Chapter 23: Doubt the World
"Looker, take the children to Virbank City, the show here is over," Roxas spoke with a stern tone as he looked up at the destroyed part of the tower.
The police officer just stared at Roxas after giving the order and then turned to the teens; they all had concerned expressions on their faces. Roxas turned around and looked at the group, his gaze was serious and the sapphire-eyed boy only managed to nod as he stared at them.
When Rosa lifted the rubble, her eyes lost their natural shine and she could feel sadness overcoming her, "Oh lord," was the only thing she could say.
Auro and Nate had serious faces on. They felt a sense of anger fill up inside them as they looked at the items in Rosa's hands.
"Isn't that-," Iris walked over with Cilan, but before she could finish, she got interrupted.
"Ash and May's halves of the Terracotta ribbons," Rosa picked them up and gazed at it with a saddened expression. The ribbons were practically unharmed, the golden centerpiece remained spotless while the ribbon itself was covered in dirt, but unlike the rest of the room it practically remained intact.
Iris held onto Cilan's arm and found herself fighting back tears in her eyes while Cilan frowned in frustration. Nate and Auro continued to stand there like statues as the wind blew inside through the cracked glass walls and made their hair wave.
"Is this all that's left of them?" Nate reached over for the ribbons and examined them.
Cilan sighed and spoke, "That's all that remains."
"The most well-known representation of the love those two had, the only thing that seems to be left from them," Auro stated, believing that Ash, May, and their Pokémon got blown into oblivion because of the blast.
"Even Victini is gone, nothing survived that explosion," Iris hung her head with a saddened look.
"We should go down and tell this to the others," Nate suggested and they all agreed. Without another word the group left the obliterated room behind, taking the ribbons with them, but that was it.
When they finally exited the lighthouse, they found the rest of the gang there, standing in silence. Roxas and the others quickly took notice of them and waited for them to say something, "Well?" the raven-haired teen asked with a frown.
"Where are they?" Hilda inquired, referring to Ash and May, the girl felt like she'd break down in tears if they didn't answer her.
"This was all we found," Auro handed over the halves of the Terracotta Ribbon.
Roxas grabbed them and looked at them, the golden centerpiece reflected his sapphire eyes, and he just kept staring at it. The raven-haired teen sighed and gazed up at the sky. Auro then began to speak, "What do we do now?"
"I need to head over to Virbank City and meet up with one of our allies. Auro, Nate, Rosa, I need you to return to Castelia City and assist the medics, firefighters, police in settling down anything going on over there, it may not be as hectic as before, but Castelia still needs our help," Roxas turned his attention to the trio and gave them instructions.
"Before I go, I'll order my forces to inspect the island in case Ash and May are still around," Looker informed Roxas.
"What about Victini?" Iris questioned.
"Victini could be dead for all we know, or it could have been taken by Phantom moments before the explosion," Roxas commented.
"I'll have my forces search around for Victini as well," Looker placed his hand on Roxas's muscular shoulder.
The sapphire-eyed teen in the black coat turned around and gave Looker a nod, "Thank you, Looker. We'll meet up in Virbank City."
"Of course," Looker shook his head.
"Good," Roxas said as he stood among his three partners and Auro, Rosa, and Nate all began to glow blue while Roxas reached for a Pokéball.
"Wait, before you guys leave, tell us who you are," Hilbert confronted them.
The group of four grinned and Roxas answered, "Only time will tell." With that said Auro, Nate, and Rosa took off like jets and left a blue trail of energy behind them while Roxas called out his Charizard.
"Take us to Virbank," the black-haired teen ordered and Charizard immediately took off at an incredible speed that produced a gust strong enough to make the leaves on the trees rustle and make Hilda's hair wave in the air.
Only time will tell, the teens left behind wondered.
When they stopped wondering, their attention turned to Looker. "So what now?" Trip asked.
"There's still one last thing to do before I leave this island," the officer said and turned behind him and frowned at N, who had been silent the whole time.
N grinned, not worrying that Looker was about to arrest him. "I wish I could continue working alongside you, but our differences won't allow that, and I have to stop my father at all costs."
