November 18th (Outside of Rosewall Town, Hoenn)
(May's POV)
I was sleeping peacefully despite all the events from yesterday til I was being shaken awake by Lucario, "Everyone's auras are starting to go off balance. They're having high fevers and having terrible nightmares," Lucario said urgently.
This caused me to wake up immediately and look at my poketch to see that it was 4:00 AM, "Lucario, find the pokemon I singled out last night and have them come upstairs who aren't upstairs already. Also find Kirlia and have him bring up rags, we need to get their fevers down," I said before I ran upstairs.
I quickly ran into my room first to see the girls looking pale and sweaty while tossed and turning slightly from the nightmares, "Piplup, Azurill, and Espeon, gently wake up your trainers. We need to get them awake and out of their nightmares, try to calm them down," I said before running off to Ash and Gary's room.
"Pikachu and Umbreon, wake up Ash and Gary gently, we need to snap them out of their nightmares," I said quickly before running to Drew and Paul's room telling Roserade and Weavile what I told everyone else.
I stepped into the hall and saw Lucario with Butterfree, Blaziken, Skitty, Kirlia, and Glaceon who were carrying rags.
"Thanks you guys, let's check on the girls," I said as we walked into the room to see them sweating badly and them shaking with tears running down their faces.
I went to Dawn first seeing that she looked the worst, "What happened?" I asked.
"I just had the worst nightmare ever. Everyone I cared for was dying, it was awful," Dawn cried.
"Same goes for us," Leaf and Misty said shakily.
Suddenly, Pikachu along with Roserade came in, "Rose roserade rose," she said worried. (I can't wake up Drew and Weavile can't wake up Paul.)
"Pika pikachu," Pikachu said worriedly. (Umbreon and I can't wake Ash and Gary either.)
"This isn't good. Go back to your trainers and keep an eye on them. Lucario, try to use your aura to find out why the boys can't wake up. Kirlia, this set up isn't working. We're gonna have to have everyone in the same room to make it easier to keep an eye on everyone. Take Espeon, Staryu, and Beautifly with you and set up the living room the way I'm imagining it," I said quickly.
He nodded and left with Espeon following him while Lucario came back in, "It's hard to tell why they aren't waking up. Maybe they need to hear your voice along with the girls," he said to me telepathically.
I sighed, "I really don't like moving everyone so much, but we don't have a choice," I replied to him.
"What's going on?" Dawn asked weakly finally calming down from the nightmare.
"The guys are also having nightmares and we can't wake them up," I said. "Are you well enough to walk a short distance, we need to wake them up."
The nodded in determination and slowly followed me to where the guys were, "Lucario, watch the girls. I feel they shouldn't be walking at all," I said before I went into Drew and Paul's room to see Roserade still trying to wake up Drew.
"Drew wake up," I said gently while gently shaking him awake. "Everything is all right."
He then opened his eyes and sat up while looking around the room in a panic, "Drew calm down, everything is okay," I said gently.
"May, you're okay," he said in relief as he gave me a hug with tears streaming down his face.
I turned to look at Dawn and Paul to see Dawn holding Paul who looked a little scared. I turned back to Drew and just held him while he silently cried.
"Roserade, please use Aromatherapy and have it reach both bedrooms," I ordered gently.
She nodded and stood in the hall while using Aromatherapy which seemed to calm everyone down to a certain degree. Suddenly, I heard panic come from the other room and from Paul. The girls had fainted from their fever, crap!
"Lucario, have some of the pokemon help you in preparing ice and have the pokemon start carrying it inside," I said telepathically as Kirlia came into the room.
"Kirlia, find a whole bunch of sheets and with the other pokemon, arrange it so it looks like the way I have imagined," I said quickly.
"May, what is going on?" Drew asked weakly before fainting and I saw that Paul slumped over as well while still holding Dawn.
"Crap, Roserade, keep an eye on things. I need to see how everything is going downstairs," I said as I quickly ran into the living room to see four queen beds as I had asked Kirlia to arrange them.
I saw that Kirlia returned with the sheets and Lucario was bringing in buckets of ice. I quickly set up the ice beds partially and had some of the pokemon use Psychic to bring everyone downstairs gently and set them down with their pokemon following them. I finished covering them in blankets and ice while putting cold clothes on their heads. Now to make the medicine, I should try to make the medicine from the pokemon epidemic from last month. Maybe that's the cure.
