Chapter 12
"Come on Pikachu! Thundershock!" shouted Ash. Pikachu leaped into the air and sent electricity through its opponent, Mightyena. Mightyena let out a scream of pain when a man called it back into its pokeball. "That was great Ash!"
Ash smiled and opened his arms to Pikachu, who ran and jumped in. "Alright Pikachu! We got to his third Pokemon!"
"Pikachu!"
Sydney grinned and emerged from the shadows. From first sight, you would think he was gothic or a biker punk with his red Mohawk. But really, he was serious and a fun loving man, and of course, one of the elite 4. "That was awesome Ash. Out of everyone I train, you're the first one to last until Mightyena with your Pokemon."
Ash jumped up in down with Pikachu in his hands. "We did it! We did it! We're almost there Pikachu! Three more Pokemon and we can challenge him and finish!"
Sydney checked his watch. "Ooh, you're going to be late for Lance Ash. He wants you to meet him."
"Oh right," Ash let Pikachu climb onto his shoulder and headed out the door. It was late at night when he left Sydney's arena, it was about nine PM. "Oh man, Lance's meeting better be only an hour. Huh, Pikachu?"
"Pi… ka."
Ash looked over to his friend to see Pikachu was drifting off to sleep. "Oh wow, that battle took a lot out of you, huh?"
"Pi…"
Ash smiled and opened the zipper of his backpack allowing Pikachu to slip right in and sleep. "You have a good night buddy." And with that, Ash headed for Lance's office. He knew where it was now, memorized its location. Because every so often, Lance requested his presence to get a progress report or ask him to do a favor.
"Ash!" he said when Ash poked his head into the room.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, come in, come in." Lance turned to face his Ash as the teen sat down across from him. "So, how are you?"
"Fine."
"And Pikachu? I don't see him anywhere."
"He fell asleep in my backpack." explained Ash as he slipped off his backpack and perched it on his lap.
"Oh, makes sense. Some intense training, right?"
"Yeah."
Lance leaned back and took in a deep breath. "Sydney's been telling me that you're doing very well Ash."
"We did get to his third Pokemon today."
"Yes, yes, very good." Lance smiled. "And just the other day he suggested to me to let you become an Elite 4 a year early."
Ash practically choked on his spit. "Y-you mean, I don't have to take lessons next year? I'm free?"
"Free from another year of lessons and traveling to different places for the leagues. You'll only have to stay here to give lessons, as you know that's what the Elite 4 do."
Ash gasped. "No going anywhere, just be here?"
"Yup." Lance reached for a picture of his daughter. "Sydney told me that he's about done with being an Elite 4 now. And he wants you to replace him."
"Me?"
"Yes, now, are you willing to take this offer?"
"Yes!" said Ash standing up. Pikachu rolled off of his lap, but stayed asleep.
"Now think about it Ash. You will have to go through intense training with me."
"I don't care I'll do it!"
Lance smiled. "I'm very happy to see you enthusiastic about this, but intense training means I want you here everyday from 5 in the morning to 8 in the evening. No day-offs, and no taking summer off."
Now Ash sat back down. "No summer?" He wanted to do this intense training so badly. So in the future, he wouldn't be so busy for his friends. But his friends were waiting to see him in the summer. That's when Professor Oak and his mother returned from their honeymoon, that's when Misty's sisters' weddings were, and that's when he could see his friends again. All of them.
"No summer," repeated Lance with a nod.
"Isn't there any other time we could do this. Just… not the summer?" asked Ash.
"I'm sorry, but as I said before, this is intense training, and you need a lot of training if you want to be an elite 4 by December."
Ash sank into his chair.
"Think about it." said Lance. "You are dismissed."
Ash reached for his backpack and began leaving the room when Lance said. "And Ash? Can I have the answer by the end of the month?"
"Okay." The teen closed the door after him.
May paced back and forth in the room, it had been hours since she last saw Ash. "Ten o' clock." She reminded herself. "Ash said ten o' clock."
Around nine thirty, Ash came lumbering into the room. He slipped off his backpack and fell onto the bed.