"You've broken the law N, and for that you must be placed under the fist of the law," Looker glared at N.
"Worry about the whereabouts of Ash, May, and Victini, it's what I'll work on while I focus on stopping my father. Good luck, Looker, Iris, Cilan, Hilbert, Hilda, and the rest of you," N called out a Pokémon.
"I won't let you escape," Looker reached for a Pokéball while the teens stood by and let the policeman handle it.
"Archeops, DragonBreath now!" N ordered as a large avian appeared in front of the gang.
Archeops screeched and blasted a thick version of DragonBreath at the ground under it. "No!" Looker could be heard yelling as a large cloud of dust blocked everyone's sights. In the dust, N climbed onto Archeops and when the cloud of dust became thin, Looker and the others saw N flying high above the ground with Archeops.
"Darn," Looker gritted his teeth.
"I'm sorry," N told them as he flew off west, leaving his momentary allies behind.
"He got away!" Bianca screamed in frustration while the other teens also became annoyed with the results, not even N could be brought under their capture.
"He's probably going to continue to terrorize innocent people while getting what he wants," Trip frowned.
"He did say he would help search for Ash, May, or any trace of either of them though, N is the least of our problems right now," Iris pointed out.
"Ax ax axew," Axew got involved and agreed with its master.
"A very antiheroic attitude, if N could only see that his way is no better than his father's, we'd have a valuable ally," Cilan added.
"N is not as evil as the bad guys we fought, in the Castelia Sewers Hilbert and I saw him as someone we could trust, he just needs a realization to strike him and make him realize what he is doing is wrong. If that happens, he would help us," Hilda drew the conclusion of the N, making Hilbert slightly jealous about Hilda talking about another male like that, like if she admired him.
"I still have my doubts," Hilbert crossed his arms.
Looker sighed and responded, "That's enough, N is another threat like the M12, Team Rocket, and Team Neo Plasma, but right now I rather stay on his good side since like Hilda said, he seems to be more of an ally than enemy. The reason I was going to arrest was to keep him under my eye and have him help us combat the more critical conflict going on at the moment. The bigger threats are his father, Colress, Giovanni, and the Majestic 12. Plus, we have to worry about the possibility of Ash and May actually being dead, although I refuse to think much of it until we reach Virbank."
When they got Looker's words into their brains, the teens could only nod at what he said, they all still had mixed feelings about N, but they did know there was a larger threat still lurking out there, it was likely that their two friends were gone and they had to forget about the green-haired youth.
They all became quiet after Looker spoke and the police officer began to talk, "We'll be heading to Virbank right now. It's the nearest and safest city, understood?"
"Actually Looker, I was hoping to return to Castelia City and help Professor Juniper since she is probably still there," Bianca told the adult.
Looker looked at Bianca for a second and knew the lab assistant preferred to go help her mentor with the problems in Castelia. "Alright Bianca, if it is helping Professor Juniper what you want, then go."
"Thank you," Bianca responded politely.
"I would also like to return to Castelia with Bianca, I feel like they would need me more in the city right now," Trip also volunteered.
Looker grinned and replied, "Very well Trip, a trainer of your caliber is most likely needed at the mainland right now, so you're free to go."
"Thanks," Trip nodded and gave a half grin while Bianca smiled at him, glad she would be having one of her friends coming along.
Their other friends smiled at the pair for volunteering to help, but Hilda's mind was on something else, out of all of them, she was probably the most sensitive one after May and the thought that kept getting into her head were Ash and May.
In the end, she couldn't help but ask Looker about them, "Looker, do you believe Ash, May, Pikachu, Victini, and well anyone else that was up there is still alive?"
She could feel her heart beginning to try to punch itself out of her chest, waiting for Looker to give her an answer. The man gave her a sympathetic look and answered, "I don't know Hilda, and it seemed like a powerful blast. Like I said though, I'll have my team search for them if they are alive."
Hilda hung her head and sighed, wishing she could have gotten a more satisfying response. She felt a hand place itself on her shoulder and she looked up to see Hilbert giving her a sympathetic grin. "Don't give in to your emotions so soon Hilda, don't give up faith yet," Hilbert grinned, knowing Hilda for so long, the boy could tell how sensitive she was and he knew what made her, mad, sad, happy, etc. Hilda placed her hand on his and returned the smile.
