Glad to see a mix of both old and new reviewers for the last chapter. Thanks to all of you that took your time to do so.
As one of my reviewers pointed out last chapter, I know that technically May's Eevee evolved into a Glaceon almost a year ago but for several reasons I like to keep her in her pre-evolved state. I have several reasons as to why but I won't go into those right now. Usually I would have put this at the beginning of the first chapter but considering that it would have made one of the cliffhangers even more obvious I decided to wait til' this one.
Well that's about it, here's the second chapter.
"Do you really have to rub it in that much May?" The trainer calmly asked as he reached for one of his Pokéballs, not taking his eyes off of the fallen giant.
"May?" Dawn looked back at the cloaked figure as she pulled back the hood, revealing her face. The girl's long brown hair fell off to the sides as her sapphire blue eyes looked down at her two friends.
"So you did figure it out. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to recognize one of your old friends after winning your first tournament cup. When did you finally realize that it was me?"
"Not until just now," he responded. "Funny how clear a person's mind can get after a loss, but actually it was your voice that I recognized. I would greet you a little more personally but I have something bigger to take care of." Tossing the Pokéball in his hand to the ground a quick flash of light appeared leaving a small orange Pokémon in its place.
"Buizel could you use your Water Gun to gently wash off Torterra?" Ash asked his water Pokémon.
"Bui bui," the Water-type nodded as it began to wash off its companion.
"Here let me help," May offered, holding out one of her Pokéballs. "I'm the one responsible for it anyways. Blastoise help out Buizel in hosing down Torterra."
From her Pokéball a large blue turtle appeared, balancing itself on its hind legs and wielding two powerful water cannons that pointed out the top of its shell. Yet even with its intimidating presence the Kanto starter walked over and with great accuracy helped wash away the purple ooze that collected on the back of the Continent Pokémon.
"Guess it would be good to take care of you as well," she said turning to the Venusaur. Pulling out a spray bottle and spraying some of the contents into the open wound on its leg the Seed Pokémon gave out a content hum as the cuts began to instantly close up and scab over. "Just wish that they had something like this for humans as well," May joked as she checked her Grass-type for any other injuries.
Looking over, Ash could only smile as he saw how well his old friend still cared for her Pokémon. As he shifted his gaze something caught his eye as he instantly felt even stupider for not recognizing her. "I really must not have been with it not to notice that and not known it was you."
"Notice what?" May asked, looking back at him.
"The hearts on your Venusaur's head, she's had them since she was a Bulbasaur right?"
Smiling and patting her Grass-type on the head, right where the marks that Ash was talking about were, May nodded. "I'm surprised that it took you that long to figure everything out while we were battling. I know that you are dense but that was reaching new levels," she added with a giggle.
"Hey, is that any way to treat someone who just got beaten?" He asked while faking a tear. It didn't take long for both of them to burst out laughing.
"So May," Dawn interrupted, for some reason still a little hesitant around her, "what's with the cloak, and further more why all the secrecy?"
"When I heard that Ash has just won the Sinnoh league and decided to meet him here. The cloak," she motioned while holding up her arms, "I found at a shop on the Silver Plateau. After competing in the Johto contests and taking second place in the finals I thought that it would be a good way to stay away from the reporters and fans."
"Wait," Ash interrupted her. "You got second place?"
"Yep! I lost to Solidad in the end but I'm getting closer and hopefully I'll be able to finally be able to take first place like you did."
"Well it wasn't that big of a deal," Ash said as he scratched the back of his head a bit. "But congratulations nonetheless."
"Thanks Ash, congratulations to you too." Smiling at her friend's modesty May returned to her story. "When I arrived here in Pallet Town yesterday, Mrs. Ketchum directed me over to the Oak Lab for the time being and I met Ash's friend, Gary Oak. He was the one who gave me the idea to do this. With Ash not knowing it was me I tried to make sure that he would give it his all, knowing that he was going up against an old friend might have unconsciously kept him from doing so. But of course there was one variable that we needed to take out for it to even have a chance of that working."
"And what was that?" Ash asked.
"Not really a what, but a who. There is a certain someone who is always with you and would have been able to pick me out with no problem, even without seeing my face.'
"A certain…Pikachu?"
