A Boy and his Cat

AN: Mr. Cant Catch This: Yes, Ash will lose eventually. It won't be against random trainers and I don't think it will be against Gym Leaders. I want to point out that, my Ash is weeks behind his cannon counterpart, location wise. He's been training his pokemon like crazy and battling with Meowth for years now. So when he does lose, it will be a much bigger shock and will always get him thinking, unlike cannon Ash who looses to half the people he battles and refuses to change his training or battling style. And Ash is ten, like cannon, but he will age, unlike cannon.

Mr. 'name': Ash has nicknamed his pokemon, but not in the same sense as in the game. Meowth's name is Meowth, but just like you can call a friend by his name or dude and mate, he can call her kitty. Also, I don't know if you forgot, but I had Jesse and James ARRESTED in the FIRST chapter. I have no plans for either of them.

Chapter 3: New Friend, Old Rival

Ash couldn't help but smile on his way to the Vermillion City Gym. In all of his twenty minutes inside the city's Pokecenter, four trainers came in with injured pokemon and tales of an unbeatable Raichu. Even the kid with the Geodude had gotten his ass handed to him.

But then again, if the man used only that one Raichu, he would know how to counter it's weakness. Still this was going to be one hell of a battle.

Pushing the Gym's door open, Ash found himself in a dark room with two people in it.

"I came to challenge Lt. Surge for the Thunder Badge." he explained, only to be mocked by them.

"Hey, boss! We have another one that needs to be sent to the emergency room." called one of them, but Ash ignored him. He was rather fixated on Surge right now.

When a massive man came into view, the young trainer couldn't help but grin.

"Now that's the first time one of the babies reacted like that! A little cocky aren't you, brat?" he asked.

But Ash just shook his head before answering "Nah, it's just that I can tell that either way, this is going to be fun."

The larger man just grunted and lead the challenger to the battlefield "We're doing this one on one. I have better things to do then wipe the floor with you."

Even in his battle-high, tensed, scared and excited state this man's ego was getting in Ash's nerve. But the battle was starting now and that was all that mattered.

"Go, Raichu. You have a new toy!" smirked Surge, releasing his Mouse pokemon.

Deciding to be fair and smart at the same time, Ash choose his only pokemon that never had a Gym battle before, also the one who had an advantage over Raichu.

"Well, not very creative are you? Raichu, Focus Punch!" shouted Surge, and instantly his pokemon began charging it's attack and running towards Graveler.

"Magnitude." ordered Ash, quickly and happily.

With a small grunt and a little hop, Graveler attacked. Not only did the Magnitude hit Raichu hard, it also destroyed it's Focus Punch.

Smiling Ash ordered "Roll Out!"

But Surge wasn't done, when Raichu regained it's footing he shouted "Focus Blast it!"

And before Graveler could hit the Mouse pokemon, it sent a large yellow orb of energy at her. The attack easily defeated the Roll Out and sent Graveler flying across the room. Just as she would hit the ground and Surge would crack a joke, Ash said "Dig now."

"Have a Focus Punch ready!" countered Surge with a smile "Now what baby? Coming close or not?" he asked.

"Not right now, no." replied Ash with a smile.

With no orders from her trainer, Graveler appeared in the middle of the field, hunched over and focused on something. Just as the Gym leader was about to question it, or try to stop whatever was coming, Ash's pokemon released a loud roar and began a Sandstorm attack.

"Do Rock Polish!" the young trainer ordered, not at all worried about the long gone Focus Punch, lost when the Mouse was damaged by the Sandstorm.

Just as Raichu was hurt a second time by the storm, Surge got him back on the match "Get away from that, Raichu. Dig!"

Raising an eyebrow at the Gym leaders lack of foresight, Ash continued his attack "Magnitude, now!"

With a grunt and a stomp, Graveler attacked again and relished in the Mouse's cry of pain that came from underground. The electric pokemon was thrown out of the floor, straight into the Sandstorm and Ash could see his victory.

