Chapter 11: Tension Rising
"Where's Professor Juniper's assistant? She should have been here by now," Ash said with his arms placed behind his head and an impatient look on his face.
"Yeah, we should be with our badge and ribbon cases right now," May pouted with her arms crossed, she was clearly as impatient as Ash.
The group of six, including Axew and Pikachu waited for Professor Juniper's assistant while standing on the middle of the dirt path that led to Nacrene City. It has already been 30 minutes since the professor called them to inform that her assistant was nearby to drop off the cases, but the wait has been going on longer than expected.
Even Iris was beginning to feel impatient, "After this, how long till we reach Nacrene City?"
May checked the digital map on her Xtransciever and saw that they were not very far now. "Nacrene City is past a nearby Day Care and over the mountain, it should take no more than two days to get there, the wait is almost over," Cilan informed, hoping that the news would cheer them up. The green-haired cook pointed at the remaining mountain they had to climb over to reach Nacrene City, showing that the distance was not very long.
Ash and Iris nodded at their informative companion. Suddenly, they saw a figure running incredibly fast in the distance. The figure was charging towards them and with every step it took, it left a trail of dust that could only be left behind by a stampede of Tauros.
"What's that?" Ash raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
May squinted her eyes and saw a person with a green hat, orange jacket, green shorts, orange shoes, and red glasses, "I think it's a girl," the brunette said as she tried to identify the figure.
"Hey, you people, wait, I'm Professor Juniper's assistant!" the blond-haired girl cried out.
Ash and May smiled when they heard the girl say that she was Professor Juniper's assistant. "Perfect, I was just about to give up," Ash grinned as the girl neared, the boy wouldn't have been able to wait another five minutes.
The emerald-eyed girl finally reached them and stopped to catch some air. The dust cloud behind her slowly faded as she panted, "Hi…I'm…Professor Juniper's…assistant," the girl breathed in and out with her back bent forward.
"Hi there, we heard you have something for Ash and I?" May greeted the blond-haired girl and asked about the delivery she had to make.
Professor Juniper's assistant stopped panting and smiled, "That's right, I'm sorry for being late, but I just had one more duty to finish before coming here."
"It's no problem at all," Cilan told the girl to worry about her tardiness.
Speak for yourself, Ash thought and glared at Cilan for a moment before turning back to the girl with red glasses.
"Well, here are your badge and ribbon case," the girl reached into a pocket in her jacket and took out a black and blue quadratic case for badges. She handed that one to Ash and gave a black and red one to May that was similar in design to Ash's, but served for ribbons. "By the way, my name is Bianca, you already know that I'm Professor Juniper's assistant and well that's it. I've heard so much about the four of you from Professor Juniper, especially about you, Ash and May," Bianca introduced herself, mentioned Professor Juniper's talk about them and giggled.
"Nice to meet you Bianca, I'm Ash and I'm hoping to get into the Unova League," Ash warmly greeted Bianca.
"I'm May, I'm hoping to get into the Unova Grand Festival," May also introduced herself with a warm tone.
"I'm Iris, nice to meet you," Iris grinned at Bianca happily.
"And I'm Cilan, pleasure to meet you," Cilan also smiled at Bianca when introducing himself.
"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu also greeted Bianca with a friendly tone.
"Ax Axew!" Axew popped out of Iris's hair and greeted Bianca with the same welcoming tone.
Bianca smiled at them, "Nice to meet you all, I've never met anyone from the Village of the Dragons, a Gym Leader, or people outside of Unova!" The blond-haired girl mentioned with an energetic voice.
"Why don't you join us for lunch Bianca, we were going to have some after you got here," May invited the blond-haired to lunch.
Bianca raised an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden invite, "Really?"
"Yeah, you must be tired from running Professor Juniper's errands, a nice lunch should energize you," Ash happily encouraged the girl to join them for a meal.
"The more the merrier," Iris also insisted with her friends.
"I'll be happy to cook for more people," Cilan told the emerald-eyed girl.
Bianca grinned thankfully at them and spoke, "Well ok, thank you guys so much."
After a little more than a half hour…
Ash, the Pokémon, and his friends were all eating the delicious food Cilan had prepared on the table Iris set up. May licked the whip of her spoon and giggled, "As usual, you never disappoint Cilan!"
