This chapter here seemed to be a favorite among my fans when I first uploaded it. I hope you guys enjoy it, too!
The ship arrived at Pallet Town the next morning. Although Professor Oak's lab was closer to the dock than Ash's house, they decided to go and stop by there first and check in with Delia.
"Man, it sure feels good to be home." Ash remarked cheerfully as they walked through the small town. "Right, buddy?"
"Pika, pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.
"I can't wait to see your Pokemon again, Ash!" Max said excitedly.
"Hey, Ash, you think our Bulbasaurs have been getting along okay?" May asked, thinking back to when she had left it behind.
"Yeah, I bet they're doing great!" Ash assured her.
As they approached the small one-story house that Ash called home, a Mr. Mime suddenly ran out to greet them on the front porch.
"Mime, mime!"
"Oh, hey, Mr. Mime!" Ash greeted happily. "Is Mom home?"
"Who's there?" Delia called out from inside the house. She emerged from the door behind Mr. Mime a second later. "Mimey, I - oh!"
"Hey, Mom!" Ash exclaimed happily, waving jubilantly at her.
"Oh, hi, honey!" Delia replied cheerfully. "I didn't know you were coming home so soon!"
"Yeah." Ash answered, nodding. "We kind of ran into some problems, but we'll tell you about that later. We were just gonna leave our stuff here and head over to Professor Oak's place for a while, if that's okay."
"Sure!" Delia told him. "He's been busy with Tracey all morning, but I'm sure he'd let you four in."
"All right! Thanks, Mom!"
After doing as they said and offloading their packs at Ash's house, the group headed back across town to the Pokemon lab. As Delia had said, Professor Oak and Tracey appeared busy with something on the computer, but they were let in anyway, after a quick exchange of greetings between the two groups.
They began walking out into the open field behind the lab, where the Pokemon were kept, but they didn't make it five steps before Ash was tackled to the ground by his Bayleef.
"Bay! Bay!" Bayleef cooed affectionately, rubbing its face against Ash's.
"H-hey, good to see you too, Bayleef!" Ash stammered, attempting to push Bayleef off and stand back up.
"Pika, pika!" Pikachu said, raising a hand to Bayleef itself.
"That's so cool!" Max exclaimed once Ash had gotten back on his feet, petting Bayleef. "I never got to see many of your Pokemon the last time we were here..."
"Yeah, thanks to Team Rocket." Ash agreed, nodding as he remembered the day.
Walking further out into the field, along with Bayleef, they soon met up with many more of Ash's reserve Pokemon, including Totodile, Cyndaquil, Glalie, Torkoal, Heracross, Snorlax, and Kingler, although, unlike the rest of them, Snorlax chose not to continue walking around with Ash and company, instead opting to remain napping against a tree trunk, right where they'd found it.
"This is so awesome!" Max cried out again, thoroughly enjoying getting to meet with so many different Pokemon. "I always forget how many Pokemon you have back here at the lab!"
"Yeah, me too, sometimes." Ash admitted. "Hey...I wonder where my Tauros are - "
As if on cue, a deafening roar filled the air and the ground started shaking, the result of Ash's thirty Tauros came stampeding across the field toward him.
"Heads up, Ash!" Brock called out, gesturing to the herd. "Looks like you spoke too soon!"
Ash, who now had Totodile on his right shoulder, as well as Pikachu on his left, attempted to dive out of the way, but was momentarily distracted when he noticed two Bulbasaur each sitting atop one of the Tauros in the herd. Noctowl was flying above the whole group, eyeing Ash with the same bland expression it always had.
Ash cried out as he was struck by the head of the pack and carried off with them as they continued their never-ending stampede. He knew it was just their way of saying hi, but given the recent wound in his arm, it was much more painful for him than usual. "Aaaagh! Guys! My...my arm!"
"Pika pika!" Pikachu chimed, concerned.
"Toto?" Totodile inquired, not understanding what exactly was wrong with Ash.
"Ash?" May cried out worriedly. Brock and Max appeared nervous as well, not sure if the Tauros were hurting him or not.
"Bulba?" Ash's Bulbasaur said, noticing Ash in apparent pain within the herd. Nodding to May's Bulbasaur, the two both extended their vines toward Ash, who quickly grabbed on gratefully. The two Bulbasaur then leaped off the backs of their respective Tauros, landing smoothly on the grass as Tauros continued charging through the field, never missing a beat.
