Hi and hello! We've reached Chapter 12 of Inconceivable, and things are beginning to move along for Ash and May. What will happen in this installment? Keep reading and find out!

A/N: I want to put out a big thanks to FFN user Neonz for her very helpful commentary on the last chapter. As they say in Germany, danke schön, Fräulein Neonz!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri do.

INCONCEIVABLE

CHAPTER 12-CRACKS IN THE WALLS

While Ash was at work, May spent most of her time in the apartment, usually only venturing out to let hers and Ash's Pokémon get some exercise. Pikachu and Blaziken often took charge here, allowing May to relax and think for a while. As she did so, her thoughts usually turned to their current situation. She was worried about the long hours Ash was working, despite his reassurances about his safety. It wasn't so much the time he spent away from the apartment that worried her. He had insisted on taking on nearly every responsibility: cooking, shopping, taking care of their Pokémon, he didn't care, he'd do it. On other occasions she would have argued further with him and tried to shoulder some responsibility herself, since she didn't want him to burn himself out. But she knew that he was trying to make things easier on her, and she decided to defer to him for now. Once the baby arrived, they could further work out the division of responsibilities.

As she watched the Pokémon running about, she would see small children walking through the complex with their parents, occasionally stopping to look at the Pokémon as they played or mock-battled. May had always been fascinated by children; at least in the apartment complex, they tended to be much too young to embark on a Pokémon journey of their own, reminding her a little of a younger Max with his non-stop talking about what he would do when he got his first Pokémon. She had been happy for him when he finally got started, going with Norman to find the Ralts he had cared for when he'd traveled with May, Ash and Brock. Of course, she couldn't speak for the younger generation, but May always hoped that the newest crop of Trainers could be as caring as her brother and friends. Several of Ash's Pokémon had had abusive trainers before—his collection of Fire-type starters rescued from such trainers was a trend she'd noted when she'd seen his full stable—but her idealism led her to believe that these trainers were a negligible minority. To her, taking care of a Pokémon were sort of like taking care of a child, although she had no experience with the latter and was going to have to find some source of information on the subject.

Thinking of Max and her other friends depressed her a little; she knew many of them could be helpful, even her Contest rivals. She wondered if Ash felt the same way, since he had left his friends and family behind as well. This whole ordeal was his idea, but he had to be feeling some strain. Pikachu seemed content enough, but he was used to being away from everybody. To top it all, even though she'd traveled alone before, the fact that nobody knew where she was weighed heavily on her conscience, and made her wonder if this was worth the effort they'd put in. With this painful thought in her mind, she called the Pokémon over and recalled them, ready to take them back to the apartment.

On her return, she ordered Pikachu and Glaceon to watch the premises while she went to take a quick shower. Both gladly took on the responsibility, and May felt her earlier depression fade slightly; Pikachu and Glaceon had grown closer in their time together, reminding May of hers and Ash's own relationship. The two of them were constant companions during their short time together in Kanto, with the young Eevee replacing Combusken in that regard. While the two might not become quite as close as their trainers—and May realized that her closeness with Ash was half-forced at the moment— she often wondered what might happen if one took the other as a mate. It would certainly upset Dawn's Buneary if she found out—don't think about Dawn, May told herself as she headed towards the bathroom. Don't think about any of them. You'll only make yourself more upset if you do.

Down on the building site, Ash heard the tone signalling a break in the workday, and he sighed heavily as he told Buizel and Heracross to break off their moves. The other Workers around him were putting their work down and preparing to eat lunch, and he moved to do the same. Biff and Sully were already sitting near a pile of beams, and Biff motioned to him as he gathered his stuff.

"Hey, Narazaki, come on over and relax a little. I know you're workin' hard, but don't blow yourself out. There's still a whole half-day to get through, after all."

"Oh, trust me, this couldn't come sooner." Ash tossed two containers of Pokémon food to Heracross and Buizel, then grabbed the small container of leftovers he'd brought with him and started eating, realizing just how hungry he was. Even though he wasn't putting in as much of an effort as his two Pokémon, the job was still stressful. "I think the heat's starting to get to me, honestly."

"Don't let the foreman hear ya say that," Biff joked, feigning a panicked look over his shoulder. "Trust me, having a break now is probably for the best. It lets you decompress during the worst heat, and you regain enough energy to power through the rest of the day. But believe me, it's gonna get worse, so don't think that the heat right now is as bad as it feels."

"If you say so," Ash replied, and turned to look at the newspaper Biff had brought with him, and raised an eyebrow as he recognized where the paper was from. The paper's wordmark identified it as the Nimbasa Post. "Hey, Biff, I didn't know you read the Unova papers."

"I just read it for the sport section, Unova's a great place for that. Take it if you want, I'm done with it." Ash nodded and took a quick glance at the cover. A small box above the main story read Sharpedo 5, Ducklett 1: Surging Sharpedo Win in Nimbasa Romp, but the cover story itself made his heart beat a little bit faster; the people involved looked familiar. Deciding to deal with it when he got home, he rolled the paper up and stowed it in his bag before returning to his lunch.

After a few more minutes, Biff spoke again.

"Hey, Narazaki, you got any plans for tonight?"

"Not really, why?"

