Their eyes remained locked, Ash and May's faces quickly heating up as they realized what had happened. Brock slowly rose from the ground, holding their gaze, as well as his wide grin.
"U-um..." Ash mumbled, attempting to justify himself to Brock.
"I've got to hand it to you, Ash." Brock remarked, ignoring Ash's admittedly weak plea. "I was starting to have doubts about you with the whole girls thing."
"What? That's all you're gonna say?" Max piped up indignantly, appearing from deeper in the fields alongside Tracey.
"Come on, Max, cut them some slack." Tracey urged, a grin apparent on his face as well.
"But Tracey - did you see what they did?"
May continued to stare for a moment, flustered, but then she regained a bit of her composure and simply smiled hopelessly at her friends. "O-oops. I guess I should've thought that through a little better...n-no sense hiding it now, though, right?"
Ash turned to her in protest, but decided it was better not to say anything. Brock nodded approvingly and turned back to his Pokemon, the grin never leaving his face.
Max, on the other hand, ran up to May in displeasure. "What - that's it? Do you know what you just did?"
May looked down at him with the same hopeless smile on her face. "Yeah...I think so. I kissed Ash, right?"
"But that's so messed up! C'mon, sis, it was just a joke or something, right?"
May turned back to Ash, prompting him to flash Max the same hopeless expression as May.
As the afternoon drew to a close, and evening began to set in, the group said their goodbyes to Tracey and Professor Oak, and made their way back to Ash's house, deciding to leave their Pokemon at the lab for the night, except for Pikachu. Unlike Brock, who, due to the hints he had managed to pick up on during the past couple of weeks, was able to accept Ash and May's relationship without much trouble, Max was firmly opposed to it, calling it 'gross and weird'.
This was shown on the way back from the lab. Given that they were no longer a secret, May and Ash awkwardly positioned themselves next to each other on the road and began holding hands after a moment. Max grunted audibly at this and made a point of walking around so that Brock was then between himself and May.
Once they arrived at Ash's house, they decided to tell Delia about the 'news' right away. She was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.
"So, dear, any plans on where you're going next?" Delia asked sweetly. The conversation had recently shifted from Ash and May to what had happened with the Battle Frontier, and why they had come to Pallet Town in the first place. "Or were you just going to stay here for a while?"
"Mm...I never really thought about it yet." Ash admitted. They were all sitting in the living room, with Ash and May sitting together on one couch, along with Pikachu on Ash's shoulder, as usual. Brock and Max had taken the other couch, leaving Delia to sit on the one armchair.
"Well...there's the Sinnoh region. You know, the one that Trey mentioned to us." Brock said, putting a hand to his chin.
"Oh yeah." Ash remarked, recalling the brief words that Trey had given them about the foreign region. "That might be cool. I wonder if they have their own Gyms?"
"Or Contests?" May added hopefully.
"Yeah, Sinnoh has both Gyms and Contests, actually." Max piped up, making a point not to look at either Ash or May.
"What?" May replied in disbelief. "How do you know that?"
"Because, unlike some people - " Max said pointedly. " - I actually read a book every now and then. Sinnoh has eight Gyms and a Sinnoh League, its own Grand Festival, and it's home to the Dragon Trio that rules over time and space, as well as the Lake Trio that protects the region."
Everyone in the room stared at Max in awe, even Brock.
"Wow, Max, where'd you learn all that?" Brock asked.
"Books." Max replied simply.
There was a momentary silence among the group.
"Well..." Ash began slowly. "I think it sounds pretty cool. What about you guys?"
"Hmm..." Brock muttered, watching Ash and May closely. "I don't know..."
"I think it sounds good, too!" May added.
"Really?" Ash asked in excitement, looking over at her. "It was fun doing the Battle Frontier and everything, but, it'll be nice to get back to fighting in a real Pokemon League."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." May answered before turning to her brother. "What about you, Max? Sound good?"
