Advanceshipping in the Wild West
By: Sheltie
I don't own Pokémon at all
A/N: second chap of this story. I am glad several of you have taken a liking to this different story I am writing. Thanks. Okay, I'll try to keep this to the time period, but some modern language will appear in this since I can't help it at times. Just go with it okay.
Chapter 2
May awoke the next day ready to go to town and talk to Ash. But sadly she had to catch up on chores, which stopped her from going. She pouted about this, but got to work. The horses needed tending and they weren't going to do it themselves. So May got to work. She brushed the horses and checked them over. She'd have the doctor to do the more thorough examinations, but she knew enough to tell if something was wrong. Though for more serious problems she would call the doctor.
"Those are some mighty fine animals there."
May spun around and almost fell over. There standing in the entryway of the stable was Ash. He was dressed the same as yesterday, but somehow he still looked amazing. May's heart skipped another beat.
"Ash, what are you doing here?" May asked shocked.
"Thought I'd stop by for a visit. I've heard great things about the Petalburg Ranch in town" Ash said walking in.
"How'd you know where it was?" May asked.
"The desk clerk at the at the boarding house gave me a map and directions" Ash said.
"Oh" May said.
"Yeah, I can't remember her name. Daisy, Lily?" Ash said tipping his head back thinking.
"Don't worry, I get them all confused too" May said with a smile.
"Okay, thanks" Ash said smiling.
He then walked in and looked at the horses much closer.
"They are very fine animals" he commented.
"Thank you" May said blushing slightly.
Ash then began asking about how May took care of her horses and what she did. Ash listened to them all nodded and asked more questions. May was amazed at how knowledgeable Ash was. What also impressed May was how the horses reacted to Ash. They all seemed to take to Ash quickly with none of them getting riled. Horses were a bit temperamental with certain people. They were like people in a way, the fact they liked certain people and not others.
"You have a way with horses Ash" May complimented.
"Gee, thanks. I am probably a novice when it comes to you though. It seems that you're an expert or something" Ash said bashfully.
May blushed at the compliment. She liked to think she knew a lot about horses, but she knew there was so much more that she didn't know.
"Not sure about that, but I do know enough" she said.
"You're also modest. The Prof. says modesty is a key ingredient to a good person" Ash said.
May was once again red in the cheeks. This boy had complimented her twice.
"May dear, we should take horses out, and hello there who are you?" Norman asked.
"Oh Pa, this is Ash. Ash, this is my dad and owner of the ranch" May said.
"Nice to meet you sir. I didn't mean to take up any of May's time. I just never seen a ranch this impressive before" Ash said shaking Norman's hand.
Norman liked this boy. He had a good head on his shoulders as far as he could tell. Plus, it seemed that his daughter was smitten with the boy. He was always slightly worried that his daughter spent too much time on the ranch and with the horses to notice anything else. But it seemed he was wrong and the fact that the boy that had caught his daughter's attention and was a gentleman then that made the boy alright in Norman's book for now.
"No worries son. May, the horses" Norman said.
May nodded and began getting the horses out of their stalls.
Ash watched in awe that each horse followed May without much prompting.
"She's got a talent, she does" Norman said seeing Ash's look.
"Yeah, I've never seen anything like that before" Ash said with awe.
"My May can tame the wildest of horses" Norman said proudly.
Ash and Norman followed May and the horses out and May got them in the pen and they started to trot or gallop around freely. May was leaning against the fence observing them. Ash joined her. Norman headed back to what he was doing before decided to let the two have some more alone time.
"They sure are beautiful" Ash commented.
"Yeah, they're so free and wild. Un-tame almost" May said keeping her eyes locked on the horses.
The two stayed there in silence til a voice broke them up.
"Hey, who are you?"
The two turned and found it was May, May's little brother.
"My name is Ash, what's your name?" Ash asked.
"Oh, I am Max. So you're the guy May goes gaga over" Max said with a smirk.
May's face went red as she spit and sputtered. She was going to kill her brother for that. She made her way towards him, but he bolted knowing he was in danger. She then heard Ash's laughter and turned. He had a smile on his face.
"Little brothers are a pain, huh" he said.
"Yeah, um, you have one too?" May asked.
"No, but there are some kids that I kind of taken under my wing and I think of siblings" Ash said.
"Oh, so where in Kanto do you come from?" May asked.
"A place called Pallet. It's a quiet place. The only reason why we're known throughout all of Kanto is Prof. Oak and all he does. Almost everywhere in Kanto there's the Oak brand" Ash said.
May nodded.
"My Pa said that Oak does horse supply stuff" the brunette said.
"Yeah, some of the best" Ash said proudly.
They then chatted about horse products and May was very curious on how good they were. Since the ones the ranch used were good and did them just fine, but Ash was making a fine sales pitch even if he wasn't doing intentionally.
"May dear, time for lunch!" her mother called.
"Um, would you like to join us for lunch?" May asked with a slight tinge on her cheeks.
"If your family don't mind then I would" Ash said.
They walked to the house and met Norman there. Norman was okay with it. He wanted to know Ash more.
Inside Ash was introduced to May's mom, Caroline. They seemed to hit it off and May was pleased by this. So far both her Ma and Pa liked Ash. This made her giddy inside though she wasn't totally sure why. She needed to talk to Misty and Dawn about this.
