Chapter 9: Armour of the Mountain
May followed Ash as he ran into the forest after the strange noise. She could clearly hear it now and it defiantly sounded like some sort of cry. Ash stopped running and looked around sensing the Pokémon was now within sight. There was a large cluster of rocks which were partially blocking the entrance of a cave on the mountain's side but the cry was coming from the outside of the cave in the undergrowth. Ash listened again and pinpointed the position of the cries. Pulling back some ferns Ash finally saw the source of all the noise. A small Aron was whimpering by itself and struggling to walk on what appeared to be a wounded leg. At the sight of Ash though it reared up and faced him head on ready to defend itself despite its injuries.
"Easy there little guy, I'm not going to hurt you." Ash said as he lowered himself to appear less threatening.
The small steel type wasn't backing down and growled lowly at his new threat. Ash sensed the Pokémon's aggression and shuffled back to give it some space he then placed his hands behind his back but the Aron still stared him down.
"I've got to tend to its wounds somehow." Ash thought out loud then felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Ash just let me handle this." May spoke softly and positioned herself in front of him.
"It's alright little one were here to help you." May continued to speak softly while she looked around in her bag.
Ash could see the Aron breathing easier in May's presence but it still didn't let its guard down with two possible attackers around him. May pulled out some Pokémon food and pooled some into her hand, she then slowly moved her hand forward so the Aron could smell it.
"Come on now, you'll really enjoy it." May nearly whispered.
The Aron sniffed the food and could be seen calming down. It took a few cautious steps forward, limping slightly on its bad leg. When it was in reach the youngster immediately started chomping down the food as quick as he could showing how hungry he was.
"There you go." May exclaimed happily.
"Wow he makes my eating habits look tame by comparison." Ash addressed Pikachu.
When the Aron had finished eating he licked his lips trying to savour the taste. Now that May was in a good position she moved her hand over the Aron's head and waited for it to see her so she didn't startle it. When it did May waited for it not to attack and then carefully lowered her hand onto its head. Ash watched in complete silence as May tentatively rubbed its head, the steel type had given complete trust to May and was now nothing like the aggressive youngster he had first seen. Having eased into May's touch the Aron didn't move as May moved closer. The young girl sat cross legged beside the small Pokémon and then lifted him up into her lap. Though slightly nervous at first the Aron quickly calmed down once May started lightly patting and stroking its back.
"There you go now isn't that better?" May spoke. She then signalled to Ash that it was clear for him to move up. While trying to make as little noise as possible Ash walked over and looked through his own bag for the right medicine.
"That was really well done May." Ash complemented his friend.
"Some things just need a women's touch." May assured him.
Ash pulled out some medical spray and bandages, before applying anything Ash examined the Aron's leg.
"It looks like it might have been attacked but fended off its attacker. Aron usually live underground so I wonder if this one got lost and somehow ended out here in the forest." Ash questioned as he looked back at the cave entrance.
"It might have gotten temporarily blinded by the sunlight when it came out and then a predator struck." May added.
"Either way his leg isn't too badly hurt and there doesn't seem to be any other injuries, it's just because he's young that he was making such a racket. He was probably trying to call his friends." Ash said as he got his meds ready.
"Do you think it'll be able to find its way home?" May asked still comforting the Aron.
"My bet is as soon he gets back into that cave he'll dig right back down, once he's underground his friends will have a better chance of hearing him as well." Ash assured her.
"Here May you feed him some of this potion and I'll spray and bandage the wound." Ash instructed and he handed May the bottle.
May took the potion and lowered it in from of the Aron, as she squeezed some of the liquid out the steel type lapped at it, happy to receive some more nurturance. Ash then sprayed the wound on its leg with an antiseptic and bandaged up the leg. Being a steel type and with its mind set on eating the young Aron barely noticed.
"Ok that should stop the pain and any infection, let's get him over to the cave and set him off." Ash said as he stood up.