"Hilbert is correct; we shouldn't lose hope so soon. Just because only their ribbons were found, doesn't mean they're gone. Honestly, I believe those two are still out there, somewhere. I probably don't know Ash and May better than any of you, but from the encounters I've had with them, I know they have iron guts and luck. It'll take more than a bomb to get rid of those two, you just have to have the belief that they are alive," Trip crossed his arms and spoke sternly, and although he was serious about it, what Trip said about the pair was probably the nicest things he's said about them so far and his words renewed the gang's faith.
"Trip is right, we have to maintain faith that Ash, May, and the others are still alive, I've never met anyone with more iron guts than those two," Cilan became encouraged by Trip.
"You are a jerk at times, Trip, but you seem to know what to say at the right time, I also believe those two are still out there, and Pikachu, and Victini!" Iris and Axew pumped their fists out of the growing feeling of optimism inside them.
Trip sighed and spoke, "Just don't tell those two I said that when they show up, Ash will probably begin to believe I am his friend or something."
The group laughed, knowing deep down, Trip already made Ash a friend, as well as May. Hilbert, Hilda, and Bianca were the ones who knew that Trip was actually one of the friendliest people out there once you get through his barrier of seriousness.
Looker couldn't help, but grin at Trip's words and found an optimistic attitude inside him, he also began to believe that Ash and May were still out there, may be not on the island, but out there, somewhere. For now though, they had to mobilize.
"Bianca, Trip, one of the teams on the island is at the harbor, you should head over there right now so you can get to Castelia City if you want to go help," Looker informed the two.
"Alright then, let's get moving Trip," Bianca nodded at Looker.
Trip nodded and before leaving with Bianca, he said one last thing to Looker, "If anything on Ash and May pops up, contact Bianca, Professor Juniper, or me. We'll probably be as interested as you guys when news about them shows up."
"Will do," Looker shook his head and smiled at the pair.
"Thank you, Looker, goodbye guys, we'll catch up with you soon," Bianca waved goodbye to the gang as she began walking with Trip.
"Sayonara," Trip flicked two fingers at the group behind him as he walked off with Bianca.
As the gang smiled at their departing friends, who were now barely in sight, wind started to build up and the sounds of a chopper could be heard. Looker looked up and grinned, "Perfect, the helicopter is here."
"What for?" Iris inquired, staring at the navy blue chopper that lowered itself in front of them.
"This is our method of transportation to Virbank City," Looker grinned at them as the helicopter finally landed.
"Cool, I've never been on one before," Hilbert couldn't help, but run to the vehicle and get on it.
"We should be arriving in Virbank within six hours with a helicopter, am I correct Looker?" Cilan questioned.
"Correct Cilan, now if you would all please get on board, we have a lot of things waiting for us in Virbank City," Looker stated and they all got on the chopper.
"Oh boy, I can't wait!" Hilbert exclaimed in excitement while Iris, Cilan, and Axew, who had popped out of her hair to wonder what the fuss is about, began to chuckle.
Hilda sighed and spoke to Hilbert as they all buckled their seatbelts, "You know you come off as a child sometimes."
Hilbert chuckled nervously, "Sorry, it's my first time."
"Captain, take us off," Looker ordered as he stood by the part where you got onboard, he stretched his arm upward and held onto a rail as the helicopter began to take off. The group of 5 looked at the island through the windows and bid it farewell, from a bird's-eye view, the destruction of Castelia City and Liberty Garden was very clear and it was the last thing the gang saw as they flew towards Virbank City.
Somewhere, deep under the ocean, a black base with a dome structure was hidden and inside one of the rooms, there was a long silver table with three figures sitting down, Colress, Ghetsis, and Giovanni. They sat together at the left end of the long table and another figure stood in front of the sitting trio, it was Omega and like the three leaders sitting down, Omega had a displeased gaze.
"You promised us Victini, you ensured we would attain victory, yet here we are in the face of defeat!" Ghetsis snarled at Omega.
"We didn't pay good money for your assistance just so we would end up being defeated," Giovanni clenched his right fist.