"And we have a winner!" May shouted enthusiastically. "Yep, that little yellow partner of yours would have been able to see through my disguise without a sweat, so we needed someone to distract him. Speaking of which I guess now is as good as any for them to join us. Pikachu, Eevee, you can come out now!"
As the echo of May's voice spread across the ranch the sounds of crunching leaves could be heard coming from the forest as two small blurs moved out across the fields, although surprisingly the one in front seemed to be running as if its life depended on it. Looking up and immediately recognizing the cloaked figure he quickly bolted up and onto the top of her head trembling slightly as he kept his eyes fixated on his pursuer. Stopping at her trainer's feet the brown fox-like Pokémon running after him innocently looked up at the mouse with a soft "vee" escaping her mouth.
"So did you two have fun?" May asked while stifling a giggle.
"Pika pika," the Electric-type replied while violently shaking his head side to side.
"Sorry Pikachu I told Eevee to find and keep you busy while Ash and I battled. I hope she didn't do anything that upset you."
While listening to May talk, Pikachu failed to notice Eevee crawl her way up onto May's shoulder. By the time he did notice she was already leaning up against May's head, staring at him with a big smile just inches from his face, giving off another "vee" while slightly cocking her head to the side.
Reflexively jumping backwards Pikachu found out the hard way how little space is on top of May's head as he fell down to the ground.
"Cha…" He let out as he lay on his back, stunned from the sudden fall.
"Pikachu!" All three humans called and rushed over as he just lay there with his eyes closed.
"Eevee?" The Evolution Pokémon looked down at the mouse before jumping off May's shoulder and walking up to him.
Suddenly the sound of a Pokéball opening shot out shortly followed by a beam of light that extended out of Dawn's bag to the ground. Before the released creature was even completely revealed it was already rushing over to the downed Electric-type. The only problem, in her haste the Pokémon accidentally tripped and landed directly on top of Pikachu, knocking the wind out of him and putting him right back into a dazed state.
"Buneary?!" The Pokémon hurriedly looked down at Pikachu as she hopped off before trying to help him up onto his feet.
"And who might this little one be?" May asked kneeling down to take a better look at the new arrival. With one of its long ears rolled down to its head the brown Rabbit Pokémon was the perfect look for a coordinator, right down to the fluffy pure white fur around her waist and tips of the ears.
"She is my Buneary," Dawn stated proudly; glancing over to see May's reaction, if any. "I've had her for quite some time and she is one of my favorites to use in the appeal round. She is the perfect combination of beauty and power."
Much to the coordinator's chagrin May didn't even bat an eye at her bragging, even leaning down to take a closer look. "You're right, she is a cutie."
"Vee Eevee vee eve," the Evolution Pokémon demanded as she looked over at the new arrival. Unlike her trainer Eevee was already wary of the sudden arrival of the other Normal-type.
Looking up, Buneary just then noticed the other Pokémon hovering over Pikachu, eyeing her over a couple times Buneary just gave a small smirk before looking down at the newcomer. "Buneary bun Buneary."
Now that was nothing but a slap in the face for Eevee as she recoiled slightly from the comment. Baring her teeth at the newcomer she was about to verbally lash out again, but before the little Pokémon could her trainer picked up both her and Pikachu into her arms as she stood up. Of course with this action Eevee was suddenly pressed close to the still dazed Pikachu. With a big smile spreading across her face, Eevee just looked down at the now mouth agape Rabbit Pokémon. The little fox just stuck her tongue out at envious looking Buneary, taking a quick check rub with the still dazed Electric-type before snuggling into her trainer's arms along with their extra passenger.
"Looks like you two aren't going to become friends right away," May noticed as she collected hers and Ash's Pokémon. "Eevee you can just stay on my shoulder for now, Pikachu would probably want his space until he recovers from that fall." Looking back down at Dawn's Pokémon May couldn't help but think out loud. "Although I wonder why it intensified that fast, it didn't look like it would be much longer until Eevee would start attacking."
With a slightly disappointed look Eevee obeyed her trainer and reluctantly climbed her way up to her usual perch, but not before getting one last cheek rub in. As the Evolution Pokémon made her way up, Buneary was clearly relaxing at the sight.
