Chapter 11: Priorities
When May asked her Pokémon to fly fast it took the command very seriously, the speed at which it was moving forced May to pull her entire body close to its back as she held on. Even with the high speed, wind, her clothes and hair feeling like they were going to be blown off and the pain from her injuries May was able to keep herself from falling. It wasn't long until she felt an ascension followed by a dissension indicating they had flown over the mountains Ash and May had gotten to that day, it wouldn't be long before she at the targets location.

Her Pokémon knew where to fly which was a good thing as May couldn't navigate at this velocity, when she felt there speed drop she relaxed slightly, getting into the normal sitting position as the large creature descended into some low laying shrub. As it landed May hopped off its back and felt a sting of pain go through her knee when she landed, ignoring the pain May returned her Pokémon and set off. She didn't have to walk very far but her leg wasn't doing her any favours, she reached the small police station and knelt down to overview it.

May had to sneak in through the ventilation system like the last few times only now she carried some bad injuries that could both slow her down and increase her risk of being discovered. She needed something to distract the station if things went south.

"Glaceon come on out." May whispered as she released her beautiful ice type.

"Listen to this comm Glaceon, if you hear me signal you I want you to create a distraction for me, when I give you the all clear signal meet me two hundred meters to the rear of the station and make sure no one follows you." May told her loyal Pokémon.

"Gla-Gla" Glaceon nodded in response.

"And try to stay safe alright." May said in a slightly lighter tone.

May loved all her Pokémon equally but some for different reasons, Blaziken because he was her starter, Beautifly because she used her in contests the most. Though Glaceon had a special place in her heart, she had raised her since she was an egg and was immensely proud of how she had grown under her care. As she sent Glaceon off May focused back on her mission knowing she was both injured and on a time limit.

May moved around the back of the station leapt over the fence, and using the large garbage bins as support moved onto the roof. From there she moved into the ventilation shaft moving at a slower pace as not to agitate her injuries and to reduce any noise. Fortunately for May she didn't have to crawl very far, this did little to quell the pain in her knee every time she bent it so she repositioned herself on her side so she could slide along the system and keep her leg straight. Everything was going fine until May rounded a corner and tapped her knee against the wall, this brief bit of contact would have been nothing to her normal knee but to her wounded one it was like being hit by a hammer. May flicked her head back and hit it against the shafts wall creating a loud thud. May bite her lip and took deep breaths luckily not making any cries of agony. It was then she heard some voices from outside the vent in the room below.

"Officer did you hear that?" May heard a male voice speak.

"Indeed, I think it came from the ventilation system." May heard a women who she recognised as Officer Jenny.

"Maybe a Zubat or Taillow got stuck up there, get one of the Growlithe and go take a look." Jenny addressed the male officer.

"This was bad news, they may not have expected her but if the Growlithe or the officers found her it would all be over, May got on her comm and signalled Glaceon.

"Glaceon now's the time for that distraction." May whispered and then waited. It wasn't long until May heard what had to be the result of Glaceon's work.

"Woah the whole front window is covered in ice." Another voice sounded from front of the station.

"Ice? What do you mean?" Jenny questioned before walking to investigate.

"Careful some of the floor looks frozen as well." That was all May needed, she moved quicker to her destination ignoring any pain as best she could.

When she finally got the computer room May got out and found the best hiding spot, there were no cameras that could see her so all she had to do was hack in an listen for anyone coming in but by the sounds outside it seemed everyone was distracted.

"I don't think it's an attack some kid might be playing a trick with an ice type, either way get the Growlithe out there and melt that ice." May heard Officer Jenny giving orders.

May was getting inpatient with the load time of the virus knowing that Glaceon would soon be up against a number of fire types if she didn't hurry up. As the upload completed and May got back into the vent see signalled for Glaceon to fall back.

"Alright Glaceon create a big pillar of ice to keep them distracted and then get moving." May then hung up knowing that Glaceon couldn't operate a microphone.

Pulling herself through the vents May could hear the commotion outside and confident that no one would get suspicious sacrificed some noise for more speed. As she got out in the night air May could see the large pillar of ice Glaceon had formed that was nearly as tall as the station, the Growlithe then started using Flamethrower to melt it and May made her escape.

