Chapter 11 - Reunion
*Click*
Ash closed his laptop.
He readjusted his hat and positioned himself to sit up straight within his chair. He had to contemplate for a second. A moment. Exhale once, think twice.
Deep down he was exceedingly excited, but was also overwhelmed with nervousness.
He had just spoken to his longtime friend May Maple through video call. They had spoken on a large number of occasions before, but never before a direct meet-up. Both were extremely busy chasing their own respective dreams. Come to think of it, they haven't seen each other since Kanto before Ash had left to continue his journey in Sinnoh and May, a top coordinator in Johto. He'd never forget the adventures they made while they advanced through to the Hoenn league where Ash placed amongst the Top 8. Even though he had lost, he found good in losing to Tyson in their Pokémon battle. The same couldn't be said for May. She congratulated her team for doing so well, but deep inside, she imploded. She wanted to cry because she felt this win was what mattered most. She needed consolation or some company, anything! Ash was that consoling. Her taught her that winning isn't all that important. It's the experience you make with your friends and Pokémon. At first, that make absolutely no sense to her. What point was there to these Festivals then? It took time and patience for that meaning to grow on her, and it did. It's what makes her a better trainer and person after learning from her mentor.
Their conversation was brief because both knew what events would happen later into the evening where they could talk and catch up all day. Ash pondered if May was as anxious as he was. As he had mental flashbacks in his head, he realized he stuttered a few times here and there. He said a few things that his friend, Brock would look down upon for saying such. He could only imagine what his face looked like into the video call. He bit his tongue, he must've looked like a fool.
He exhaled loudly once more and vacantly stared out his window at the bright white overcast. He enjoyed the sun being out more, but cloudy days had grew on him. He never exactly knew why they'd become his favorite. Maybe it was the ambiance of it all. The calm emotion growing when staring into the sky. Better yet, a cloudy night, but just enough to look at the stars in the hours after darkness falls.
He got up and looked into the mirror for a bit. To observe his own figure. He looked fine, not exactly good enough for his own taste though. Neither was there enough time either. She was over in the next town and a train ride away. He'd have to take the Nimbasa City train into Anville Town to where they'd agreed to meet.
He decided he'd leave his companion to rest since Pikachu seemed like he was intoxicated to a high degree from Ketchup. And he didn't seem like he would come to anytime soon and he'd most likely still be asleep when Ash would come back later.
Out the door and downstairs into central city. Ash felt like he was in his own bubble all the way through Anville Town. One that was too big to pop from any sort of vibration or possible needle like people talking in the street. Or the young instrument player singing a lullaby at the rails. Or the creepy old man narrating a folktale about trains as he made his way across the bridge. He had been on an island for what Arceus knows how long, just... focusing on the time and where'd it gone and why does it keep moving so quickly like it's late for a job interview? It also gave him the impression that the railroad conductor was out to get him. Never in his life has the daily train cars moved at a hasty pace. The conductor had nowhere to go, why is he so impatient?
"Next stop: Anville Town in two minutes," relayed the gentle train attendant over the intercom to all the passengers.
He decided to sit at a bench that gave him open space and vision. If they were to both be looking for each other, they'd see each other instantly. It was a little bit before noon and Ash was sweating bullets. He couldn't anticipate waiting for his friend, but then again, he could. This time was different than any other.
He wanted to ask May to go on a date with him.
If only it was so simple to translate similar to the thoughts in his head. Maybe he should've just ask in Spanish. Maybe write a letter and leave it to silence to do the rest. Maybe he should just fall back off this plan? No. It'll only make it worse. His idea was already in motion as he had told her through the video that he wanted to speak on something important. It's not like he didn't build hints either, he did. He didn't practically throw himself, but she had to have know his feelings somehow by now. And what if she felt the same way? There'd be progress. So there was hope for him to possibly look forward to.
He set his head up to get full warmth from the sun. All this thinking made Ash grow tired, he slept perfectly fine the night before, but the setting was too great to pass up. He felt it would be a good option to get a quick power nap in since he would be waiting for quite a bit.
That power nap turned into something more as five minutes went on to 10. 10 minutes turned into 20. 20 into 25. It would've been a full 30 minutes until things got abnormally black. How? It was still noon, there's no way he slept for so long. So who turned out the sun?
He wiped the sand out his eyes and bestirred to a set of... jewels..? Blue ones. He had forgotten the name of that particular stone. Sapphire was the first thing that appeared in his head because these irises were huge and dark, yet so clear he could see his slumped reflection in them too. These feminine baby blues could give a Glaceon's icy fur coat a run for its money akin the similarities. Mesmerizing couldn't begin to describe how it felt for Ash to be in this position.
He blinked twice with each close clearing the make out for this dark figure. They were upside down above him.
"Hey sleepyhead.."
;)
Be humble, sit down~