"Roll Out, again!" the challenger shouted.

Cursing under his breath, Surge shouted for his pokemon to use Hyper Beam.

Ash narrowed his eyes and choose not to take a risk "Dig, then get behind him!"

Graveler wasn't the fastest of pokemon so even with plenty of time, she barely managed to dodge the Hyper Beam. And by the time she was behind Raichu, the other pokemon could already move again.

"Raichu, Mega Punch!" shouted Surge, with a clenched fist.

"Just take it, it's not going to hurt you, lady." assured Ash, even if his pokemon was not afraid of the pain. After the attack was done, the trainer spoke again "Now, use Stone Edge!"

Roaring her name, Graveler punched the ground and created a triangular piece of rock just as big as Raichu. It was then, with the attack digging painfully on the electric pokemon's stomach that it and it's trainer realized that the Rock pokemon was easily twice as big as Raichu.

While not unconscious, the Mouse pokemon was in so much pain he couldn't move. So Lt. Surge recalled him and gave up the match.

"I guess you weren't a baby after all." said Surge, then he tossed something to Ash and turned his back to the challenger "That's the Thunder Badge, now begone."

Proud and happy with the match, Ash returned his pokemon, after praising it. While walking out, he said his goodbyes to the dumfounded subordinates and wondered why they didn't answer.

"That was a good match." came a voice, from behind Ash, just as he left the Gym "Of course, if you kept your cool, Graveler wouldn't have been hit at all."

"Yeah, but that's no fun, is it?" he asked, turning to see... Giselle? Standing just a little outside the Gym was the girl he had met on Poketech just four days ago.

Raising an eyebrow, Ash smiled all the same and asked "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

The girl just shook her head dramatically and poked his chest "After YOU defeated one of the teachers, my daddy didn't want me going there anymore" she explained "After all, what kind of school prides itself on a teacher that lost to some no name trainer from nowhere."

"It was a really good fight!" defended Ash, but the girl didn't seem to care.

"Then, he wanted to send me to some God-forsaken mountain top in Sinnoh!" she huffed "Imagine me, Giselle, freezing in the other side of the world just because the teacher is an actual Gym leader."

"That kind of sounds like a fun school, actually." mussed Ash, only half listening to the girl.

"But I was able to convince daddy that I would do better in the league if I could search for the pokemon I want, instead of settling for the one's available on some school." then she blushed a little, fortunately, too little for someone as dense as Ash to notice "So I figured that I would let you beg me to travel with you. After all, who wouldn't want to travel with someone as smart, beautiful and talented as me."she reasoned.

Surprising sharp, Ash asked "So you came all this way just to travel with me?" he asked, with a huge, carefree and happy smile.

"O-o-of course not!" she stuttered, blushing madly "I came to let you ask for help!" she all but shouted.

"Sure! Help is always welcome!" he smiled "And you're welcome on board too, Giselle!"

Controlling her blush, the girl took a deep breath "So what now? Are you leaving Vermillion already?"

"Nah, I just got here." he mussed for a second, with his hand on his chin and asked "Hey, why don't we have another match? I haven't seen any of your other pokemon!"

Giselle couldn't help but to be a little worried about the boy's one track mind, but there was something about that smile that would hurt to deny "Sure, why noooooooooot?" she ended up shouting as Ash took her hand and pulled her away.

While being dragged towards the arena behind the City's Pokecenter, Giselle couldn't help but both blush and smile a little.

"They're monsters!" Giselle pouted cutely "Every single one of them." she complained.

Ash gave her a smile and said "Yeah, thanks!"

While the pretty girl blinked at Ash's answer, the young trainer went back to his food.

The two kids were having lunch while talking about the match they just had, a three on three with very clear results.

"Whatever!" said Giselle, while running a hand through her hair "So, when am I going to meet the rest of your team?"

But Ash just gained a very puzzled look on his face "What do you mean?" he asked.

The girl sighed dramatically and, running a hand through her hair again, said "The only pokemon of yours that I've meet for the first time today was Primeape."