"Everyone, keep an eye on your trainers. I'm going to try to make some medicine," I said as I went outside, "Pachirisu, can you please come with me?"
"Che ba," it said and scampered after me as I went into the garden to pick the berries and herbs I needed.
After gathering everything, I quickly mushed the berries and mixed in the herbs before pouring it into a jar with a metal tip sticking out.
"Pachirisu, use Discharge," I commanded gently.
"Cheeeee!" it shouted as it used discharge to charge the medicine.
After thirty seconds, I stopped Pachirisu and quickly poured the medicine into some small cups and quickly went around to everyone to make sure they had some and watched to see what happened.
Everyone began to look a little calmer and I thought for a second they were cured. I quickly put my hand over Drew and began to look at his aura. He still wasn't well, but at least he was stable at the moment. I guess the medicine only provides temporary relief for a time before it'll attack again.
I checked Drew's forehead to see that he still had a fever, but it was a whole lot better than what it was before.
"We can relax for a short bit," I told everyone as I relaxed slightly. "The medicine I gave them didn't get rid of the virus, but it will help slow down the damage it will try to do."
The pokemon looked relieved and grateful as I checked my poketch to see that it was 5:00 AM and yawned.
"I think we'll have a late breakfast today," I said tiredly. "Lucario, can you tell everyone that breakfast will be a bit late due to what just happened?"
He nodded and went outside to spread the word since everyone was up, I made my way to a comfy chair that was nearby, but I felt myself being pulled away from it to where Drew was sleeping.
"What are you doing Roserade?" I asked sleepily.
"Rose roserade rose rose," she said. (I want you next to Drew in case he has anymore nightmares.)
"The chair is close enough," I said with a yawn only to find myself pushed onto the bed.
"Talk about stubbornness," I muttered as I lay down on the bed to see that Roserade had a smirk on her face.
"Good grief," I said as I instantly fell asleep from exhaustion.
I woke up a few hours later to see that people and pokemon alike were still sleeping and I looked at my poketch to see that it was 9:00 AM. I quietly made my way upstairs to shower and change. Afterwards, I went I made my way downstairs and put my hand on Drew's forehead to see that the fever was still there, but not as bad as it was with everyone else being the same way. I quietly walked into the kitchen to start making food for everyone. I made pokemon food first and then started everyone else's breakfast. Soon the smell started to drift into the other rooms and outside causing the pokemon to wake up. I then had them help me deliver the food outside while I finished up in the kitchen as everyone started to wake up.
"Whhhyyyy isss it so cccccold and wwwwwhere are wwwwwe?" Dawn asked while shivering.
"After the nightmare and fainting episode, I thought it would be best for all of you to be in one place so you are now in the living room. As for why is it so cold, you slept in a bed of ice cubes," I explained.
"Why?" Leaf asked while shivering.
"You're fevers were incredibly high and we had to bring them down somehow," I said.
"Can we please get out of the ice please, it's not cool," Misty said.
I laughed, "Ice one," I said causing everyone to groan.
"It's too early for puns May, please let us out," Drew begged.
"Alright alright, I'll stop with the puns," I said with a smile before I looked serious. "I'll let you out only if I judge your fever at a safe level."
I took everyone's temperatures while also looking at their aura. Seeing that they were okay for the moment, I had the pokemon help me remove the beds of ice and warm up heating pads for everyone before I served everyone their breakfast.
I grabbed my mug of tea as I went to sit on a chair near Drew's bed as everyone ate, "This is awesome May, who knew porridge tasted so go," Ash said happily.
I laughed, "I'm glad you like it," I said as I took a sip.
"You okay May, you seem tired," Misty said concerned.
I gave a small smile, "I am, but nothing a little sleep can't fix."
"Any idea where Team Galactic went?" Gary asked.
"No, I haven't given them a thought, not that they deserve one," I muttered. "All my attention has been focused on you guys."
"May, is there something you're not telling us?" Dawn asked.
Crap, "No, why would you think that?" I asked confused.
"You seem like you're hiding something," she said before turning pale.
"Lucario, please have Roserade come in," I said hurriedly through telepathy as I started to collect trays and put them in the kitchen.
