Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
"Burn me alive, if you feel that's justified.
Burn me alive, if you feel that's justified.
Burn me alive, if you feel that's justified.
I need more than faith, to see you on the other side."
Ash groaned. His head pounded. He cracked one eye open to see why he was being called at this ungodly hour.
"Hello?" he croaked, not recognising the caller ID.
"Hello Ash, m'dear," an elderly lady replied, Ash smiled softly at Agatha's voice.
"Agatha! How are you doing?" He asked, his voice still not quite adjusting to being awake.
"Not well, Ash," she replied bluntly. Ash had quickly got used to Agatha's "to the point" attitude. "I don't have as much time as I'd like." Ash frowned at this.
"Last I heard, you were doing better?" Ash asked. He heard the elderly Elite Four member groan as she seemingly shifted position.
"Not anymore," Agatha replied, "so I'd like our battle. As soon as possible." Ash cracked a small smile, despite the circumstances.
"I'd be honoured, name the time and place," Ash replied, he was pleased he'd have the chance to earn his place on the Elite Four.
"Two weeks, Indigo Plateau," Agatha replied. Ash could tell there was a smirk on her face. "Broadcast to the whole world."
Now she was talking.
"Are you sure you want the whole world to witness your defeat?" Ash teased, even though there was a large age gap between the two, they'd got along well. Agatha wheezed out a laugh. Ash frowned, finally realising how ill she was.
"I don't want to be an arse or anything," Ash started, "but are you positive you're up for it?"
Agatha laughed properly this time. "Of course, nothing like a Pokémon battle to put some life in the old bones." The two shared a brief laugh.
"I look forward to it," Ash said, "I'll see you in two weeks."
"Bye, Ash."
Ash's smirk faded as soon as he hung up. The gravity of the situation dawned on him.
"This is her final wish," he thought, grimly. "She wants one of the last things she does to be battling me. I won't let her down."
Ash pulled himself out of bed, preparing himself to get dressed. He stopped in his tracks when he realised he was fully clothed. Ash's eyes shot wide open as the memories came flooding back. All the awful things that were said. Guilt smashed into him like a freight train. He couldn't believe how horrible he had been.
"Idiot!" He scolded himself, grabbing his forehead in frustration. He picked up his phone and went to go on his contacts to try and call her. He froze when he saw he had three messages. Misty. Delia and… May.
"I'm so sorry for how yesterday turned out, I hope you're okay, I'll take Georgia out today so you don't have to worry. Get your head sorted." Was the message from Delia.
"Why on Arceus' Earth have I just had May come to me in tears saying she's blown things with you?! Call her, moron!" Misty. Ash gulped as he clicked on the message from May.
"I'm sorry. Call me if you ever want to chat."
Guilt smacked him round the face. As did his right hand.
"You pushed a woman like that away?" He shouted at himself, "how incredibly she got on with Georgia and you go and do that?!"
Ash's mind felt frazzled, but for the first time in a long time, he had clarity.
"I'm sorry… I have to let you go…"
-IBYL-
"May! You'll really wanna come and see this!" Misty shouted up the stairs. She heard a frustrated grunt in response.
"What?" May barked. She was getting ready to go and teach a lecture, and with what had happened the night before, she was in a fairly foul mood.
"Just hurry!"
May growled at Misty's orders, but trudged downstairs. She walked into the living area of the bar, and found both Brock and Misty watching the TV.
"What is it?" May asked. She felt a pang in her chest as she saw Ash's face appear on the screen.
"Breaking news, once again for you," the newsreader said, as the image cut to clips of Ash's various battles through his journey, "Ash Ketchum, Pallet Town Gym Leader, will be facing off with Elite Four member Agatha. It is believed that if Mr. Ketchum comes out of it victorious, he will take Agatha's spot as Elite Four member."
May smiled. Even though they'd said awful things to each other the night before, it warmed her heart to know that Ash was going to have a chance to become an Elite Four member permanently.
"He must be so excited," Misty commented, but there was an edge to her voice. Ash had angered her, because he was too stubborn to let his emotions out five years ago, it was ruining his chances of a relationship with a beautiful and understanding woman.
"I'll have to congratulate him," May said, reaching for her phone. She went to write the text, but had her phone snatched from her hand.
"You will do no such thing," Misty ordered, "the way Ash spoke to you last night? You can wait for him to apologise." May frowned.
"Misty, with all due respect, you're not my mother," May replied, strolling up to the red head and taking her phone back, preparing to send Ash a text. But she hesitated. Maybe Misty was right? There was obviously something about his past that was holding him back… If she waited until he came to her, then that would suggest he was over it.
"But I'm right, aren't I?" Misty teased, noticing May's hesitation. The latter blushed.
"Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head!" May joked back, she looked at the time on her phone, "I best head off to the University, I don't want to keep the students waiting."