Ash blinked twice before understanding what was going on "Oh, that's because I only have three, so you've already seen them all."

"What!?" she all but shouted, before blushing red when everyone on the restaurant turned towards her. After hiding for a while, she barely whispered "You've beaten three Gyms with only three Pokemon?"

"Why is that surprising?" the boy asked "You've seem them." he pointed out.

"Oh, right..." Giselle agreed, remembering what Ash's little monsters could do.

The young trainer smiled "Anyway, I was planning on staying in Vermillion City until I can teach Graveler Earthquake, then we can move on. Ok?"

"How long do you think it's going to take?" the girl asked.

"Two days at most, she already know Magnitude and that's supposed to make it a lot easier." he explained "So you have until then to beat Surge."

But the girl in front of him didn't seem to follow "Why would I fight him?" she asked, with a finger on her lips and a confused look on her face.

"Aren't you going to try the league?" asked Ash.

That made Giselle laugh a bit "You let me worry about that, Ash." she declared.

"Well done, Cubone! Now use Bone Club!" shouted Giselle, doing a little twirl and pointing at the opponent.

Instantly, her pokemon obeyed and smacked it's glowing bone against the enemy. Crying it's name pitifully, the Eevee went down hard.

"Ah! Eevee!" cried the woman Giselle was battling.

But the young trainer was not the most gracious of winners "Well, it's to be expected when your fighting me, Giselle." she told her opponent.

"Tsk! Whatever!" said the woman, returning her pokemon and walking away. After a few steps she turned to Ash "I can't leave in good conscience without warning you not to take this route." she said.

"Why not?" asked the very puzzled trainer. There was a single thing different about Ash and that was that now he was carrying two backpacks, but Giselle did ask nicely. Or as nicely as she was capable of.

"There's some crazy Abra a few miles from here." she explained before walking away "It's attacking any and everything around it." she explained, without looking back.

"Aren't Abra really lazy?" mussed Giselle, but then she froze.

Turning slowly she saw just what she had feared, Ash with a huge grin on his face.

"You're going after it, aren't you?" she asked quietly, but Ash shook his head.

"We are!" he declared, grabbing her hand and taking off.

By the time they found the Abra, Giselle didn't know if she was blushing from embarrassment from the hand holding or from running so much. But Ash just had that stupid smile on his face and she could never scold him when the boy was like that.

What lead them to believe that they found the pokemon they were looking for, was the Vulpix that was hurled across their path.

Looking at the side of the road, the two found an Abra. The pokemon was floating with it's legs crossed and one of it's hands outstretched.

"Let's go, kitty." said Ash, while releasing Meowth "Fake Out!" he ordered immediately.

And just as Meowth was about to hit the Psychic type, it disappeared. Abra reappeared right next to Meowth and actually tackled her. When it raised it's hand again, Ash choose to act.

"Bite it!" he ordered and smiled when his pokemon cried her name in agreement, before burying her teeth in Abra's arm.

The wild pokemon actually punched Meowth a few times before realizing that was not the way to get her to let go. Crying it's name, Abra hurled the Cat Scratch pokemon against a tree with Psychic.

Meowth hit the tree hard, but was back in the fight as soon as she hit the floor. By then, Abra had already started using Rest.

"Take your time." instructed Ash with a smile "But hit it with a nice, big Dark Pulse."

Just as Meowth's attack was about to hit the Psychic type, the Rest finished and Abra came back to the match. For only a second, because when the Dark attack hit, it shrieked it's name in pain and fell down, oddly enough, with a smile on it's fox-like face.

When Abra hit the ground, it fell asleep instantly, with that same look of content in it's face. And in another second it was inside Ash's pokeball but had no chance of putting up any kind of fight.

"Did you see that?" Ash asked Giselle "He actually punched Meowth! Now that's an Abra!" he laughed loudly.

"Actually I didn't." admitted the girl "I was capturing a Vulpix..." she said, while scratching her cheek.