"Thank you May, I try my hardest," Cilan grinned and ate a strawberry.
Ash took out his shiny badge case and pressed a button that opened. Much to his surprise, he saw room for 11 badges rather than the usual 8. The boy became puzzled by this and spoke, "Bianca, do you know why the badge has space for 11 badges?"
"11 badges, I thought it was the usual 8?" May also became surprised by the revelation.
Bianca smiled at their confusion and answered, "Don't worry, you only need 8 badges to compete in the Unova League, but they placed 3 extra badges there because Unova has gotten into some trouble lately."
May tilted her head a bit, still confused as to what Bianca meant. "You see, Unova has fallen victim to mass criminal activity lately, so the police force has requested help from local gym leaders in order to arrest these outlaws and put them behind bars. The people who run the gyms and Unova League agreed to hire more gym leaders in case one of the original 8 becomes unavailable, so the trainer could just go see one of the others." Bianca finally explained in more detail as to why the badge case had room for 11 badges.
"They must be tracking down criminals like Team Rocket, both Team Plasmas and the Majestic 12 huh?" Iris asked the young assistant.
Bianca nodded, "The police are after Team Rocket and both Team Plasmas like a cat chasing a mouse, but I never heard of any Majestic 12," the emerald-eyed girl stated, clearly familiar with the three criminal organizations roaming Unova, but unaware of the fourth and most dangerous one.
"Well, with a gym leader's help, all the bad guys will be caught in no time," Cilan mentioned, certain that Unova's crime crisis would end quickly.
All of a sudden, a large explosion was heard that startled the teens. Cilan noticed the water in his cup shake and looked around, "What was that?"
"Look!" Bianca pointed to a cloud of smoke coming from somewhere nearby.
"Where's that coming from?" May became worried the moment she saw the menacing black cloud.
Cilan grinded his teeth, "It looks like it came from the nearby Day Care Center, something bad must be happening."
Ash had a concern look across his face and spoke, "If something bad is happening, then we have to go stop it, c'mon guys!"
Ash's friends nodded and they all returned their Pokémon, lunchtime was clearly over. Bianca also went off with them, feeling that after offering her lunch, she should repay them by checking and helping out with whatever is going on at the Day Care.
After Ash and the others had left, a Sandile with sunglasses burst out of the ground and the gang running towards the black cloud. The Sandile huffed and went back underground with the intention of following them.
"What do you think it's this time Ash?" May ran beside him and Pikachu, recalling that they run into too much trouble lately.
Ash grinded his teeth and looked at his girlfriend, "I don't know and I wish I didn't have to, but it looks like someone needs our help."
May shook her head in agreement and the pair began running faster, causing the other friends to run faster in order to catch up.
When they finally reached the Day Care, they hid behind the trees to see what was going on. The Day Care itself was under fire and they saw a crowd of children with a woman who didn't look more than 20, there was also another much older woman with them. They coughed violently as the smoke covered several areas of the Day Care. In front of the defenseless women and children were about a dozen Team Plasma members with devious looks on their faces.
"That's Team Plasma," May mumbled and glared at the thugs dressed like knights, remembering her last encounter with them at Accumula Town.
Ash nodded, "Yeah, this is N's Team Plasma, not the one Ghetsis led in Striaton City though."
"What are they doing here though?" Iris also glared at the shameless crooks.
"Trying to 'liberate' Pokémon, like usual, they've been at this for almost a year now, but we won't let them have their way," Bianca frowned at the criminals dressed like knights.
"Looks like they're talking and one of the kids is trying to stand up to them with a Trubbish," Cilan's observant eyes saw the motion in one of the Plasma Grunt's lips and a little kid getting in front of the crowd with a Trubbish.
The member in front of the other Plasma Grunts seemed to be in charge of the operation. He chuckled when he saw all the little kids glaring at him. "Women and children, hand over all the Pokémon eggs and Pokémon that in have stored inside your little Day Care. We're not here to play games with brats or learn to read, we're here to liberate all those eggs from their prison and set them free, into the wild," the grunt smirked evilly at the now frightened group.
The older woman approached him and frowned at him, "What gives you the right to tell to just hand over these Pokémon. Their trainers entrusted me with taking care of them and raising them properly, not to have low petty thugs burn my home down and take my granddaughter's class hostage."