-IBYL-
There seemed to be a strange buzz amongst May's students, like they all had ants in their pants. May's lecture hall was laid out almost exactly like a Contest Hall, with a big screen up on the wall, above the battlefield. Where the Judges desk usually was, was a desk with some of her papers on them. Then there was a two-tiered seating system. The room was so big she had to use a microphone to talk to the students, but the way the acoustics worked in the room, she could hear them if they spoke normally.
"So, scenario," May said, "you've made it into the battle rounds, and it's a two vs two. You're opponent sends out a Lapras and a Flygon. What Pokémon would you use?"
"I'd personally use a Starmie," a male voice said. It sounded familiar to May, but she couldn't place it. The choice surprised her.
"And why would you pick that?" she asked, trying to locate the source of the voice.
"Ice Beam for the Flygon, and Thunderbolt for the Lapras," the voice answered, "not to mention the fact that Starmie can learn Recover. Balance that with a Grass or Fairy Type, say Whimsicott, for example, the other pair won't be able to land many moves. Not to mention a Razor Leaf/Ice Beam combination is going to seriously damage that Flygon."
May was astonished, the class had only been running a couple of weeks, she was supposed to be teaching them those kind of techniques! She noticed that the students were murmuring excitedly again. She could tell she was missing something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Very good," she praised, once she'd recovered. The lecture went on for a few more minutes, with May ending it with a display from her Glaceon. The class applauded as the majestic Ice Type landed on her feet. There was a loud gonging sound just as the applause died down.
"Thank you everyone," May said, returning her Glaceon, "I'll see you all again same time next week." The students started to file out, and May turned around and started packing up her things in a bag.
"That was very impressive," a voice, different to the one before, complimented from behind her, "I'm very pleased that I came down."
May gasped inaudibly as she recognised the voice. Her face contorted in anger.
"I'm not," She growled, continuing to pack away, not even looking at the other person.
"C'mon, babe, stop playing hard to get," the voice coaxed, "you know this is all just a misunderstanding!"
May whipped round, her face red with rage. She could've swung for him.
"I caught you red handed, Brendan!" May shouted, glaring at the white haired man standing in front of her. He was sporting a grey and orange top, and black jeans, and an arrogant smirk on his face.
"I told you, she was just one of my models," Brendan replied, shrugging dismissively. He approached May, who backed away until she was up against the wall. Brendan didn't stop advancing, the arrogant smirk never leaving his face.
May closed her eyes in defeat. "Not again," she thought, trying to fight back the tears. But it never came.
"Get your hands off me!" She heard Brendan yell.
"Then I suggest you step away," May's eyes shot open, she recognised that tone of voice from the night before. Ash.
"What gives you the right to tell me what to do?!" Brendan exclaimed, stepping up into Ash's face. The latter kept a stoic expression on his face.
"Technically, you're trespassing on my premises," Ash replied casually, not breaking eye contact with Brendan. The latter smirked.
"So that's basically nothing then," Brendan smirked, turning around to walk back over to May. She subconsciously flinched as she saw the look on the man's face.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." There was a loud thud as Brendan fell onto the floor, flat on his backside. Ash pulled his leg back from the kick, and assumed a relaxed, defensive stance. He knew that he'd poked the hornets' nest, he could just read this guy's character like a book.
Brendan stood up and faced Ash, and the Gym Leader could literally see the red mist descend over Brendan's face.
"How dare you?!" He yelled, "do you even know who I am?!" Ash shrugged.
"Some nobody trying to bully the nicest person I've ever met?" Ash replied, sounding disinterested, but as he said the last part of the sentence, he shot a look at May.
It made her heart melt. He looked so apologetic and guilty, that any bad feeling May held towards him started to fade.
"Do you know who I am?" Ash asked sarcastically, glaring at the white-haired man in front of him.
"A nobody?! I'll have you know I'm the son of the Hoenn Champion!" Brendan bragged, "I think you'll find you're the nobody!" he sneered. Ash smirked. He knew who the guy was.
"Make that disowned son of the Hoenn Champion," Ash retorted, chuckling as he spoke, "I'm good friends with Steven, he mentioned that you spent time in prison for physical and sexual abuse."
Ash had spent a fair amount of time training with Steven, as the two had met on multiple occasions during Ash's conquest of that League. The two had grown quite close and Ash considered Steven a good personal friend. Good enough for Steven to tell him about his deranged son.
Ash's eyes shot opened as he connected the dots. His gaze fell onto May. The look on her face broke his heart. Tears were forming in her eyes and she was physically cowering away from Brendan, even though all of his attention was on Ash.
Brendan's eyes narrowed to slits as he clenched his fists. Ash dropped his defensive stance. This was a fight that he didn't have time for. Sweeping past a confused and startled Brendan, Ash crouched down in front of May. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly. May's eyes slowly met his, he could see the distress and agony as clear as day. She nodded slowly.
