I'm alive.
Well guys...I'M SURRY! *sob* I FAILED U GUYSSS NUUUUUU! Anyway, I wasn't writing for a long time because...school. Yes. Also I was really lazy xD. Well now I have a little bit more freedom, so I can still concoct something up sometimes. PERIOD. Don't quote me on that.
Moving the review corner to the bottom because...I can. And it is kinda more pleasing personally. Enjoy!
"Too quiet." Ash looked at the entrance of the league tower. Yesterday, it nearly became his grave, but now it was teeming with different trainers and pokemon, all ready to sign up for the annual pokemon championships.
Even now, he still wondered why he was here again. His mind wandered aimlessly until he bumped into the receptionist. "Ow!"
The lady at the counter didn't seem to notice his discomfort, and talked as if he was another participant. "Name and occupation?"
Ash blinked twice and started apologizing. "No no! Wait! I'm not here to sign up for the-"
"If you have not realized yet, young man, you are obstructing the queue. So please don't hold the others up." The lady smiled and waved over to the people behind Ash.
"Hey! What's the hold up!"
"I have been waiting here for hours!"
"Come on kid!"
He groaned and realized that there was no way for him to escape out of this mess.
"Er...My name is Ritsu um..." He frantically tried to think of a surname, then noticed the tip of pikachu's tail hanging out from his jacket. "Yellowtail! Ritsu Yellowtail!"
The lady's eyebrows heightened, and Ash mentally slapped himself for coming up with such a stupid name. But the lady just nodded and gestured him over to the lobby area. And he walked on ahead with no choice. It was either that or be crushed to death under a few hundred people.
The lobby was huge! It had a marble fountain spewing water from its mouth, into a giant white pool in the center that extended at 4 sides to mimic a compass. Stalls were located near each entrance, with merchants buying and selling everything, from food to potions to an old keychain with a piece of string for a chain. And that same merchant was heading for Ash right now.
"Boy! You look very cute, very handsome. You want this?'' He showed Ash the keychain. "Very beautiful, yes? I promise you will not regret.!"
"Huh? Er, no...'' Ash tried to politely shake his head, but the merchant went on. "I tell you story. This keychain has been in my family for maaaany generations!" He tapped the chain. "This is of finest quality lint! Only from the freshest sheep!" And he rambled on and on until Ash couldn't take it, and yelled at the merchant.
"I don't want to buy!"
"I don't wanna buy!"
He instantly swerved to the person that nearly said the exact same thing as him, and his eyes locked onto May. He gaped at her, and prayed to everything he could think of that the doctor disguised him enough so that even May would be tricked.
Her lips quivered, and Ash felt like squealing and running away. Finally she pointed to me and said "Jinx!"
"..." Ash gaped at her. Figures she would say something completely unexpected like that.
"Hi! I'm May!" She smiled, and extended a hand. Ash took it, and shook it. "I'm Ritsu.''
"Weird name." She commented absent mindedly, and Ash inwardly winced. "Anyway, now that you know me, let's talk! Me and Brock were getting bored waiting for the rest."
Ash smiled awkwardly, since he was supposed to be incognito, and May was now slowly crushing his confidence and calmness. So he tried to sound casual. "The rest?"
She nodded. "Paul, Drew, Serena, Dawn...and..." Her eyes drooped slightly. "Ash."
He blushed slightly, but remembered he was supposed to be Ritsu. He was about to reply when a sudden question popped into his mind. It is too quiet...where is Giovanni? A notion just formed in his mind, something so clear and predictable he wanted to kick himself for not realizing this sooner.
"Um May? I gotta do something, so bye!" He raced away from her, not once looking back.
Serena raced through the dense forest, tripping over roots and logs. Her pursuer seemed to be taking his time, enjoying Serena try to escape. She slipped and grazed her legs, but gritted her teeth against the pain and kept running. She soon came across a small valley, with two rivers flowing down and merging into one, and an abandoned warehouse at where the two rivers intersect.
Desperately, she waded in the river, and nearly lost her balance twice. Finally she made it to the rusty iron doors, and closed herself in. She grabbed an iron bar lying on the floor and fastened it onto the handles of the doors. They cracked and strained under the pounding of Giovanni, but suddenly ceased.
