Hi and hello! Welcome to the thirteenth chapter of Inconceivable, where May and Ash will spend an evening with Ash's coworker and his family. What can we expect from this encounter? Keep reading and find out!

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

INCONCEIVABLE

CHAPTER 13-HELP UNLOOKED FOR

Around seven o'clock, Ash and May left their apartment and started over to the address Biff had given them. May had changed out of her current outfit for something a little more formal; a pink blouse over a black skirt and tights looked a lot better than a sleeveless shirt and biker shorts. Ash, for his part, had gone for a blue mock-turtleneck over dark pants, abandoning his sweatshirt in the process. They decided to leave Pikachu at home, and made sure to leave enough Pokémon food out for the whole gang back at the apartment. As before, Pikachu and Glaceon were left in charge, and May trusted them to keep order while they were out. She smiled as she watched Glaceon position herself near the window; the fox had become her go-to Pokémon since mid-Johto, so it made sense to trust her with this responsibility. Besides, if her assumptions were correct, Glaceon's calming presence would complement Pikachu's natural demeanour, meaning that they could expect no trouble when they got home.

The walk itself didn't take too long. Biff's home wasn't too far from the Bell Tower annex, and was located in a row of respectable-looking houses. May noted the repetition of certain features in the houses' construction; most notable of these features were the archaic lampstands outside each house, most of which weren't lit yet because it was still early evening. Here and there, small Pokémon ran in and out of some of the houses, sometimes followed by their owners. The scene reminded Ash a little of evening walks in Pallet Town, only in a much bigger city—similar scenes were undoubtedly being played out everywhere, including his hometown.

Ash lost himself a little in his thoughts as they walked, wondering what might be going on at home. His mother was no doubt worried about him, but being the subtly strong-willed woman she was, she wouldn't let anyone see it. Mimey would be finishing up his chores around the house, and Delia would be getting ready to eat something herself. The sounds of parents calling their children in for dinner would be echoing through the quiet streets, and the Pokémon in the area would be going to ground or into the trees, their day almost over too. Professor Oak's lab would no doubt be a centre of activity, since this would likely be feeding time for the Pokémon under his care. The vision was a bit painful, and Ash wondered if May was thinking along a similar line. Petalburg was a lot bigger than Pallet, but the idea could be applied anywhere.

"Uh, Ash?" May said as he drove the thought from his mind. Ash stopped and turned to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"We're here."

Ash looked and saw that they had indeed reached the address he'd been given.

"Oh, right. 143 Enju Road." He pondered the words for a few seconds, as if testing how they sounded. Shaking his head, he walked with May up the short path to the front door, then knocked on the door twice. After a moment, the door opened and there stood Biff, his black hair visible since he wasn't wearing a hard hat now.

"Ah, Narazaki, good to see ya!" Ash shook hands with Biff, who then turned to look at May. "And this beautiful young lady is your girl, I take it?"

"Y-yes, sir," May answered, feeling her face grow hot. "My name's Haruka. It's very nice to meet you."

"Good to know ya. I'm Biff, I work with your boyfriend on the building site. I taught him everything he knows, isn't that right, Narazaki?"

"It's true. They assigned Buizel and I to work with Biff and his Wartortle, and he really helped us get used to the job."

"And he's doin' a darn good job of it, too." Biff laughed, then turned to let them in. "Come on inside, guys. Sandra and the kids are dyin' to meet ya." Ash nodded and turned to May, who lowered her eyes as she followed him in, still a little nervous about everything.

The inside of the house was welcoming—the walls were painted a soothing blue, and various flowers sat in a vase on a small table in the entry hall. May could see into a small, modestly furnished living room to her right, where two young girls sat waiting for their mother to call them. The other doorway led to the kitchen, from which a series of loud noises was emanating. As Biff shut the front door, May saw a red-haired woman poke her head out from the left-hand doorway.

"Are those two kids you invited here yet, Biff?"

"Yeah, Sandra, they just came in." The woman stepped out of the doorway, smiling and bowing as she saw the young couple in front of her. Sandra was a pretty woman in the prime of life, with calm blue eyes not dissimilarly coloured to May's own. Her white apron covered a red blouse, and her hair was straight and tied back. Her smile was a quiet, unassuming one, but she regarded May in particular with great interest.

