This segment of chapters, not including Chapter 24, were all prime examples of me hating to write transition/filler, by the way...
Everyone remained at Ash's house for the night, despite their differing travel arrangements. Brock thoroughly enjoyed the taste of someone's cooking other than his own, and Max even seemed to have taken a liking to Mr. Mime.
Delia seemed to have no problems allowing May to sleep in Ash's room with him. He initially offered her his bed, but she declined and said that she wanted to spend one night with Max, given his recent feelings toward them. They both set up next to each other on the floor beside the bed, leaving Brock one of the sofas in the living room, which he seemed perfectly content with.
The following morning, while Brock was getting his things together for the journey back to Pewter City, Ash took a short trip back to Professor Oak's lab. He'd been thinking about leaving some of his current Pokemon there for now, and he'd even considered taking one or two of his old Pokemon to Sinnoh with him for once.
In the end, he decided to leave Donphan, Corphish, and Swellow behind, keeping Grovyle with him for the time being. He also took Totodile with him, still leaving a good amount of room for new Pokemon from Sinnoh. He also had a fair amount of confidence in the fact that he was taking one Pokemon from each of his previous journeys with him on this new quest.
By the time Ash had gotten back to the house, Brock was already getting ready to leave. Everyone was standing out in the front, though Brock was the only one with his backpack.
"Hey, there you are." Brock remarked in relief, watching Ash as he came running up and took up position on the outside of the group, next to May. "I was wondering if you were going to show up."
"Sorry..." Ash muttered. "So...you're ready to go...?"
"Yep." Brock answered, nodding. "I'm all set."
Ash, May, and Max all held Brock's stare nervously. Ash had watched Brock leave their group before, and he knew that he would stay in close contact, but Ash still couldn't help feeling slightly anxious. He couldn't imagine how May and Max were feeling.
"It's been fun, you guys." Brock said, breaking the silence. "Max, make sure you keep me updated on your own journey."
Max nodded slowly in response. "S-see you later."
"Make sure you keep in touch." May told him.
"Sure." Brock assured her. "I wouldn't miss hearing about you two for anything."
May smiled, her cheeks turning pink at his comment.
When Brock turned to Ash, the two shared another moment of silence, silently understanding the other. The two had gone separate ways numerous times in the past, and they both knew that this was no different.
"I'll be seeing you, then." Ash offered.
"Pika, pi." Pikachu added.
"Yeah. You can count on it." Brock told him, grinning.
With that, Brock turned and began walking up the road, leading him away from Pallet Town and into the woods separating Pallet Town and Viridian City. The three did not move until he was out of sight.
After saying goodbye to Delia, Ash bought all three of them tickets for the ferry to Petalburg City. Due to his newfound habit of doing this, he had politely asked his mother for some more money for the next few months. She had obliged happily.
All three of them were now leaning over the edge of the ferry, their arms on the railing, except for Ash, who had left his right arm dangling.
"I'd say something about it being different with no Brock around..." May began, slowly turning her gaze from the water up to Ash. "But it's about to get a little more complicated than that."
"Yeah, you guys are saying that." Max cut in from behind May. "What about me? I'm going with no one."
"Yeah, that's true." May admitted.
"You don't know that, Max." Ash said, smiling over at Max from May's other side. "When I first began my journey, I didn't have anyone to go with, either. I met them all as I went."
"Wow, really?" Max replied, somewhat surprised by the older Trainer's words. "You never told us that."
"Pika!" Pikachu answered sincerely, nodding happily.
"That's right." Ash added encouragingly.
"So how did you meet everyone, then?" Max asked excitedly, eager to hear one of Ash's stories.
"Well, that's kind of a long story." Ash answered, chuckling at the boy's excitement. "Uh, let's see...you remember Misty, right?"
"The girl with the Togepi? 'Course I do!"
"Well, I ran into her just outside of Viridian City. Pikachu was injured, and these Spearow had been chasing us. I ran into her out in the woods, and kind of stole her bike to get to the Pokemon Center."
"Wow, Ash. The first time you see someone, you steal their bike?" Max prodded jokingly. "I'm surprised she decided to travel around with you after that."
"Well, it wasn't really that easy." Ash admitted honestly. "Especially since Pikachu kind of fried the bike with Thundershock after we made it to the Pokemon Center."
"Pika, pi..." Pikachu said, putting a hand behind its head in embarrassment.
"I seem to remember you two doing something to my bike when we first met, too..." May hinted, narrowing her eyes at Ash and Pikachu.
"Oh yeah, you told me about that!" Max piped up. "Pikachu was sick or something, and was shooting off Thunderbolts everywhere. Right?"
"Right." Ash nodded. "I didn't even know May then. I was actually going to see Professor Birch, but she was there, too."
"What else, though?" Max demanded excitedly. "Like, how you'd meet Brock? Wasn't he the Pewter City Gym Leader back then?"
As Ash continued explaining his previous travels to Max, May couldn't help but notice another trait she liked about Ash. In her eyes, he was the perfect role model for her younger brother.
After Max had heard about all of Ash's previous companions, Ash offered him the chance to play with Totodile and Pikachu. Even though Max claimed that he knew it was just a ploy to get them away for a while, both Pikachu and himself agreed. After releasing Totodile and giving a brief introduction to May and Max, the three ran off to the inner halls of the ship.
Ash watched them run off, and therefore didn't notice May watching him lovingly. When he turned back to her, he stared back blankly for a second at her expression. "Um...what's wrong?"
"Nothing." May replied. "Thanks for talking to Max."
"Sure, no problem." Ash told her. "It was kinda cool to talk about the old days, anyway."
"No, I mean...you've talked to him a lot before, too. About being a Pokemon Trainer and stuff..."
"Oh. Yeah, I mean, why not?" Ash continued, not quite grasping why May was thanking him. "He'd have to learn this stuff sooner or later, anyway, so why not now?"
May watched him for a second longer, smiling, then moved forward and threw her arms around him.
Ash looked at her awkwardly as she did, slightly taken aback by her actions. "M-May?"
"Ash...just...thank you."
Please R&R!