"We were left humiliated by scummy police forces and gang of pesky teenagers," Colress glared at Omega.
Omega closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them, his blank stare became a glare and he spoke, "My team proceeded with the plan perfectly, it was your useless henchmen that brought us almost to our knees in Liberty Garden. For starters, your agents, Colress, failed to obtain any agenda regarding the International Police Force's counterattack against our plans. My followers were in charge of hacking into those meddlesome teenagers' plans to attack us. The fact that your team was too careless in that operation has led to the arrest and loss of a one-fifth of the entire unit we assembled with our alliance."
"You assured us that the bigger threat would be that punk Roxas and his friends. We weren't expecting such heavy resistance from a group of average teens and police officers prepared for war!" Ghetsis slammed his fist on the table.
"Never judge a book by its cover," Omega crossed his arms as he frowned at Ghetsis with his amber eyes.
"That doesn't make up for the fact that a superior battler lost to some troublesome kids," Giovanni crossed his arms and he remained seated.
"If you're referring to your best operative, Pierce, I have to admit that I'm disappointed at myself for relying on such a weakling to handle the job of taking down Ash and May in Castelia City. He hasn't even returned with the rest of our units from the battle in Castelia City," the silver-haired man criticized Giovanni's best operative. "It was because of his failure that we weren't able to progress with the plan like we would've liked and the rocket operatives in the lighthouse also failed similarly. They were suppose to keep Ash, May, Iris, and Cilan at bay, not just Iris and Cilan, if they had held off all 4, we would have Victini with us right now. I'm wouldn't be surprised if your famous Rocket Trio with the Meowth ended up being killed in that incident since they aren't with us."
Giovanni glared at Omega and replied, "The Rocket Trio's failure comes as no surprise to me, but I put my greatest operatives to handle Ash and May both in Castelia City and Liberty Garden. We were not expecting such a difficult battle from average brats."
Omega frowned at Giovanni and spoke, "Next time, you'll let my operatives handle the critical points of the mission. My error in this mission was the reliance I showed in your operatives, right now they are in the middle of organizing the next phase of our plan. We may not have obtained Victini, but the other Legendary Pokémon lurking in Unova will be enough to make up for the loss. My best men will also be in charge of taking down Ash and May this time."
"There will be no need for that," a rough voice said and they all looked behind Omega and saw a dark portal where a large man with a turquoise beard came out of it.
"Well, look what the devil dropped in," Colress smirked when he saw Phantom.
"Phantom, we believed you were lost," Giovanni chuckled.
"You shouldn't have returned, unless if you returned with Victini," Ghetsis remained serious.
"The next time, I'll leave you three against those two punks," Phantom glared at them.
"One thing I'm curious about is the fact that you returned without a single wound. I expected them to leave you broken," Omega crossed his arms and looked at his underling.
Phantom chuckled and got on one knee while he maintained his other knee up. "My lord, Ash, May, and Victini, are no more."
Omega gave Phantom a blank look while the three leaders stood up, all of them exclaiming, "Impossible!"
"I may not have obtained Victini, but I blew those two up so they would no longer be a threat to us. I barely managed to make it out of there, but in the end, the world's greatest duo died in the tragic explosion," Phantom chuckled with delight.
Giovanni, Colress, and Ghetsis had satisfied grins overcoming their faces as they gazed at Phantom. It was a giant leap for the villainous alliance with Ash and May out of the picture, but Omega wasn't convinced.
The silver-haired man placed his right hand a few centimeters away from Phantom's face and looked at Phantom coldly as he revealed his palm, his hand protected by his black leather glove. "My lord?" Phantom questioned his actions.
All of a sudden, an attack that resembled Shadow Ball shot out of his palm and blasted Phantom against a wall, leaving a few scratches on his face. The 3 criminal leaders became horrified as Phantom groaned in pain, "Omega, why?"
Omega pulled his hand and arm back as he started to speak sternly, "Because the light is too bright to see through. I'm not convinced that those two are dead, it's too easy; never make a judgment without evidence Phantom, remember how we operate. Do you have any proof of the pair's death?"