Serena's breathing was ragged and shallow, and she slumped to the floor, in cold sweat. "Is...is he finally gone?"
She inched closer to the door, fully aware of her heavy breathing and surroundings. The roof was holed in several places, allowing her to see. She could make out mostly wood cartons stacked neatly against every wall, a little room at the back that probably leads to a staircase, and a ceramic box in the middle with a red wheel on one side and a hose sticking out from the top of the box.
"That thing looks just like the hose of a fire engine," Serena whispered. "Does it have something to do with the crates?"
Suddenly, the doors crashed open, flinging Serena away. She collapsed on the floor, clutching her sides. Giovanni stepped into the warehouse, smiling and juggling a pokeball. Behind him was a Sandslash, eyeing Serena with a piercing gaze.
"Hi," Giovanni waved.
"Get away from me!" She screamed and flung the hose at Giovanni. He caught it in his free hand, and looked at Serena, bemused. "Really?"
Serena smiled, and suddenly swung the wheel, sending gallons of water up the hose. Giovanni barely had time to react before he and his Sandslash got flushed away.
"Gotta get...help." Serena coughed, blood spitting out. That door explosion hurt her more than she thought. The hose was still spewing out water, so she was safe from Giovanni for the moment. But it was only a matter of time before he barges in though another wall and kills her. "Someone...help."
She could vaguely make out the sound of Giovanni's laughter, and he sounded extremely demented. "Hey girl! Guess what I saw outside this place!" She was beginning to lose consciousness as Giovanni boasted. "It's a TNT factory! What bad luck for you to be holed up in there. What amazing luck that I have this little pokemon called a...I dunno, Charmander?!" She heard the sound of a pokemon being released, and caught a whiff of burning wood.
Giovanni walked away, laughing. Serena, was still coughing from the fumes of the fire. Any second now the TnT would light up, and she was gonna die as a human firework. But she didn't want to die this early. All she wanted was to see a final glimpse of...
"Ash?!" She whispered hoarsely, as a shadow descended on her and picked her up. "Is that...you?"
"Shh," It smiled, and Serena began to slip away from her consciousness. "You're safe."
Ash looked at the crowd in anticipation. Where were the others? Why haven't they arrived yet? He was about to stamp his foot in frustration. He had just left a little bit to change his pokedex information. But now he felt like he shouldn't have left her.
He was about to look through the crowd again, when a hand grasped his shoulder, and he gasped. An ice cream cone suddenly popped into view, and he traced the hand back to its owner. "You look really funny when you're scared." May handed him the cone. Behind her was a pile of luggage worth five people's weight.
Ash accepted her gift, and looked at the luggage. "That is a lot of things for one girl."
"Tell that to Dawn," May laughed, then added, "She's my friend." Pikachu nudged Ash in the chest, and he remembered he was supposed to be a stranger.
"Do you need um...help?" He offered, and May laughed. "YES! I am so not going to carry all my friends' stuff up three floors, even if I used the lift!" Ash smiled, and started to carry two bags at once. "Lead the way, miss."
At May's room, it was pretty simple. Five beds, a table lamp, chandelier, a bathroom, and a small television set.. Just a typical normal rent-out room. Ash set down the last luggage bag, breathing and panting. Someone should give him an award for just being able to stay upright after that slave labor. May was sitting on one of the beds, putting her hand in her mouth, as if she was worried for Ash.
Well, leave it to May to be worried about a complete stranger. Ash went and sat down next to her, lying on the bed. May turned on the TV, and started asking Ash a lot of questions.
"Why did you come here?"
"Because...I like battling?"
"Do you think you can win?"
"I'm not really here to win-"
"Can you show me your pokemon?
"Well-"
"Your pikachu is so cute!" May started hugging Pikachu. "It reminds me of my friend's pokemon..." She suddenly turned sad, and put down Pikachu. Ash decided to change the subject and ask her about battling. This went on until they had nothing left to talk about, and decided to play some board games.