"Um, is there something wrong?" asked May, lying down beside him.
"Nothing," he replied. He stood back up and headed towards the bathroom. But even though he didn't say it, May knew there was something on his mind. I have to help him she thought, so she patiently waited for Ash to come back out. But when he did, he had changed from his jeans and blue t-shirt with a pokeball on it to boxers and a white undershirt.
"You're not planning on sleeping with that are you?" asked May pointing towards Ash's blues boxers.
"Why not?" he asked. "I always sleep like this when I'm here."
"Well, you're not alone anymore."
Ash groaned and went back into the bathroom and emerged with the same pair of jeans he had on before instead of just boxers. "Better?"
May smiled. "Much."
Ash rolled his eyes and picked Pikachu from the floor and sat down on his side of the bed. "Aren't you going to change for bed?"
"I am!" said May, turning around showing Ash what she had changed into. It was a white tank top with a big red heart in the middle and pink pajama bottoms. "Do you like?"
Ash stared at her clothes and then back at May without saying a word.
"I knew you would think it would be beautiful!" May smiled and slipped into the bed beside Ash. Although it was supposed to feel weird, it wasn't the first time she had slipped into bed with someone; she had done it with Drew so many times before. And Ash didn't seem to be bothered either. He was lying on his side, pretending to be asleep; but May knew better. She sighed and faced Ash's back. "Um, Ash?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever think about the future?"
"General or me?"
"You, general, whatever."
Ash turned to lie on his back and looked up at the ceiling. "Sure, I think about my future. And I hope that it comes out the way I want it to be, but it doesn't always come through. You know?"
"Yeah," May closed her eyes. "I think about the future a lot. But it doesn't always have to be my future. I think about Max's, Mom's and dad's, and yours."
Ash looked over at May. "Mine? Really, why?"
May shrugged. "I don't know. It helps me get by I guess."
"What do you think about mine?"
"I think that you'll become an Elite 4, but you won't be happy because you're hiding your true feelings to please your friend." May reached for Ash's hand under the covers and smiled at him. "You know that if there's something bothering you, I'm here."
Ash stared with his mouth open and then he gave May's hand a squeeze. "There is something actually."
"What is it?"
Ash sighed. "Well, Lance just gave me this deal that if I did intense training I would be able to become an Elite 4 a year early. That means I'm allowed to take off a month excluding the summer break whenever I want to. And I don't have to travel to go to Pokemon leagues and tournaments and dinners. I can stay in Montgame and go back to Pallet whenever I want to."
"Wow! That sounds nice! Are you going to do it?"
"I want to, but Lance says I have to stay here during summer and go through intense training." Ash looked into May's sapphire eyes. "The intense training is not what bothers me; it's skipping summer, skipping all those events that are going to happen."
"But it'll be okay in the long run." May smiled. "Don't think about us Ash; think about what's best for you."
"Truth is May that I don't want to miss all those events in the summer. As you know the summer is probably the only time we can all see each other again. I want to see Max battle his hardest in the Pokemon League, I want to see Misty's sisters marry, and I want to see mom and everyone else."
"So do that." said May. "Whatever you want to do more Ash."
"But in the long run…"
"Skip the long run, I think you should just finish next year like you're supposed to. Whatever you want to do is what matters, and besides, I don't think Pikachu could take intense training."
Ash looked from May to Pikachu and back at May with a small smile. "Thanks May, I think that's what I needed."
"You're welcome, and now, we should get to bed."
"Okay, goodnight." Ash let go of May's hand and fell asleep. May watched him with a smile before drifting off to sleep. It made her feel good to see Ash relaxing. Finally she yawned and fell asleep. But half way through the night, she awoke to the sound of her cell phone. She blindly reached for it and checked to see who was calling. She blinked before seeing that no one was calling her, but someone was sending her a text message.
From: Drew Almond-(556) 812-4459
May decided to click on it and see whatever he had to say.
May, I did something bad. Very bad. I don't know what to do. I need to talk to someone, but you're the only one I know who could help me with this. Please May, just think about it, and call me back. I need you, just talk to me. We don't have to get back together.
End of Chapter 12