"Then the trainers are just as foolish as the rest of you. These 'Day Care' centers are nothing more than juvenile prisons for Pokémon, no better than being trapped inside a Pokeball. The Pokémon raised in these centers are oppressed, unable to taste natural freedom and Team Plasma's goal is to allow that, give Pokémon their freedom. Liberate them from the oppression of ignorant humans!" the grunt shouted at the woman aggressively.
"Shut up, you're wrong about Day Cares and Pokémon!" a little boy stepped up and confronted the harsh Plasma Grunt.
"Avery, get back here!" the younger woman called him back.
Team Plasma laughed at the boy's courage to confront them. The Plasma Grunt in charge chuckled and glared at him, "You've got spunk for confronting us, kid, I'll give you that, but why don't you just accept the truth right now instead of being forced to suffer by my hand."
"Day Care centers are not prisons for Pokémon. I've seen Pokémon being born and raised here, and they have always been happy. All the Pokémon like it here and all the Pokémon eggs getting ready to hatch are also going to be happy because they're going to have fun with us, they are only going to be sad if they are taken by meanies like you!" the little brown-haired boy spat at the Plasma Grunt and then stood next to Trubbish, petting it, "Trubbish is a Pokémon we found here, it was wandering around and decided to stick around the Day Care because it liked it here, he likes playing with us and likes helping out around the place. You are wrong if you think Pokémon will be glad to be taken away from us, you'll only be taking away their happiness, a Pokémon can like being with people or living in the wild, it's their choice, but a creep like you won't decide that!"
"Trubbish!" the trash-like Pokémon snapped at the grunt.
The Plasma Grunt gave Avery a cold look and spoke, "Humph, if you really think that, then try to stop us with a battle. If you beat me, then we will go, but if you fail, then we free all the eggs and Pokémon and burn this center down."
Avery grinded his teeth, knowing the risk he was taking. The kids and his teacher pleaded for him to stop trying and let Team Plasma have their way, but the stubborn little boy was having none of it. "Fine, I'll fight with Trubbish!" Avery answered.
From a small distance, May murmured something to Ash as the group saw the whole thing progress, "Ash, we have to do something, we can't let that little boy fight someone as dangerous as that."
Ash held her hand and gave her an assuring look, "Don't worry May, we'll do something soon, but I want to see something first."
"Are you crazy?! Ash, that's a little kid, he's going to get stepped on by those guys. We have to do something!" Iris yelled at him, but the boy ignored her.
Bianca and Cilan knew that Ash had a plan just by looking at his gaze, but for some reason, the boy wanted to see the battle first.
"You asked for it kid, settle this Scolipede!" the grunt called out his most powerful Pokémon.
"Trubbish, use Take Down!" Avery commanded.
"Counter with a Double-Edge!" the Plasma Grunt countered.
Trubbish charged at Scolipede with full speed, but the Scolipede charged even faster and stronger, sending the Trash Bag Pokémon flying, but the Pokémon quickly got up.
Avery grinded his teeth, but attacked again, "Use Sludge!"
"Avery no, Scolipede is part Poison-type, it'll have no effect!" Avery's teacher, Daniela called out.
"Too late, Rollout Scolipede!" the grunt smirked and his Scolipede curved into a ball. The Bug-type started speeding like a wheel, dispersing the Sludge and send Trubbish flying yet again.
Scolipede cried out in victory while Trubbish struggled to get up. Avery grinded his teeth and realized that his Day Care and school were on the line, but he had to take a risk, "Trubbish, use Explosion!"
"How could a kid raise Trubbish to use Explosion?" the Plasma Grunt raised an eyebrow, but became shocked when he saw Trubbish glowing white. The Trash Bag Pokémon then exploded violently and sent Scolipede flying against the Day Care's exterior wall. The attack knocked out both Scolipede and Trubbish, but the victory ended in Avery's favor.
The children cheered for their friend's victory and cried his name in joy while the two women showed amazement; they had never seen a young boy show that much battling potential. Even Ash and the others became amazed when they saw the victory.
"The boy won…" were the only things the five teens could get out from their mouths.
When the kids finished cheering for Avery, the boy turned his attention back to Team Plasma, "I won, so now you have to get out of here!"
