Chapter 18

*Undella Town*

"Haha! Come and catch me if you can!"

"Chimchar!"

Pikachu watched as Lyra ran from Chimchar. Like his trainer, Chimchar was far from giving up. He continued chasing after Lyra happily. Pikachu didn't join in since he wanted a rest, so he lied down on the warm sand. He was about to doze off for a nap when he sensed someone beside him.

"Buneary!"

"Pika!"

"Bun-bun-buneary~"

"Pi…Pikachu…" Pikachu sweatdropped as Buneary continued flirting with him. Meanwhile his trainer was also in the same situation, except in a different way.

"Trust me; you look great in whatever kind of clothes you're in." Ash commented

"Erm, yeah… I'm supposed to listen to someone who probably doesn't have any fashion sense." May teased back. Apparently Ash 'woke' up, and both of them came down to join the rest.

"Hey! Drew's clothes don't look very fashionable either." Ash pointed out

"Why did you suddenly bring in Drew?"

"Well, you always compare me with him!"

"Yeah, that's true." May nodded.

"But come on, it's obvious that I'm much better than him."

"Ha! In what way?"

"In every way. And perhaps it's to the extent that you'd definitely choose me over him for a boyfriend." Ash said cheekily, not really aware of what he had just said. At the same time May could feel her cheeks burning up.

"…Ash. Are you… actually flirting with me?"

"Huh? What?"

"Oh, never mind!" May said, turning away to hide her blush.

"Pikapi!"

"Hey Pikachu! Playing chase with Buneary?"

"Pika!" Pikachu shook his head, snuggling into Ash's arm for a nap.

"Buneary…" Buneary looked on disappointedly, before skipping away to play with the others.

"Chimchar!" Chimchar whined as he watched Lyra running into the shallow water.

"Oops, sorry Chimchar! I forgot you can't come in!" Lyra said teasingly

"Jeez, how can a trainer forget something like that?" Max commented. Dawn turned to him for a while, but said nothing. 'Hmm… Is it just me, or does Max seems like he doesn't like Lyra?' she thought.

"Of course! I have 9 other siblings at home. And since I'm the oldest, I have to take care of all of them when our parents aren't around." Max and Dawn turned towards the familiar voice, just to witness an unusual sight.

"Wow, they must really look up to you then." Nurse Joy said, looking at Brock admiringly.

"Well, haha, they just treat me as their big brother like they're supposed to." Brock said, scratching the back of his neck.

"I think I must be dreaming…" Max commented. Dawn nodded, "Well, what do you know? Sometimes never giving up is a really good quality to have."

"You mean pestering…" Max said. Dawn smiled and stood up. She looked around before heading back to the pokémon center. 'I wonder where Lyra is.'

And at the meantime…

'Gosh I'm feeling so uncomfortable, I better adjust my shirt.' Lyra thought as she proceeded towards the forest nearby. She found a bush that is big enough and bended down to adjust her shirt.

"Jigglypuff…"

Lyra turned towards the sound, and soon spotted the pink pokémon. It sat on the ground, holding on to something that looked like a marker. Lyra went closer and noticed its unhappy state. But before she could take another step, the pokémon's eyes flicked and starred at her.

[Author's Note: I know it's weird to have a Jigglypuff in the Unova region, but oh well…XD]

*Professor Oak's Laboratory*

"Have you told Mrs. Ketchum about what's going on?" Tracey asked

"Hmm, I was thinking it wouldn't be necessary. After all now that we have Officer Jenny personally in charge of this case, we don't have to worry anymore. But since you suggested… perhaps we could ask Ash's for his opinion first."

"But why ask him?"

"Well, she's his mother. This may be something he might want to talk to her himself, without us, outsiders, involved."

"I think you're right, Professor."

"You think so too? Okay, I'll give Ash a call then."

*Undella Town*

"Jigglypuff!"

"Haha come on, play with us!" Lyra said, leading the pokémon over to the group.

May's eyes immediately widened, "Whoa! Why did you bring Jigglypuff here?!"

"Huh, why not? It seemed so lonely just now when I found it in the forest, so I brought him along to join us. What's wrong with that?"

"Yeah but it'll just-"

"Jiiigggglyyyyy paffffff~"

Everyone began to feel tired, as their eyelids threaten to meet anytime soon, "Oh boy… Not this again…" slowly, one by one, they fell to the ground, sleeping soundly.