During the entire lunch Ash talked about Kanto and things that went on their. He had a good audience and they asked questions.
Norman was interested in the products Oak sells and Ash was knowledgeable in that. It seemed they were close on reaching a deal til Caroline barged in.
"Now you two. This is a meal, not a business meeting. Any and all business is left of the table when we're eating" she said firmly.
"Sorry ma'am" Ash apologized.
"Sorry dear" Norman said sheepishly.
Caroline smiled at Ash.
"That's okay Ash, you didn't know" she said then turned her head to her husband, "you however know my rules and should know better."
Norman winced slightly.
Max snickered though he did it very quietly.
May just smiled and shook her head.
Soon the meal ended and Norman, May, and Ash headed back outside.
May went to feed the horses and Ash decided to help her out. She balked at this, but Ash was insistent on it. So the two worked and found they worked well together. Ash also fed Pikachu while he was at it.
"Thank you again Ash" May said as the finished feeding the last horse.
"It was no problem May. I enjoyed it" Ash said smiling.
May smiled back.
Ash helped May with what she needed to do the rest of the day and soon it was getting late and Ash felt the need to head back.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" May asked as she brushed a strand of hair back.
"I hope so. I really had a fun time today" Ash said with a smile.
May smiled back.
"I did too. Thank you again for all your help" she said.
"It was no problem May. Hope to see you soon" Ash said then got on Pikachu and rode off.
May stood there watching Ash leave and let out a heavy sigh. She was unaware that her mother was watching her.
Look like I'll need to talk to May soon Caroline thought.
/Scene Break/
The next day May met up with Dawn and Misty by a creek they liked to frequent on the hot days where they could do a bit of swimming. Though today it was nice enough and they were just dipping their feet in the water as they sat by the edge.
"My sister said that Ash wanted direction to the ranch. So did he make there alright?" Misty asked.
"Yeah, we spent the day together. He helped me with the horses and even had lunch with me and my family" May said.
"Already introducing him to your parents, huh? May, you work fast" Dawn giggled.
May's face went red at the implication and began denying it vehemently. This only made Dawn and Misty crack up with laughter. Their backs were on the grass as they laughed their hearts out.
"Oh man, that was so easy" Dawn said between bouts of laughter.
Misty was too busy laughing to add in her two cents.
"You're mean Dawn" May said pouting.
Misty calmed down first and sat back up. She wrapped an arm around May's shoulders.
"Now May, don't be so moody. This is a great thing. You finally found interest in boys" she said.
"Yeah, we thought you'd be blind forever. Remember that Drew character a while back. He showered you with all sorts of gifts and you wouldn't give him the time of day since you were always busy at the ranch" Dawn said.
"Hey, I was busy. We had gotten some new horses and I needed to break them in as well as to mares were going into labor any time soon. I had no time to think about anything else" May said defending herself.
"Whatever, the point is you are now seeing boys," Misty said.
"Yes, oh this is going to so much fun" Dawn squealed.
"Yay" May said unenthusiastically.
Dawn ignored this and began talking about boys. May half listened as she always done when Dawn got on a roll like this. Misty listened politely adding things here and there. In the end May had a headache and wished she was anywhere, but here. It didn't help that Misty egged Dawn on like this. These two were so bad for her health and yet she called them her best friends.
"So what do you think May?" Dawn asked.
Crap, what was she talking about? Something about a boy, but who and which one? She has so many she gushes about. Great, why'd have to space out now? May groaned.
"Um" she answered.
"Well I think Paul is fine, though he is a bit abrasive. He needs a good woman to smooth out his rough edges. But Kenny, he's a guy I could hug all day since he's so loveable" Dawn said not even hearing May's response.
Misty just nodded.
May sighed.
This was going to be a long day.
/Scene Break/
May arrived back home and found her mother waiting for her.
"Hey Ma, I am not late tonight" May said.
"I know that dear, I just thought we should have a talk" Caroline said.
"About what?" May asked.
"Come and sit at the table dear" Caroline said.
May sat down confused at what her mother wanted. She wasn't in trouble as far as she knew. So what was it?
"I always wondered when this day would come. At times I never thought it would since you've never paid anything any attention as you do the horses or anything related to them. So I was very pleased by the recent events" Caroline began.
May was even more confused as to what her mother was saying.
"But then you were telling us about this Ash that night and I was happy you thought of other things. Then when he came by and I saw how taken you were with him. I've never seen you so giddy before in my life dear. It made my heart weep" Caroline said smiling.
May's eyes widen. Oh dear, she was going get the talk from her mom. Now she already knew about that short of thing because of raising horses, but that didn't she was ready for the human version yet, no, not by a long shot.
The whole night May had to listen to her mom talk about the birds and the bees and wished the ground would swallow her up. This was the most embarrassing time in her life as she listened in detail everything that had to do with procreation and all its entails. May knew she'd have nightmares for a while thanks to her mom. Mainly since it made her have images of her parents doing it and that is something no child ever wants, ever.
At the end May ran all the way to her room and hid under the covers mumbling to herself.
"This all a dream, this all a dream, this all a dream."
End of chapter
A/N: thought I end this one on a funny yet traumatic note. Hope I didn't scar you all too bad with it. Thanks for reading and please review.