Team Plasma laughed at his remark and the leader smirked at him, "Sorry kid, but we came with a mission and we are not leaving till it has done. Go Boldore; use Stone Edge on the hopeless brat!"
The kids and older woman cried out in fear as Boldore shot out a barrage of sharp rocks. Daniela got in front of Avery and covered the child from the Rock-type attack, but before the attack could hit, an Iron Tail completely countered and cancelled out the Stone Edge.
"What?" the Team Plasma Grunt groaned and turned to see Ash with his friends. Team Plasma's eyes widened and they quickly recognized the boy and his friends.
The kids, Daniela, and the older woman were also surprised when they saw Ash make his surprise entrance. "Who are you?" the older woman asked them curiously.
"Just some travelers wishing to help," May winked at the woman, but frowned when she turned her attention back to Team Plasma.
Ash glared at the Plasma Grunt and spoke, "Why don't you pick on someone your size or me!"
The Plasma Grunt chuckled and smirked evilly, "We know you. You're Ash. Your actions in Accumula Town have made you a threat to N and we've been keeping an eye on you ever since."
Ash grinned at him slyly, "Thanks for the recognition, but I'm not here to talk, leave these people alone and go."
The grunt chuckled and mocked him, "Sorry, no can do. We'll just have to accept that you are here and with reinforcements, we'll continue with the operation. Team Plasma, get in and retrieve any Pokémon and eggs before the fire reaches them. I'll stay and battle the teenage punks."
"Right!" the Team Plasma members responded and rushed inside.
"May, Iris, Cilan, Bianca, you go inside too, stop Team Plasma and put out the fire before it gets worse. Pikachu you too, they'll need you. I'll stay here and take care of this guy," Ash ordered his friends.
May and the others nodded while Pikachu was hesitant at first, but then realized that he was needed more in there than by his friend. The mouse dashed inside as the residents of the Day Care watched the heroes take action.
The Team Plasma Grunt stared at him blankly, but then began speaking, "Let's end this quick, I don't have time for anymore battling."
"After seeing you get beaten by a kindergartner, I don't think any time will be wasted. Pidove, I choose you!" Ash mocked him and called for his Flying-type.
The Plasma Grunt groaned and yelled, "Fool, you are at a type disadvantage, Boldore use Stone Edge!"
"Pidove, dodge and use Quick Attack!" Ash commanded and the bird nimbly avoided the barrage of sharp stone.
Pidove successfully hit Boldore, but the Rock-type shook off the pain and the Plasma Grunt called for a Smack Down. Boldore shot a golden orb at Pidove, but Ash had other plans, "Counter with a full power Air Cutter!"
The bird's wings flapped violently and the energy attack cancelled out Smack Down. The Plasma Grunt smirked, "The things they say about you seem to be true after all, the boy who can overcome any disadvantage, the hero with ideals and who holds an iron will stronger than the blast of Zekrom."
"Things they say about me? How many times have people told me that already?" Ash frowned at his opponent, confused and distracted by his words.
"Far too many times, I believe," the grunt smirked and took advantage of Ash's distraction, "Boldore, Stone Edge!"
The Rock-type unleashed a barrage of sharp stone again, but this time it hit Pidove head-on and the Pokémon wailed in horrible pain as the stones cut through its feathers. Pidove struggled to get up, but it showed signs that it could continue.
Inside the Day Care, May and the others had split to retrieve the many eggs that were placed in different rooms. The brunette volunteered to go to the farthest room where the last portion of eggs was held at, but a Team Plasma Grunt received her when she entered.
"Little girl, these eggs are meant to be free, don't stand in the way," the female Team Plasma Grunt warned May to stay back.
"I don't think so," May glared at her and reached for a Pokeball.
The Team Plasma Grunt frowned and released her Pokémon, "Go Gurdurr!"
May had no time to see what Pokémon it was that the grunt just called out on her Pokedex, but she quickly reacted, "Purrloin, take the stage!"
"Stupid kid, I hold the advantage since Gurdurr is a Fighting-type and your Purrloin is a Dark-type, this should end quick," the woman mocked May.
The brunette grinned slyly and said, "Thanks for the info."
"Gurdurr, close in with a Superpower!" the woman extended her arm forward.
