Chapter 7: Slight diversion
May had been up most of the night looking up her next target, it would be simple as it was in the next town. Her and Ash would arrive in it later that day and it was also further away from where New Magma would activate there final plan. May tried not to worry about that details, the actual plan involving Groudon wasn't set to go ahead for a long time May could have both of them separated by half the region if she choose to by then.
The walk to the next town would take most of the day so May got up early and packed hoping Ash was a morning person. When she exited her room May was surprised to see Ash packed and waiting for her with Pikachu in the main hall.
"Morning." Ash greeted her cheerfully.
"Good morning." May gave Ash a slightly puzzled look.
"I got you breakfast." Ash handed her a nicely made roll.
"Um thanks." May took the roll still a bit amazed Ash was up before her.
"I know I should have told you earlier but I've got a special surprise for you that just happens to be along the way to the next town." Ash spoke excitably.
"Really what is it?" May asked.
"Come on May, you know it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." Ash winked.
"True, are you sure it's not going to cut into our travel time?" May inquired.
"Trust me it will only take a few minutes off and we'll be in town before mid-afternoon." Ash assured her.
"Well I guess it couldn't hurt." May thought out loud.
"Great let's get going." Ash started jogging to the exit.
"Well slow down till I finished my breakfast." May cried out making Ash grind to a halt.
"Right sorry, I forgot." Ash scratched the back of his head.
May rolled her eyes slightly at Ash's childlike action, biting into her breakfast as she caught up with the almost hyperactive trainer.
Ash and May began there walk with Pikachu walking between them and occasionally climbing on either of the trainers shoulders. May noted when they didn't take the mountain path to the next town but kept going alongside the mountain, but Ash had assured her he knew a way to get back on track and she assumed his navigation skills had improved to some extent over time. After a lengthy walk May noticed the forest beginning to fade away to more open areas, it was then that Ash stopped them and checked his map.
"Ash please tell me we aren't lost." May started to get concerned.
Ash looked ahead and smiled to himself before turning to May.
"Actually were right on track, now put this on." Ash presented May with a blindfold.
"So it's that type of surprise." May stated as she reluctantly took the blindfold.
"Come on put it on already." Ash started to get excited.
"Alright, alright I just hope this isn't some prank of yours." May warned.
"Trust me you'll love it." Ash stated as May covered her eyes.
The brunette sucked it up and had her hand grabbed by Ash who walked her along. It was a curious feeling not being able to see and with little outside noise May's attention was drawn to holding Ash's hand. She couldn't pin point the feeling but she had only held Ash's hand when he shook her own or when one of the two were rescuing the other, in most cases it happened to be Ash rescuing her.
Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she noticed she was walking on something wooden, images flashes in her head on what she could be on but she knew it could be practically anything.
"Ok here should be good." Ash stopped them walking.
"May keep your eyes closed and I'll take the blindfold off." Ash instructed.
"Alright, let's do this." May did as she was told.
Ash removed the blind fold from around May's eyes he then stood beside her telling her to open her them. May was hit momentarily by the glare but as her eyes adjusted she saw a beautiful sight.
May was looking over a beautiful clear lake which spread out in front of her glistening from the sunlight. Looking around she could see a strikingly lush meadow meeting the tall trees of the nearby forest. May noted she was standing on the edge of a wooden mote that stretched about ten meters from the shore. Memories started to flash in her head, she had been here before but it was such long time ago.
"Ash is this?" May began to ask.
"It's Lake May, remember we came here all those years ago? I can recall you saying how beautiful this place was." Ash recalled the event.
May looked back over the seemingly untouched environment feeling a great sense of nostalgia as she did. A lot of areas in Hoenn had been taken over by expanding industry over the last few years wiping out many beautiful types of scenery such as this one. That was one reason why May had joined New Magma, to protect the little they had left. However Lake May seemed to have escaped that fate and had changed little since May had last been here with Ash all those years ago. A little overcome by Ash's thoughtfulness in surprising her with a great memory from her childhood May couldn't help but smile.