May nodded and while cradling the Aron stood up and walked over to the cave entrance. Ash was very impressed by how easily May handled and calmed down the small Aron especially since it was so afraid of him. Perhaps she was right when she talked about having a women's touch, but Ash felt there was a little more to it than that.
Before Ash could voice his admiration for May's talents the ground started to shake. May held the Aron closer to her while Ash grabbed a nearby tree with one hand and steadied Pikachu on his shoulder. The trembling kept increasing causing some of the rocks in front of the cave to topple over.
"Is it an earthquake?" May asked.
"No something's coming from under the ground look." Ash pointed at a sudden crack that had appeared next to the cave entrance.
The crack soon splintered into a large breach in the wall and suddenly the cause was revealed. A large and very angry Aggron burst out of the wall and started looking around the area clearly searching for something. Its eyes fixed on May when it saw she had the Aron in her hands, it let out an ear piecing roar that had both human and Pokémon alike recoiling.
"May that Aggron might be the Aron's mother you have to put it down right now." Ash called out.
"Alright, I'll do it." May managed to force out her eyes never leaving the fearsome looking creature in front of her.
May did her best to slowly and carefully lower the Aron down to the ground despite her slight shaking and with the Aggron's gaze fixed on her. When she set the young Aron down it ran as best it could to the larger Pokémon's side and nuzzled its leg. The protective mother looked down at her offspring and seemed to calm down with him now beside her. May let out sigh of relief both for seeing the Aron back in safe hands and the fact that she hadn't being attacked. She turned to Ash but instantly saw him signalling for her not to move, sensing the danger hadn't passed.
He was right the Aggron positioned itself in front of the Aron and faced directly at May, the coordinator turned back to face it and saw the beast charging an attack in its mouth.
"May get out of there!" Ash shouted.
With danger right in front of her May's training kicked in. The colour of the attack gave away that it was Flash Cannon, she readied her feet and waited a split second for the Aggron to fire. As it did she sprung to the side and rolled avoiding the attack which collided with a tree breaking and splintering the branches while creating a small smoke cloud between herself and Ash. May got up and eyed the Aggron who was already lining up for another attack. May knew she could avoid the blast but she couldn't keep doing it all day. She prepared to run when a sudden weight hit her shoulder driving her to the ground. Hitting the ground with a loud gasp May realised one of the branches had fallen and struck her. Though the branch wasn't huge the impact was enough to drive her to the ground and wind her, she coughed while trying to get back up when she heard the sound of another attack charging. Looking up May knew she didn't have time to dodge now the Aggron had her fixed and was only moments away from firing, with nowhere to go May shut her eyes.
Another weight hit her again but this time from the side, as it did it rolled turning her just managing to avoid the Flash Cannon attack that hit the ground where she lay moments before.
Opening her eyes May saw Ash holding her away from the blast after he had dived to save her, he looked over her to see she was alright and then turned around.
"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash cried out to his starter.
Pikachu jumped between his trainer and the Aggron and fired his electricity hitting the large Pokémon head on. While the Aggron cried out from the attack Ash wasted no time in pulling May up and running with her hand in his. May tried to keep up as Ash started running downhill through the scrub but every step was harrowing since she had the wing knocked out of her. No matter how hard she tried May couldn't get a lung full of air, she felt faint and cursed herself for having to stop.
"Ash wait." May wheezed out weakly.
Ash stopped running and placed both hands on May's shoulders. "Are you alright?" He asked his voice full of concern.
"I-I just need-one-moment." May struggled be breath let alone talk.
"Quick get down." Ash instructed pressing May down behind a tree.
Pikachu came sliding down the hill they just got past when the Aggron appeared at the top ignoring Pikachu's angry barks, it's eyes once again scanning the area but this time looking for May.
May couldn't stop herself from coughing and the noise gave her and Ash's position away to the Aggron. The angry steel type growled as it charged up another Flash Cannon attack, Ash realised it was aiming in their direction and grabbed May's arm and hooked his other hand around her shoulder doing his best to move her out of danger. May stumbled as Ash practically hauled her away from the tree before the Flash Cannon hit it sending bark and wood in all directions.