"May, what's wrong?" Leaf asked concerned.
I started to detect that everyone was starting to have difficulty breathing, "Nothing's wrong," I said quickly with a small grin as Lucario and Roserade came in.
"Roserade, please use Aromatherapy," I said quickly.
"Rose," she said and began to use Aromatherapy, it did some effect but not a lot.
"May, what's wrong?" Lucario asked seeing my concern.
"If we can't figure out a way to heal everyone soon, we're going to have big problems. I don't know what I'll do when they can't breathe, I don't have the right equipment to help them," I said worriedly.
"May, you look scared. What's wrong?" Leaf asked concerned.
"Nothing's wrong, at least nothing that I can't handle," I lied.
"Are you sure?" Drew asked suspicious.
"Yup," I lied with a smile. "Lucario, can you have a few pokemon watch everyone, I need to call Max."
He nodded and went outside, "I'll be right back you guys, I've got to check in with Max," I said before leaving the room for the office.
Once I got inside, I shut the door and called up Max, "Hey May," Max said tiredly. "What's up?"
"Everyone is starting to have trouble breathing, have you found anything for the antidote?" I asked worried.
Max shook his head, "I'm sorry May, I've been up for hours and tried everything from all medicine to berry potions, but nothing is working. I don't think an antidote exists unless someone has it," he said tiredly.
Someone has it….or had it? "Max, I think I have an idea. I'll get back to you," I said before ending the call and left the office to see how everyone was doing.
"What did Max have to say?" Dawn asked tiredly as she looked incredibly pale and weak.
"He's still working on the antidote," I reported.
She gave a small smile which made me concerned, "That's good to hear," she said quietly as she pet Piplup before she closed her eyes and her hand fell limp.
"Piplup!" Piplup cried. (Dawn!)
I ran over to her side and checked her heart rate and her aura, this isn't good. Soon everyone fainted causing me to be more anxious and think about what Max said about the antidote. What if the antidote is me because I was healed miraculously to the point of being stable?
I needed to give Max a sample of my blood, but it's impossible to do a blood test on yourself and no one here can do it. I shivered knowing what I had to do. I ran into the kitchen grabbed a small kitchen knife, a vial, and a bandage and washed my hands before running the knife under hot water to sterilize it. I sat down on a chair and took a deep breath, it's now or never. I took the knife and made a cut on my left hand causing blood to appear and I let it drop in the vial til there was enough. I then cleaned up the gash and wound the bandage around it to stop the bleeding.
I walked outside while carrying the vial and gave it to Kirlia to teleport to Max, "Hey Max, did you get the vial Kirlia just teleported?" I asked.
"Yea, what is it?" he asked.
"It's my blood, I kept thinking about what you said saying that maybe someone could be carrying the antidote unknowingly. What if I contain the antidote since I was healed miraculously?" I theorized.
"That might work, but it seems like a long shot," Max said tiredly before looking at me suspiciously. "May, how did you get your blood?"
"Heh heh," I said nervously. "I kinda had to cut my hand."
"WHAT! May, why in the world did you do that? This probably won't even work," Max said exasperated.
"Max, what else are we supposed to try? We are out of options and the virus is getting to the point to where everyone will need medical attention from the hospital," I snapped. "Please, test it out."
Max sighed, "Alright, I'll work on it, but please don't do anything stupid like that again."
"Alright Max," I said. "Please keep me posted."
He ended the call and I walked back into the living to see how everyone was doing.
"Rose rose Roserade rade?" Roserade asked me. (What's with the bandage?)
"I had to give a sample of blood to my brother and since no one here could do a blood test on me, I had to cut my hand in order to get enough blood," I said deciding not to lie.
The pokemon were shocked so I quickly explained my theory.
I felt a little weak from the cut that I had so I sat on the floor in between Drew and Gary's beds and began to meditate. I don't know how long I meditated for, but I felt a lot better afterwards. I stopped when my poketch started to ring and I saw that it was Max.
"Max, did it work?" I asked anxiously.
"Well…..there is good news and bad news," he said tiredly. "The good news is that apparently, you are the antidote. Something in your blood stream is what kills and gets rid of the virus. The bad news is that it took your whole vial for a fourth of the one infected for the sample to be healed fully so it's impossible to heal everyone."
"I don't care," I said determined. "How long would you be able to get the antidote put together?"