"Oh, there you two are. It's a pleasure to finally meet you both. I'm Sandra, as Biff's doubtlessly told you."

"It's an honour, ma'am," Ash said, nodding respectfully. "Biff's taught me a lot, ma'am. If it weren't for him, I'd be having a tough time down where we're working."

"Well, he's always talking about the importance of mentorship." Sandra looked back into the kitchen for a second, then turned back to her guests. "Anyway, dinner's not quite ready yet, so why don't you two wait in the living room, and I'll call everyone when dinner's ready. Our daughters are keen to meet you as well."

"Sounds good," Ash said, turning to move to the other room. May walked after him, some of her nervousness dissolving. Sandra seemed nice enough, and she'd heard enough of Biff to sort of know what to expect. As she entered the other room, she nodded to the two girls sitting on the couch, and dropped down into an armchair. After a few moments, one of the girls spoke.

"Hi!" The girl had red hair like her mother, and looked to be around eleven or twelve. "My name's Mary, what's yours?"

"I'm...Haruka," May answered. The other girl, whose short hair was reminiscent of her father's, spoke up next.

"You know, you look kinda familiar, Haruka."

"Familiar how?" May's heart raced; this girl couldn't possibly recognize her, could she? To her relief, the older of the two girls jumped in before the other could answer.

"Kathryn!" Mary chided her sister. "Don't be so rude!"

"Hey!" Kathryn's voice went higher, annoyed at Mary's scolding. "She looks like my favourite Coordinator, that's all! How's that rude? I mean, it's a compliment!"

"Because maybe Haruka doesn't like it when people compare her to celebrities. It's not the proper thing, Kathryn." Mary looked at May apologetically. "Sorry about my sister. She's obsessed with Pokémon Coordinating, and she'll point it out if anyone looks like someone she's seen in a Contest." May nodded, secretly relieved; even if Kathryn figured anything out, that one trait would mean she was less likely to be believed.

"I'm not obsessed, Mary! I just love it so much, I can't think about anything else!"

"That's what obsessed means, Kathryn." Kathryn stuck her tongue out at Mary, who simply shook her head. At that moment, Sandra's voice echoed through the house calling them in, and they all headed for the dining area.

Dinner was a lively affair, mainly because of the two sisters' bickering back and forth across the table. Sandra's main dish was a savoury concoction of ground beef, mashed potato and various vegetables, with a thick gravy thrown into the mix. It wasn't easy for Ash and May to restrain themselves, but they managed not to tear into the meal as would have been their wont years before; they were, after all, guests in another's home.

Biff regaled everyone with various work stories, mostly humourous incidents involving him and Wartortle. A favourite of his seemed to be one from his earliest days as a Worker, which involved an accidental freezing of a coworker's Pokémon due to a combination of poor aim and incorrect move selection. Ash laughed hardest at this one, but Mary and Kathryn shook their heads in exasperation; apparently they'd heard the story so many times that the humour had worn off. As Biff took a break from his storytelling, Kathryn spoke up.

"Hey, Mom, doesn't Miss Haruka look like one of my favourite Coordinators?" May blushed hard; she should've known Kathryn wouldn't drop the subject. Sandra gave Kathryn a look of disapproval, and Mary slumped her head onto the table.

"Kathryn, you really need to stop doing that. Not everyone is a famous Coordinator, no matter how much they look like one."

"But she does!" Kathryn whined. "Remember the Azalea Contest we saw on TV? The winner looked just like Miss Haruka!"

"Kathryn, enough." Sandra turned to May. "Let me explain, Haruka. Kathryn's favourite Coordinator is May Maple, a girl from Petalburg City." May felt her heart race again; she was Kathryn's favourite Coordinator, and she couldn't even tell the girl. "When May won the Azalea Town Contest, Kathryn had just become interested in Pokémon Contests, and she began to follow her progress all the way into Sinnoh. From what I've heard, though, she isn't doing much competing these days."

"That's what the paper said," Biff interjected. When everyone looked at him, he looked surprised. "What? One of the other guys was readin' it and mentioned that. I'm not the only guy on the site who reads the paper!"