"Pikachu distract that Aggron." Ash yelled.
Pikachu ran closer to the enraged Pokémon shouting as loud as he could to try and protect his friends. The Aggron turned to face Pikachu sweeping its tail in an attempt to bat away the annoyance. Pikachu easily dodged it and continued to distract the Aggron hoping Ash could get May somewhere safe in time.
With the threat engaging Pikachu Ash pulled May behind a mound of earth covered in moss and leaf litter. She was still having trouble breathing and Ash knew that even with all of Pikachu's strength he would have trouble fighting that Aggron alone.
"Stay here I'm going to try help Pikachu." Ash instructed May.
"I'm fine-let me-help-you." May wheezed.
"Listen to me May stay here I'll be right back." Ash said placing one hand on her shoulder.
"I'm not helpless-I can-" May tried to say before falling into a fit of coughs.
"Just do what I say." Ash enforced while reaching for a Pokeball and turning around. As he got out from behind the small amount of cover he looked around for Pikachu. He suddenly saw the small electric type sent flying through the air crying in pain before he smashed violently into a tree, falling to the floor his body concealed by the undergrowth."
"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed running to his best friend's position oblivious to the Aggron's location.
May heard Ash cry out, she looked up to see the trainer sprinting through the plants in desperation. She was done lying around she wouldn't allow either Ash or Pikachu to get hurt for trying to protect her. Pushing through the pain in her chest and back May steadied herself and searched through her bag for her Pokeballs. All of a sudden saw the Aggron appear at the top of the hill but this time it had her in its sights straight away and was already about to fire. With her hand unable to find a ball in time May looked in Ash's direction, he had Pikachu in his arms and his back to her, there was no help for her now.
May felt the ground burst from beneath her as the Aggron's attack hit the mound partially covering her and she was sent hurdling through the air. Pieces of leaves and earth flew all around her, she managed to see a tree to her side and reached out for it. But her hand slammed into the trunk and she felt a sharp pain rip across her fingers. May clutched her injured left hand before she suddenly hit the ground but this part of the hill was a lot steeper than the part she was just on and with her momentum from the fall May rolled down unable to stop herself. She kept tumbling down trying desperately to grab hold of something with her free arm. May's right knee hit a rock as she fell, pain seared through up her leg and she knew the knee cap had been damaged. As she pulled in both her legs her right leg was cut by a stray log, leaving a deep gash up her thigh and cutting into her shorts. May screamed as her body was battered and cut still unable to stop herself.
Finally May stopped rolling and landed on her stomach though she was still sliding she pushed through the pain and dug her strong hand into the ground slowing her decent. She looked behind her and spotted some strong looking roots sticking out of the ground. Just before passing them May grabbed the solid root and clung on, she felt herself slow down and then completely stop. May was covered in dirt and leaf matter but all she could think about was the aching pain throughout her, though she knew her right leg and knee no doubt had some bad injuries, May brought her left hand to her face. Seeing the injury only made it worse, her middle and index fingers were both dislocated and bent to the right at a sickening angle. May turned her head not wanting to look at her own injuries, the pain made her afraid to even move in case she did something worse. Through it all May noticed something off about her feet, she couldn't touch the ground. Looking over her shoulder May's eyes widened as she realised her feet were hanging off the very edge of a cliff face, if she hadn't stopped herself she would of fallen straight off.
A loud detonation reached her ears, she couldn't see the source but she knew Ash had to be still fighting the Aggron. May tried curling up her wounded leg but her knee screamed at her to stop, the brunette knew she wouldn't be able to get up that hill without help, this track wasn't used to often by people and there was no phone reception up here, there was only one option left.
"ASH!" May screamed as loud as she could, her voice full of pain and desperation. "Help me!"
Her cry pierced through the forest and reached the very trainer who was frantically looking for her while his Pokémon tried to subdue the enraged Aggron. Ash heard her scream and knew without a doubt she was in trouble, and a lot of it.