"A few hours, but May, you can't do this. You'll kill yourself in the process, you'll lose too much blood," Max argued.
"Max, I'm not gonna give up on my friends, I made a promise to their pokemon I would do everything in order to heal them even if it meant sacrificing myself. Be ready to pull the antidote from my blood when it gets there, promise?" I asked him sternly.
"But….May," he argued with tears in his eyes.
"Promise?" I asked again.
He sighed, "I promise, I love you May," he said with his voice cracking.
"I love you too Max, be strong," I said gently as I ended the call.
"May, you can't do that," Drew argued weakly.
CRAP! When did everyone wake up! "We don't have a choice," I said bluntly.
"May, you can't," Dawn cried weakly with tears running down her face.
"Lucario, get Butterfree please and have Beautifly and Masquerain use a lite Gust so fresh air gets in here," I said as I began to open the windows. "Also call in a few more pokemon to watch their trainers, we're in for a rough ride."
"May, what are you talking about, please tell use?" Misty begged.
I gave a small smile, "It's best that you don't know," I said quietly. "Butterfree, please use Sleep Powder when I leave the room and Roserade, please use Aromatherapy once everyone is asleep."
"Butterfree, don't listen to her," Drew argued.
"I sorry everyone," I said quietly as I walked out of the room with Roserade following me before Butterfree used Sleep Powder.
"Rose roserade," she said sadly as she began to cry. (I can't believe we went against him.)
I gave her a hug with tears streaming down my face as well, "I know it hurts, but we have to do what we have to do because it is the best for everyone's interests," I said sadly as I stepped out of the hug and looked at her. "I don't want anyone in the kitchen except for Lucario and Blaziken. In the meantime, everyone needs to be prepared. You're trainers will have difficulty breathing so make sure fresh air gets in the room and use Aromatherapy."
She nodded with a sad face and left to do as I asked. I then started to make a reenergizing berry potion for everyone to drink that would bring them back almost to perfect health once they had the antidote.
"Lucario, have Blaziken come with you into the kitchen," I said telepathically as I grabbed the same kitchen knife from earlier, a bunch of bandages, a bunch of towels, and a few containers. I began to wash everything with hot water to make it was sterile as Blaziken and Lucario came into the kitchen.
"You're gonna have to keep an eye on me. Once the containers are full, have Kirlia teleport them carefully. You'll also have to bandage my wrists to stop the flow of blood once there is enough," I said sternly.
"Blaziken blaze," Blaziken argued. (You can't do this.)
I gave a small smile as I took a seat in a chair with the knife in my hands while taking off my poketch, "We are out of options, this is the only way," I said sadly as I took the knife and made cuts to both my wrists and quickly placed them over the containers as blood began to spill into them.
Lucario and Blaziken said nothing, but looked in pain, "Another thing, I'll probably black out from this, but once everyone has been given the antidote, give them the berry potion that is sitting on the counter. It will revive them almost to perfect health," I said tiredly. "Also, no one can leave the property because Max will have to come at some point and test to make sure that everyone is clear of the virus."
They nodded and I continued to sit the way that I was for at least 30 minutes before I felt faint and enough blood was collected. Lucario and Blaziken came up and quickly stopped the bleeding and wrapped the bandages on my wrists as fast as they could. Suddenly, Skitty appeared and began to use Heal Bell while Lucario began to use Heal Pulse to help heal the cuts. Kirlia then appeared and used Teleport on the containers to send them to Max.
I weakly grabbed my poketch and called Max, "Did you get them?" I asked faintly.
"I did, I'll work on the antidote right away," he said sadly.
I gave a faint smile before I ended the call and felt Blaziken carry and place me on the bed next to Drew.
"May, why did you do that?" Dawn asked with tears in her eyes.
I looked at her and smiled before I fainted.
November 20th (Outside of Rosewall Town, Hoenn)
I woke up feeling incredibly weak and felt warmth next to me. I fluttered my eyes open to see that Drew was awake sitting next to me reading a book that was in his lap.
I stirred slightly causing me to see emerald eyes full of relief, "May, you're finally awake," Drew said relieved causing everyone to look at me and walk over.
"May, you've been out for two days straight. How are you feeling?" Dawn asked anxiously.