May smiled, "Purrloin, stop it with Sand-Attack!" The large Muscular Pokémon charged furiously at Purrloin, but the cat quickly blinded it by kicking sand in its face.
"Great, it's blinded! Now let's use Assist!" May commanded and Purrloin wasted no time in using a random move that her partners knew.
Suddenly, the cat began to glow a bright blue color and charged at Gurdurr with all its power. May's eyes widened, "Purrloin is using Blaziken's Brave Bird…I didn't think I'd get so lucky." The brunette smiled, knowing that Gurdurr couldn't stop Purrloin now.
The Team Plasma Grunt groaned and countered, "Fight back with Superpower!"
The two opponents charged at each other with full speed, both covered in aura and a large explosion was produced that destroyed most of the inside of the room, but in the end it was Gurdurr that flew through the wall of the room and dropped on the ground. The Muscular Pokémon groaned as it struggled to get up.
"This isn't over girl, Gurdurr prepare a Stone Edge!" the female commanded, not ready to give up the fight.
May smiled and spoke, "Purrloin now is a good time as any to use our combination. Let's show them our Multi-Shadow Ball!" the brunette made a fist when she declared her attack.
The Plasma Grunt became confused by the command and just watched as Gurdurr produced white energy that turned into stones. The sharp stones shout out in multitudes, but Purrloin grinned slyly and released numerous Shadow Balls that lined up for the cat.
"Puuurrrr…loooiiin!" the cat shrieked viciously and turned her claws purple. The Dark-type then proceeded to bashing every last Shadow Ball against Stone Edge. The barrage of Stone Edge and Shadow Ball caused another explosion to form between the two Pokémon.
May grinned at the result, knowing Purrloin had successfully countered Stone Edge. The female Team Plasma Grunt groaned when she saw the result and murmured, "Not only is the boy known for his superb skill, but she as well. They truly are more than meets the eye."
When the dust cleared, Purrloin coolly gazed at a panting Gurdurr, who had used up most of its energy using Stone Edge. The Plasma Grunt decided to take her final stand and made one last command, "Gurdurr use Focus Blast!"
"Gurduuuurrrr!" the Muscular Pokémon cried out in fury and released the blue energy ball at Purrloin.
May grinned confidently and countered, "Purrloin dodge it and wrap it up with Slash!" Purrloin nodded and charged at Focus Blast, confusing May at first since she was told to dodge, but the cat easily jumped over it, surprising Gurdurr and the grunt. Then with swift speed, the cat slashed Gurdurr with most her power and the Fighting-type Pokémon's eyes widened in pain, ultimately dropping to the ground unconscious.
"Purrloin we did it!" May cheered over their victory while the grunt returned her Pokémon and ran from May with all her speed.
The brunette let the female get away and returned to the room where she placed all the eggs in a bag before the fire could burn it all down. She hoped that Pikachu, Cilan, Iris, and Bianca had managed to get their parts done as well. She quickly exited the room and went in search of them.
Meanwhile…
Ash and Pidove were still struggling against Boldore and the grunt. I don't know how long I can keep him at bay; I need to come up with a strategy fast, Ash thought in his mind, recognizing the grunt's skill in battle. Pidove kept getting up after getting put down so many times, but for how long?
The grunt chuckled at Ash, "Give it up, your time is up."
Ash merely frowned at him, not knowing what to say. All of a sudden, something burst out of the ground without warning and Ash saw a Sandile in front of him.
"What?" the Plasma Grunt became surprised when he saw the new opponent.
Ash saw something familiar in the Sandile, its sunglasses were a giveaway, but where had he seen it before? This Sandile, I met it not too long ago, but when and where? The boy began remembering many of his adventures so far in Unova and then came across one that made his eyes widened, that's it! This Sandile is the same one that helped us during the geyser incident!
"Sandile, did you follow us here?" Ash asked the Sandile he had met about a month ago.
"Sand sandile," the croc nodded at Ash.
Ash wondered why, but there was no time for that now and asked, "Do you want to help me win this battle, I could really use your help!"
"Sandile sand!" the Ground-type Pokémon cheerfully nodded and Ash grinned confidently.
Ash turned his attention back to the Plasma Grunt who glared at him. The raven-haired teen smiled confidently, "Now it gets real, this time you're going to lose."
