A/N: So I'm updating a little early, but I plan on updating every day at around this time from now on. I was just so excited to get my first chapter out after my two-day wait that I couldn't hold it in any longer =D. For those of you wondering, this will be a daily upload, one chapter a day kinda thing. Thanks for the review "o The JUICE o," and I'm hoping you'll like the upcoming installments of evildoers doing evil deeds, but not just yet (insert maniacal laughter).
Also, I'm aware of the fact that my tenses seem bipolar, constantly switching from past to present, and it's something I plan on fixing, but not while I'm on a roll with writing. =P
Drawing ever closer to Professor Oak's lab, a very mischievous haunter carries his trainer's backpack in an attempt to hide it from him, but hasn't been able to shake the persistent boy yet. He spots a lot of commotion atop a hill in the distance and begins racing toward it, the boy and his ninetails following close behind.
"Remind me again why I ever caught him?" The boy yells to his ninetails as they attempt not to let the haunter out of their sight. They know if that happens it might take days before they find the pack. The boy picks up speed when he sees where the haunter is headed: straight toward what seems to be a party of some sort.
"Poof, no! Don't you dare! We don't know anybody here and I know what you have in mind! Don't do it!" The haunter simply snickers, turning around and making a face at the boy while keeping pace. He turns back around and speeds up, and the boy knows it's inevitable. He can only hope to arrive before his haunter causes too much damage.
Atop the hill, the cake had been eaten down to the last few pieces and everyone was enjoying a fun game of "Pin the tail on the tauros." So far, without cheating, May had been the closest, pinning it on one of the hind legs. The professor was way off, pinning the tail right on the nose, which prompted quite a few puns about his profession. Bulbasaur had lifted the blindfolds off and Bayleef had caught him in the act, ensuing a fight between the two that was quickly broken up by Brock's chansey.
Up next was Misty, who donned on the blindfold and began getting spun around. Everyone was looking on in anticipation, waiting for someone to hit the target dead-on. Almost immediately after her five spins, Misty jumped forward with the tail-pin in her hand and stuck it right into Ash's leg.
"Ooooowwaahhh!" Ash screamed, grabbing his leg in pain. "Why'd you do that!" He jumped up, hopping up and down on his uninjured leg. Brock's chansey was quick to respond, coming to Ash's aid with a bandage in hand.
"Ehh…I…didn't…" Misty said, taking the blindfold off and looking at her hands, "Someone grabbed my hand and pulled me, I swear!"
"But who? We were all sitting right here…" Brock asked, a perplexed look on his face. Professor Oak stepped forward, his hand raised, finger pointed and eyes closed in his usual "matter-of-fact" expression, seemingly ready to say something, but instead started making faces at everyone.
"Lehhhhhhhgggggg," was the sound that came out of the professor's mouth, nothing coherent at all. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and he grabbed his mouth with both hands and looked around with a panicked expression. He took his hands down and waited cautiously before talking again. "…It would seem…as though we have a visitor…"
Everyone began looking at each other, confused as to what the professor might mean. Before anybody else could say anything, May cried out in terror. When they turned to look, everyone saw that she was floating ten feet off of the ground, wiggling in place.
"Get me dooowwnnn! Waahh!" Suddenly a haunter appeared behind her wearing a backpack and laughing. It gave her a big hug before slowly lowering her down to the ground.
A boy appeared about twenty feet away and pulled out a pokeball. "Poof, return!" The haunter gave May a big smile before returning to the pokeball as his trainer commanded, letting the pack drop behind him. "Gah…I'm really, really sorry about him. He's a typical haunter, and we've been chasing him all day." The boy flopped down in the grass and began resting. "I really hope he didn't cause too much trouble, and I promise to pay for anything he broke."
Everyone looked at the boy for a second, speechless as to what just happened. May especially was very bewildered and still catching up with her thoughts. Ash was the first to speak.
"Hey jerk! Your haunter stabbed me in the leg with a pin!" He was still sitting on the bench while Chansey patted his leg. "Just who do you think-Oh!" Ash stopped and gasped as he saw the ninetails come up and sit next to the boy, realizing he was a pokemon trainer and he might be able to get a battle in on his birthday.
The boy put a hand on the ninetails' head and looked up. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name's Mason, and this is Noone. The haunter you had the misfortune of meeting earlier was Poof. We were just passing through and I let my pokemon out to eat, and that's when Poof took my shoes. I managed to get them back, but he decided he wasn't done having fun for the day." He chuckled and looked toward May. "I've gotta thank you for being there, Poof seemed to like you. I hope he didn't lick you like he does me. Stings."