"Incredibly weak, I feel as weak as I did after I gave all that blood, so I'm guessing that's not good," I said as I sat up weakly.
"May, why did you do that? There must have been another way to find an antidote," Leaf said concerned.
"There wasn't, it was either my blood or all of you dying," I said tiredly.
"Wait, you said that the virus wouldn't cause a lot of damage, why did you lie to us?" Misty asked angrily.
"Because if you knew the truth, it would have made death come faster. The virus becomes a threat if the victim constantly moves and is stressed out, the virus then takes that stress and movement and attacks the nervous system and organs causing them to overwork and burn out. That's why I had Butterfree use Sleep Powder so much so that you would be asleep most of the time and the virus would slow down. Same with Roserade using Aromatherapy. I was hoping that it would also keep you more relaxed and to slow down the virus as well," I explained.
"May, you should have still told us. We could have handled it, we would have been fine," Leaf said sternly.
"No you wouldn't, you didn't even suffer the half that I did, thank goodness. I didn't want to take the chance of you suffering the way I did when I got sick with the virus three years ago."
"May, we would have been able to handle it," Drew said determined.
I soon became upset and mad, I started getting up and weakly walked to the door that lead outside, "May, where are you going?!" Dawn asked in shock. "You're in no condition to go anywhere!"
I said nothing and made my way outside from the deck to the backyard, "May, stop!" Drew shouted in concern as they caught up to me.
"You guys don't know what the virus would have done," I said upset as a time flower appeared. "Which is why you're going to see what the virus did to me."
I touched the time flower as I collapsed on the ground from lack of energy and watched the gang as they saw what happened to me.
"This is why I didn't tell you anything and kept you from doing anything, I almost died from lack of the cure and lack of faith," I said angrily with tears coming down my face as I sat looking at the ground once the past disappeared. "I didn't want you to suffer the same way I did."
Drew then sat next to me and pulled me into a side hug, "We know and that you didn't want us to suffer, but please be honest with us next time, even if the truth will hurt," he said gently.
I said nothing as he kissed my cheek and helped me stand up.
"Ruh," Lucario said as he handed me a cup with the reenergizing medicine. (Drink this.)
I did and I felt better instantly, "Thanks Lucario," I said gratefully before turning to everyone else. "How do you guys feel?"
"We feel a lot better than we did a few days ago. We didn't get up until last night because we were really tired from the whole experience. Also, Max called saying that the dorm has been cleaned of all signs of the gas and it's safe to go back, but we decided to stay here instead, hope that wasn't a problem," Leaf said.
I smiled, "It's not, I'd rather stay here than in the dorm. It's more peacefully here."
"I can understand why, it's beautiful here," Misty said in awe.
I nodded in agreement before I started walking towards the porch, "Where are you going May?" Drew asked.
"I've got to put the house back in order. Besides, I'm hungry, I've been asleep and haven't eaten for two days," I said teasingly before turning to Kirlia. "Do you think you can put the living room back together?"
"Kirlia," he said with a smile as he went inside to do as I asked.
Soon the living was back to the way it was and I walked into the kitchen with everyone following me, "Anything we can do to help?" Leaf asked.
"Sure, half of us can feed the pokemon while the other half can make breakfast," I suggested as I grabbed a basket and went to the side door.
"Where are you going May?" Misty asked.
"To the garden, haven't you seen it yet?" I asked.
Everyone shook their heads, "Follow me then," I said as I went outside.
The garden was about less than half a football field with flowers and herbs of all kinds with berry trees next to it of all kinds.
Everyone was shocked at how big it was, "Since when did you have to plant this?" Drew asked surprised.
"I did it over the summer. I might expand it next year, but we'll have to see," I said. "I've also been thinking of adding a greenhouse too."
"Geez, how do you weed it all?" Gary asked.
"My pokemon help me out. When I'm not here, some nice people from Rosewall Town come up here to weed it out and take whatever they need from it," I said with a smile.
"What else do you have here?" Dawn asked curiously.
"Probably the only thing is a small recording study in the basement," I said.
"Could you show us?" Leaf asked.
"Later, right now, I'm hungry and I'm sure everyone else is too," I said.
"Rose roserade rose?" Roserade asked. (Can I tend your roses, they need a little sprucing.)
"Go for it, they do look like they need some attention," I agreed.
