Hi and hello! Welcome, one and all, to Chapter 7 of Inconceivable! This time, we'll see Ash and May arrive in Johto and begin moving towards their semi-permanent sanctuary. What's in store for our favourite couple? Keep reading and you'll find out!
A/N: I will admit it now, I am terrible when it comes to indicating the passage of significant amounts of time in a narrative. I'm pointing this out because in this and several subsequent chapters, there will be some time accelerations; otherwise, the story will drag on forever and you guys might, rightly, get restless about that (and that's before you consider the issue of May's advancing condition). I will try to make the time skips as smooth as I can, but please don't come after me if they turn out to be too abrupt or jarring. Time and timing just aren't my strong suits in life or as a writer.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri do.
INCONCEIVABLE
CHAPTER 7-SEEKING SANCTUARY
Pidgeot flew through the night, doing his best to maintain a strong pace while staying mindful of his passengers, particularly his trainer's female companion. Pikachu had jumped into Ash's pack to get some sleep, while Ash and May planned to do the same once they landed. The scenery below them raced by, sprawling cityscapes blurring into long trails and fields and back again, while the darkness above slowly grew lighter as dawn approached. As the two teenagers felt themselves gradually becoming more tired, Pidgeot dropped into a gentle dive as they reached the outskirts of a small Johto town.
"There's our next checkpoint, May!" Ash pointed to the approaching town, not sure which one it was just yet. May yawned as she looked, ready to drop off to sleep already.
"Which one is it?" She really didn't care at this point, but it would help to know where they were, especially if the town happened to be heavily populated.
"I'm not sure yet, we'll find out once we land. I saw a clearing we can camp in, and we can get some sleep once we get set up."
"Let's hurry up then, I'm exhausted. I just know we're gonna end up with an erratic sleep pattern if we keep this up, and that's going to be bad news for my little companion."
"Don't worry, May. I'm scrapping the 'move at night' idea anyway, since it isn't practical. That way, we'll have a similar routine to when we were traveling."
"Well, let's hurry up then. The sooner we land, the sooner we can sleep." Ash nodded and watched the ground surge towards them as Pidgeot swept down to the floor of the clearing.
They didn't bother changing out of their normal clothes, since the dawn was arriving and they were desperate to get some rest. Ash pulled the tent out of his pack and pitched it quickly with Pikachu's help, and May took out her sleeping bag and prepared to curl up inside it. Once Ash knocked in the final peg, he ran to the edge of the clearing, which confused May.
"Ash, what are you doing?" She didn't want him running off, even for a few minutes.
"I'm checking to see which town we're near." He looked around a bit and saw a faded sign near an entrance to the clearing. "Okay, it says we're on the outskirts of Azalea Town."
"Oh, no!" May remembered that they often held a Pokémon Contest in Azalea, and she had won a ribbon last time she was here. Her performance that day had made her something of a local heroine, and she knew someone was bound to recognize her because of that. "Ash, if anyone sees me here, we're toast!"
"Don't worry about it. You're not gonna be wearing your bandanna, right?" May nodded sadly. "So no-one can tell it's you. The clothes you have on now aren't exactly uncommon, right?"
"I guess not. I did bring a few copies of my old getup, though, so maybe I should wear that from now on? Without the bandanna, of course." she added quickly.
"Maybe." Ash honestly thought she looked better in her current outfit, but the change might help keep them out of view. "Let's figure that out when we wake up, though, I'm burned out." He let Sceptile and Heracross out of their Pokéballs and ordered them to stand guard over the campsite. May did the same with Blaziken, and the Fire-type stood next to the stoic gecko, who grunted a terse greeting. As Ash watched Heracross jump into the trees, he motioned for May to head into the tent. He waited until she was situated in her sleeping bag, then ducked in himself and zipped the flap once Pikachu had scampered in too. As Ash crawled into his own sleeping bag, he felt May staring at him, and he felt his face go red. Their feelings for one another were as strong as ever, but they had more important priorities on the horizon. The couple shared one last admiring look, then both drifted off to a welcome sleep.