"May where are you!" Ash cried out running in the voices direction. He nearly fell down the very hill May had gone down when he came across the steep sloop, he called out again getting more desperate the longer he couldn't find her. "May! Where are you!"
"I'm down here." May tried to call out but she all she could manage was a distressed weep.
Then as if things couldn't get any worse May felt the ground beneath her legs begin to crumble. She didn't have to look to know the edge of the cliff was breaking, she gripped the root she was holding praying that the ground would hold out underneath her body but as she spotted the earth under her own arm begin the crack she knew it wouldn't. All the ground beneath her suddenly dropped away as she began to fall. May screamed holding onto the root for dear life. Somehow the root didn't break and May remained suspended in the air now against the side of the cliff. With no weight on top of it and with the rest of the tree roots supporting it the ground stopped breaking apart, looking around May tried to put her foot into the side of the cliff face but more of it broke away at her touch. May looked down and confirmed that it was indeed a large drop to the ground but she spotted some water, what looked like a pool of water at the base of the ridge, though she had no idea of how deep it went. It was directly under her and if it was deep enough it was possible she could survive the fall. May knew one truth, there was no way she could pull herself up with two dislocated fingers and a wounded leg.
"Come on May call out to me!" Ash voice came over the edge.
"I'm over here I need help!" May shouted.
"Hold on I'm coming just keep talking to me!" Ash responded.
"Please hurry!" May cried though she could tell Ash was not close enough.
Fatigue was starting to set in, she was already drained of energy from her fall down the hill and the throbbing pain all over her body only assisted in her plight.
"Ash I'm going to try something." May wearily called out.
"I don't like the way you're talking May, whatever it is just wait I'm close." Ash responded.
"I think this is the only way." May said under her breath.
"May I'm nearly there don't do anything stupid." Ash called out.
"I'm sorry." The young coordinator whispered not wanting Ash to risk himself anymore. Her hand was slipping to the end of the root, May looked down at the water braced herself, and let go.
Time seemed to slow down as May began to fall, she could have sworn she heard the scrapping of feet above her but she was looking down at the water and couldn't tell. All of a sudden she felt something grip her arm and her fall was completely stopped as quickly as it had begun. May gazed back up and saw Ash clinging to a root over the edge with one hand and holding her arm with his other. He was supporting both of their weights on a single arm, he groaned as the rocks dug into his fingers.
"Ash?" May uttered nearly in disbelief.
"I'm here," Ash forced out. "Don't worry I'm going to get you out of here." Ash assured her as her tried to lift her. Ash lifted his hand to his shoulder height but was unable to pull May any further growling as he used all of his strength to try and get May to safety but it was too much for his one arm and he was forced to lower May back down, his breathing becoming heavy as he did.
"Ash there's some water below me, if you swing me at the right angle I'll be able to land in it." May explained.
Ash looked down and saw the pool she was referring to, he didn't know if May had thought this through or she wasn't thinking straight, but to Ash dropping her was the same as giving up.
"I'm not going to do that May." Ash informed her.
"I'll be fine, just trust me on this." May tried to sound confident.
"You trust me on this, I'm not going to drop you." Ash spoke more firmly.
"You just have to look after yourself Ash please." May pleaded with him.
"May just shut up dammit!" Ash shouted causing May to completely stop her arguing.
"I don't care if there's some water down there, I don't care if there was a mountain of pillows at the bottom. There is no way that I'm going to let you go, if anything were to happen to you, I couldn't live with myself knowing that I could of prevented it." Ash declared to her.
May hadn't realised how selfish she had acted, Ash was willing to put his own life on the line her. Literally dive of a sheer cliff to rescue her and instead of helping him get both of them out of the situation she opted to try and save herself. At the time May thought her willingness to fall into the water was brave, but with Ash here now she realized how ridiculous an idea it was. Her childhood friend was here to help her but he needed her help as well. Till now May hadn't been holding Ash's arm but his determination fuelling her own, the brunette grabbed his arm and held on tight.
May looked up into Ash's eyes as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I'm not going to try that again."
"It's alright just help me figure out a way to get out this." Ash smiled down.