"I read that too," May added, remembering how shocked she'd been to see the cover story on her rivals. "I don't blame her for staying behind, though. Unova sounds like it's pretty far."

"It is. They only started selling the Unova papers here recently, since it's so far away and a lot of people don't know where it is, even now."

"But you only read the paper for League tournaments and sport scores!" Kathryn butted in, staring at her father. "Pokémon Contests are too elegant for you, Dad!"

"Alright, that's enough, Kathryn. Don't make me tell you again." Across the table, Mary gave her sister a look that said 'I-told-you-so', and Kathryn sighed before returning to her food.

Once they'd finished dinner and a quick ice-cream dessert, May volunteered to help Sandra do the washing-up, much to Mary and Kathryn's relief. Ash went with Biff and the girls to the living room, while May began carrying dishes to the kitchen. Sandra ran the water and started cleaning the dishes, while May stood by with a rag to dry them.

This went on for a few minutes, then Sandra put down the dish she was cleaning and looked at May.

"So, Haruka, Satoshi's your boyfriend, right?"

"Yes, he is. We started dating a few months ago."

"Really? What drew you to Ecruteak City?"

"Oh, well, we just started living on our own, and this seemed like a nice, quiet place to do that." Sandra nodded, and her next question took May by surprise.

"Does he know yet?"

"Know what?" May wasn't sure what this was about, but she didn't like it.

"About your pregnancy." Now May definitely didn't like where this was going.

"How did you know about that?" Her voice must have sounded harsher than she felt it, since Sandra backed off a little.

"I'm sorry, honey. Forgive me for my directness." May nodded, wondering how Sandra had been able to tell she was pregnant. "To answer your question, I can tell just by looking at you. Truthfully—and yes, I'm aware I chided Kathryn for this earlier—you look a lot like my younger sister, and she was pregnant at a young age. My parents were furious and tried to throw her out of the house, but since I was already living by myself at the time she came to me and I took care of her."

"Where is she now?"

"She lives in south Johto, near Olivine. I think her daughter's a teenager now, but I can't be sure, I haven't talked to my sister in a while." Sandra closed her eyes, remembering, then turned back to May. "Are you going to marry Satoshi once the child's born?"

"I don't know." May had never considered that before. Sure, they loved each other, enough to risk everything by fleeing, but the thought of marrying Ash had never crossed her mind. "I really don't know, Sandra."

"Can I make a suggestion, then?" May nodded. "You really should marry him, Haruka. You may not think the same, but your child is going to need a father in their life. My niece never knew her father, and it's still a sore subject to my sister that he left them. If you feel like it, ask him about it. If he asks you, jump on it. Trust me, it's the best thing to do."

"I guess so. Can I ask you a favour, though?" Sandra gave her an affirmative look, and May continued. "Please don't tell Biff or the girls about this. Nobody but you and Satoshi knows I'm pregnant, and I'd really like to keep it that way. It's not really a secret secret, but I'd rather not have too many people knowing just yet."

"Of course. Your secret's safe with me. I can possibly help you, too, with the pregnancy I mean. I'm assuming your parents don't know, right?"

"Right."

"Then I can help you like I did my sister. I know a lot of stuff that will make things easier on you as things go on, and I'd gladly come around every so often to talk about it. If that's alright, of course." May considered; on one hand, she hardly knew Sandra, and the paranoia that had defined most of her interactions thus far made her feel like she should decline. On the other, she knew nothing about being a mother, and since her own wasn't there, Sandra was as good as she was going to get. Plus, Sandra wasn't exactly inexperienced in this, so it would help in the long run.

"I accept your offer, Sandra. I'll give you our address and we can go from there. Just please make sure no-one finds out."

"I will, Haruka." Sandra smiled, and the pair returned to the task at hand.

See, I told you this was an important chapter! If I'm honest, I've had that scene between May and Sandra in my head for weeks, and it feels good to see it in prose form at last (although the fact that Sandra can tell May's pregnant just by sight seems a bit of a stretch in retrospect). But anyway, May now has somebody to help her through her situation, and things may be easier for her now...one hopes, anyway.

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