May let out an embarrassed laugh and put her hand behind her head. "Oh, it's no problem. He was very gentle, and even gave me a hug, I think." She smiled toward the newcomer.
"Well that's good to hear, and thanks again. I'm really sorry to interrupt here, guys. It looks like you guys were having a blast." He looked back the way he came. "Do you guys know if there's a pokemon center in town? I doubt we'll be able to make it back to where we were before the day's done."
"Hold on!" Ash yelled, "If you've got those pokemon, that must mean you're a trainer! Let's have a battle!" Ash stood up and his pokemon rallied behind him, happy and ready to fight.
"Ehh…I don't know, we've been running around all day, and Noone's not really a big fan of pokemon battles, let alone taking part in them." Noone let out a cry in agreement.
"Aw…How about just a quick one? It is my birthday after all!" Ash wasn't ready to let Mason go that easily, he was ready for a battle. "Besides, it was your haunter that brought you here, maybe he wants to battle!"
"Well…" Mason was still pretty wary, but Noone gave him a nudge and looked at him eagerly. "If you say so," he said to Noone. Mason gave a big grin, "Alright then, you're on!"
The battle is a 3-on-3 battle, with the first to two victories being claimed the winner. For the first pokemon, Ash sends out Bayleef, while Mason sends out Seven, his igglybuff. A comical scene pans out as Mason orders a sing attack at the same time Ash orders a sleep powder attack and both pokemon fall asleep. However Bayleef quickly recovers and attacks with a razor leaf. Seven wakes up, but a moment too late as she's hit by the brunt of the attack. She recovers and charges forward with a double-slap attack. Bayleef takes a few hits, but is able to push Seven back and regain her ground. Ash then orders a vine-whip attack. The whips lash out at the small igglybuff, but Mason calls out for a counter-attack, sending the whips flying back at Bayleef with twice the force. Bayleef takes the attack and stands her ground, still raring to fight. Ash tells Bayleef to use a body slam attack while Mason orders the same thing. The two pokemon meet in the middle of the battlefield and collide head-on, but Bayleef overpowers Seven and sends her flying back, knocked out. Bayleef runs back to Ash with a tackle attack to show her affection and joy to be battling with him again. Mason consoles Seven before recalling her into her pokeball.
Next up for Ashe is Infernape, who takes the field confident and ready to fight again. Mason sends Poof back out, who makes a quick grab for Mason's backpack. Mason snatches it up and points toward the field, which Poof takes while laughing. Infernape opens up with a flamethrower attack, which Mason orders Poof to counter with a night shade attack. The night shade bursts through the flamethrower and hits Infernape dead on. Infernape is quick to recover, however, and charges at Poof with a flame wheel. Mason tells Poof to use a psychic attack, stopping Infernape in his tracks and lifting him into the air. Poof follows up with a confusion attack that sends Infernape flying back to his side of the field. Infernape attempts to get closer to Poof by using agility and flare blitz, and pops up behind the haunter, taking him by surprise and knocking him forward a ways. Poof turns around with a shadow ball already formed and fires it off, much to Infernape's surprise. The attack lands and Infernape is knocked to the ground. He gets back up once more, only to be put back down by a hypnosis attack. To finish him off, Poof uses a dream eater attack and knocks Infernape out. Ash runs to his Infernape and helps it to its feet. It hangs its head and leaves the battlefield. Meanwhile, Mason and Poof are rejoicing over their win. Mason gives Poof a hug and Poof shows his affection with a lick attack, stunning Mason. Mason holds the pokeball up and recalls Poof.
Finally, Pikachu takes the battlefield followed by Noone. Pikachu opens with a quick attack, taking Noone by surprise when he switches sides at the last second. Noone seizes the up-close opportunity and charges up a flame wheel, slamming into Pikachu and forcing him back to his side of the battlefield. Pikachu takes the attack and responds immediately with a series of thunderbolts, each of which Noone dodges. Noone unleashes a flamethrower attack that engulfs nearly the entire field. Ash has Pikachu jump into the air to avoid the attack and orders him to come down with an iron tail attack. The attack lands and Noone is knocked to the ground. Much to Ash and Pikachu's surprise, Noone gets back to her feet, and Pikachu is suddenly rendered immobile by a disable attack. Even more surprising is when Pikachu is lifted into the air by what seems to be either a confusion attack or a psychic attack. Immobile and stuck in the air, Pikachu is defenseless as Ninetails fires off a massive firespin attack, smashing Pikachu with a relentless wall of fire. When the attack ends, Pikachu falls to the ground knocked out. Ash runs and picks up his best friend, reassuring him that he did his best. Noone walks back to Mason and jumps up, hugging him as he hugs back. She gives him a kiss on the cheek as he ruffles the hair on her head. The match is over, Mason is the victor.