May scanned the cliff face looking and thinking how they could use it to their advantage. She noticed a number of roots sticking out of the slope, from the way a single root was able to support both her and Ash's weight she was willing to bet it could hold under Ash's foot.
"Ash you see the roots near your leg, try and get your foot stable on one of them." May pointed to the thickest looking one that looped back into the mountain.
"Right I got it." Ash stated as he positioned his foot on top of the root and rested some of his weight on it. With steady footing and some of the strain taken off his hand Ash breathed a bit easier and then turned back to May.
"Ok I'm going to lift you up as high as I can, then I want you to lift your feet onto my leg and grab onto the ledge." Ash instructed her.
"Wait I hurt my right knee when I fell I'm not sure if I can bend it and I dislocated two of my fingers." May informed him.
"Alright then, put your left leg over my leg and then sit on it, then grab the ledge with your good hand." Ash changed his plan.
"Ok I'm ready." May told him.
Once again Ash pulled May's hand up to his shoulder level, this gave her enough height for her to bend her back and hook her leg around Ash's. She then pulled herself upwards and sat on his leg, Ash lifted May's hand to the edge and had her grab onto it before letting go and positioning his hand behind her back. Ash needed a short break but both of them felt more secure, with May now positioned on his leg their hips nearly touching all she had to do was get onto solid ground and Ash could pull himself out after her.
"Alright May you have to step back onto my leg and lift yourself onto the flat ground, when you get up there move away from the ledge don't worry about me, I just don't want more of this crumbling away you understand." Ash laid out the final steps.
"You got it." May managed half a smile.
"One more thing." Ash's serious tone dropped a bit. "I'm going to give you a boost as you go but there's only really one place I can push when you go up."
"Do you mean?" May began to question.
"Yeah I'm going to have to push your backside up." Ash said as seriously as he could.
May felt that by saying it out loud Ash had made the situation a lot more awkward then it had to be. If he had just given her the boost May might not have even questioned it, but at the very least it took her mind of the life threatening situation they were in."
"That's fine Ash I'm going to need the extra help." May assured him.
"Good I just didn't want to be putting my hands places you didn't want me too." Ash breathed easier despite their close proximity.
"Just don't get any ideas." May made a half joke half threat.
Ash nodded and with that May pulled herself up with her good hand and with Ash's free arm supporting her back she placed her foot on Ash's leg. As May lifted herself she grabbed further up the tree root till she was nearly straight up, she then pulled herself back onto the ledge. Ash helped push May up while trying to be none invasive as possible but May didn't concentrate on his hands position but on getting to safety. As she finally pulled her body and legs over the edge May felt a wave of relief wash over her after getting out of one of the most dangerous positions she had been in. But with that relief came a wave pain as well, till now she had been subconsciously suppressing the injuries on her knee and thigh. When she looked at her two dislocated fingers the throbbing and stinging only increased. May forced herself to crawl away from the edge following Ash instructions but everything only seemed to get worse as she moved, now her mind was only focused on her bodies distress and it was quickly taking over.
Ash waited till May was away from the edge before he began lifting himself up, though he was fatigued from hauling May out, with both his hands and a good foothold the trainer was up and moving away from the edge in no time. Nearly collapsing on the grass in exhaustion his thoughts were interrupted by May's harsh breathing. Looking to his side Ash saw May with her back against a tree clutching her hand, her eyes shut letting out deep breaths that barely hid her distress. Ash got up and was instantly at her side placing one hand on her shoulder.
"May let me look at your hand." Ash asked putting his own hand forward.
May placed her palm on top of Ash's, showing him for the first time her damaged fingers. The two that were dislocated had lost some of their colour and though he didn't want to cause May any more pain he had to put them back into place.
"May I'm going to recollect your fingers, it's going to be painful but if I don't do it they could get a lot worse.
"Just do it already." May managed to force out.
Ash grabbed the base of May's middle finger with one hand and wrapped his fingers around the rest of the finger with the other. With a quick motion he snapped the knuckles back into place with a loud crack. May gasped and tried to pull away but Ash held her knowing it was just a reaction that she couldn't help.
