!"
"Melanie…" Ash said with annoyance.
"Ash and May, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes…"
"Melanie!"
Melanie stopped singing to see a very frustrated and annoyed Ash and Pikachu.
"What?"
"Can you just leave me alone, please!"
"But I'm not done with my song. That was very rude of you to…"
"That wasn't a question, Melanie!"
Melanie put her hand to her chest as she gawked at the raven headed trainer.
"Ash…"
"Melanie, go back in the ship and leave…me…alone, please."
"Pika Pi!"
She looked at the electric pokémon on the railing."You too Pikachu?"
"Melanie, I'm asking you. Soon, I'll be demanding…"
"Alright, I'm going, I'm going," she put her hands on her hips, "Sheesh! No sense of humor. It was a joke, Ash."
"Does it look like I'm laughing, Melanie?" He pointed to his face for emphasis.
"No. It looks like you're embarrassed."
"Get out!"
"Fine!" she said as she began stomping off towards the lounge.
"But when you're complaining about how you didn't get to tell this May girl how you feel, don't come crying to me about it. I may be young, but I know a thing or two about relationships. And let me tell you, you suck at it Ash Ketchum!"
And with that said, Melanie stormed off inside the boat, her Charmander behind her.
Ash increased his grip on the railing as he felt himself shake with anger.
Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. "Pika, Pikachu?"
Ash exhaled loudly. Then, he looked at his best friend. "Yeah, I'm fine, Pikachu."
"Pi Pika?"
"You're right. Guess I should apologize to her later. She's just…so freaking annoying!"
Ash gave a loud sigh before he calmed himself down.
"I'll apologize to her later, Pikachu. But I just wanna think to myself for right now."
Pikachu gave his trainer a nod as he made a victory symbol with his paws.
Ash smiled. "Thanks, buddy."
Ash looked up to see the sunset before him.
Beautiful. Just like you May.
Ash continued to smile as he thought about wait with expectancy for his eventual destination.
I'm almost there, May. I'm almost there.