"WHY. DO. I. KEEP. LOSING!" Ash screamed, and flung down his cards, as May laughed at her hundredth victory...of the hour. Ash was fumigating, even more so when May started to not even try to win. He sat down and folded his arms petulantly. "You cheated!"
"If cheating means I did better than you, then yes, I cheated." May laughed as Ash turned red. "But seriously, I won because I thought outside the box."
"Huh?"
"Play arm wrestling with me."
Ash looked suspiciously at May, and wondered if she was joking or being serious. "Fine. I want to win already." Her fingers weaved with Ash's, and she waved her free hand, indicating to start.
At first Ash was winning by a mile, but May used her free hand to tickle Ash's sides, and he started laughing. Which eventually, he lost the arm wrestle.
"No fair! You cheated!" Ash accused her, and she made an innocent face. "Me? But I didn't violate any rules, did I? Was there a rule stating I couldn't tickle?"
Ash's jaw swung open, and closed again. May winked at him, and gestured him to sit down. "I am weaker than you, but I still won in the arm wrestle. At the heart of mankind's weapons lies a strength born from almost humiliating cowardice. The strong have always polished their fangs while the weak polish their minds. Being weak doesn't mean you will always lose. It means that you have to think better and more creatively."
A weather forecast played on the TV while Ash took in the information. "Wow...that is deep. In fact...too deep. Who told this to you?" May laughed. "You caught me. Actually I just found this online and remembered it. And by the way, since you helped me with the luggage, here's a little something for you." She gave Ash a small red bag. "Hopefully you can use it, but I highly doubt you can't."
Ash accepted it like it was a master ball. This was the first time May has ever given him a present! Even though he soured a little when he remembered that she was giving it to a 'complete stranger'. He stood up and bowed to her. "Thanks for your words, May. I really liked them." He walked out of the room, waving May goodbye.
On the way out, he bumped into someone, and the person grunted, "Watch it!" Then he walked away quickly. Ash narrowed his eyes at the person. That voice was so familiar...no matter. The next day was already battle day. He will need his and his pikachu's strength to remain in this tower long enough to find out the truth.
Giovanni flicked open his cell phone. "Hello?"
"I arranged for Ash's dueler to have a little accident. In the meantime, I have convinced the judges to allow you to battle in his place."
Giovanni shook his head. How much hate can one person have for another? And how decisive can Labem get? "How do you even do all this?"
"It doesn't matter, nor does it concern you."
He sighed. It feels like he's talking to some stuck up teenager. "What do I do?"
There was a short pause. "Win."
This is just a filler, cause I'm super excited to write Ash's battle! This is sounding more like a normal fanfiction god dam***.
Review corner~
SuperGv88- NO SPOILERS. No. No! NO11!1!1! And to answer your question, harem. Yes. XD. Can't help it.
Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai- okay cat dude/girl/thing!
muafarmansoor97- No words? Then how am I gonna improve? :( Soon...hehee...eheheh...YOU DIDN'T SPECIFY SOON.
AdvancedLover- Thank you! No spoilers.
Razzorow The Great Madman- Should I be worried you were looking forward to death? Jk. I forgot about misty when I made this fanfiction LOL sorry. But maybe she'll make an appearance...somewhere.
nico2883- Harem. Yes. YES!1!1
matronium- I hate people who spoil :( Actually I should have put that somewhere in the first chapter not to spoil...oh well. Thx for saying my work is brillant!
Red Alfa- Thank you! As to whether she will die...depends :3
Alpha- YESSSS OUR FIRST GUEST REVIEW BANZAIII! For your first question, Ash used to be in team rocket because he wanted revenge. As for the second, maybe there is, maybe there isn't. It's all in my head, the ending :D Not really.
LexClone5- Thanks! It's not that 'very' bittersweet...is it? Wow, I must have been really depressed when I wrote chapter 6.
AmericanBoy2016- Thanks! And sry for not updating sooner!
molhic6- Sob...you felt...hype! MY LIFE IS COMPLETEEEEE!
Co- Second guest review! Thx, I shall do more for everyone!
Well that about sums it up. See you next time!