"Well, I told Sandra about you and your girl, and she's really keen to meet you both. Why don't you two come on over to our place for dinner tonight? I know my daughters would love to meet you guys too." Ash considered; he didn't know if May would be keen on the idea, but he knew he shouldn't turn down the invitation. Plus, it would mean he didn't have to cook again tonight; it wasn't like he was bad, but he guessed that he and May had gotten a bit spoiled by Brock's cooking.

"Sure, Biff, we'll come. Just give me the address after work and we'll be there."

"Terrific. We'll be waitin' for you." Biff grinned and put his lunch away, indicating that Ash should do the same; it was time to get back to work.

May wasn't asleep when Ash got home, but instead was staring out the window at the Bellchime Trail, watching the tourists and workers walk along the path. As Ash shut the apartment door, she turned and saw him, tired and covered with dust. Pikachu hurried over to him, and he scratched the mouse's ears as May followed him. Ash took the newspaper out of his bag and unrolled it, putting it down on the table for May to see.

"Biff gave me this paper, and I thought the cover story might interest you." May wondered why Ash had a copy the Nimbasa Post with him, but decided to ignore it until she'd read the story he had pointed out. She looked past the story of the hockey game to look at the cover picture, then stepped back from the table as she recognized the people in it.

The cover photo was split in three. The first photo was a man in a green costume, his purple hair falling from under his triangular hat; apparently, Harley wasn't giving up his favoured getup any time soon. He had a Cacturne next to him, and had formed his fingers into a heart gesture. The second was obvious to May; she'd recognize Drew anywhere, and he was pointing at the camera with a rose in his other hand. The third photo showed a woman with muted pink hair and a long orange shirt, her expression determined: Solidad.

May closed her eyes as she looked at the photos, knowing that she missed their subjects more than she was willing to admit. Sure, Harley was always trying to upstage her, and Drew was her strongest competitor, but they were friends nonetheless. She opened her eyes again and began to read the story.

Unova Contests Dominated by "Big Three" Coordinators, the headline ran. May turned the page to read the actual copy. "The first-year Unova Grand Festival lineup has seen an unprecedented run of dominance by three out-of-region Coordinators. Drew Stanton, Harley Richardson and Solidad O'Brien have established a very high standard for fellow competitors, and have regularly faced one another in Contest finals. This kind of dominance is unheard of in most regional competitions, but spectators are continually thrilled by their performances. Of the ten Contests that have currently been completed, these three have won eight of them." May was impressed; at least they were competing well without her. Her heart sank, though, as she read the rest of the piece.

"However, according to Mr. Stanton, winner of the Nimbasa City Contest, a fellow competitor by the name of May Maple has opted not to compete in this regional Festival. Mr. Stanton has stated that Miss Maple's skill is on a par with the so-called Big Three's, and that her presence would no doubt light up the Unova Contest circuit. Miss Maple was the runner-up in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, and Mr. Stanton has expressed disappointment that she chose not to travel to Unova.

'I talked to her after we finished up in Sinnoh, but she told me she didn't want to travel so far from home. While I respect her decision, it really isn't the same without her.'"

May felt tears come as she finished reading the story. Her rivals missed her—well, at least Drew did. She knew there was nothing to be done, but it still hurt that she couldn't compete. With a baby on the way, she wouldn't have been able to go to Unova no matter whether she wanted to or not, and she might not be able to get back to Coordinating once she became a mother. Sure, she could do it a few times, but with a family to take care of, Coordinating would have to take a back seat to everything else. She turned away to wipe the tears from her eyes, knowing it was a pointless exercise to be crying now.

"May? Are you alright?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'm alright, Ash." May blinked once, then looked back at Ash. "It's just a bit of a surprise to see my old rivals in the paper. What I'm really confused about is why you have a Unova paper with you in the first place."

"Oh, that. Biff gave it to me at work, and I noticed the cover story and thought you'd be interested."

"He probably wasn't reading it for the cover story, though."

"No, of course not. Hey, I didn't tell you, we've been invited out tonight."

"Really? By whom?"

"Well, Biff's wife apparently wants to meet us, so Biff asked if we'd come over around seven-thirty tonight. I told him we'd go, is that alright?"

"Uh, sure, Ash." May knew these people couldn't possibly recognize her, but she still remained a little suspicious. "Just out of curiosity, how much have you told this Biff guy about us?"

"Not much. He knows we live nearby and that we're a couple, but that's it."

"Okay." Now May felt better; if Biff and his family didn't know that much about them, it was safe. "Alright, if we're going to get there, we've got to get ready. That means you need to hop in the shower now, mister." Ash looked surprised, but then grinned and hurried off to clean himself up. May giggled at the sight, then headed back herself to find something nice to wear for the evening.

Okay, not too much happening here, but hopefully it can set up a few more events in the future (trust me; the next chapter is kind of important). I've been waiting to use that newspaper story for a while, but I struggled to find a place for it; this chapter seemed like a good time. A thousand apologies for the non-indicative title, but I thought having May remember her rivals would be jarring to her, reminding her that she is away from her friends, and breaking a bit of her resolve and confidence in their situation. File that under stuff I already knew, I suppose.

Alright, standard operating procedure is in effect. Please do read, REVIEW and tell me how it went! Until next time, namárië!