Chapter 26: Memories
"Eggman got the Chaos Emerald?" Tails said after Sonic recounted everything that happened.
"Yup," he nodded. "Looks like the Egg-ster was one step ahead of us this time."
"Of course he got the fourth emerald," Ash mumbled to himself. "It had to be that damn fourth Chaos Emerald."
"Pika!" Pikachu glared at him, slapping him with his tail.
"Hey! Not necessary!" Ash glared back at him.
"If Eggman's got his eye on the Chaos Emeralds," Amy muttered, "then we should probably find the next closest one fast."
"Well, sit tight and relax," Tails said, pulling a lever and causing a humming sound. "We're heading for the Johto region!"
"Johto," May smiled as she sat back, closing her eyes. "I had a lot of fun out there."
"How much fun can you have by yourself?" Sonic wondered, sitting next to her.
"Not much," she admitted. "At least, not as much as when you're with friends." She sighed. "Having no one to rely on out there really forced me to dig deep inside myself."
"You didn't travel with your rivals?" Sonic raised an eyebrow (or whatever he had).
"No."
"Huh. That's weird, because Grasshead always told me that you two spent basically the whole time hanging out."
"Drew?" May said, sitting up slightly. "No. Whenever we reached a contest hall, we'd train a little together, but that was basically it. I was alone."
"Wow," Sonic murmured. "Sounds dreary."
"It wasn't that bad," she smiled. "I had a lot of fun, and I really grew as a coordinator...and a person. But experiences like those can never be fully appreciated unless you have friends to share them with."
"I don't know how you could go for a week being alone," the hedgehog muttered. "I can barely go 24 hours!"
"But if you never spend time alone, you'll never have time to be with yourself," she said.
Sonic blinked. "Be with yourself?"
May nodded slowly. "I learned a lot of things about myself that I never knew before when I was in Johto. But one of the most important things I learned was the importance of spending time alone, just so I could be with myself."
Sonic shrugged. "Sometimes you guys make no sense."
"Well, we're from different worlds, after all."
They sat there a moment in silence as the last rays of the setting sun faded. Immediately, Sonic began convulsing as he transformed into a werehog. A brief moment later, he relaxed, once again in his monstrous form.
"Ugh," he moaned, holding his head in his massive claw. "I'll never get used to that."
"Does it hurt?" she asked in concern.
He shook his head grimly. "Every time, May," he whispered. "Every time."
At that moment, they heard a mysterious but serene noise. "What was that?" May asked.
"Was that a Pokemon?" Knuckles wondered.
"Whoa!" Max exclaimed. Everyone's eyes shot towards him. "Something must've flown outside my window," he said. "Everything went pitch black for a minute!"
"Really?" Dawn said, intrigued. "I wonder if it was a Darkrai."
"You think a Darkrai would be attracted to our presence?" Cilan wondered. "I find that improbable."
"But if it's not a Darkrai, what is it?" Serena asked.
"You guys do realize there are many different Pokemon in the world, right?" Amy reminded them. "It could've been anything."
"She has a point," Ash said in agreement. "Still, with everything that's been going on, I can't help but wonder if that was a legendary Pokemon."
"We should stay on our toes," Knuckles said. "There's no telling what will happen."
Everyone agreed. About an hour later, they were all fast asleep. Well, most of them were.
"That Pokemon," Ash thought to himself. "I've never heard anything like it. Where is it from? I wonder…" His stomach responded by growling. "Well, I guess I can figure it out after getting a bite to eat," he chuckled to himself, pulling out a small bar. As he bit into it, an unpleasant smell wafted into his nose. He scrunched his face. "Eugh," he grumbled. "What's that?" He slowly ate his bar, hoping the smell would go away, but it didn't. Finally, he lifted his arm and smelled his pits. "Oh, dear," he face-faulted. "I guess I forgot to put on deodorant this morning." He sighed. "Well, I guess I better go change. No use stinking up the whole plane. Maybe if we stop by home I can have Mom do my laundry." With that, he stood up, careful not to wake anyone else, and tiptoed over to a changing room.
He dug through his backpack in search for a clean set of clothes, only to see that all his newest clothes were dirty. Worse still, he only had one clean pair of underwear left (he'd been changing it everyday). He sighed and pulled out his last outfit. As he held it in his hands for the first time in over a decade, he paused as nostalgia flooded his memory:
The Spearows...the destroyed bike...the Indigo Conference...and everything in between. He sighed and smiled as he held his old blue jacket to his chest. Then, slowly and solemnly, he got dressed.
When he looked at his reflection, he was in awe. Despite the fact that he was going to be 18 years old soon, the clothes still fit him nicely. His shirt was a little tighter, as were his jacket and pants, but they still fit him to a tee. His green fingerless gloves also fit his hands. He flexed his fingers. No strain. He looked at his reflection again, then blinked as he recognized the last piece that was missing. With an affectionate smile, he pulled that last piece out of his pack and placed it on his head.
With some adjusting, it still fit.
He placed his hand on the mirror, still smiling as a small tear fell from his eye.
"Looking good, Ash," he whispered. "After all these years, you've still got it." With a nostalgic sigh, he shoved everything else back into his backpack and went back to his seat. There, he laid back and slowly fell asleep as memories of a certain red-headed gym leader and a would-be ladies' man flooded his dreams.