Phantom began to shake in fear and gave the leader of the Majestic 12 a disappointed gaze, "No sir."
"That's what I thought; I won't let my organization degrade itself to the level of Team Rocket or Team Neo Plasma. The next time you show the stupidity of a regular grunt, Phantom, you will have receive a greater punishment," Omega informed his underling, who nodded.
"Well, I'll believe your operative's words. If Ash and May are gone, they're gone, if they got killed in an explosion, then there was no possible way of escaping," Ghetsis stated.
Omega chuckled with a very deep tone and smirked at Ghetsis, "We'll see for how long you hold that belief. Right now, let us focus on taking down the meddlesome teenagers who consider themselves freedom fighters. I have a wide array of plans set and this time, we will commence with the most favorable one at the moment, Project G."
Ghetsis and the other leaders and even Phantom became shocked when they heard of the step Omega decided to take.
Meanwhile, north of Liberty Garden, in a heavily wooded area, five figures lay on the grass unconscious. Two of them were humans, they were both covered in dirt and surrounding them were injured Pokémon, two of them were small in comparison to the large purple feline. Not only were they covered in dirt, but black smudges they had received in an explosive battle not too long ago.
As the setting sun shined on the face of the brunette girl, she desperately tried to shut her eyes tighter so the light would not interrupt her sleep, of course this was futile. When she gave up, she slowly opened her eyes and saw a partially orange sky above her. When she shifted her head around gently and saw the forest around her, she instantly got up and began to ask herself, "How did I get here, where am I?"
She turned her head to the left and saw her feline Pokémon lying on the ground close to a rodent-like creature and another more fairy-like creature. A little closer to her was a raven-haired boy, her lover; he laid there like if the grass was as comfortable as his bed. The smile on his face seemed to imply that anyway.
May giggled and spoke, "He's adorable when he's asleep." Although her mind quickly shifted back to the matter of how they ended up here or what even happened before ending up here. She saw that her boyfriend and the Pokémon were covered in dirt, smudges, etc. When she saw how dirty she was, she sighed, I hate it when I get my clothes dirty, the girl thought in her mind, but when she focused her gaze on the fairy-like creature her memory returned to her in a second.
She instantly recalled the battle between Ash, her, and Phantom and their desperate attempt to protect Victini from the evil pirate. As a last resort, Phantom threatened to blow up the place and the last thing she heard before everything went black was a loud explosion.
"That explains what happened before getting here. Ash and I were protecting Victini from Phantom and then there was this explosion, but I still can't remember about how we got in this forest. It doesn't even look like where in Liberty Garden anymore," May examined the area around her.
May looked down at the ground in one final attempt to remember, but it was no use, she turned her gaze to Ash and said, "I'll try waking up Ash, maybe he knows."
Not finding the energy to stand up, she crawled over to him and shrugged his shoulder, "Ash, wake up, I think we got enough sleep," May tried to awaken him, but the boy remained motionless. She placed her finger on her chin and snapped her fingers, I know! She giggled and said, "Food is ready."
She shrugged his shoulder again and the boy moved slightly this time, saying, "Too early…" with a lazy voice and continuing his sleep.
May placed her hands on her hips and thought to herself, never thought I'd hear that one. If the announcement of food doesn't wake him up, what will…unleeeessss…the girl had a sneaky look on. "You left me no choice Ashy," May smirked and leaned in to kiss the boy. She let her tongue enter his as their lips touched, with her tongue in his mouth, she quickly began to tickle the roof of it and Ash couldn't help but wonder what was going on. May pulled back right before Ash sat up in an instant, his eyes now alert and his body warm from the kiss he received from an unknown source.
He rubbed his face with his hands to awaken himself a bit more and asked, "Did I die and go to heaven? It looks just like the Earth," the boy looked forward while still fixing his vision.
"Not exactly," a voice said and Ash turned to his right and saw the angelic face he was deeply in love with.
"May," the boy smiled when he saw her.
"We're still alive Ash," the sapphire-eyed girl giggled. "Sorry about waking you up like that by the way, but you didn't give me choice since you wouldn't wake up to my other calls," the brunette explained.