"Ash this is beautiful, thank you so much." May turned to Ash but realised he was no longer beside her. Turning around May saw Ash had taken his bag and hat off and was now in swimming shorts half way through taking is shirt off.
"Ash what are you doing?" May asked.
"What does it look like?" Ash grinned after putting down his shirt and started running to the edge of the moat. "Cannon Ball!"
May moved out of Ash's path as he sprinted past her with Pikachu by his side. When the two reached the edge both of them jumped into the air tucked in their legs and cannon balled the water creating a huge splash. May had not expected this and stared at the water feeling that her moment of reflection had been slightly tampered. Ash and Pikachu rose to the surface at the same time and laughed lightly to themselves.
"Ash you can't swim here." May exclaimed.
"Yes you can this entire lake is a public swimming area, look behind you." Ash pointed.
May looked around and saw a small set of shower blocks and some signage, some clearly stating that this area was safe to swim in.
"Well ok then but we don't have time for a swim now." May placed one hand on her hip.
"Come on May we won't be that long, and when we were packing up I saw you had some swim wear." Ash smiled.
May knew that she wouldn't be able to get Ash out of the water without physically hulling him out. She also knew that they could easily stay here for two hours and arrive with adequate time.
"Alright but no more distractions after this ok." May pointed a finger sternly at Ash.
Raising both hands Ash nodded and with that May walked to the shower blocks to get changed, for now she'd oblige in the chance to relax a while.
Ash continued to swim leisurely while he waited for May, Pikachu didn't stay in for long as swimming wasn't his strongest point and rested on the shore. Although he hadn't been in the lake for long Ash got rather bored swimming alone quite quickly. Looking past the moat towards the showers Ash wondered if May was alright or if he was just being impatient.
"What's taking her so long?" Ash asked himself.
"I'm up here." May's voice came from above him.
Looking up Ash saw May at the edge of the moat, it was a good thing she wasn't looking at him because Ash's jaw nearly hit the water.
May was wearing a bright red two piece bikini that put all the pictures Ash had seen of her before to shame. Her long shaved legs met her beautifully toned hourglass figure which didn't have an ounce of fat anywhere on it. As May removed her bandana she released her brunette hair that fell to the sides of her face, Ash didn't like to use the word perfect but May's body was as close to his view of a perfect female figure as he had ever seen. May turned around to put her bandana in her bag unwittingly showing herself off to Ash even more. Her rear wasn't overly large but appeared firm, and her breasts matched her body type incredibly well. As May turned around Ash averted his gaze, he wasn't sure if it was his young adult hormones or the fact that this was the first time he had seen her in a bikini as an adult, but the mere sight of his friend turned model had him in a daze.
Oblivious to what she was doing to Ash May was ready to go into the lake and casually jumped in a few meters away from Ash. The water was a pleasant cool temperature and May enjoyed staying underwater for as long as she could before rising to the surface. As she wiped the water from her face May looked around for Ash. The water was just clear enough for her to see Ash's outline beneath the surface appearing to be staring at the lake bed. A little confused at Ash's lack of movement May started to wade over to him. Right before she got to arms distance Ash rose and upon seeing May so close stared at her like he had just seen a ghost.
"Ash why are you looking at me like that?" May asked.
"Um no reason." Ash fought hard not to look at May's chest which was just out of the water.
"Ok then what were you doing in the water just then?" May got more inquisitive.
"Um nothing important." Ash answered hiding the fact that he was actually trying to stop thinking about her.
"Well don't just stand there looking like you just got licked by a Haunter come and talk with me." May eased back into the water.
"I'm sorry I didn't realise you needed to be the centre of attention all the time." Ash teased.
"Hey you're the one who pulled me into this lake." May countered splashing Ash with some water.
"Correction, I lead you here, you jumped in all on your own." Ash splashed May back.
"Only because you refused to get out in the first place." May started to giggle sending a small wave in Ash's direction.
"I told you, we have the time." Ash laughed at their mock argument as the splash session turned into a full on water fight.