The next day, after an abbreviated sleep, Ash and May went over a map of Johto to locate a town to aim for. Azalea Town was innocuous enough, but the prospect of recognition was too much for May to handle, and Ash acquiesced to her preference. He had already posited Ecruteak City as a possibility, which May seconded; it may be larger than some of the other towns they considered, but it was less populous than some of its neighbors, and it might be easier to find a place to settle there.
"I mean, what's not to like?" May had asked. "It's relatively out of the way, and we can blend in without being anonymous. Petalburg City's not much bigger when you think about it."
They discussed other options as well, each with its own set of pros and cons. The closest option, outside of Azalea Town itself, was Alto Mare, the island city to the south. Ash had been to the canal-strewn city before, meeting the legendary Eon duo along the way. The trouble was, the only port near them was all the way in Cherrygrove City, and May didn't want to have to backtrack in order to get there. Other ideas came in the form of Mahogany Town, which Ash tried to shoot down because of the hazardous trek required to reach it, and Olivine City, which May took exception too due to, of course, the Pokémon Contest there. The discussion continued even as they began moving, but they decided to leave it for when they were stationary. They set Ecruteak as the penultimate checkpoint, and would make their final decision once they got there.
Traveling again brought back a lot of memories for them, both good and bad. As they passed through Palmpona, Ash remembered the fiasco that nearly was during the Pokémon Swap Meet, the highlight of which was Jessie of Team Rocket's acquisition of her infamous Wobbuffet, trading her Lickitung in the process. When he relayed the story to May, she laughed, recalling the Patient Pokémon's antics as the Rocket Trio harassed them through two regions. May had been through the city as well, and reminisced on her running into her old rivals there, although she stopped when she got to Drew; Ash may not have borne a significant grudge against the arrogant Coordinator, but she didn't think it was right to keep bringing up his rival in love. Ash, for his part, was grateful that some of their panic had apparently been relieved. They would need to keep their spirits up somehow, and this was a perfect way to do that.
The majority of the journey was relatively straightforward, following the familiar pattern that their travels in Hoenn and Kanto had developed. They couldn't adopt their old pace, though, since Ash was adamant about May conserving her energy. May kept arguing she was fine, but her symptoms said otherwise, even if she would never admit to their effects. They stuck to the main roads as much as they could, while still being sure to camp out in less-trafficked areas. Time seemed to race by as they moved through towns and forests. Days were spent on the road, while nights were spent lying side-by-side in the tent, with the odd romantic gesture thrown in along the way.
Unfortunately, not everything was that simple or happy. Hazards like the Onix Tunnel required Ash to go back on his words about keeping Pidgeot under wraps, and the Bird Pokémon flew as high as was safe while still remaining out of sight. Other places, like the Ghost-infested forest near Len Town, required their Pokémon to defend them, a task that nearly all of their charges took on gleefully. Only Muk and Beautifly stayed out of the fighting, since their moves wouldn't be much help against ghosts. It was after this skirmish that May finally gave up her bandanna,tying it around Glaceon's neck and giving the fox a distinct look that Ash likened to Butterfree and his scarf. May was a bit upset to be relinquishing her favoured accessory, but knew it had to be done.
"Hey, at least now if Glaceon meets another of her species, you'll be able to tell them apart." Ash had said, and May reluctantly agreed with him despite the low probability of the concept. She might buy a few duplicates and give one the baby anyway, so it wasn't a total loss. She smiled at the idea, her child and Glaceon with the matching accessory. Even though she knew things would get more stressful, she could still think of the positives, and thinking of her child was the best positive she could imagine.