The Plasma Grunt didn't say anything and declared an attack, "Boldore, use Stone Edge!"
"Sandile, use…" Ash prepared to call out a move, but Sandile acted without command. The croc's back began to glow white and launched multiple stones to counter.
"Hey, that's Stone Edge, good counter Sandile!" Ash praised the Sandile's quick thinking, which it returned with a grin.
The Plasma Grunt groaned and made another command, "Show no mercy Boldore! Now use Headbutt!"
"Sandile, use Dig to dodge!" Ash came up with a quick counter.
Sandile went underground while Boldore missed its mark and began to search for the croc. The Team Plasma Grunt glared at the ground, trying to deduct its location, but like Boldore, the man was unable to.
Ash chuckled, knowing he had Boldore right where he wanted it. The boy grinned confidently and made a command, "Sandile, prepare to…" but he was interrupted yet again by the Sandile's own moves.
The Sandile burst underneath Boldore and sent the large rock flying. The Ore Pokémon caused a tremor when it landed on the ground violently. Boldore barely managed to get up and the Team Plasma Grunt noted that Boldore hardly had enough power to keep going, but Ash and Sandile were nowhere near done.
The auburn-eyed teen made a fist and punched into the air while declaring his final move, "Sandile, finish this with a Stone Edge!"
Sandile released another barrage of sharp stones, but neither Boldore nor its trainer showed the intention of giving up. "Boldore, use a full power Headbutt! Bash through every last stone and send that croc flying!" the grunt made his final move as well.
Boldore rushed through Sandile's barrage of stones head-on and broke through each one. The Ore Pokémon finally reached Sandile and sent the Ground-type flying into the air. "Sandile!" Ash yelled out when it saw the croc flying far from them while crying out its name.
The grunt huffed, but then saw Boldore dropping on the ground unconscious. "No it can't be…" the Plasma Grunt murmured, feeling victory taken from his hands in just a few seconds.
Ash sighed over Sandile's blast off, but returned Pidove and thanked it for its great efforts. The messy-haired teen shifted his attention to children whose faces became relieved when they saw that Boldore had been defeated, the woman and the elder also showed signs of relief.
"You've lost, it's time for you to leave," Ash glared at his opponent who stared at him blankly.
At that moment, multiple Team Plasma members ran out of a now safe Day Care. The fire had clearly been put out and the Plasma Grunts all had defeated faces on their looks. Looks like we won, Ash thought and smiled, knowing that May and the others had saved the day.
"Sir, we have to retreat, the children proved stronger than we had thought," a female grunt told the leader.
The one in charge of the operation nodded and took one last glance of Ash. "Indeed," he answered and jetpack wings come out of his knight shirt. The other Plasma Grunts followed him and showed jetpack wings, then without wasting another moment they flew off into the air without looking Ash, having faced an embarrassing defeat at the hands of children.
Ash just smirked at the fleeing Team Plasma until they vanished from sight. "Ash looks like we did it!" Cilan cheered in joy when he ran out of the room.
"We defeated the bad guys and put out the fire!" Iris also cried in joy as she ran out with May and Bianca.
"It was a little tough, but with Pikachu helping us out, we made it through," Bianca complimented Ash's helpful friend.
"We saw them fly off in their jetpacks right now too, May's Detective Agency has defeated criminals yet again," May giggled, feeling like she should bring up her childish fantasy about being a detective just to fit with the moment.
"Pika pikachu pi!" Pikachu cried out in victory.
Ash congratulated his friends and the job well done, but their attention turned back to the victims. "Are you okay? We're sorry about the sudden appearance, but we knew we had to do something," Ash spoke to the women and children.
"No, thank you, you saved our school and Day Care. We don't know what we could have done without you!" Avery jumped out of Daniela's arms and praised the young heroes. The other kid's followed him and praised the teenagers, making them blush in embarrassment.
"What you did was very heroic, you not only saved this entire building," Daniela looked at the damaged, but fixable building and turned back to Ash and the others, "But you saved us from who knows what danger."
"You acted with noble hearts and that is a certain quality within humans that only few possess," the older woman gave them a short, but sweet sign of thankfulness.
"We'd invite you for some tea, but as you can see, our home is not fit enough for guests right now," Daniela looked down at the ground sadly.