She stepped onto the bins and then onto the concrete, without wasting any time she scaled the perimeter fence and crouch walked away from the station the occasional bark and shout the only thing causing her to look back. When she reached her fall back point she signalled for Glaceon to come out. The ice type walked towards her through the grass with the microphone in her mouth, May grabbed the piece of equipment and recalled Glaceon. All that movement was beginning to make May feel faint but she pushed on moving to a location where she couldn't be seen releasing her sixth Pokémon. As she did May sluggishly moved onto its back.

"Back to the Pokémon centre and move quickly." She told it.

As they both ascended into the air May fought to keep awake, being in a seated position and being as tired as she was the wind and speed did little to keep her from dozing off. May fought through it though if she didn't then she would have fallen straight to the ground. When they arrived back May returned her Pokémon without a word and walked back to her room's window. She moved back in and realized she had a single minute before she was due to be checked on.

"Mismagius come out." May called out.

The ghost type appeared out of the darkness, May had left her to keep watch it case the hologram stopped working. May walked over at shut off the device, she then got into bed and returned Mismagius. No sooner did she have the room looking like she had never left she heard the door open. May shut her eyes and waited. Chansey entered and went through her checklist barely making a sound, May listened intently in case the Pokémon reacted to something but the nurse didn't see anything out of order and left as quietly as she had entered.

"What a day." May huffed recalling all the events up until now, at the very least she had completed her mission and no doubt when she informed HQ how she had done it with injuries that someone would be impressed. There was also Ash to deal with, her tiredness caught up to her and May was soon sound asleep for the little hours of the night that were left.

Ash got up after a full night's sleep, his muscles were still sore but it wouldn't be anything that would severely slow day his day. Looking at the time Ash saw it was midmorning he hoped May was still resting, when he had gotten dressed Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder and the two walked out to check on their travelling partner.

As he walked past the reception area Ash could hear Nurse Joy talking to someone, there had been no other guests at either of the times he and May had been here so Ash wondered if another trainer had dropped in. As he rounded the corner he saw it was May that Nurse Joy was talking to. May had her normal clothes on again minus one glove as that hand had bandages over her two damaged fingers, she also had dressings around her knee and upper leg but she appeared to be walking fine.

"I must insist that you stay here and rest just for another day." Nurse Joy explained as she walked beside May.

"I just want my own room and some privacy then I'll rest all day." May assured her.

"Very well but I want to do one final check later today." Joy stated.

"That's fine with me." May somewhat reluctantly agreed. "But I'd like a room upstairs."

Before Nurse Joy could respond Ash called to May from the down the hall, "May!" he exclaimed as the jogged up to her.

"You feeling better?" Ash asked when he got up to the brunette.

"Yeah I'm a lot better." May responded.

"Don't worry about getting another room you can take mine if you want a rest." Ash offered.

"Ash I really just want my own room so don't make a fuss." May said as she walked past him.

"Sorry, I just thought it would be easier for you is all." Ash stated before following May to the front counter.

"You have the first room on the second floor, I'll be up to check on you later." Nurse Joy told May as she handed her the keys.

May thanked the nurse and walked to the stairs with Ash trailing behind her. Ash didn't say a word sensing May's unease, when she got to her room May unlocked the door without even looking at him.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Ash asked.

"I'm fine." May simply replied.

"I can move to the room beside yours if you'd like?" Ash purposed.

"Do whatever you want I'm going to sleep." May said before she entered her room and closed the door without another word.

Ash and Pikachu both stood in the hall for a few seconds, May was acting very out of character. This wasn't something as simple like she was tired. It was obvious that May was very agitated about something but Ash couldn't figure out what, and he feared it had something to do with him. Pikachu pulled on his jeans with a worried look on his face showing he was as concerned about May as Ash was.

"Come on buddy we'll let May get some rest and talk to her later." Ash assured Pikachu as he placed the electric type on his shoulder.

Inside her new room May waited till she heard Ash walk downstairs and then decided to send her report. The good thing about working alone was she could leave out anything that would make her look bad such as nearly being discovered last night. She made sure to include the fact that she was injured at the time.

Once May had finished typing up the report she sent it off to HQ and then looked around her bag. She was looking for some new injections that New Magma had been testing in the field, she didn't know the science behind it but it was supposed to enhance the bodies healing abilities while at the same time eliminating any pain. May had been healed yesterday by Chansey and Nurse Joy but she needed to get better quicker, the only down side was that the injection caused the user to fall asleep within a few minutes. After administering the shot May laid down in her bed, when she woke up May knew she would most likely feel numb and hungry as the injection made the body work extra fast to quicken the healing process, this was no concern as she was in a safe place and her next mission didn't have to be completed for a while. As the drugs took effect May lent back and drifted off to sleep.