After the battle, the group invited Mason to finish out the party with them. He let Seven and Poof out of their pokeballs (Poof only under the condition that he kept all funny business to a minimum) and joined the group at the tables, Noone staying with him.
"That was an amazing battle, Mason. I'm Ash, by the way. Ash Ketchum." Ash held out his hand which Mason took.
"Yeah it was, it's been a long time since Noone and I have battled, and even longer since we had such a difficult fight. I haven't seen Noone hit that hard for a long time. Your pikachu's okay, right?" Mason asked, looking at Pikachu on Ash's shoulder.
"Yeah, he's tough like me." Ash said with a chuckle, petting Pikachu's head. "So how was it that Noone was able to fight the way she did?" Ash asked, looking curiously at the ninetails which was resting its head in Mason's lap.
"I'm not really sure," Mason answered, "Ever since she evolved into a ninetails, Noone's shown some very odd traits. It doesn't matter to me though, she doesn't usually enjoy battling and I'm fine with that. As long as we're with each other." Noone lifted her head up and gave him a smile.
"That really is a wonderful looking ninetails you have there. When did you guys decide to evolve her?" Brock asked, remembering his time with Suzy's vulpix.
"We didn't. She just evolved." Mason answered, leaving everyone shocked. "Like I said, she's shown some very odd traits, and she didn't need a fire stone to evolve. I'm perfectly fine with that and so is she."
"Well either way, I know a good ninetails when I see one," Brock said, "and that's a wonderful companion you have there." Brock leaned over and gave Noone a pat on the head, which she responded to with a small sigh. Mason reached down and scratched her behind her ear, causing her to let out a small whimper in excitement. Pikachu's ears perked up and he jumped off of Ash's shoulder to investigate the noise, crawling up on Mason's lap and sniffing his hand.
"Hey, Pikachu! Don't be rude!" Ash called out after him.
"Don't worry, he's no bother," Mason said, reaching down to Pikachu and scratching him under his chin. Pikachu let out a high-pitched squeal in excitement, kicking his leg instinctively. Mason pulled his hand up higher and Pikachu followed, stretching his neck out.
"Woah…I've never seen him act like that," Ash was looking on, amazed at how Mason was interacting with Pikachu. "Pikachu, what are you doing?" He called out to his friend. Pikachu turned back and gave Ash a look of ecstasy, showing him that he was really enjoying himself. Mason gave Pikachu a rub on the head before Pikachu returned to Ash.
"What was that?" Brock asked. He, as well as May, Misty and Dawn were looking on the entire time, also taken aback at how Pikachu was acting with a complete stranger.
"It was nothing, really," Mason claimed, a little embarrassed, not meaning to show off, "At least nothing I can explain. It's just something I've been able to do since I was a kid. I can tell what pokemon like and I'm always happy around them, and they always seem happy around me. For the most part, at least. My parents always said I 'had a way with pokemon.'"
Further proving his point, May's glaceon was now investigating where the strange sounds were coming from. Mason reached down with both hands, rubbing her sides back and forth. Glaceon leaned into Mason more and more as he went on, purring as she went, until she was eventually on her back with her feet stretched out in the air.
"Ahhh…" May just watched, mouth agape, astonished at what this boy was doing. Soon the entire party of pokemon was gathered around, either investigating or cuddling up to him.
"Eh-Hey now! Slow down, there's plenty to go around!" Mason cried out, causing everyone to laugh. In a few minutes the pokemon had settled down, all of them napping around the group.
Back at the lab, Tracey, Professor Oak and Delia looked on.
"Hm, it seems as though that boy really knows how to interact with pokemon," Professor Oak said, "Even Sceptile went over for a minute to see what was happening."
"And did you see the way he battled with his haunter and ninetails?" Tracey spoke up, "I've never seen anything like it, Professor!"
"Well it's obvious that Poof is very skilled in combat, no matter how mischievous it may be, but there have also been known anomalies amongst pokemon, giving them strengths and abilities that would normally be uncharacteristic of their type," Professor Oak paused for a second, and then grunted as if agreeing with himself, "It seems only natural that a pokemon of that sort would be attracted to someone with an affinity for understanding pokemon."