"Yeah, I wonder," Dawn replied rather flatly as she grabbed her own Pokémon.
Not noticing Dawn's tone the other coordinator glanced over at Torterra and the two Water-types just finishing up with washing off all of the viscous purple ooze that once covered his entire back and face.
"You okay Torterra?" Ash asked as he walked over to the laying giant.
"Terra," the Pokémon answered weakly.
"Well just give it time. I'll take you to Professor Oak and you'll be as good as new by tomorrow. You did a great job in the battle today Torterra, and thanks for helping with cleaning him off Buizel, you both deserve the rest." Holding their Pokéballs in his hands the two were pulled back into the storage devices.
"You too Blastoise, thanks for the help," May told her Pokémon while repeating Ash's actions. "You going to be okay out here for a now Venusaur?" She called out to the other battler who was sunbathing as several smaller Grass-types were starting to join her. After not moving a muscle May assumed she had her answer. "So I'm feeling a bit hungry, how about we head over to your house Ash? Your mom said that she would have dinner ready for us by the time we got back."
"Sure I just need to drop of my Pokémon with the Professor then we can head down there. You okay with carrying Pikachu or should I take him?"
"He's fine," she responded while giving the mouse a few short rubs on the head, receiving a soft coo in return. "It's been a while since I've last seen him anyways."
"If you say so," Ash said as he turned and started to head out to the main lab. Quickly falling into step behind him was Dawn with Buneary in her arms, giving side glances towards May as she caught up to the group.
Ash could feel an uneasy tension that was building between the two girls, even if he had no clue as to why, but apparently May was too preoccupied with talking to Pikachu to even take notice. "So May," he started, trying to break the silence. "That was some amazing battling that you did today. I didn't expect you to improve that much in only a little over a year's time."
"Yeah, and what was with some of those attacks?" Dawn added in, still a bit apprehensive at how to take her sudden appearance in Pallet. "Those weren't how a coordinator should battle. You could have had a major amount of points deducted even without considering your opponent's actions."
"I just went with what my instincts were telling me," she told them simply, looking up from the Pokémon in her arms. "I knew that if that was a real contest battle I might have had a number of points deducted but at times the best strategy is one that features short term loss for a long term gain. If both my opponent and I lose points from an attack then as long as they lost more than I did, it was worth it. Besides I've always been told that I don't battle like the usual coordinator, must have taken a bit more from my teacher than I was originally thinking," she finished while winking at Ash.
"Well thanks May, I didn't think that I really did all that much," Ash replied while scratching the back of his head again. "Although it's apparent that you would make just as good a trainer as a coordinator, even without any more help from me."
Noticing a slight blush make its way across the trainer's face Dawn hastily decided that she needed to change the subject. "So May why are you here? I thought that you lived in Hoenn, shouldn't you be headed back there?"
"I just figured that I should stop in to see an old friend after so long. After talking to Gary I also thought it would be fun to have a little battle with him. The last time we battled was at the Terracotta Contest, so I wanted to see how much further I've gotten. I'll probably be heading back home in a couple days or so."
"And after that?" Dawn continued.
"Not really sure as of yet," May replied with a shrug. "I have a couple ideas but nothing set in stone. Besides Max will be getting his first Pokémon in a month or two so part of my decision might depend of that."
"I see…" Dawn was obviously thinking about what May just said. The other coordinator stared at her curiously but was soon interrupted by someone's voice.
"So May how'd the battle go?"
Looking up the trio could see that they had reached the Oak lab and a somewhat tall brown haired boy in a white lab coat was waiting for them, hands crossed over his chest.
With a large smile May held out her hand with her fingers forming a "V".
"A complete and total victory."
"Do you really have to be that blunt about it May?" Ash mumbled, though loud enough for everyone to hear. "And as for you, did you really have to convince May to battle like that Gary?"
Showing a half-smile Gary looked at his old rival, old memories running though his head. "Well somebody always needs to knock you down to size so your ego doesn't grow too large. It just so happens that I found another person to do that for me this time. I've been paying more attention to my lab work than training my Pokémon the last few months so I wasn't sure I'd be able to beat you as easily as I usually could. So when May got here yesterday I found the perfect opportunity to be able to do just that. The cloak was more her idea, though I have to say it was a bit nostalgic of my own journey through Johto. Either way it looks like everything played out just as I was hoping."