Roserade beamed and went to work on the roses while Drew looked at me in shock, "You understood what she said?" he asked in shock.
"Heh…heh about that," I said sheepishly. "Earlier this week, I've seem to have developed the talent of being able to understand all pokemon."
"What!" everyone shouted.
"Sheesh, no need to yell," I whined. "I'll explain later after everyone is done eating."
"Fine, how about you girls feed the pokemon, we'll make breakfast," Gary suggested.
The girls and I looked suspicious, "Do you even know how to cook?" Leaf asked.
"Thanks for wounding my pride Leafy," he said in a dramatic tone as he placed his hand over his heart and his head looked up.
"We'll be fine, no need to worry," Ash said.
The girls and I looked at each other before turning back to the guys, "That's when we worry the most," we said bluntly.
"Fine let's make a bet then," Gary suggested.
"What's the wager?" Leaf asked.
The guys then got into a huddle and started whispering before Gary faced Leaf again.
"If our meal is good, you girls do the dishes. If our meal is terrible, you make something and us guys will clean all the dishes," Gary proposed.
Leaf looked at us girls and we nodded before she turned to face Gary, "We accept, now get cooking, we're hungry," she said.
Gary shook his head in amusement before kissing her cheek and followed the guys inside, "Let's get going girls, we have fifty-some pokemon to feed," I said.
"My question is how did you make that much pokemon food all by yourself when we were sick?" Dawn asked as we picked berries and herbs.
"It took a long time, but it got done," I said. "At least I have you girls helping me out."
"I wonder what the guys are making?" Leaf wondered.
"I don't know, all I hope is that they don't destroy the kitchen," I said firmly with a hint of worry.
"I think we've gathered enough," Dawn judged from what we had collected. "Let's make some pokemon food."
Soon we were making pokemon food in the backyard and all the pokemon were munching happily.
"Breakfast is ready," Ash called from the deck.
"Shall we go see?" I asked.
"Yea, I wonder what they did?" Misty wondered as we walked inside to the kitchen.
When we walked in, the girls and I were surprised. There were pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, and fresh berries.
"I don't believe it," Misty said.
"I don't either," Leaf agreed. "Is this even real?"
"Only one way to find out," I said as we all sat down.
The girls and I tested the food as the guys watched us for our reactions, "I'll give you guys credit," I said. "It tastes good."
"I'm with May," Dawn said.
"Eh, it's okay, May's food is better," Leaf said.
"Ditto," Misty agreed.
"I wouldn't be so sure," I said. "I think this is better than my food."
"Please don't say that, we don't need to inflate egos here," Leaf begged.
"Just admit it Leafy, you like our cooking," Gary teased.
"I can believe Paul and Drew cooking this, but not you and Ash," Leaf stated.
"Ouch Leafy," Gary whined. "Why do you keep wounding me."
"I'm sorry, I just find it hard to believe that the guy who burns berries can cook," Leaf said exasperated.
I laughed, "What, how in the world do you burn berries?" I asked before I continued to eat.
"Funny story, Gary and Ash decided that they would try cooking some food for their pokemon and that all you do was set stuff in a pot of water and that it would cook on the stove," Drew said. "It caught fire and set off the fire alarm making everyone exit the dorm at 10:00 at night last year."
"Wow," I said before eating a piece of bacon.
"Hence why I doubted that Gary and Ash made this," Leaf stated.
"For the record, Paul and I did make most of it," Drew said.
"Ha," Leaf said while pointing at Gary.
"But Ash and Gary did help with the bacon and sausage," Drew finished.
"Ha," Gary said while pointing at Leaf.
I shook my head my head while smiling as I continued to eat, "May, care to explain how you can now understand pokemon," Dawn asked.
"I'm not really sure how to explain, I just woke up Monday morning and was able to understand anything a pokemon was saying," I explained.
"So when pokemon talk, you can understand what their saying?" Dawn asked to confirm.
"That's pretty much about it," I said as I finished eating. "I'll give you guys credit, that was a really good breakfast."
"I'm with May on that," Dawn chirped happily.
Misty nodded and we all stared at Leaf, "Alright, it was good," she finally admitted.
"Well girls, we have a kitchen to clean," I said as I started to stand up and take dishes to the sink, "You guys can check on the pokemon and we'll join up with ya shortly."