"Now that you're here," May replied quietly, offering the raven-haired man a small smile. Ash returned it, and there was an obvious message behind the smiles.
"We'll talk later, in private."
Ash noticed May's eyes shoot open in fear, and her mouth open to say something, but it was too late.
Ash had already reacted, he spun a 180 on his right heel, extending his left leg as he swept round. Brendan didn't have any time to halt his advance before Ash's leg put him on his backside once again.
Ash stood above the floored man, a look of pure fury on his face.
"I really advise you to leave," Ash growled, internally relishing at the look of fear that crept its way onto Brendan's usually smug face. "NOW!" Ash yelled, stomping his foot next to Brendan. There was a man shaped cloud of dust next to Ash's foot.
"This isn't over!" Brendan's voice came echoing around the lecture hall as he made his escape. Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He hated physical confrontation. He heard movement behind him but didn't have time to react before arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
"Thank you so much!" May's voice was muffled as she nuzzled her face into Ash's back. He could hear the gratitude dripping off her tone as she spoke.
"Anytime," Ash twisted around and pulled May into a proper hug as he replied. He rested his cheek on the top of May's head, which was distinctly lacking its usual bandanna, so his nose got caught up in some of her hair. They stayed like that for what felt like hours.
A thought came to May.
"Where's Georgia?" She asked, her voice still muffled from the position of the hug.
"She still at my mum's," Ash replied, "I wasn't in an emotional state to look after her properly. I did stop in on my way here to say hello." Ash's words brought back a slightly uncomfortable silence as they both got caught up in their thoughts.
"I'm sorry," they croaked out at the same time, both being struck by the emotions of the night before. A confused look settled on both of their faces. They pulled apart slightly, so they were still holding each other, but could look each other in the eye. Ash felt an unfamiliar tug in his stomach.
"What are you sorry for?" They both asked in unison.
There was a moment of silence, then they both started laughing at their synchronicity. Ash sobered up first.
"I think there's a lot we need to talk about," He said gently. May looked him in the eyes and nodded.
-IBYL-
"It all started when I started my journey," May started. The two had made their way to May's office, although she only had three lectures a week, the University had insisted on giving her an office. They were next to each other on a sofa, with May's desk in front of them. "Brendan and I had met in Cerulean City when his family came on holiday."
Ash listened intently, trying to keep his emotions in check. The way that May had cowered away from Brendan had filled him with anger.
"We instantly hit it off, and I was really sad when he had to go back. It was only a few days later that my dad told us that he'd accepted the offer to be Petalburg Gym Leader."
"Brendan and I spent a lot of time together when I moved there, and we both agreed to travel together when our journey's started." May had a far off look in her eyes as she reminisced. "It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with my journey, and Brendan helped me figure it out."
"I had a crush on him, and I could tell he had one on me," May said, making sure she didn't sound arrogant as she spoke, "but then, at my first Contest, we met Drew." Ash recognised that name.
"The Coordinator with green hair and the Roselia?" Ash asked, figuring out he'd seen him perform in a Grand Festival.
"That's the one," May affirmed, "I instantly took a liking to him, he was so smooth, and at that age, I was easily infatuated. I even asked Drew to join us on the journey, and he agreed."
"It was difficult," May admitted, a little bit of guilt in her voice, "I liked them both, a lot."
Ash nodded in understanding. He'd never been in that situation, but he could imagine it being difficult to like two people so close to you at the same time.
"Oh," he thought, "that's exactly what's happening to me now."
"But Drew made a move first, just after the Grand Festival" May's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "and we started dating, which greatly upset Brendan."
"So much so that he left?" Ash asked. May nodded once more.
"Drew and I dated for a few years, but it grew stale in the end," May added, "we decided to go our separate ways, but we're still good friends."
Ash listened intently, subconsciously, he was amazed at how easily May relayed her past to him. He was slightly envious as well.
"A few weeks later, I bumped into Brendan, and… It was like nothing I'd felt before that point," May said, emphasising 'before that point.' "The connection was there, as if we'd never been apart."
"We went out on a couple of dates, and eventually he asked me to be his girlfriend," May smiled sadly, it was a really happy time of her life.
"But he resented me too much," Ash raised his eyebrow in confusion. It sounded like Brendan really liked her. "He felt betrayed that I'd 'picked' Drew over him," May air quoted. She gulped, tears forming in her eyes.
"Then he turned violent," May said, barely above a whisper. Ash frowned angrily. "It started with him doing little things when he got angry, like grabbing my arm." May gestured to her bicep, indicating that's where it used to happen.
"But it got worse and worse," May choked, and Ash pulled her into a hug. "He couldn't control his emotions, and kept lashing out."
Ash had a rush of guilt fly through him.
"Like me the other day…" He muttered, cursing himself internally. May's head flew up and she looked at him as if he'd grown a second head.