"So the great Gary Oak thinks that he can't beat me anymore?" Ash perked up with a confident smirk.
"Now who ever said that? I just mentioned that I wouldn't be able to beat you as easily as I normally can," Gary replied without missing a beat, once again dropping Ash's mood down a level. "But congratulations nonetheless for getting your first Championship Trophy, so is there anything I can do for ya while you're here?"
Mumbling to himself Ash grudgingly handed over Torterra's Pokéball. "I need you to take care of Torterra for a while. He's in rough shape after that battle."
"Sure thing, Ashy-boy. Anything else? Cause as fun as it is to watch you mope around after a loss I should be getting back to work. Gramps has me on several different projects to keep me busy."
"Now that you mention it…" Ash began while thoughts of revenge began to appear in his head. Grabbing the rest of his Pokéballs he enlarged them and dropped them all into Gary's arms with a big smile across his face. "You can take the rest of my Pokémon as well. I won't be needing them for another month or so anyways."
Catching Ash's drift Dawn grabbed all of her Pokéballs, except for Buneary's who was still out of hers, and repeated Ash's actions. "It would be a real help if you could take care of mine as well. I'm going to be staying here for a while so I would assume that it wouldn't be a problem, right?"
Suddenly surprised by the mass of Pokéballs given to him the young Professor fell backwards, understanding the real reason for this while giving off a big sigh. "Yeah yeah, I get the picture. I'll give them to Gramps and we'll take care of them." Looking up at the only other person there that didn't shove a bunch of items into his arms he let out a small chuckle. "I guess it was a good thing that you gave me most of yours yesterday."
"I really am sorry about this Gary," May told him apologetically as she handed Blastoise's Pokéball over to him. "But just to let you know, Venusaur seems to be enjoying her time after the battle and is resting out near the forest. She should be fine like that for a little while, besides there are probably a few old friends that she will want to see by the end of the day. Other than that I think I'll just keep Eevee with me."
"That shouldn't be a problem, now if you guys don't mind I have work to do," he said as he got up and started to minimize the Pokéballs.
"Don't worry, food is next on our list and considering Ash's stomach there won't be much that could distract him from anything else." As she finished up a soft grumbling sound filled the area.
"So it would only distract me?" Ash asked while May's face suddenly turned light pink as a slight blush became present. "It looks as if I'm not the only one who's hungry," he continued while poking her stomach a couple times.
Turning from a light pink to a dark red, May was getting very annoyed as the trainer already was trying to obtain a head start from the now furious coordinator. "Ash Ketchum! When I get my hands on you wishing you'd never been born wouldn't even be enough to save you!" She yelled as she sprinted after him, Eevee hanging onto her shoulder for dear life.
Looking rather irritated at the friendly display between the two, Dawn just gazed down at the Pokémon in her arms. Looking back at the young professor he was just shaking his head, but soon gave a polite bow to the Sinnoh coordinator and headed back inside. Giving of a long sigh Dawn started following her two friends. "Looks like it'll be a lot harder then we first anticipated, for both of us."
"Bun," her Pokémon nodded with a stern look on her face, recalling images of not too long ago.
"Don't worry, we still have good chance. Neither of them seem to have set anything in stone at this point. Yet even still I have no clue at what May's true thoughts are about him. Is she playing dumb or does she not actually have any feelings for Ash? And yet when you consider the facts of how close they are and that Ash almost always seems to mention her in one way or another during his stories it's almost hard to believe that they don't feel anything for each other." Looking up to the sky Dawn could feel a small headache coming on as the different possibilities raced through her head. "Either way it probably would be best to try and not agitate Eevee anymore. Unlike her trainer it looks as if she knows exactly what she wants and is willing to fight for it. While I don't think that she would be much of a challenge for you I don't want to have to test that if I don't have to after seeing May's Venusaur and Blastoise. However you probably would still want to try anyways, am I right?"
"Bun," she responded with another nod.
"Can't say that I blame you, I guess we'll just have to see." Looking up and seeing the two of them arriving at a small house Dawn started to pick up her pace. "Round two starts now."
And there ya go. As always reviews are welcome, otherwise chapter three will be up soon.