Pikachu watched from the shore as the two apparent adults played around in the water like children. He was happy to see May was finally starting to loosen up around Ash, she was now beginning to act like her old self again.
The water fight continued on with both Ash and May laughing and throwing water randomly to try and get one another. May felt a cease in the splashing and looked in Ash's direction only to find no sign of him. May saw movement below her, realising to late Ash had swum under the surface to her position. He wrapped his arms around May's legs and lifted her up. May squealed as Ash lifted her out of the water standing with his arms around her thighs and May's body straight in the air. May laughed while fighting for her balance while Ash shook his head close to her hip. May looked down at the raven haired trainer who was now holding her steady.
"What are you going to do now?" The brunette taunted.
Ash shrugged momentarily before deliberately falling back into the water taking May with him. May half shrieked, half laughed as she was sent plummeting into the water. Feeling Ash loosen his grip May was ready to resurface when Ash's arm suddenly wrapped around her back and she was lifted up over his shoulder. May laughed even harder at his antics as he started walking back towards the shore.
"Come on May if you're so worried about getting there late we better get moving." Ash said mockingly.
"No I want to stay now!" May laughed while lightly punching Ash in the back.
"Alright then" Ash put plainly before tossing May off to the side.
May's shriek of surprise was cut short as she splashed into the lake and disappeared under the surface. Ash waited with a huge grin on his face for May to resurface, when she did the brunette had a very scheming look on her face. As May stood up Ash saw she was holding two pieces of dirt from the bottom of the lake in her hands and Ash had an idea of what she planned to do with them.
"May don't do it." Ash raised one hand in defence.
With that May hurled her first pile of mud straight at Ash who dodged to his left, but May had anticipated this move and in a flash threw her other pile directly into Ash's face. The mud spread across Ash's jaw and some ended up in his mouth causing the trainer to groan loudly at the taste and then sunk his head into the water beneath him.
"Serve's you right for throwing me around like that Ketchum." May scorned Ash as he washed his mouth out.
May then saw something out of the corner of her eye, what looked like a large Pokémon in the air. Looking up May confirmed it to be a Fearow flying high above them, this in itself wasn't odd but what kept her attention was the way it was flying. It circled above the lake seemingly scanning the area, Fearow's could stay in the air for long periods of time but as May watched it she remembered some important details. Fearow's were often used by New Magma like airborne drones with cameras mounted on their necks to survey an area, or track targets. Was New Magma keeping track of her progress? May suddenly remembered when she first met Ash outside the Devon Corp building that Captain Gregson had known about it almost instantly. This was a disturbing thought but it was interrupted when Ash wrapped his arms around May's waist and lifted her up again.
"You should really pay attention to your surroundings." Ash exclaimed as he pulled May in a circle.
"Ash stop." May asked placing her hand over his.
Ash felt her discomfort and stopped his spinning. "What is it?" he asked.
"I really think we should get going." May said while looking directly into Ash's eyes.
"You're really worried about getting to this place on time aren't you?" The raven haired trainer inquired.
"It's just the guy who runs it can be, pretty rough going." May told the truth.
"Alright if it puts you at ease we'll get going." Ash stated.
Ash then noticed that he still had his arms around May, after rather awkwardly removing them Ash made his way to the shore. May gave a small smile at his discomfort and waded behind him. As Ash got out of the water May got a better look at his body. She was right in her assumptions that he was fit, without his shirt on May could easily see the muscles in his upper body. He had great development along his arms, shoulders and chest as well as nice abs. She almost thought it was a shame he had to wear a shirt all the time because it covered what was no doubt a lot of work. Ash picked up Pikachu and walked to the moat, as he did May swore Pikachu was smiling at her as if he knew what she was looking at.
"I hope Pikachu isn't a chatty Pokémon." May thought to herself before getting onto the moat herself.
The trainer and the coordinator grabbed their bags and got changed in the shower blocks, feeling anxious with a possible spy Fearow watching them May got out first though she didn't have to wait long for Ash to change and then they were immediately back onto the mountain path. Leaving their short detour at Lake May behind them.