Hi and hello! Fresh off the heels of the debacle that was the previous chapter, here's Chapter 9 of Inconceivable, where Ash and May continue their hunt for a place to live in Ecruteak City. Is the offer they've gotten from Morty worth taking, or is this going a little too well for them to drop their suspicions? Read on and you'll find out!
A/N: I know I said this chapter might be a change of perspective, but that's proven to be inaccurate. There will be one, of course, but I'm trying to find a good place to fit it into the narrative. This is also probably a good time to admit that I'm aware finding an apartment is NOT as easy as I've made it here; it's my lack of experience in that department that has spawned the current situation May and Ash find themselves in.
A/N 2: I want to give a belated credit to commenter Sawk71, whose comment about Morty inspired the current state of events. Sorry I forgot in the last chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri do.
INCONCEIVABLE
CHAPTER 9-SETTLING IN
"You what?" May could hardly believe her ears when Ash told her his news upon returning to the Pokémon Centre. "Ash, I don't believe this! How could you risk our identities like that?"
"May, I..." Ash was taken aback by her reaction; he'd expected her to be happier than this. "Believe me, Morty didn't recognize me at all, and I didn't give him any hints as to who I was, either. All he knows is that we're looking for somewhere to live, and he's willing to help us out."
"But Ash, you know we're trying to keep this secret! Nurse Joy is the only one who knows who we really are, and that should be it! If too many people know, we're finished!"
"Hey, I thought hard about this! I knew there was a risk, but it's safer than some random guy in the city knowing who we are."
"Ash, this is a Gym Leader we're talking about here! He probably knows my dad, at least in passing, and if he finds out who we are, he'll tell him for sure! How do you know you can trust him?"
"He only knows the cover name I gave him! I came up with one for you as well, even though I didn't tell him that."
"That's not the point!" May was close to tears now, not believing what she was hearing. "We've gone to so much trouble hiding ourselves, and now you're going to expose us to theone network that could out us for sure? If that's what we're going to do, we might as well go back home right now!" She turned from him, tears now flowing freely. Pikachu jumped into her arms and brushed his paw against her face, trying to calm her. She pulled the mouse to her, her body racked with sobs. As she gripped him tightly, she felt Ash's arms wrap around her and began to relax a little. She wasn't happy with what he'd done, but if only for the baby's sake, she felt like couldn't let herself get too worked up, no matter what she thought of his decision-making.
"May, I know this is a big risk; strike that, this whole trip has been a big risk. All I ask is that you please trust me. There is every chance that we could be noticed here, that's true. But we have an opening, and I want to take advantage of it. Whatever Morty's offering has got to be better than the alternative, right?" When May only whimpered in response, he continued. "Honestly, I'm doing all I can to prevent our real identities from coming to the surface."
"Ash...I don't know." May's voice was more of a whisper as she spoke again. "I really don't know."
"Please." Ash's imploring tone caused May to look at him strangely, not used to hearing him this way. "May, this is probably the best we're going to do. You trusted me when we started, right?" May nodded, her eyes still full of unspilt tears. "I'm asking you to trust me now. We won't be found out, I won't let that happen. You're the most important thing to me right now, and I'm trying to make things easier by doing this. Please, May." May looked into his eyes and saw a single tear make its way down his cheek. She closed her own reddened eyes and nodded.
"Okay. I don't like this, but if it's the best we can do, so be it. We'll talk to this guy and see what he's got on offer, and if it's good enough we'll take it. Let's get through tonight first, though. You can talk me through what we're gonna tell them tomorrow." She pulled him back towards her, placing a kiss on his cheek as she did so. Despite everything, she knew he was doing what he thought was right, and she felt she had to trust him. Was it right? Maybe not. Was the alternative riskier? Of course, but at this point they really had no choice. Did they?
The next evening, they walked over to the Bell Tower annex to discuss what Morty had to offer them. Ash had briefed May on their false identities, and May knew she had to stay calm despite the uncertainty of the situation. Pikachu had stayed at the Centre, since his presence could tip the Gym Leader off. The Mouse Pokémon knew he'd have to be revealed at some point, but they had to come up with an excuse for him first.
They found Morty standing at the door, accompanied by a middle-aged man in a purple suit and a white cape. May wondered what he was doing there; the unknown man looked more like a showman than anything else.
"Ah, Satoshi, good to see you." Morty greeted the pair warmly, shaking hands with Ash. "This is Eusine, my associate. Eusine, this is Satoshi Narazaki and his friend, the people who might be moving into my parents' old place." The caped man nodded to both of them, and Morty continued. "Eusine here is a fellow expert on the region's folklore, although he is a bit more aggressive in his study, particularly his futile pursuit of the legendary Pokémon Suicune."