"Ow...hey, thanks, you two." Ash said, rubbing his right arm tenderly as May, Max, and Brock came running up, along with the rest of Ash's Pokemon.
"Ash?" May repeated, eyeing his injured arm.
"Are you okay?" Brock asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to the Bulbasaur, anyway." Ash replied, grinning at the two Bulbasaur beside him.
"Oh, hi, Bulbasaur!" May greeted happily as her Pokemon walked over to her happily. "How have you been getting along with Ash's Bulbasaur?"
"Bulba, Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur chimed jovially.
May helped Ash up off the ground, and then they all decided to release all of their Pokemon and allow them to play in the field for a while.
"All right, guys! Come on out!" Ash cried first, releasing Swellow, Grovyle, Donphan, and Corphish.
"Come on, everyone! You too!" May echoed, releasing Combusken, Squirtle, Munchlax, and Eevee.
"You guys as well!" Brock finished, releasing Forretress, Bonsly, and Marshtomp.
All of the Pokemon seemed to be enjoying themselves. Corphish and Kingler made a game out of clashing pincers with each other, similar to the last time they had seen each other, while Noctowl and Swellow simply soared around the open air together. Snorlax continued sleeping against the same tree, along with Munchlax, while Heracross took to eating the sap within the trunk of that same tree.
Meanwhile, Donphan seemed to enjoy using Rollout in an attempt to keep up with the herd of Tauros, and it appeared to be doing well, for the most part. Glalie and Torkoal were coaching Cyndaquil in fire attacks, with Glalie freezing a patch of water into ice and then having Torkoal melt it, after which Cyndaquil would attempt to do the same. Marshtomp and Squirtle were swimming side by side in the same pond, albeit a good distance away from Glalie and company.
Combusken and Grovyle actually took to battling each other of their own accord during all of this, and they appeared to be quite evenly matched. Eevee, however, chose to remain with May, who cradled it comfortably in her arms. Bonsly remained with Brock as well, who opted to do the same. Totodile remained on Ash's shoulder as well, next to Pikachu, and the two Bulbasaurs, as well as Bayleef, chose to follow the group around on foot, the two Bulbasaurs walking side by side.
"Man, this is really great, huh?" Brock commented. "We don't get a chance to relax like this too often."
"Yeah." Ash agreed, nodding. "I know what you mean. I can't help feeling like something's missing, though..."
A few seconds later, Professor Oak and Tracey came walking out from the lab, into the field area. Behind them was Muk, the final Pokemon of Ash's reserve pool.
"Hello there, you four!" Professor Oak called out cheerfully. "I apologize for the delay earlier."
"Hey, Professor! You didn't tell me you had Muk in there with you!" Ash replied happily, waving to his Pokemon.
"Oh, yes, Muk has certainly taken a liking to me lately. It seems to follow me everywhere these days."
"Hey, you guys!" Tracey chimed in, raising a hand in greeting.
"Hey, Tracey!" Ash echoed back. "How's your Pokemon sketching going?"
"It's going really good, actually, except that trying to draw Muk is the most frustrating thing in the world." Tracey admitted, chuckling.
As the day wore on, the Pokemon continued their respective activities in the reserve area behind the lab. Professor Oak and Tracey explained that the 'project' they'd been doing on the computer earlier was actually researching the events surrounding the recent incidents at the Battle Palace and Battle Pyramid. Ash and company ended up explaining most of it to them, and they happily left them alone after that, content with what they had heard. Or at least content enough to look up more information for themselves.
That being said, at Max's request, Tracey went to stake out Ash's Swellow in the fields, allowing Max to watch as he drew his sketch of it. Brock, Bonsly still in his arms, went to spend some time with Marshtomp near the water. Forretress had taken to sleeping under a large tree all afternoon, as it had never fully recovered from using Explosion to get them into the Battle Pyramid.
Ash and May decided to just sit back and relax for a while. They retreated to the back side of the lab, overlooking the rest of the field, and sat down on the soft grass, Ash leaning back against the side of the building.
