As May finally caught up to Pikachu, and made sure he had a nice sized bump on his head, Ash and May finally got to enjoy the picnic that Ash had provided. Well, by enjoy, Ash and May were devouring the small feast like they had never eaten before, and a seemingly never ending pile of plates was building between the two of them. Whatever appetite Pikachu had developed while being chased by May had all but disappeared, not even the ketchup bottle Ash had gotten him could stimulate his stomach.

And I thought I had gotten used to this, Pikachu thought to himself.

Not being able to view the gluttony anymore, Pikachu thought back to what he saw while he was running away. That oddly colored bush. Never before had Pikachu seen a bush like that in Kanto, especially not one that smelled like roses. Roses…. Why was that raising a red flag?

But before Pikachu could dive any further into the thought, he started to notice a shadow creep over him. As he slowly turned around, he froze in shock as the mountain of plates was doing its best impression of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Ash and May paid no notice to the danger, there was simply too much food to be eaten, and nothing was more important than that. Pikachu finally gained his senses, and was about to run away, but as turned, his foot slipped on a rock. As if in slow motion, Pikachu fell to the ground, and no sooner had he face planted in the dirt, a small gust of wind blew across the clearing. Pikachu could only watch in horror as the plates swayed back and forth, each time getting closer and closer to the point of no return. For a moment, the plates seemed to balance again, and Pikachu let out a relieved sigh. But fate was not that kind, as the leaning tower took a turn of the worse, and tipped over in Pikachu's direction.

Well, it was a good life, thought Pikachu as the plates collapsed on top of him with a loud crash.

Ash and May finally broke out of their eating trance with the commotion, as a massive pile of plates now stood where Pikachu had been. A shocked Ash surveyed the mess, until he was able to spot a yellow lightning bolt shaped tail sticking out from under some of the plates. Taking a closer look, he could see that the tail was twitching, and a sizable amount of static was surrounding it. Ash knew what was coming what was coming next, and only had time to yell at May to get down before a large crackling whipped through the air. A blinding flash enveloped the area, and a miniature explosion ripped through the plates, instantly disintegrating the cheap plastic. Pikachu's outburst quickly ended, and he was left standing in the middle of a black charred grass. The plates, the basket, all remnants of the meal had disappeared. Ash and May slowly got up, their faces had been crisped to a nice, dark burnt charcoal color. The two simultaneously released a sign, and brushed themselves off.

"Well," May started. "At least there isn't anything for us to clean up."

Ash gave a slight chuckle, and replied, "And it was probably for the best that we stopped anyway, who knows how long we would have been stuck there for."

"I don't know, Ash, something tells me that you would like eating till the end of time," May teasingly bantered.

Noticing that May was baiting him, Ash decided to take it anyway, and playfully yelled, "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Oh nothing, Sir Ketchum. Hey isn't that the Ho-oh you always seem to see over there?" May asked as she pointed to an area behind Ash.

"Wait, really? Oh wow!" But no sooner had Ash turned around, May ran forward and snatched his hat from his head, placing it on hers instead.

"You really fell for that Ash?" May said as she continued to run away from Ash.

Ash could only stand there, stunned that he had indeed fallen into that, and that May had stolen his hat again. He could only smile though, and began to run after her.

I guess my hat isn't the only thing she has taken from me.

As May, followed closely by Ash, ran down the road towards Pallet Town, Pikachu could only sigh at the two. Deciding that he should probably chase after them so he was not left behind, Pikachu started to sprint down the road. But not before he looked wear May had pointed, and a look of surprise hit his face. While May had not seen it, and had only tricked Ash, the legendary bird was indeed flying off in the distance, leaving behind its tell-tale rainbow. Ho-Oh quickly disappeared into the distance, leaving Pikachu in a state of awe.

Who would have thought that out of all the Pokemon out there, Ho-Oh would have showed up, Pikachu thought to himself. But I thought Ho-Oh only showed up at the beginning of an adventure… at least seeing him is supposed to bring me joy!

As Ash and May continued to run towards Pallet Town, snowflakes started to fall from the sky, beginning to coat the ground in a white glimmering powder. Ash and May could not help but stop by a meadow on the side of the road. May's face lit up, and Ash could only admire the beautiful smile May currently had on her face.

This is the second time today it has snowed, and again May can't help but be happy, thought Ash. Now I really can't wait to give her my gift…

Seemingly forgotten, Pikachu was still running to catch up to Ash and May. Running in snow was not exactly a strong suit of Pikachu's, and the powdery substance slowed his usually quick pace. Having short limbs did not exactly help either, as the snow gave extra resistance for each step he took, and was starting to tire him out.

I am never leaving Ash's shoulder ever again, Pikachu thought. Surely they can't be that much farther ahead, there's no way they could have gotten to the house already. Plus these tracks are starting to get closer and closer together, they must have slowed down… wait isn't that them?