"Wait! Why was it attacking everyone?" asked a dumbfounded Giselle, looking at the boy traveling beside her.

"To tire himself out." explained Ash with a small smile "And what better way to do that then fighting?" he asked.

"But an Abra sleeps for eighteen hours a day!"

The other young trainer just gave her a quiet chuckle "Yeah, and when do you sleep the best? After you spent a whole day doing nothing or after you've worked yourself to the bone?"

The shocked expression was becoming so common on Giselle's face that she was afraid it might start getting wrinkled.

"So you've added another crazy little monster to your team..." she complained.

"Yup!" smiled Ash and the conversation was over.

After a while, the silence became too much for both young trainers and they started talking again, not only about pokemon this time. Ash told the girl about Pallet and the start of his journey while Giselle talked about her family, her life and herself, of course.

Oddly enough, Ash kind of liked her self confidence, even if it was a little excessive. The girl was also surprised how refreshing his upbeat attitude was even if just a little tiring.

"So Charles Goodshow is not only your grandfather, he's also the Pokemon League president?" asked a wide eyed Ash.

"Uhhum!" nodded the girl next to him "And he was the one who gave me Cubone, he could see my potential as a trainer from a mile away." she said.

"Wow, but why don't you have his last name?" the boy asked.

"Because he's my maternal grandfather." she explained "So when-"

But her explanation was cut short by a car's honk.

"Hey, Ashy-Boy!" came a voice from behind them.

Turning back, Ash and Giselle found a boy their age actually driving a red convertible. It was the only person who would call Ash, Ashy-Boy, his rival Gary Oak. And his cheerleaders.

"Catch any real pokemon ye-" he stopped and blinked at Giselle. With a blush and an expression full of indignation, he turned to his rival again "How the hell did you, Ashy-Boy, get a girl like that?!" he demanded.

Before the young trainer could answer, Giselle huffed "Get ME? Giselle?! No one get's me!" she declared.

But Gary just rose an eyebrow and gave her a sly smile "Of course not, princess, I should have know better." he said, while thinking 'The only redeeming quality that idiot has is fighting, maybe if I beat him in front of her...'.

The three kids simply ignored the glares the cheerleaders were sending Giselle.

Turning back to his rival, Gary continued "Still, Ashy-Boy I heard you beat Mike but I doubt you know I whipped the floor with Louis."

"Really? Was he good?" asked Ash.

Though his rival just smirked "Nothing compared to me." said the boy "So why don't we see who's the best from Pallet, eh Ashy?"

For the first time, in Giselle's memory, Ash's smile looked predatory "Sounds fun, Gary."

Giselle cleared her throat from her position as judge "This will be a best two out of three match between Barry Oak-"

"IT'S GARY!" shouted the boy's cheering squad.

"Fine, Gary Oak." Giselle corrected herself "And Ash Ketchum. Are both trainers ready? Then begin!"

"I choose Nidorina!" declared Gary, while releasing his pokemon.

Ash took a moment to think and released his pokemon "Primeape." he explained.

"Start with Poison Fang, Nidorina!" shouted Gary and his pokemon obeyed.

Roaring, the Poison Pin pokemon charged towards her opponent, which stood waiting for orders.

"Take it." ordered Ash.

"He doesn't know, what to do! Just give up, why won't you?!" shouted Gary's girls, while the trainer smirked but Giselle just raised an eyebrow.

As soon as Nidorina bit down on Primeape's arm, Ash commanded "Assurance and Cross Chop"

Screeching in anger, Primeape smashed the Poison pokemon against the ground and, ignoring the poison hurting him, attacked again. The Cross Chop sent the Poison pokemon flying.

"Charge'im" Ash ordered and by the time Primeape arrived, he would know if the battle was still on.

"Nidorina, get up and use Ice Beam." shouted the other trainer.

"Dig to dodge it!" called Ash.

Just as the Ice Beam was fired, Primeape buried himself underground and when the attack was done, Gary frowned "Nidorina! Use Protect!"