Tracey just looked on and grunted, a usual sign from the Pokemon Watcher that he understood. Delia's attention hadn't left her son. "They grow up so fast don't they…" She began to tear up, "I know everyone says that, but when you find yourself washing pokemon pajamas one day and watching your kid compete in a regional championship the next, it really hits home. I bet you he's starting to think about his next adventure now." She smiled through her tears, "He's going to leave me again, soon. But I'll be here, ready and waiting for my little pokemon master to come home!" Delia cried out, much louder than intended. Luckily the group at the tables was caught up in small talk and didn't notice, but she left Tracey and Oak staring in an awkward silence.
"He's always been able to take care of himself, Mrs. Kethcum," Tracey reassured her, "I'm sure that even if he does take off again he'll be fine." Professor Oak nodded, remembering back to the day when Ash first received Pikachu.
"He really has grown quite a bit since meeting Pikachu. I've got a lot of faith in that young man," Oak said, "I believe he'll do just fine in life, no matter where he is or who he's with."
The sun begins setting and the group moves inside, recalling their pokemon to their pokeballs. "Well happy birthday Ash, and I'm glad I could give you a present of some sort," Mason said with a smile, "but we'd better get going if we're going to make it to the pokemon center before dark."
"Why don't you just stay here for the night?" Ash suggested. "There's plenty of room and I'm sure the professor won't mind."
"Not to mention the pokemon loved meeting you, and I'm sure they'd like to see you once more before you go!" Dawn chimed in, "I've never seen someone who's made Cyndaquil act like that before."
"Well, if you guys are sure it won't be an imposition, I'd really appreciate having a place to stay," Mason said, then looked down at Noone, "Whaddya think? Wanna stay here tonight?" Noone simply walked over to May and rubbed against her leg, almost causing her to lose her balance. May reached down and gave her a pat on the head. "Well, it's settled then, as long as Noone's alright with it." Noone let out a chirp in agreement and walked back to Mason.
Ash and Delia stood in the doorway, ready to go home. "You guys'll be here in the morning, right?" Ash asked, afraid his time with his friends might already be over.
"We'll be here," Misty answered, "Promise. We'll be staying here for the week, right Mrs. Ketchum?" Ash's face lit up at hearing this.
"That's right, I made sure everyone was set for a small vacation before they came over." Delia said with a certain tone of accomplishment.
"Alright!" Ash jumped with joy, "It'll be just like old times. I'm sure we can find tons of things to do!"
"Already taken care of, too," Professor Oak said, "Your mom made arrangements and plans for the entire week. Trust me when I say you guys will have a blast." He smiled at Delia who let out a giggle.
"I wish Max could have been here with us, but I'm glad to hear he's doing so well at the gym." Ash looked at the time, "I wonder why he hasn't called yet."
"Oh you know Max, Ash. I'm sure he's been dying to tell you all about his adventures at the gym, but he's also doing everything he can to make sure he doesn't mess up." May smiled, "He'll call as soon as he gets the chance, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah!" Ash laughed, "Alright guys. I'll see you bright and early! Thanks again for everyone coming over! And it was great meeting you Mason!" Ash and Delia took off down the hill towards home.
A few minutes later, the tables were empty and the last of the dishes were being done.
"Man…I've gotta say, it's great being together again!" May said, washing up at the sink. "It seems like it's been forever since I last saw any of you guys."
"Yeah, and it's been great meeting you, Misty! You too, Tracey!" Dawn winked at Misty who winked back. "It's so exciting thinking about spending an entire week here!"
"Yes, very, but for now I think it's time to get some rest. I'll show you to your rooms." Professor Oak led everyone but Tracey upstairs. There was a long hallway filled with rooms for guests, plenty of space for everyone to stay. He showed everyone to their rooms and went downstairs to help Tracey. Tracey was finishing up closing the lab down for the evening, taking care to lock every door and window. Finally, he checked on the pokemon outside, who were all fast asleep and calm as usual. The lights in the lab went out and everything was still.
A/N: So this one's even longer than the one before, which, again, was not what I had planned. Then again, half of the things I have in this story weren't part of the plan and they worked beautifully (I hope), so who knows? As always, reviews of any kind are warmly welcomed!
Mason found his way to the group (thanks to Poof) and Ash has disovered he's got an entire week to spend with all of his friends. What's happening with Max all the way in Hoenn? And whatever happened to that island Mewtwo took over? Plenty to come in future chapters, so stay tuned! (Hooray T.V. References!)
P.S. I'll be adding in a character profile for Mason, for any interested in his history.