Max, who honestly had no intention of going to Sinnoh, decided that it would be better not to spoil his sister's good mood. "Uh...yeah, I guess."
"All right!" May exclaimed, quickly turning to Ash in excitement.
"What about it, buddy? You want to go to the Sinnoh region?" Ash said, echoing the question to his partner.
"Pika!" Pikachu replied happily, raising one hand in response.
"Guess that's it, then!" Ash announced. "Looks like we're heading to the Sinnoh region!"
Delia couldn't help but watch sadly, yet proudly, as her son began planning his next adventure. "It seems like he's always going off somewhere or another...but, then again, he is a Pokemon Trainer. I just hope he stays safe..."
In the midst of Ash and May's newfound excitement, they didn't notice Max slowly sulking out of the room. Brock did, however, and chose to follow him as he walked outside, to the front of the house.
Some time later, after the initial excitement about heading to a new region had died down, Ash and May noticed that Brock and Max had left the room.
"Huh?" Ash said, glancing around the room for them. "Hey, Mom, did you see where Brock or Max went?"
"Oh, I think they're out in the front somewhere." Delia answered vaguely.
"I wonder what they're doing out there..." Ash muttered, making his way outside along with May.
Sure enough, standing out in the admittedly small front yard was Max, facing away from the house, with Brock at his side, hands on his hips.
"Hey, guys, what're you doing out here?" Ash asked, walking up to them. Brock turned to face them, but Max remained turned away.
"Max just needed someone to talk to." Brock explained simply, turning to the younger boy. "Don't you want to tell them?"
"Max?" May prodded, looking questioningly at the back of her brother's head. "What's wrong?"
"I...don't want to go to Sinnoh." Max said softly, not turning around.
May blinked, then smiled slowly. "That's all? Max, there's nothing wrong with that. Where do you want to go?"
Max hesitated a moment before answering. "...Home."
May's eyes widened in surprise. "Home? You mean, with Mom and Dad?"
Max nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. I really liked going around with you guys and everything...but now...I don't know. It seems like you guys don't really need me around as much anymore...and besides - "
"Max! What do you mean by that?" May demanded.
"I dunno, I just used to feel like you liked having me around, you know, cause we're family. But ever since that day in the hospital on Chrysanthemum Island..." Max trailed off, silently recalling the time that May had requested Ash's presence over Max's. "It's not like I'm mad or anything...I just feel kinda left out now."
"Max..."
The boy finally turned around to face the others. "Besides, my tenth birthday's coming up soon. I always wanted to go through the Hoenn League first, so I guess it just makes sense for me to go back home."
Brock watched the boy, grinning in approval as he talked.
"Oh, Max." May breathed as she stepped forward, grabbing her younger brother in a forced embrace. "I just want you to remember one thing. You'll always be my little brother, no matter what happens with anyone else."
"Y-you mean that?" Max squeaked back, not hugging her back, but not attempting to break away, either. "Really?"
"Of course." May answered.
"...Thanks, May." Max said back, slowly beginning to hug her back.
Ash stood off to the side, not wanting to interrupt the two of them. As he did, he remembered what Brock had mentioned in the house, and turned to his older friend. "So, Brock? What about you? You coming to Sinnoh with us?"
Brock met Ash's gaze. "...No, I don't think so."
Ash had been afraid of this answer. "I kinda guessed you'd say that. What's going on?"
"Nothing. But you and May are both excited about going to Sinnoh...I think you two need that time together."
"What?"
"Believe it or not, Ash, I do know a thing or two about relationships." Brock explained, chuckling. "I think it'd be a great thing for you and May to have that time together, just the two of you."
Ash was silent for a few moments, as he thought over what Brock was saying. He certainly didn't fully understand it, but at the same time, it still seemed to make sense. "Thanks, Brock."
"Don't worry about it. Pewter City's not that far from here, anyway. And it'll be good to see my siblings again." Brock answered happily.
Ash nodded understandably, turning his gaze back to the two embracing siblings standing between them.
Please R&R!