Soon the guys left for outside while the girls and I cleaned up the kitchen. After we were done, we made our way outside to see that the guys cleaned up the dishes from feeding the pokemon and were training with them.
Much to our dismay, the girls and I agreed to grab our homework from school and work on it so we didn't have to worry about it later. For the rest of the afternoon, the guys joined us in catching up with our homework and after we finished, we did more training with our pokemon.
As I finished practicing an appeal with Luxio, a small Growlithe came from the bushes covered in cuts limping on a bloody leg. I bolted from the deck as they collapsed.
"I wonder what happened to it, it doesn't look more than a few days old," I noted in concern.
"I don't know, but it needs medical attention badly," Drew said.
"Bring him to the deck, I'll grab some medicine," I said as I ran to the garden to grab some herbs and berries to make in a potion in the kitchen. After I finished that, I grabbed some healing spray and some rags along with a small pail of hot water before going back to the deck.
I soon began to clean him up and his leg that seemed to have broken because I saw a bone stick out slightly. After the blood and scratches were gone, I quickly went inside to grab some small pieces of wood and some clothe. I came back and then pushed the bone back into place before wrapping the leg in place with the pieces of wood and clothe. Lastly, I gave him the potion to heal him and give him energy causing him to wake up slowly.
"Growl?" he asked scared. (Where am I?)
"Shh," I said soothingly as I set him on my lap and began to pet him, "You're in a safe place, no one is gonna hurt you."
He slowly began to calm down under my touch til he relaxed and rested on my lap.
"You sure have a way with pokemon May, are you sure you're not Nurse Joy?" Dawn asked.
"I'm positive," I said. "But I'm wondering what happened to him, it looked like his front paw got caught in a poacher's trap."
"We'll, we don't know and we can't ask because Growlithe fell asleep," Drew said as I continued to pet him.
"Can you watch Growlithe, I'm gonna make him some milk," I said as I gently placed him on the deck and stood up.
"Go ahead May, we'll watch him," Drew said.
I went into the kitchen and warmed up some milk with some herbs and berries mixed it and put it in a baby bottle before coming back on the deck.
"Can you guys feed the pokemon and make supper while I watch Growlithe?" I asked.
"Sure May, we'll make something better than the guys," Leaf said.
"How are you gonna top our awesome breakfast?" Gary asked.
"You'll find out," Leaf said with a grin as everyone split off to do their tasks as I gently woke up Growlithe for him to have his milk.
He sat on my lap as I fed him from the bottle and he finished it in no time. After he was done, he licked the side of my face happily causing me to laugh.
"I get it Growlithe, please stop," I said with a laugh.
"Growl," he said happily.
"Can you tell me what happened to you?" I asked.
"Growl rowl," he said sadly. (I got stuck in a poacher's trap but escaped.)
"Has the poacher been around for a while?" I asked.
Growlithe shook his head, "Growl growl," he said. (He came a few days ago to set traps, I overheard him say that he'll come back tonight and steal a bunch of us.)
"Well, I'll have to do something about that and make sure he doesn't come back," I said determined. "Do you know when he'll come back?"
Growlithe nodded, "Growl," he said. (midnight)
"My friends and I will come up with a plan to make sure he doesn't come back. Right now, why don't you rest while I go inside," I suggested.
He nodded and yawned before lying down on the deck and going back to sleep. I went inside to help the girls finish supper which was spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread.
"Leaf, why don't you call the guys in while the rest of us finish up," I called.
"Gladly," Leaf said as she went to the deck.
Soon the table was ready and the guys came in following Leaf, "This looks so good," Ash said hungrily.
I laughed at his reaction as we all sat down and began to eat, "May, did you figure out what happened to Growlithe?" Drew asked.
I nodded and explained what Growlithe said and we soon devised an interesting plan to scare the poachers away.
For the next few hours after we finished eating, I practiced with the pokemon who would help with the plan and then Dawn and I went upstairs and put together my costume.
It was a flowy white floor length dress with a scoop neckline and spaghetti straps that was covered with a sheer material with embroidered butterflies that went up to the neck with long flowy sleeves. Once I put the dress on, Dawn helped me finish up the costume. We took my wig that I wore at school and curled it before placing it on my head and putting it half up half down. Then Dawn covered my body in white powder to give me a ghostly appearance while putting on silver eye shadow, silver lipstick, and gave me violet contacts to cover my blue eyes. Then I put on a wreath of white roses and other pale vegetation before Dawn placed and pinned a veil that would cover my face and add to my ghostly appearance.