The two Bulbasaurs, upon seeing this, took to a similar position further out on the grass, sitting side by side on their hind legs, gazing up at the clouds together. Bayleef remained near Ash, but before long, Pikachu and Totodile grew restless and jumped down off of Ash's shoulders, beginning to chase each other around the area, which in turn drew Bayleef's attention, as well as Eevee's. Before long, the four Pokemon were engaged in a fierce game of four-way tag.
"Brock was right." May commented after an extended period of silence. Ash glanced over at her in confusion. "About the relaxing thing."
"Oh, yeah." Ash responded, nodding. "It's really cool to just stay here and hang out with all my Pokemon, you know?"
"Yeah." May agreed. This, she had discovered, was one of the many things that she liked about the boy sitting beside her: his fierce, undying love for his Pokemon. She had always admired that about him, even before she had started looking at him...that...way. With this on her mind, she decided to change the subject. "Ash?"
"Yeah?" He replied, lowering his voice when he saw her expression.
She was silent for a moment, watching almost cautiously as Pikachu and Totodile struggled to get away from Bayleef, who now had Eevee riding on its back, their group passing by Ash and May in the process.
"Pika-chuu!" Pikachu whined, watching behind it as Bayleef continued gaining distance.
"Toto, toto, toto, toto!" Totodile chimed carelessly, barely even paying attention as it danced away from Bayleef beside Pikachu.
May watched the small group as they drew away from them again. Turning back to Ash, she continued. "Can we talk about...?"
Ash blushed when he realized her intention, noticing that she was still wearing the green flower he'd given her in her hair. "Um...okay."
"Are we...I mean...are we...you know..." She stammered, hoping that Ash would catch on. His blank face told her that that wasn't going to happen, though, so she was forced to carry on herself. "Are we...'together'...now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I just mean...we...you know..." She said, blushing herself as she continued. "We've...kissed...twice already. But nobody else even knows...well, except maybe Pikachu." She finished, giggling.
"Well...yeah, I think. I mean...I guess. I'm not really that good with this kind of stuff..." Ash answered, looking down as he finished.
May stared at him for a moment. "Well...do you...w-want to be?"
Ash brought his gaze back up, meeting hers with a strange look on his face. His blush had intensified. "I...yeah. I mean...I think so..."
"You think so?" May repeated, not so much in anger as disappointment. However, she quickly found a way to turn it back on him, and drew herself up from the grass. "I thought..."
"No, wait, that's not right!" Ash urged when he saw her getting up, coupled with her disappointed expression. "I mean...I just don't know!"
May smiled sweetly at him and approached him as he stood up as well. Facing each other, she held his gaze. "What exactly are you feeling, Ash?"
He looked back at her helplessly. He didn't want her to get upset again, but he had no idea how to describe what he was feeling to her. Gritting his teeth, he decided on the spot to say the first thing that came to mind when he thought about her. "I-I feel like you're important to me! I care about you more than I ever thought I would, and I want to be with you, May!" He cried, much louder than he had intended, but that was the last thing on his mind. He was saying things that he himself hadn't even fully realized yet. "I want you to be happy, more than anything!"
May recoiled, staring at him in shock, not noticing that, behind her, a good portion of the field had heard what Ash had just said. She had never imagined that he would ever say something like that. Him, thick-headed Ash Ketchum, pouring his heart out to her. "A-Ash..."
Ash continued staring at the ground, tears falling down his face this time. May drew herself closer to him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"I-I'm sorry..." He muttered, not looking at her. "I t-told you...I'm no good at stuff like this..."
"It's okay." May whispered back. He drew his head up, looking back at her as she smiled at him, their faces only inches apart. "I care about you, too, you know."
Ash's eyes widened in relief as she brought her mouth up to his and kissed him softly. After a moment, however, they noticed how quiet the area had grown, and quickly drew apart and glanced around.
Behind them, in the field, Pikachu and the Tag Brigade had all stopped running and were staring intently at the two of them, along with Corphish and Kingler. Grovyle and Combusken had stopped sparring and were doing the same, and they all appeared to be extremely shocked, sans Pikachu. Squirtle, Swellow, Noctowl, and both Bulbasaur were watching as well, but they all appeared to be somewhat pleased by the event.
However, the one that caught Ash and May's eyes was Brock. With Bonsly on the shore next to him, and Marshtomp a few feet away in the pond, he was watching them intently.
And he was grinning from ear to ear.
Please R&R!