A/N: I just wanted to say thanks for the criticism guys. =] I really do enjoy it as it gives me ideas as to how I might make this a bit better. Keep in mind again that this is something I'm doing for myself, so I won't implement every single idea, but it's still very much appreciated.
On with the show!
At Professor Oak's lab, while everything was still and quiet, a pokeball opened and went unnoticed. Moments later, another one opened, and then one more. The three pokemon had waited until their trainer was fast-asleep before sneaking out. However, they didn't go very far.
Hours passed and the sun began to shine into the lab. Tracey was already up, preparing for another day of work. Brock, Mason and Dawn were still asleep while Misty and May were climbing out of bed to get ready for a fun day of activities.
A cry was heard coming from May's room. Dawn, who was staying in the same room, jumped out of her bed as Misty rushed in to investigate, followed by Tracey only moments later.
"My pokemon! Team Rocket must have been here; Munchlax, Glaceon and Skitty are gone!" May was holding her three empty pokeballs in her hand for everyone to see. "Do those guys ever give up?"
Misty was the first to notice the discrepancies and spoke up. "May, why would Team Rocket only steal those three? And why would they take them out of their pokeballs instead of just taking the pokeballs too?"
"Besides, I locked all of the doors and windows, and they were still locked this morning when I woke up." Tracey added, "Nobody came in or out all night, or if they did, they were really good at concealing their tracks, and that doesn't sound like Team Rocket."
"But if nobody stole them, then where…" May thought for a second before reaching an epiphany, "wait a minute, where's that boy, Mason?" Everyone looked around at each other for a second, unsure of what to say. May became furious, still not taking into account what Misty and Tracey had just mentioned. "That little thief! It was all a plot to come here and steal our pokemon!"
Before anybody could stop her, May went storming out of the room headed straight for Mason's to look for any evidence he might have left behind. She opened the door and gasped, shocked at what she saw. There in the bed was Mason, fast asleep. Cuddled up next to him with his arm draped over her was Noone, while on his other side lay Glaceon. Skitty was asleep at the head of the bed and Munchlax had fallen asleep towards the bottom. Noone's ears perked up and she lifted her head as May entered the room. She gave what seemed to be a smile and a small whine before laying her head back down.
"What is it?" Mason asked without opening his eyes, "Just give it a minute, it'll go away."
Brushing off the half-asleep-talk, May cleared her throat, bringing Mason to full alert.
"Eh-Oh hi. May was it? Sorry, did I sleep in too long?"
"Not exactly," May said cryptically. She found the scene in front of her to be rather cute. "Look on the bed."
Mason took a quick glance around and noticed the company that had joined him overnight. "Oh…I see. Missing something?"
"Just three pokemon," May said, playing along, "have you seen them?"
"One's kind of big, eats a lot? Another one's pink and fuzzy? The other is a little cold to the touch?" Mason asked as he laid his head back and rubbed his eyes.
"Those'd be the ones," May replied, "I take it you know where they are?" She was actually enjoying some playful banter with a stranger.
"Haven't the slightest clue." Mason answered, laying his head back down.
Considering the odd circumstances, May was willing to give her pokemon a break. "We'll be downstairs in a few minutes for breakfast, you're welcome to join us," she offered with a smile, "just be sure to bring your guests."
"That'd be lovely," Mason answered. May smiled as she closed the door. She turned and jumped at the sight of everyone hovering behind her.
"So what is it? What's wrong?" Dawn asked, still droopy-eyed and dressed in her pajamas.
May giggled, "Apparently they snuck off in the middle of the night and ended up in here. I'd probably be mad at them, but they've never misbehaved before, and he was pretty good with them yesterday."
"Aw, how cute!" Dawn cried, clasping her hands together. She and the other girls laughed. Tracey just smiled at seeing how well they all got along. Ash said it right when he said they were meant to meet, and to become best friends. He'd be happy to see them all again today, but there was still a lot to do, so he headed downstairs to get breakfast ready.
The others returned to their rooms to get dressed for the day. Misty took the liberty of waking Brock from his rather pleasant dreams which this morning were filled with images working alongside Nurse Joy, curing sick patients and falling madly in love with one another.
Once they were dressed, they began filing into the kitchen. Last to arrive was Mason. Cowering behind him were Glaceon, Skitty and Munchlax, afraid to face their trainer after having misbehaved.
Mason chuckled, "Looks like they know they're in trouble." He looked down to Munchlax, "Why not go say sorry?"
The three pokemon slowly walked over to May with their heads down. Munchlax looked at the others and nodded, and the three of them jumped up and showered May in hugs and kisses. She fell back with the three pokemon, laughing and hugging them as everyone laughed with her. When the commotion was over, May recalled them.
Tracey finished the cooking and everbody sat down to enjoy their breakfast. As an awkward silence fell over the lot of them, Dawn took it upon herself to spark a conversation.
"So May, how go the contests?" She asked.
"Oh, same old news. Won some ribbons, lost to Drew," May said without smiling.
"Speaking of Drew…" Brock started, hoping May would finish for him.
"Let's not." May said, and forced a smile. Brock was left confused, sure he had seen something between the two of them when they were traveling together. After a moment, May continued. "Let's just say that he can't buy me, or her," May said, not clearly referencing anybody, "with just a few roses." Brock slumped into his chair, disappointed at the news. He guessed that when you put a charming personality on an egotistical jerk, that's what you'd get.