Days turned into weeks, and before they knew it they had reached the road leading to Ecruteak City. The night before they pushed for the city, they found a campsite in the National Park and set up as usual. After they let their Pokémon out, Ash got a campfire going, and May began preparing yet another round of instant ramen. Both of them had grown tired of the same cheap noodles every night, but it was something they were used to, and the ease with which they could be prepared was the main reason they brought so many of them.
May looked at her PokéNav as the noodles cooked, checking to see how long they'd been traveling. Combining their flight with Pidgeot with their travels on the road, it had been nearly a month since they'd left Pallet Town, meaning the whole ordeal had lasted almost a month and a half so far. One of the dates on the calendar looked familiar, too.
"May twenty-fourth," she said to no-one in particular. Glaceon and Pikachu perked up at the sound of her voice, and the pair ran over to her to find out what she was talking about. "Oh, hey guys. Nothing's wrong, if that's what you're thinking."
"Pika pikachu chu pi pika, ka-chu?" Pikachu was curious about why the date she'd just read out was so important. Glaceon voiced her own curiosity, and May smiled.
"Oh, the date? It's no big deal."
"What's no big deal?" Ash had heard as well, and he sat down next to her, wondering what she was talking about.
"May twenty-fourth happens to be my birthday." May knew Ash was awful at remembering dates, even if she'd celebrated a few birthdays during her travels. Ash, Brock and Max had been there for her in the old days, and her rivals had celebrated with her when she was by herself in Johto; those were the only times she could remember Harley ever being remotely civil to her. The strangest had been a Contest in Sinnoh when she'd turned sixteen, since the organizers had found out about it and kept announcing it every few minutes when she wasn't competing.
Her family had always called her as well—she felt a pang as she realized her family would now know for sure she was gone. The Terracotta Contest was almost certainly over by now, and Norman and Caroline would naturally have expected her to be back home. Although she knew they wouldn't publicize anything, they were probably contacting everyone they knew to try and find out where she might have gotten to. She felt the happiness that had buoyed her throughout the journey fade, replaced by a terrible sadness. Ash watched helplessly as tears came to her eyes, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her, hoping to calm her down.
"May, it's okay." He ran his hand through her hair, feeling her body shake with every sob. May simply cried into his shoulder, letting her pent-up emotions flow out in this simple gesture. "I know how you feel. There's not a day goes by that I don't miss my mom, and you definitely miss your whole family, even Max. It was hard for both of us to leave them behind."
"I-I know, Ash," May choked out the words, hardly able to speak. "It's just th-that I remembered how they used to always call me up, always ch-checking on m-me, a-and..." She couldn't continue, she just broke down again. This feeling was worse than losing a Contest battle, or any battle for that matter. It was personal, it was horrible, and it was painful to think about.
Ash waved his Pokémon away, not wanting them to be staring at him as he comforted her. He also tried to send May's group off as well, to spare them the sight of their trainer's distress. He concentrated on the young woman in his arms, kissing her hair, holding her close, trying as hard as he could to reassure her that the world hadn't ended. May buried her face in his shoulder, and he looked up at the sky as she did so, pondering the same old questions, with nary an answer to guide him. Things were down, and they now needed a bright spot fast.
Wow. Depressing stuff, I know. So they've gotten as far as Goldenrod, at least, and they're almost to Ecruteak City, where they'll make a final decision on whether to settle there or somewhere else. I've always seen Ecruteak as a kind of crossroads, and it seemed like a good place for them to make that choice.
I know this chapter may come across as rushed, but I'll try to justify myself like I did in the pre-chapter notes. For starters, a lot of their traveling is repetitive to begin with (the anime is a particular offender when it comes to this), and I don't want to be sitting here several chapters down the line and they're still in the Ilex Forest or something. On top of that, at least from what I know, traveling like they used to isn't the best for May or her child's health, so it's probably best for them to just get where they're going.
Alright, enough flailing on my part. Standard operating procedure applies, so please read, REVIEW and tell me how it went. Until next time, namárië!