A moment after the light blue shield surrounded the Poison Pin pokemon, her opponent appeared behind her with a fist cocked back.

Just before his pokemon could strike, Ash smiled and said "Focus Punch, Champ."

The fighting type held a glowing white fist ready to strike, but was suddenly hurt by Nidorina's poison.

'It lost the Focus Punch!' thought Gary with a smirk "Nidorina, drop the Protect and use Poison Fang again!"

Just as the pokemon followed the first order and was about to started on the second one, Ash shouted "Hit her right between the eyes!"

With the loudest screech he could muster, Primeape buried the Focus Punch on Nidorina's face and sent her flying away. It was a while before the pokemon hit the floor and even longer before she stopped rolling. Gary actually had to leave the clearing they were having the match in to return his pokemon.

"Since when were you planning that?" Giselle asked her traveling companion, honestly impressed. Had Ash let his pokemon get poisoned for that single move?

"Since he used Protect." smiled Ash, causing the girl to face-palm.

"You don't plan ahead at all, do you?" she all but whispered.

"Not much. It's just not fun if you do." this time Ash didn't have his normal smile, he had the carefree yet confident one that did weird things to Giselle's heartbeat.

Glaring at his rival, Gary asked, after returning to the battlefield "Why didn't your Primeape lose that Focus Punch?"

But Ash's only answer was smiling, pointing at Primeape with his thumb and saying "The Champ's just awesome."

Looking up from his meal, a Pecha Berry to cure his poison, the Pig Monkey screeched in agreement.

"Ok, let's get the second match started." stated the referee.

When both trainers took their positions and were given the go, Ash released Meowth and announced "Kitty."

What scared Giselle was the glare. The glare sent by Gary to the cute Scratch Cat pokemon. There was so much fire and hatred there that it wouldn't be unreasonable to think Meowth had killed his entire family.

"Finally." Ash's rival smiled sadistically "I get to play with that kitty! I choose you, Arcanine!"

"Flamethrower!" he shouted to his pokemon.

"Double Team, now!" barked Ash and when Arcanine's attack missed he ordered again "Rain Dance."

As one, all the Meowth shouted their names and did a little twirl. Just as they were done, rain started pouring.

"Arcanine, use Sunny Day!" yelled Gary, and just when Arcanine was about to spit out the bright ball of light that would cancel Meowth's move he was hit by a Water Pulse and roared in pain.

"What the Hell?!" demanded Gary "You didn't give that order!" he accused.

But Ash ignored him and smiled "Thunderbolt!" he told his pokemon.

A wet pokemon was a terrific target for a electric attack, so Gary had to move fast "Arcanine, use Protect, quickly!"

The shield was ready in time for Meowth's attack and withstood it without any problems.

"Use Hyper Beam!" shouted Gary as fast as he could.

"Jump very high, kitty!" ordered Ash with a big smile.

"Well, I don't know what you are planning but you just made the damn cat an easier target!" laughed the rival "Arcanine, give it everything you've got!"

The Hyper Beam was fired and connected painfully, so painfully that there was nothing left of Meowth.

"Wait, there's some-" began Gary, but he was cut off.

"Use Return." said Ash, smiling almost amused.

Cursing and admitting to himself that it was going to be a heavy blow, Gary started planning his next move, when Arcanine could move again. But his eyes went wide when Meowth appeared underneath his Fire type and hit it in the stomach, sending the three hundred and forty pounds pokemon flying twenty feet in the air.

"Gary! Gary! Does not loose! You're a cheater! It's a ruse!" cried the cheerleaders while, well, crying.

"Dammit!" shouted Gary, after returning his pokemon he eyed Giselle and then pointed at Ash "Best three out of five!" he demanded.

"I can't believe I have to sleep outside because of you!" complained Giselle, from inside her tent, which Ash had set up.

The young trainer was outside, discovering which of his other pokemon's food Abra wanted to eat, until Ash could cook something just for him.

The boy rubbed his chin in thought, and decided to voice his confusion "What did I do?" he asked.