"Sorry to hear that," he said, "he seemed like a pretty nice guy."
May smiled, "Part of the past, we're here to have fun, right?"
Brock laughed, "You got that right!"
Dawn and May continued to chat about their contests, Brock caught Misty up on the many mishaps Ash had had after Misty left, and Mason and Tracey shared their breakfast with the pokemon. Before they knew it, every scrap of food was gone. The boys collected up the dishes and took them to the sink.
Mason was prepared to stay and help with the dishes, but Tracey insisted on doing them himself. Looking outside at the bright day, Mason decided it was time to continue on his way.
"Thanks again for giving us a place to stay, and for the breakfast," Mason said to Tracey, "we really do appreciate it. And the food was spectacular." Noone hummed in agreement. Mason walked to the doorway and turned around, "Thanks for everything, everyone! It's been great meeting you all," he turned to May, "Sorry about Poof's scare yesterday, and your pokemon last night. I hope they're not in too much trouble."
May smiled, "After the way they acted this morning, I decided to let them off with a warning."
"Maybe we'll see you guys again sometime," Mason said. Misty's azurill ran up to give Mason a hug before he left. He tugged on its ear a little and it gave a happy sigh before jumping down and running back to Misty. "Bye everyone!" Everyone waved goodbye as Mason opened the door right as Ash came bursting through.
"Hey guy-Oh, hey Mason! Sorry!" Mason stepped back a bit and let Ash through.
"Oh no worries, come on in." Ash and Delia came through the door. "I was just saying goodbye. It was great meeting you, keep up the training, you're a great trainer." Ash shook Mason's hand.
"You too! Maybe we can battle again someday!" Ash looked at the rest of the group as Mason and Noone slipped out the door. Mason could hear everyone laughing and enjoying themselves as he made his way down the hill. It was definitely a much more eventful night than he had planned, but they obviously had plans and Mason was more than content to continue on his way with some good memories.
Back at Oak's, the group was chatting amongst themselves as they finished cleaning up after breakfast. Brock and Tracey were discussing pokemon at the sink as they washed dishes, Dawn and Misty were recalling stories of Ash dressing up as a girl while Ash simply gave a few embarrassed chuckles now and again, and May was helping Delia wash off the table.
"So where'd that young man make it off to?" Delia asked May.
"I'm not sure. He never really said where he was going, just that he had to go."
"Well that's too bad, he seemed like a really nice boy. And he had such a lovely ninetails." Delia shrugged, "I guess we were going to be busy today anyway. I'm sure if he's ever back in town he'll stop by for a visit."
"Yeah…" May thought about mentioning that she probably wouldn't be here if that ever happened, but wondered why that would matter in the first place.
Soon the chuckles and laughter coming from Ash and Misty turned to yelling as Dawn cowered in the middle of them.
"You are so immature and egotistical!" Misty was in Ash's face, staring him down as he stared right back.
"Well I was the chosen one, right? If you guys are going to be gossiping about all the times I goofed up you might as well acknowledge some of the things I did to help!"
"Well, mister 'Chosen One,' if you're so high and mighty, how come you never paid me back for my bike that you destroyed?"
Ash cringed as the room suddenly filled with an air of hostility. A chain reaction was about to occur that he knew wouldn't end well for him.
"Wait a minute…he destroyed your bike?" May asked, walking over. "He torched mine too, brand new and everything." Ash prayed that Dawn wouldn't say anything.
"Hey…now that I think of it, his pikachu is the one who broke my bike…" Pikachu cowered behind Ash's shoulder.
"You mean…you destroyed their bikes…too?" Misty was holding back what seemed to be rage, something Ash had experienced before. He simply shut his eyes tight and waited for his just desserts. To his surprise, she began bursting with laughter as the other two joined in.
"You're not…mad?" Ash asked, his arms still up and ready to block whatever was thrown his way.
"I got over the bike thing months before I went back to Cerulean, I just liked giving you a hard time about it," Misty said, talking in-between giggles.
"Mine wasn't really such a big deal either," Dawn added, "it was a lot more fun walking the whole way anyway." The four of them all began laughing and joking with each other, still reminiscing in adventures past.
Further back, Tracey, Brock, Professor Oak and Delia were all watching, chuckling to themselves.
"I remember when things were actually hostile whenever those two were together," Tracey said, gesturing to Ash and Misty. "A lot's changed between them over the years."
"And I've got a pretty good feeling that a lot hasn't," Brock said with a grin on his face, "Time has a way of changing a lot of things in a lot of ways, but once those two start talking again, time always seems to get put on hold."
Tracey chuckled, while Delia and Professor Oak just looked at each other and smiled.
In the middle of the ocean, a nearly-forgotten island sat, covered in what was once a great laboratory used for cloning. A man in an orange suit stood over the remains of a machine, once used to generate immense amounts of energy, now part of the very island it sits on.
"Is the data entry there?" The man asked. A scientist knelt over the machine and began picking apart at it. A few seconds later, he held a small box in his hand, seemingly still operational.
"This is it, sir." The scientist informed the man.
"Perfect. Let's leave this forsaken place." The men climbed into a helicopter, lifted off and left the island for nature to do with what it pleased. They got what they came for. The man in the suit let out a deep chuckle.
A/N: 'Till next time. =]