And NOW it starts to get good again.
That's all for tonight, folks. Next time I should be uploading the next mini-saga, which is 4 parts, and I personally enjoyed writing it more than Day of Black Pyramid. Buuut, my other fans seemed to enjoy DoBP more, so, who knows.
The boat ride to Hoenn actually lasted for the next few days, during which time Ash, May, Max, and Pikachu all stayed in the same cabin. Max was still apprehensive about Ash and May's relationship, and thus wasn't very fond of their cabin situation at first. But it didn't take long for him to realize that the two of them were still fairly shy about their coupling as well, and before long, Max was actually talking to Ash about it.
"So Ash, what exactly do you see in my sister?" Max asked one such night. They were all sitting around in their room, getting ready to go to sleep for the night. The room had two bunk beds, similar to the Pokemon Centers, and May and Max took one and Ash the other, with Ash and May occupying the respective bottom bunks. "I mean, I've lived with her for my whole life, and I can't say too much to recommend her - "
"Max!" May interjected sharply, shooting a playful glare up at her younger brother.
"What? I'm just telling him the truth!" Max responded defensively.
"Pii-ka." Pikachu chuckled from its position on the floor.
"I dunno..." Ash mumbled, looking across the room at May. "I mean, we've been friends for so long already, traveling around in Hoenn and Kanto with you guys. I guess it just...kinda...came naturally?"
"Came naturally?" Max echoed skeptically. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Well, hey, how do you think I'm feeling?" Ash defended. "I don't really understand any of it, but..."
Max continued to watch Ash for a moment longer, as if hoping he would say something else. When he remained silent, simply staring across the room at May, Max merely sighed. "Ah, whatever. You guys can just keep staring into each other's eyes all night, if you want, but I'm gong to sleep."
As he rolled over toward the wall and closed his eyes, Ash and May held their glance. After he had turned away, they merely smiled at each other before turning over themselves and drifting off to sleep.
When the ship finally arrived at the dock just outside Petalburg City, the three of them were more than ready to be off the ship and back on dry land. The last couple of days had been unnaturally dry, and now, as they stepped off onto the shores of Hoenn, storm clouds were visibly rolling in from far on the horizon.
"Whoa, look at that..." Max remarked, noticing the dark clouds far off in the sky for the first time.
"Looks like it's gonna rain later..." May noted. "Good thing, it's been really hot lately."
The walk to the city didn't take long at all. Within an hour of leaving the ferry, they were already walking into the somewhat large town.
"Oh, man, it's great to be back home!" Max exclaimed. "It's been so long!"
"I know what you mean." May added. "I can't wait to see Beautifly and Skitty!"
"Yeah, and Mom, Dad, and Kenny, too!" Max added excitedly. "I wonder how Dad's doing with the Gym?"
"If he's as strong as he was before, he's probably doing just fine." Ash assured him.
"Pika, pika." Pikachu added happily.
"Hey, Ash, are you gonna have another battle with him?" Max asked in anticipation. "You've still got three Pokemon with you, you know!"
"Hey, you're right." Ash admitted. "And I bet Grovyle would love to have another match with Slaking. What do you think, buddy?"
"Pika-chu!" Pikachu answered jovially, raising one hand in response.
"I don't think you'll have any trouble convincing him to battle you, at least." May added jokingly. "Especially after we tell him about...you know."
"Oh, yeah..." Ash replied, his excitement disappearing instantly.
When the trio arrived at May and Max's house, they noticed that Kenny, Norman's gym assistant, who was usually seen out in front of their house, was nowhere to be found.
"Huh...I wonder where Kenny is." May noted as they walked up the steps to the front door.
"I dunno..." Max added, glancing around the yard for him as they walked.
Once they were all inside, and had removed their shoes, May and Max happily called out to their mother.
"Hey, Mom! Are you here?" Max cried out happily.
"Mom! We're home!" May added.
A few seconds later, Caroline appeared from behind a corner, clad in her usual clothing as well. "Oh, May, Max!"
"Mom!" The two siblings exclaimed in unison, running up to Caroline and embracing her tightly.
"So you came here all the way from Kanto?" Caroline asked once they were all situated in the living room. Max, May, and Ash were all on the same couch this time, in that order, and Caroline was across from them on the other sofa. She had said that Norman was next door in the Gym, currently battling yet another challenger, along with Kenny. "But why?"