There was a huff inside the tent, and the answer followed "If you had just accepted Barry's offer, we could be at the next city already!"

Blinking and taking note that Abra chose Meowth's food, the young trainer explained himself, while putting the other samples away "He didn't offer me anything, the ride was only for you."

"Really? I know why he wanted to please me, I'm Giselle after all, but isn't he your friend?" she asked, poking her head outside.

But her traveling partner shook his head "We used to be friends, but then came Meowth." at her confused expression, Ash continued "We fought a lot, but had plenty of fun. Then I had a pokemon and he didn't, I guess what he liked about our friendship/rivalry is that he always used to win. He started using pokemon trainers left with his grandfather to fight us, and every time he lost, he kept getting more bitter."

Tilting her head to the side, something Ash could just barely keep himself from blushing at, Giselle asked "Why would people leave their pokemon with his grandfather?"

"Because the man is Professor Oak."

"Oh." was all she had to say in the matter, so the girl went back inside her tent and wished Ash a good night.

A few minutes later, just when she started drifting of to sleep. Ash's voice came from outside her tent.

"Giselle?" when she groaned her acknowledgment, he continued "Thanks."

"Whaa oor?" she asked through her pillow.

She couldn't see, but the boy was rubbing the back of his head and smiling nervously "For sticking around, instead of going with Gary."

Her sleep completely gone, Giselle clearly heard the tension on his voice.

"Don't worry, Ash. I'm Giselle, I'm much too caring and honorable to just abandon a friend like that."

At her usual confidence, the boy couldn't help but do his normal smile. He laughed a little and said "I'm really glad I'm traveling with you." before going to his sleeping bag, leaving a lightly blushing girl behind. Not that he saw.

The sun was high in the sky and the pair was well on their way. It had been a few days since Ash's battle with his rival, who seemed to have backtracked just to try to put him in his place. Funny how that turned out.

During their traveling, Giselle couldn't help but observe and, somewhat, admire how Ash raised his pokemon. He cooked a different recipe for each one, had different training methods and long notes on every species he had. Along with notes on how his pokemon matched or differed from the rest of their kind.

She was actually in the process of questioning him about most of that. Giselle wasn't above asking for help after all, the girl was just above admitting she was doing that.

"But why don't you just buy food for them?" she asked "There are people paid to research what's best for each type of pokemon!" the girl insisted.

The other young trainer nodded, before explaining "Because the food they make is for the 'usual' pokemon of a certain specie." he even used his fingers to form quotation marks around the word.

"Usual? What are you talking about?"

"Come on! You've seen how different our Graveler are!" chuckled the boy, while readjusting one of the backpacks over his shoulder.

Giselle blinked and tried to think about what he could mean, but came up short "I know yours is HUGE, but that's not because of his diet, right?"

"Really?" Ash asked, truly surprised with her lack of attention "Didn't you notice how mine's a lot darker, while yours is lighter and almost polished?"

"Well... I just figured that was because she was yours. You know, big, mean and scary?" the girl trailed off, after gesturing with her hands. She wasn't afraid to offend him with something like that. She was just waiting for...

"Yeah, it's great isn't it?" Ash asked with a smile "But let me ask you something, have you noticed that your Graveler has a lot less problem with Water types then he should? And a lot more trouble with Fighting types then expected?"

That statement widened Giselle's eyes a bit, after all she was used to bragging about half of that and hiding the other half.

"The opposite is true for my lady." the young trainer admitted, not giving his companion's surprise much thought "That's because she's made of a harder type of rock, which is completely irregular and doesn't let water just flow around it. Like your little Graveler."

"My pokemon happens to be just a little bigger then average! He's not small!" she complained loudly, waving her arms a little.

"Everything is small compared to my lady! Especially your puny Graveler!" shouted Ash, before covering his ears to deny her counter argument. He also started running.

"Dammit... Ket... Chum..!" Giselle complained, as best as she could between breathing heavily and trying to hit him.