Pikachu squinted and indeed, he had finally caught up to Ash and May. As he got closer, he was met with a pleasant surprise. They were standing there, staring out into the field, but it appeared that May had put her arm around Ash's back, and was leaning her head on his shoulder. Ash had also wrapped his arm around the small of her back, and tilted his head so that it was resting across her head. Pikachu had to fight the squee that the fan girl inside of him wanted to unleash. They were talking to each other, and Pikachu stopped so that he could clearly hear what they were saying.

"…is unbelievable," Pikachu could hear May say. "This is so beautiful… don't you think so Ash?"

Ash looked at May and said, "Yeah, saying beautiful hardly does any justice."

Pikachu immediately face palmed, thinking to himself, Ash is lucky that was cute, and that May didn't pick up on that, because that was incredibly CORNY. I am so shocking him for that later…

Looking up towards the overcast sky, Pikachu could tell that it was getting closer to nightfall, and that they would not want to worry Ms. Ketchum.

Looks like it's time to break up the love-birds.

Pikachu ran up to Ash and jumped on top of his head, causing Ash to jump back in surprise.

"Oh there you are, Pikachu!" exclaimed Ash.

"You act like you forgot about me," Pikachu said while feigning hurt. "I guess you were too busy getting all close to Miss Beautiful over here."

A blush erupted on Ash's face, as he yelled, "What was that?!"

A confused, yet amused May could only wonder what Pikachu had said. "Careful now, Pikachu, I may not be able to understand you, but that doesn't mean I can't make you pay for it."

The back of Pikachu's head throbbed a little bit, and he was reminded of what "dues" May had inflicted upon him earlier. He gave May a sheepish look, and hid from her behind Ash's head, provoking a light giggle from May.

Deciding that it was time to continue on to Ash's house, the trio started back on the road towards Pallet.

"It won't take much longer to get to my house," Ash said. "Pallet town is just behind this hill, and then we'll practically be at my front door!"

May shot a smile at Ash, and said, "I sure can't wait! It seems like it's been forever since I've seen your mom, and even longer since I've had her amazing food…"

Ash could only chuckle, amused that even after their picnic feast, May's mind was already back on food.

"Don't worry May, mom's food is still just as good as you remember it. She'll be happy to have the two of us there, since we are the biggest fans of her cooking. And just imagine how tomorrow night will be."

"Tomorrow night?" asked a puzzled May.

"Well yeah, Christmas Eve is always when she prepares a HUGE dinner," replied Ash. "Trust me, you think her food was good before, just wait till you taste her cooking when she pulls out all the stops."

A small amount of drool started to dangle from May's mouth, a dreamy look was plastered across her face.

"Can it be tomorrow night now?" asked a dazed May.

I wish, Ash thought to himself.

The trio got to the top of the hill, and excitement washed over them. They had finally arrived at Pallet Town!

A very discouraged Drew looked away as soon as Ash and May disappeared over the hill. Thing could not be going worse than they were now.

That Ketchum, think he's so suave and cool, Drew sneered in his mind. Not to mention how cute he was trying to be, I think I might throw up.

Lost in thought, Drew failed to notice the footsteps coming towards him. A girl with red hair tied off in a ponytail on the side of her head approached him, stopping when she realized he was too distracted to notice her arrival. She cleared her throat, and smirked when Drew nearly jumped out of his skin.

"So, Drew, you called me all the way out here, you want to finally tell me what you want?"

Drew composed himself and took a deep breath. Letting the breath loose in a sigh, he looked at Misty and gave her a devilish smile.

"Misty, Misty, Misty, how long has it been? I've missed you."

"Cut the crap, grass head, you know as good as I do that I'm only here because you said this involved Ash."

Deflecting the snide remark with his over-sized ego, Drew continued by saying, "Fine, we'll cut the pleasantries. As you may or may not know, your friend Ash has taken a liking to my friend May, and she returns the same feelings for him."

Though not shocking, a pang of pain ripped through Misty's heart, but she refused to show it to Drew.

"So?" she questioned Drew. "Why do you think I would care about that?"

"Spare me the act Misty, you may be able to keep a straight face, but your eyes can't lie. I see the hurt in them, how even the thought of them liking each other kills you on the inside. The fact that Ash, the one you love so dearly, might be snatched away. Believe me, I feel the same about May."

Misty was shocked to see that she had been so transparent, only her sisters back in Cerulean City knew that she loved Ash. Hardening her look, she took in Drew's words. They seemed sincere, but how could she know if she could trust him? She figured she had nothing to lose, and decided to give him a chance.

"So, what do you propose we do then?"

Drew smirked, knowing his plan could finally go into motion. He motioned for Misty to take a seat on the ground, as he also sat down.

"This will take a while, but we have some time. Make sure that you're paying attention, I don't want to repeat myself."

-End Chapter-

So… I realize it has been a while, but I think I have finally gained the heart again to write, and hopefully this chaper was enjoyable to read. Please, review and let me know your thoughts! I want to know what to fix for the next chapter! Thanks, SatoshiUnlimited