Iris grinned and spoke, "It's ok Daniela. At least we saved most of it. This place should be fixed in no time."
"Hey, why don't we help them rebuild it?" Ash suggested to his friends.
"Of course!" Cilan answered in joy.
"That's a great idea Ash!" Bianca cheered.
"I'm all for it!" May replied joyfully.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu also cheerfully accepted.
"Then it's settled, we'll help as best as we can to fix the Day Care!" Ash turned to the group with a smile across his face.
The women and children were surprised by the kindness that the teenagers offered, but they knew that they would need all the help they could get to rebuild the Day Care and in a week's time they successfully repaired the home, making it look good as new.
One Week Later…
Ash and the group stood in front of the newly repaired Day Care. It was structured in the same way as the last, but there was a kinder sense to it. The older woman turned to Ash and the others.
"Ash, May, Iris, Cilan, Pikachu, Bianca, and to all the Pokémon you have used to help us during this last week, thank you. At this point we are not thankful for what you have done, we are grateful for it and the experience we shared with you will be remembered very fondly among us, from my old generation to the new," the elder looked at the teens, then at Daniela, and then the children.
"We never asked for so much help, but you stepped up and decided to do just that. My heart feels a wonderful feeling of gratitude towards all of you and this memory will serve as the model for many things in my life, thank you," Daniela thanked the gang one final time for their actions.
"You are our heroes, you came swooping in here like a superhero and saved the day. All of you helped us fight the bad guys and rebuild our beautiful home, so Ash, we want you to have this," Avery, Trubbish, and the children thanked Ash with an egg in a container.
The elder laughed weakly and smiled, "We would've liked to have given you all eggs, but this one is the only one near hatching."
May smiled and spoke for the rest of the group, "It doesn't matter ma'am. I think the best gift was the feeling all of us gained inside when we saw that we fixed the Day Care, those ties of love, friendship, and care for one another is what rebuilt this center."
"Indeed it has May, for a young woman, you have a lot of wisdom, you are going to have a fine future, I can see you with a wonderful husband and children," the elder complimented May and looked at Ash during the last part of the remark, making the brunette blush slightly.
Ash also blushed slightly when he noticed the sign, but made no comment. Iris, Cilan, Pikachu, and Bianca, who now knew of their relationship laughed at the adorable exchange between the two. The kids also began teasing the two teens and resorted to the traditional "Sitting in a Tree" song, making the couple blush even more, but the entire group shared a good laugh.
When they had finally said their goodbyes to the residents of the Day Care, the gang got back on the road and prepared to say goodbye to Bianca. "Bianca, it was really great getting to know you, we made a new friend during this one week," Ash smiled at the emerald-eyed girl.
"You really helped a lot during this whole situation, Professor Juniper is lucky to have someone so helpful around," May grinned at her new friend.
"Yeah, with those skills, you'll become a great professor," Iris complimented the blond-haired girl.
"I'm sure Professor Juniper will be happy to know why you have been gone for so long, because you were doing what anyone else likes to do, helping others, a sweet flavor in a recipe indeed," Cilan complimented Bianca as well.
Bianca grinned at the all the nice things her friends said to her and spoke, "Thank you all so much, I had not traveled out with friends like this in a few years and I'm happy I got to do so much with you guys. I won't forget this and I hope we meet again soon."
"We will," Ash and his friends said simultaneously.
Bianca turned her back to her friends and smiled at them one last before saying goodbye. Within seconds the blond-haired girl was off, running at the same incredible speed they had seen her arrive with a week ago.
The friends smiled and continued on their walk to Nacrene City. The trip may have been delayed by a week, but Ash's spirit was as high as ever and with May's contest nearby, the brunette had a fire inside her burning brighter than ever.
That was Ch 11, hope you liked it! Feel free to review about anything regarding the chapter! I honestly had some trouble with this chapter because I wanted to introduce Bianca and have Ash gain his egg, but I wanted to make it more interesting so I added Team Plasma. After the Nacrene City Arc, I will try to focus back on Ash and May because for now it'll be more about the villainous teams, but don't worry. Many chapters on Ash and May are set to come. Next Chapter will be major to the plot and we will see another character debut. The next one or two chapters should be up within a week so till then!