The young trainer on the other hand, was completely fine, or at least acting very well, and smiled at her "Look at the bright side, we found a Pokecenter!" he said loudly, pointing forward.

And sure enough, when the girl managed to look, she found the red-topped building that was hidden by the hill the pair ran over. That didn't mean she forgave Ash.

"Ow..." he complained, rubbing the back of his head and grimacing in pain. But otherwise, the boy just accepted his punishment.

Feeling much better, now that justice was served, Giselle combed her hair with her hands and made sure she didn't look like she didn't chase Ash for more then a mile. Then the girl took off, walking calmly towards the Pokecenter.

Once inside, both trainers handed their pokemon to Ms. Joy and asked for two rooms for the night.

"What do we do until dinner?" Giselle asked, knowing Ash he would want to train, but he didn't have any of his pokemon right now. The girl was really curious, wondering if her traveling partner could even function without pokemon in the vicinity.

It took Ash only a moment to answer "I have to make a call" he said, and left.

After a moment of deliberation, Giselle decided that since he didn't ask for privacy, he would receive none.

"An Abra? Really?" asked Professor Oak through the videophone "That's one of the last Pokemon I expected you to capture, Ash. What's next? A Tangela?"

The young trainer shrugged before answering "If I find a good one, I'll catch it." he promised "Now, can you please give me a few pointers on raising a Psychic type? I'll have do my research on one of the computers here, so I won't be needing any books right now."

"Psychic types are a lot of work, Ash. You'll need to figure out in what mindset it will fight best, and find a way to maintain it." the older man explained "Then-"

"So, that's Professor Oak!" came a girl's voice, from somewhere the camera didn't catch.

Before the professor could continue or ask about the speaker, a very pretty girl appeared hovering over Ash's shoulder.

"Hello, professor! My name is Giselle and I'm gracing Ash with my presence." the brunette explained while running a hand through her long hair.

The old man blinked twice, before confirming what he heard "G-Gracing him with your presence?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the young trainer.

Oblivious to Oak's confusion, Ash smiled and added "Yeah, traveling with her is plenty of fun! Even if it hasn't been too long."

"I see... Good to know you are getting along." he nodded before asking "And, Giselle, please do take care of Ash, you can tell he gets... Excited easily."

While the boy really didn't take offense in the commentary, he felt the need to point something out "I carry everything, I cook and I set up camp. Yes, she really is taking good care of me."

"Oh, please! That's the least you can do to travel with me!" the girl scoffed while the trainer just shrugged.

Their attention was brought back to the screen when the pair heard chuckling "Good, good! You two really are getting along!"

"I suppose." admitted Giselle "Well, now that I've introduced myself, I'll let you too get back to what you were talking about."

"Oh, that's right! I've got to figure out Abra's best fighting mindset!" said Ash, snapping his fingers and leaving calmly.

Professor Oak was momentarily stunned by the boy's one-track mind, before remembering something and shouting "Ash, wait! Your mom wants you to call her!"

That stopped the young man in his tracks, his eyes wide and a shiver running down his spine.

"Ash? What's wrong?" Giselle asked, poking his shoulder.

At first he grimaced, but then he shook his head to get rid of it "I haven't called home since I left it..." he admitted "I wonder how bad the lecture is going to be..." the boy tried to chuckle, but no real sound came out.

Telling himself to man-up, Ash turned back to the phone, said goodbye to Professor Oak and prepared to dial his own number.

AN2: Really sorry for the delay. My excuse is twofold: First, I'm getting my driver's license (which is a lot more complicated in my country then in the US, not that I know how it's done anywhere else) and second, the second half of the chapter, really.

I have a very clear image, in my mind, of how Ash's relationship with Giselle will be years from now. When they're both more comfortable with each other and a good deal more mature. So, I took my time thinking and writing this stage and planning the development, instead of 'winging it' along with the planned story.

Right now, Giselle has a crush on Ash and he thinks she's fun and pretty. A long shot from soul-mates, but we'll get there.