By the time we finished, it was 11:40 PM and we went downstairs to see everyone on the porch.
"Wow, you two sure can put together a great spirit costume," Leaf complimented.
"Let's hope it works," I said and blushed slightly as Drew kept staring at me.
"Uh dude, you in there?" Gary asked as he snapped his fingers in front of Drew's face.
Drew shook his head to snap out of it while blushing having been caught staring at me.
Soon, the gang plus Lucario, Kirlia, Espeon, Umbreon, and Altaria went into the forest to where Growlithe said the poacher would be. We went to the opposite side of the lake to find that the poacher was there and already had some pokemon in cages which he was loading in a truck.
"Altaria, use Mist and Kirlia, use Psychic," I whispered as I stood next to the lake.
Soon a mist appeared over the lake and where we were and Kirlia used Psychic to lift me a few inches off the ground to make it look like I was hovering.
"What's that?" the poacher asked squinting to look at me.
"Now," I told Lucario telepathically.
Soon I was moving forward across the lake while appearing that I was floated til I stopped at the edge of the lake.
"Who are you?" the poacher asked threatening.
I looked up at him and said nothing, I lifted my arm and then Espeon used Psychic making it look like I was the one releasing the pokemon from their cages.
"Why you, Mightyena, take care of her," the poacher ordered and Mightyena charged at me.
Kirlia teleported me a few feet from where I was as Mightyena tried to tackle me. I then appeared next to him and touched him while using my aura powers to make him go unconscious. I turned to look at the poacher's truck and shot an Aura Sphere at it causing the truck to be destroyed.
"I'll have to take care of you myself," he threatening as he pulled out a gun and pointed it at me.
I started to walk slowly toward him as Umbreon used Confusion to halt the bullets from hitting me.
I threw an Aura Sphere at his feet causing him to jump back and look scared as the forest pokemon stood behind me in a semicircle looking at him threateningly.
"Leave this forest and never come back," I ordered sternly in a mysterious voice.
He looked pale and scared to death as he quickly returned his Mightyena and ran off into the forest not before he ran into a tree almost causing me to laugh out loud. He then stood up and ran away out of the forest as I floated towards him threateningly.
I used my aura to see that he was gone from the forest still running for his life causing me to smile, "Coast is clear, he's gone," I said as I was set down on the ground.
"You're plan actually worked May, I think you scared the poacher out of coming here," Drew said.
"Yea, it looked like he saw a ghost," I teased.
"You played the part well May," Dawn complimented.
"Thanks, personally, I wanted to beat him up a bit, but spirit maidens aren't supposed to do that, it ruins the image," I teased.
"At least he's gone," Leaf said with a yawn.
"We better head back to the house before we pass out," Dawn yawned.
"You guys can head back, I'm going stay here a minute to make sure all the forest pokemon are okay," I said.
"Okay May, we'll see you later," Leaf said as everyone except Drew left to go back to the house.
After I did a quick scan of the pokemon's auras, I saw that despite being a little shaken up, everyone was fine.
I turned around to see that Drew was still here, "You didn't have to stay here with me."
He smirked, "I thought that the forest maiden should have a protector," he teased. "It's not safe for spirits to wander alone."
I smirked as I walked up to him and curtsied deciding to play along, "Thank you kind sir for protecting me this fine moonlit evening," I said before standing up.
"I believe I should receive a reward for my bravery and actions," he teased.
"What do you ask for?" I asked mysteriously with a smile.
He walked toward me and flipped my veil over before taking my face in his hands and kissed me passionately.
I broke out of the kiss with a smile, "Does thou like your reward?" I asked.
He smiled at me before he kissed me again and broke out of it, "How does it feel to kiss a spirit maiden?" I asked teasingly.
"It was enchanting," he teased back before he took a step back and bowed. "May I escort you home?" he asked playfully as he offered his arm to me.
"I shall accept your offer," I said playfully as I walked up to him.
He put his arm around my waist and I leaned my head against his shoulder before we walked back to the house listening to the sounds of the night.