"One more alright." Ash assured her getting a nod from the brunette.
With her permission Ash grabbed the last finger and snapped it back into place as well. This time May hissed through her clenched teeth and pulled her head into Ash's shoulder, taking deep breaths as some of the pain subsided. Ash removed one hand and rested it on her back to comfort her.
"You're doing well I'm proud of you." The trainer did his best to calm her down. "Now which knee is the one that's hurt?"
"My right, but I don't think it's broken." May said as she leant back.
Ash looked over May's knee and then asked her to bend it as best she could. May could pull it back slightly and Ash assumed her knee was indeed not broken when he noticed blood beginning to pool to May's side, Ash darted to her side and saw the cause.
"May your losing blood." Ash exclaimed seeing the large gash going up May's thigh cutting into her shorts.
"Did you have this the entire time?" Ash asked as he pulled off his bag and frantically looked for his med kit.
"I think so, everything happened when I was falling down that hill." May answered getting worried seeing Ash rummage through his pack so rapidly.
Ash got his med kit and pulled out his bandage roll, with the length of time that May had had that cut and the amount of blood she had lost just sitting there Ash knew he had to act quick. He didn't bother to ask before he grabbed May's cut short's leg and pushed it back to her hip so he could get at the entire wound. May was a little startled at his actions but then she herself saw the large cut which went most of the way up her leg. Ash quickly began wrapping around the wound closing it with the bandage. He had to lift May's leg as he got closer to her hip making May yell for a second as her knee was still very sore. Ash covered the entire wound and added more layers on top nearly depleting his entire bandage roll. When he was done he clipped it back so it couldn't come undone and then turned his attention directly to May herself.
"How do you feel? You feel tired or weak?" Ash fired questions at her.
"I feel fine why are you acting so paranoid?" May asked back.
Though Ash didn't know how much blood May had actually lost he had a feeling it was a substantial amount, what really worried him was how far away they were from any town or help. The bandages he used would need to be replaced if blood started seeping out of them but he just used up nearly all of them. He didn't want to scare May, what was best for her was to stay calm.
"It's alright now that I've got those bandages on, I just wanted to make sure you were ok." Ash explained.
May nodded when she heard a loud roar from further up the hill, along with some clashes of attacks. Pikachu was still fighting against the Aggron with what sounded like another Pokemon, May turned but Ash knew what she was going to ask.
"I released Sceptile before I came after you, don't worry I'm sure they'll be alright." Ash assured her.
"Shouldn't we try and help?" May tried to push herself up.
Ash rested his hand on her shoulder and eased her down. "May right now the best thing for you is to stay right here." Ash told her when he noticed her shirt was wet. When he examined his hand he saw a small amount of blood and got worried again.
"May your bleeding from your back, take your shirt off." Ash said as he moved his hands to the base of her shirt.
May suddenly grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled down denying Ash's request. Looking up she could see Ash's confusion as to why she had stopped him.
"May come on I've got to look at your back." Ash said to her but May seemed to be frozen. "I just saw you in a bikini at the lake before its nothing I haven't seen."
May knew Ash was right but for some reason she didn't want to take her shirt off, was it how he pulled back her shorts that got her riled up? After all he was right seeing her in a bra should be no different to seeing her in a bikini, however she already felt helpless enough. She had to trust Ash now. May released her grip and moved her hands above her head so Ash could pull her shirt over her head. Ash removed her shirt slowly sensing how uneasy she was. She was wearing a bright red bra but Ash didn't concentrate on that, instantly moving to her side and examining her back. May had a small wound on her lower shoulder that was bleeding slightly, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He could take his time to disinfect it and the size of the cut meant it would only need a single band aid. As Ash looked in his pack he could still heard fate sounds of battle in the distance.
"I hope Pikachu and Sceptile are alright." May commented while covering her chest despite the fact Ash wasn't looking.
"So do I." Ash replied but his focus was on May, and how she was going to get out of here.