"Don't believe that, friends," Eusine answered, looking miffed. "He just doesn't believe my dream of gaining the North Wind's favour is achievable. I have spent the better part of twenty years chasing it down..."
"And have failed at every attempt." Morty sounded like he didn't want his negotiations with the couple sidetracked by Eusine's single-mindedness. "Look, Eusine, why don't you go back to the Tower? There's still much to be done back there." Eusine nodded, bowed to Ash and May, and turned to head through the annex to the Bell Tower itself. "Sorry about him, he can be a little hotheaded in his pursuits." Pausing slightly, he looked at May with interest. "So anyway, who might this lovely young lady be?" May blushed before answering.
"My name is Haruka Igawa, and I'm Satoshi's girlfriend." she said, looking at the floor. "Satoshi and I are very grateful for your assistance, sir."
"The gratitude is mine, Miss Igawa. I'm always pleased to help out aspiring new residents. Why don't we continue this inside?" he added quickly, noting the darkening sky. "I'm eager to show you guys the photographs of the apartment, and I know you'll find it to your liking."
"Okay," Ash and May followed Morty inside, wondering what could possibly be coming next.
"So that's that," Morty said an hour and a half later, having shown the couple several rounds of pictures of the apartment, which had turned out to be a unit in a condominium. They had been impressed with the place, though they had fretted about the price, which Morty had tried to wave off. "It's not much, but it should suit you guys fine."
"I like it," May thought it was functional enough to suit their needs, and its location in a low-key area of the city limited their exposure. "What do you think, Satoshi?"
"It'll do." Ash liked the place too, but was still erring on the side of caution. "So how much are we talking, rent-wise?"
"Oh, don't worry about that; I've got enough to be going on with from running the Gym, so I don't need any more income to worry about. I'll deal with the upkeep costs and the homeowner's association too; some of those people are kinda difficult to work with, and the less you two have to deal with them the better. If you guys like it enough to stick around permanently, we can talk about an outright purchase." Ash nodded and turned to May.
"So, should we take this? It's probably the best we're gonna do." May thought, and then nodded back.
"I think we should. We still need to actually look at the place before we finalize this, though. When's a good time to do that?"
"We can go over to the apartment tomorrow afternoon, I should be finished with the challenger I have lined up by then. Any other questions?" When none came forth, Morty shook hands with both of them and bade them a good evening, and the couple left the annex to return to the Pokémon Centre.
"So, that went well," Ash said after a few minutes of walking. May nodded, but didn't say anything. "I mean, it's real nice of him to take care of the financial side of things, at least in terms of the apartment itself. That means less that we have to draw from our tournament winnings, right?"
"Right. If we had to cover absolutely everything, we'd be broke within two weeks with the amount we eat." May still wasn't convinced; they hadn't even seen the apartment in person yet, and she was still scared their new ally would find out who they were. "Ash, are we doing the right thing here? I said it last night, we barely know this guy, and it's too convenient. There's got to be something else going on here."
"Normally I'd agree with that, but I'm positive this is going to be fine. We're reading too much into things."
"I wish I had your confidence." May meant it; she'd been feeling down ever since her outburst the previous night, and not even Ash and Pikachu's presence was enough to lift her mood. "It just seems too easy. Remember all those times we ended up in Team Rocket's traps because we were off our guard? We could've avoided all that if we'd been a bit more perceptive. I'm just scared this is going to come apart."
"It won't, I'm sure of it."
"Alright, but if things go pear-shaped, I'm blaming you."
"Fair enough."
The next afternoon, they returned to the annex building to wait for the Ecruteak Gym Leader, who would show them the actual apartment he was offering them. Pikachu was with May, maintaining his watchful position in her arms, and Ash smiled at the sight.
"You look like a mother already, May, holding Pikachu like that." May blushed at the comment, and Pikachu sighed at the young man's words.
"Funny you should say that, 'cause I keep imagining what it's going to be like to hold our child as an actual mother. Pikachu's proving to be a good stand-in." Pikachu cooed softly, knowing the sound would keep her calm; he liked the idea of being May's baby anyway, at least for now. May giggled and stroked his fur, and Pikachu began to doze off as she continued. After another ten minutes, they saw Morty approach from the general direction of the Gym.
"Sorry I'm late," he panted, having clearly run most of the way. "The challenger today was a pretty tough customer, and it took forever to finish the match." He took a moment to get his breath back, then smiled. "Alright, you two, let's head over to the building and we'll see the apartment. It's not too far from the annex, actually." He noticed Pikachu and his grin broadened. "Hey, you guys didn't tell me you had a pet Pikachu!" Pikachu stirred—he couldn't stand it when people thought he was just a pet—but didn't do anything else.
"Is that alright?" May asked, cradling Pikachu in her arms. In the back of her mind, she was glad that Pikachu didn't appear to spark any recognition from the Ghost-type specialist. "A lot of places don't let people stay if their Pokémon won't stay in a Pokéball."