"Well...it's kind of a funny story..." May began slowly, ignoring the sly glance that Max was now shooting her. "Um..." She found herself grasping Ash's hand for support. She looked over at him, remembering when he had told his own mother about the two of them not too long ago. He softly nodded back at her.
"Yes, dear?"
May looked back at her mother. "Well...Mom...me and Ash...we...we're kind of...t-together...now."
Caroline blinked back at her, watching in slight disbelief as her daughter stumbled over her words, and as her cheeks flushed pink. Glancing over at Ash, who was watching May intently, a small smile began to appear on her face. "Really?"
"U-um...yeah."
Caroline smiled happily at May's words. "Well, honey, I think that's wonderful. I always wondered about the two of you, honestly."
May smiled back at her thankfully. "Thanks, Mom."
"But...that still doesn't explain why you came back home. Not that I'm complaining." Caroline added.
"I'm the one who asked to come home." Max cut in. "Remember? My tenth birthday is coming up soon!"
"Oh, that's right!" Caroline gasped in sudden realization. "I had almost forgotten, since you'd left home!"
"Yeah, Max asked us if we could come back by here and drop him off." Ash explained.
"Drop him off?" Caroline echoed, confused. "Where are you two going? And speaking of which...where's Brock?"
"Oh, that's right...we didn't tell you yet." May answered slowly. "Brock went home to Pewter City when we were staying in Pallet Town at Ash's house. We were planning to go to the Sinnoh region...by ourselves."
"Sinnoh? Alone? Hmm..." Caroline replied slowly, thinking it over for a second. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with that."
"All right!" May exclaimed in response. "Thanks a lot, Mom!"
"Now, now, don't get too excited. We still have to talk to your father about all this, and we all know he's going to have something to say here."
Meanwhile, over in the Gym, Norman was actively engaged in a Gym battle with his latest challenger, with Kenny as the referee. Norman had lost Slakoth, and was currently using Vigoroth, but the dark-haired challenger had lost two of his three allotted Pokemon, and was down to his last one, Scyther.
"Vigoroth, use Slash attack!" Norman ordered.
"VIGOROTH!" Vigoroth bellowed, swinging one of its large arms forward as it charged at the challenger's Scyther.
"Scyther, Vacuum Wave, now!"
"Scy-ther!" Scyther cried, crossing its blade-arms for a split-second before slicing out with both of them, sending a wave of air flying out at the oncoming Vigoroth.
Vigoroth didn't have time to dodge, given the sheer speed of the move, but it ended up not doing much damage to it, either.
"You might want to train your Scyther a little better for its moves next time." Norman commented as Vigoroth leered at Scyther from across the field.
The challenger grunted angrily at this and gestured at his Pokemon. "Scyther, go! Use Wing Attack!"
"Scyyyther!" Scyther screeched, lifting off from the ground and flying forward at Vigoroth as its wings began to glow white.
"Vigoroth, jump above Scyther and use Slash again!"
"VIGOROTH!" Vigoroth repeated in a bellow, leaping above Scyther as it streaked toward it and bearing down on it with a mighty slash as it passed underneath.
"No!" The challenger cried, as Scyther slammed into the floor and Vigoroth bounced away, back to Norman's side.
"Are you finished yet?" Norman asked. "Or should we keep going?"
"Shut up! Scyther, get up and use Vacuum Wave again!"
"Scy...ther..." Scyther grumbled weakly, attempting to get up off the floor, but to no avail.
"I guess that's our answer." Norman continued with a sense of finality.
"Scyther is unable to battle!" Kenny roared from the sidelines, raising a hand on Norman's side. "The challenger, Will, from Blackthorn City, is out of usable Pokemon! The victory goes to the Gym Leader, Norman!"
"Good job out there, Vigoroth. You were great." Norman called, recalling his Pokemon.
"Argh..." Will grunted under his breath. "Scyther, return!"
Norman turned to him as he began to walk out of the Gym without another word. "Your Pokemon weren't bad at all. But you need to work on trusting them out on the battlefield."
Will briefly turned back to him, but then continued walking out and left without any further words.
Please R&R!