Ash walked down the stairs of the second floor May's behaviour plaguing his mind, as he walked towards the front desk Ash heard someone talking to Nurse Joy, obviously someone had just walked into the centre but Ash almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw who it was. The same rival he defeated a few days ago and had ended up punching in the face and threatening, Paul.

The Sinnoh trainer was handing over his Pokéballs to Nurse Joy who took them and walked to the back, Paul hadn't seen Ash yet and he intended to keep it that way.

Ash pulled his hat down over his eyes and tried to walk to the exit before Paul turned around and noticed him, Ash was willing to look past Paul's negative aspects but after hitting him in the face he doubted Paul would be a talkative mood.

"Ash is that you?" Paul's voice came from behind him.

"Dammit" Ash hissed knowing he had been spotted.

Ash turned around seeing Paul walk up to him "I thought it was you." Paul said coming to a halt a few meters in front of Ash.

"Hi there Paul." Ash uttered unsure how this meeting would go. The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, neither sure what was going through the others head, in the end it was Paul that averted his gaze and spoke first.

"I suppose now is as good of a time as any." Paul began. "Ash I'd-I guess I'd like to apologise for the other day."

"What?" Ash asked having not expected a straight up apology.

"The way I acted towards you both before and after the battle, wasn't professional or appropriate. And what I said I said to the girl you were travelling with, that was completely out of line, so I apologize fully and unconditionally." Paul said with his head dipped.

This was completely new to Ash. Paul was apologising and by the sound of it, fully understood his wrong doings. Ash had seen Paul acknowledge his shortcomings but never had he heard him be so apologetic, to say it stunned him was a major understatement.

"Um thanks Paul, but I should be apologizing too, I shouldn't have hit you either." Ash responded only now seeing the slight bruise on Paul's jaw.

"No you had every right to react the way you did, seeing you for some reason made me act the way I used to before that match we had in the Sinnoh League." Paul explained.

"After that day, the day where you finally beat me I tried to better myself, tried not be so agitated towards everything and everyone. I learnt a lot from Reggie who helped me get my life on track which is how I was able to beat the Battle Frontier. When you beat me three to zero, I don't know the old me just surfaced again, so yeah I understand why you acted the way you did." Paul finished telling Ash everything that had happened since the Lily of the Valley conference.

"That's quite something Paul." Ash stated remembering how he had thought Paul hadn't changed when he was battling him, though from what he had said it was clear Paul had made an effort to better himself.

"You know you have been the first real challenge I've had since I joined the Elite Four." Ash tried to lighten the mood.

"You don't have to try and cheer me up Ash." Paul assured him. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm not the stubborn jerk I used to be and to say sorry to you and that girl you were with."

"May, her names May." Ash corrected Paul.

"Right May, so where is she are you two still together?" Paul asked looking around.

"May's resting, we had an incident yesterday where she got injured so she's recovering." Ash explained.

"She alright?" Paul asked.

"Yeah she should be all better soon, if you'd like you can stick around and tell her when she wakes up." Ash offered.

"Believe me I would, but I have to move to the next town over as I have some business there, but if you could give her my regards I would appreciate it." Paul replied.

"Of course I can't have May thinking badly of you." Ash smiled slightly.

"Thanks Ash." Paul said as Nurse Joy called for Paul to pick up his Pokémon. Paul walked over and retrieved his Pokeballs thanked the nurse and then walked back over to Ash.

"I'll be seeing you, but next time why don't we have battle." Paul then put his hand forward.

"You can bet on it." Ash grinned as he shook Paul's hand.

Paul smiled as he shook hands with his old rival and then exited the centre to continue his journey. Ash for the first time felt confident with where Paul was going, he remembered how May had said about people changing though at the time she seemed to put it in a negative light, Paul had shown that change was not only possible but could indeed be for the better. It was then Ash realized he hadn't eaten in a long time, a fact that was amplified by his growling stomach.

"Well Pikachu I guess we better get something to eat and then I think it will be time for some training." He addressed the electric rodent. Pikachu fist pumped the air at the promise of food and the two of them raced to the dining area.