"Are you kidding? It's brilliant! Almost everyone in the building has a Pokémon for a pet. The little kids there love playing with them outside, and I'm pretty sure there's at least one other Pikachu among them. Trust me, it's actually a benefit."
They headed east down a quiet street without too many buildings; May noted that it wasn't too different from the older neighbourhoods in Petalburg City. The relatively isolated position would favour them, of course; fewer tourists might come this way, despite its proximity to the Bell Tower. The building itself wasn't particularly tall—Ash counted only seven floors—but it looked in decent enough condition. As they entered the building proper, they noted the warmly coloured foyer and several paintings on the walls, a sight that seemed to welcome them into the building. They moved into an elevator just outside the foyer, and Morty hit the button for the fifth floor.
"The view from the apartment is really something," he said as the elevator moved upward. "It overlooks Bellchime Trail, so you can see the trees and the people walking to and from the Bell Tower. My parents insisted on that, they were obsessed with the place. They're the reason I began to study the old legends. I met my first Pokémon in the Bell Tower too, when I snuck in there once." All three laughed as the door opened, and they walked down a short hallway towards a row of doors. Morty looked at the numbers, and paused at the one numbered 506. He drew a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, and opened it to the couple. "Here it is, guys."
The apartment was bigger than it looked in the photographs. Upon entering, May saw a kitchenette and a small table with a few chairs around it, and Ash noted the large living room area beyond. A couch and armchair faced an old TV set, and a door just behind the couch would lead to the small bedroom. Past the living room, a sliding glass door accessed a small balcony overlooking the Bellchime Trail, just like Morty had told them. The apartment was functional and not too fancy, just the way the couple had hoped for. Things were looking positive already.
Ash and May spent the next few minutes looking through the apartment, noting that the bed in the other room was indeed large enough for the both of them to be comfortable without overly tight proximity. May was stunned by the view, and wondered whether Fate itself had chosen to gift them this opportunity. Pikachu spotted the armchair and leaped from May's arms to lie down on one of the arms; he approved of the place, but it wasn't his decision.
"So, what do you guys think?" Morty asked once the couple had given the apartment a once-over. They looked at one another, and Ash nodded.
"We'll take it, Morty. I really appreciate you helping us out; it could've been a nightmare trying to find somewhere to live otherwise."
"Hey, any time, man. Like I keep saying, I love helping out aspiring new residents. Being a Gym Leader isn't just about battles and a rung on the Pokémon League ladder; I feel it's my job to help represent the best of Ecruteak City, and I think this is part of that." He held out his hand for Ash to shake, which he did, and he placed the key to the apartment in May's hand after he shook hers. "Alright, guys, you're all set. You know where I am if you need anything." Ash and May thanked him, and the Ecruteak Gym Leader showed himself out. As he closed the door, May turned to Ash.
"So, are we essentially settled now?"
"Yeah," Ash was relieved this aspect of their flight was over; now that they had some kind of stability, they could focus on building some kind of life in the city, if only for a few months. "This is it, then. Our life as Satoshi Narazaki and Haruka Igawa officially begins now. You think we can handle it?"
"I think so," May said as Ash wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. "It may be tough to remember to use those names, but we'll get by." Without any prompt or warning, she moved her body slightly and pulled Ash into a kiss. This time, it wasn't a sudden gesture like back in Terracotta Town, but it was sharp and passionate nonetheless. Ash ran his hand through her hair as they stayed locked together, not wanting to break apart and end the moment. The fears of tomorrow were pushed aside for now; all they needed right now was their love for one another, and they focused on that.
Pikachu opened his eyes, then yawned as he spotted them. He didn't understand the concept of human love too well, but he knew that if Ash was happy, that was all that mattered. Who knew, maybe he'd find a mate someday too, although he'd never do what Ash and May had done. Chuckling to himself, the Electric-type closed his eyes again and went to sleep.
Alright then, that's done with. Ash and May are pretty much settled, and their new life begins now. How long it's going to last, no-one knows (well, I guess I do, but I'm not gonna tell you guys just yet!).
A quick aside on the surnames I picked for them. For my other series, I've got a huge amount of material on the side, which includes both English and Japanese names for the characters. The Japanese surnames for the two main characters there are Narazaki (after Japanese footballer Seigo Narazaki) and Igawa (after ex-Hanshin Tigers pitcher Kei Igawa). I figured if I'm not going to use the Japanese names outside of my own personal notes, I'd use them here. The first names Ash and May are using should be obvious to most readers, but I felt I needed to explain where I got the surnames from. Do with that info what you will.
Alright, enough rambling. Standard operating procedure is in effect, so please read, REVIEW and tell me how it went! Until next time, namárië!