Hey guys, time for another update! With the second mini-saga, I hope you all enjoy!

"Hey, you guys! I'm here to see you!" May called out into the open greenhouse before her. As they were all forced to wait for Norman to finish his Gym Battle, she had decided to head next door and see her old Pokemon, along with Ash, of course.

"I bet those two've made great friends with Slaking and the others." Ash remarked cheerfully.

"Yeah, I hope so." May replied, looking into the trees hopefully. The greenhouse usually housed Slakoth, Vigoroth, and Slaking in addition to May's Pokemon, but none of the former were present at the moment, due to Norman's battle.

Suddenly, they heard a steady flutter of wings high above them, and when they looked up, they were met with the sight of a large, multicolored butterfly slowly flying down to May.

"Piika!" Pikachu cried, pointing a stubby finger up at the approaching Pokemon.

"Beauti-flyyy!" Beautifly chimed happily.

"Beautifly!" May echoed.

Just as Beautifly was fluttering down to them, they heard a rustling in the bushes in front of them, and a second later, a small pink and yellow kitten-like creature was scurrying toward May as well.

"Myaaaa!" Skitty mewed affectionately, rushing over to May's side.

"Skitty!" May bent down to pet her old companion as Beautifly landed on her head.

"Looks like they haven't changed one bit." Ash commented happily.

"Oh, that's right!" May exclaimed suddenly, reaching back into her pack and producing two of her Pokeballs. "I have a couple of new friends for you guys to meet!"

"Myaa!" Skitty mewed in anticipation.

"Squirtle, Eevee, come on out!" May beckoned, tossing the two capsules into the air. Squirtle and Eevee emerged on either side of Skitty.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle chirped cheerfully.

"Ee-vee!" Eevee remarked, shaking itself off.

"Now, you guys play nice!" May called as the three small Pokemon ran off deeper into the greenhouse together.

"Beauti-fly...?" Beautifly chimed, eyeing the flower in May's hair strangely from its perch on her head.

"Oh, this is mine." May explained, looking up at her Pokemon. "Ash got it for me a little while back."

"Flyy?" Beautifly began slowly, blinking a couple of times at Ash before seeming to grin at him. "Beauti-flyy!"

"What? You lost?" Will's associate repeated angrily, glaring at him. "I thought you said you'd take care of it!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't think he'd be that strong!" Will shot back. "Besides, I don't see you stepping up to fight him!"

"This whole thing was my idea in the first place!" The man countered. "Do you want a part of this operation or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, all right." Will said, backing down. "But I did get something out of that battle."

"Oh, really? What?"

Will flashed him a smile. "Norman's kids are visiting. They're both in the house with him right now."

The man turned away from Will for a moment, considering this new information.

After a few seconds of silence, Will took a step toward him. "Well, Aaron? What do you say?"

Aaron turned back to face him, smiling as well. "All right. We'll do it."

After returning to their house, under an ever-darkening sky of storm clouds, Norman and Kenny were met with the unexpected sight of Max sitting in the living room, idly watching TV as Caroline was preparing lunch in the kitchen.

"Max, what are you doing here?" Norman asked in confusion as he entered the room, along with Kenny.

"Huh?" Max said, turning to face Norman. His face lit up when he saw who had asked. "Oh, hey, Dad!"

"Hi..." Norman greeted as his son ran up and hugged him. "But...when did you get here? I thought you and May were still over in Kanto with Ash."

"We were, we just got home today!" Max answered excitedly, guiding him toward the kitchen eagerly. "Come on, Mom can tell you the whole story!"

"Oh, hi, dear." Caroline greeted when she saw Norman entering the kitchen, with Max and Kenny behind him. "How did your battle go?"

"It was fine, he didn't win...but what's all this about May and Max coming home today?"

"Oh, yes, that's right. We've got quite the story for you, don't we, Max?"

Next door, Ash and May had just left the greenhouse and were making their way back to the front door of the house, when they saw a familiar figure approaching the building from further down the street.

"Hey, who's that...?" May inquired, Beautifly still perched on her head.

"I dunno..." Ash answered softly, staring intently at the approaching figure, trying for a better look at him.

A few seconds later, once he was close enough to speak normally, Will decided to respond himself. "What? You mean you don't remember me?"

May glared at him as she heard this, instantly remembering his voice from the Chrysanthemum Contest Hall. "You!"

Ash recognized him as well, albeit not as quickly as May had. "You're Trey's older brother from the Battle Pyramid!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu growled, jumping down in front of Ash.

"Yeah, that's right." Will replied casually. "I actually meant to thank him for bailing me out back there, but then, it was his dumb girlfriend's fault that I was knocked out to begin with."

"Anyway..." He continued a moment later. "I don't want to make things hard again. I need you to come with me for a little while." He said, pointing at May.

"What? Yeah, right!" May shot back fiercely. "You think I didn't learn my lesson last time?"

"Look, we don't plan on hurting you at all right now." Will explained.

"'We'?" Ash cut in. "Who else is here? Nate?"

"Nate?" Will replied incredulously. "That guy screwed things up bad enough back at the Pyramid. I wouldn't work with him again even if he was still alive."

"Then who is it?" Ash demanded.

"I don't think it's anyone you would know, kid." Will assured him. "Look, again, this doesn't have to be hard. Just come with me, girl, and nobody has to - "

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" May cried angrily.

"Would you rather my Seviper take another shot at your arm, instead?" Will fired back coldly, drawing a Pokeball.

"That's not happening again." Ash said defiantly, drawing his own Lure Ball as May subconsciously put a hand over the barely-visible fang marks on her left arm.

"Pika!" Pikachu growled in agreement.

Will glanced between the two of them, then shrugged helplessly. "All right, whatever. But don't blame me when you kids get hurt. Seviper, go!"

"See-viper!" Seviper hissed, emerging from Will's Pokeball in a flash of light.

"Totodile, I choose you!" Ash cried, tossing out his Lure Ball.

"Toto toto!" Totodile chanted, emerging across from Seviper.

The two Pokemon stared each other down for a moment, as the dark clouds in the sky above them continued to gather, blocking out the sun, while Pikachu remained by Ash's side, staring at Will intently with anger in its eyes.

Then, the first attack was called, and the battle began.

"Hey, looks like it's going to rain today." Kenny noted, glancing out one of the side windows of the house. "Huh?" He noticed a somewhat grown man approaching the Gym next door, appearing to be in his late twenties or so. He had slightly spiky brown hair and wore a simple black button-up shirt and blue jeans.

"What's that?" Norman began, coming up behind Kenny and looking out the window as well. "Another challenger already?"

"Looks like it." Kenny admitted sadly. "I'll go and let him in."

"Right, I'll be over there in a second." Norman said, waving to him briefly as he left the room. He then ducked back into the kitchen, hoping to get a taste of whatever it was Caroline was making before heading over for another battle.

Kenny, on the other hand, hastily made his way over to the Gym, ducking in through the back entrance and rushing to the front to open the door as the new challenger was knocking insistently.

"Sorry about that." Kenny said sincerely, chuckling nervously as he opened the door and let the man inside. "I guess you're here to challenge the Gym Leader? He'll be here in just a minute."

The man nodded in response. "Yes. My name's Aaron."

Please R&R!