"Don't ever compare yourself to him," She warned, highly upset that Ash could ever think that.
"But I lashed out at you, because I couldn't control my emotions," Ash replied, "I'm so sorry." He pulled her into a deeper hug. They stayed like that for a few minutes, whilst they both composed themselves. They pulled apart when May continued her story.
"I was too scared to tell anyone," She admitted, her voice quiet again, "but then… h-h-he… tried to take advantage of me."
If Ash hadn't been paying her all of his attention, he never would've heard it with how quiet May spoke. Anger flared up inside him.
"That sick bastard!" He shouted, not being able to hold it back. May offered him a small smile.
"It's okay, he didn't," May said, running one of her fingers up and down Ash's arm, settling him down from his angry outburst. "I screamed as soon as he properly tried," May teared up again as the memory overwhelmed her. "My dad heard and came rushing in."
Ash breathed a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding. May couldn't help but let a giggle escape her lips. Ash gave her a confused look.
"Dad knocked him out with one punch, no questions asked," May admitted. This revelation made Ash smirk at the thought of the arrogant guy he had met earlier being knocked out cold. "He also called the police."
"And they arrested him and he got charged with physical and sexual abuse…" Ash finished, remembering what Steven had told him about it. May shook her head.
"Just physical abuse on me, as nothing happened," May explained, "he got let out on bail, and let his anger out on some other poor girl." Ash couldn't believe it, he felt so angry at this man for what he had done.
"I shouldn't have restrained myself," Ash growled, balling his fist in anger. May rested her hand on top of it, slightly calming Ash down.
"The only thing that worries me, is how is he out of jail? He got a ten year sentence and it's only been six…" May questioned, mainly to herself. Ash's eyes flashed open in surprise.
"You were seventeen when he tried it on?" Ash asked, the anger rising in his chest again. May nodded sadly. A low growl emitted from Ash's throat. May looked at his face, and gasped. His eyes were slightly glowing blue. The glow got brighter and brighter until it eventually enveloped the pair.
-IBYL-
May opened her eyes slowly, feeling dazed. She slowly looked around, heavily confused.
"Wasn't I just in the office talking with Ash?" She thought to herself, "where am I?"
"Tag! Your it!" She heard children's voices behind her. She turned around to face where the voices had come from. May was startled to see she was in Ash's corral. In the distance she could see a little blonde girl running away from a black haired boy, seemingly the same age. May narrowed her eyes.
"Is… is that Georgia?" May asked herself. "No, she looks much older… maybe 8? 9?"
"What is going on...?" She mumbled, not expecting anyone to answer.
"It's my childhood," came a voice from behind her. She was surprised to see Ash standing behind her, a solemn look on his face.
"Ash! Where are we? What do you mean?" May asked, approaching Ash. The latter frowned.
"Professor Oak's lab," Ash replied, before pointing at the black haired boy running after the blonde girl. "That's me."
May's eyes shot open in surprise.
"H-How is that possible?" May asked. Ash sighed.
"My emotions, they triggered my Aura," Ash answered, May opened her mouth to question him, "these are my memories."
May looked at him in shock. She'd heard rumours of people being able to manipulate their Aura into a physical form, but she thought the last one, Sir Aaron, had died.
She was pulled out of her thoughts as Ash shifted his point from the boy to the girl.
"And that," Ash winced, a look of pain shooting across his face, "is Serena."
EOC
Okay, so this chapter has gone off a lot from what I expected. HUGE shoutout to aboz567 for helping me decide where to go with this story. I was reluctant to add Aura in, as I'd tried to make this as realistic as possible, but aboz helped me realise that I could make it work. Even though this is AU, Ash has still travelled the world, and so he has still travelled to Rota and discovered his abilities.
However, if the aura idea is not well received, I have an alternative ending to this chapter in mind, which I could easily get written, and replace this one, so please, let me know what you guys think and whether you'd like the Aura version or the more realistic version!
So May's past is out there, and it's not a pleasant one. A tough one to write, but something that needs awareness. Ash's past will be revealed in the next chapter…
FYI, Ash's ringtone at the start of the chapter is the beginning of "Justified" by A Day To Remember.
REVIEW REPLIES:
LONEWOLF3957: Thank you for the review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the direction the story is going in.
MANBEARPIG01: Thank you for your review, I'm glad you agree with me!
ILIZJON: It's great to be back! :D that really pleases me that I could bring you some happiness! Yeah, I have a knack for going to dark places, don't I? xD I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long!
P14Y3R: God dammit, I knew I was bound to make a mistake somewhere, it's been so long since I've watched the anime! It's close enough… right? :P well, you'll only have to wait for the next one to find out! Wow, thank you! I appreciate that, this is already my second best "rated" story on this site, if it comes anywhere near IYCSMN, I'll be delighted!