Ash grinned and replied, "It's alright, I actually wouldn't mind if you did that more often," the boy chuckled and winked.
May winked back at him and they both shared a quick laugh. Ash then looked around and saw Liepard, Pikachu, and Victini lying unconscious on the ground, "May, do you know what's going on? How'd we get here?"
"I wish I knew how we ended here too; I was hoping you would know after waking up. All I was able to remember was a battle with Phantom, when we tried to protect Victini from him and nearly lost. The very last thing I remember though was a loud explosion and everything went dark," the coordinator said to Ash.
Ash thought about what May said for a minute and had his memories returning to him as well, "Yeah, now I remember, we barely made it out of alive. If Victini hadn't powered up Liepard and Pikachu, we would've been goners."
May nodded in agreement and thanked the luck they had received in that battle. She turned to Victini, Pikachu, and Liepard, "We should probably wake them up now too."
"Right," Ash bobbed his head and stood up with May. They both flexed their muscles to get their bodies moving and then walked over to awaken their Pokémon. May walked over to Liepard and Ash to Pikachu, both trainers began shrugging their Pokémon as they slowly started to awaken.
"C'mon Liepard, naptime is over," May smiled at Liepard, who slowly opened its eyes and could see a blurry May.
"Pikachu, time to wake up pal," Ash grinned at Pikachu; the mouse gently opened its eyes and saw Ash in front of it.
"Pi?" Pikachu got out as he tried to wake up from his nice sleep.
"Hey buddy," Ash smiled happily at his Electric-type.
Pikachu rubbed its eyes as it sat up and when its vision cleared, it joyfully jumped into Ash's arms, "Pikapi!"
"Hey Liepard, did you enjoy your sleep?" May giggled as Liepard happily got on all fours and rubbed itself against May.
"Lie," Liepard purred as it rubbed itself against May and flexed its muscles in the process. May couldn't help and giggle at the feline.
When the exchange of affection between the trainers and their Pokémon ended, Ash and May turned their attention to the little orange Pokémon, still asleep on the grass, Liepard and Pikachu also turned to Victini.
May walked over to Victini with Ash and they kneeled down to wake up the Legendary Pokémon. "Victini, time to get up," May shrugged the Fire-type.
"Hope you enjoyed your sleep, but it's time to wake up," Ash tried to get through Victini's mind and wake it up, he also shrugged Victini in an attempt to wake up the little one.
"It's cute when it's asleep," May admired the little Pokémon with Ash.
"After a tough battle, it must have been really tired," Ash stared at the Pokémon.
Liepard and Pikachu also approached Victini and the four smiled at the innocent little one. It was thanks to this small creature that they had been able to overcome Phantom's ruthlessness and they were grateful to the Victory Pokémon. When May placed her hand on Victini's head and caressed it gently, the Psychic-type slowly opened its eyes and saw the group of four.
It blinked several times to get a clear vision, "V?" the Pokémon gradually began to remember who they were and saw May's hand on its head.
"Hello Victini," May smiled when she greeted Victini and pulled her arm back.
"Glad to see you're awake," Ash grinned at it.
"Pi pi pika," Pikachu smiled as well with Liepard.
Victini instantly got up and began hovering above the ground. "Vi victini v vi!" Victini flew around the group; it cheered happily and playfully rubbed itself against Ash and May's cheeks.
"Someone's up and ready," May giggled while Victini rubbed itself against her cheeks.
"It's nice to see Victini this happy, after everything that's go on it's as cheerful as ever," Ash commented when Victini rubbed itself against his cheek.
They all laughed at Victini's gleeful attitude and gazed at with happiness. "V vi!" Victini dashed at Ash and May and embraced them in a small hug.
"It's really taken a liking towards us," May grinned and placed her hand on Victini.
"It must be thankful that we saved it," Ash returned Victini's hug, smiling at May as they both held the hovering Legendary Pokémon.
Pikachu and Liepard admired the affection shared among the three, Pikachu hated to break the moment but it was curious about something. "Pikachu pi pika pi," Pikachu asked the pair.
"Actually yeah, May and I were wondering how we ended up here too pal," Ash separated from Victini.
"How'd we end up from a lighthouse to the middle of a forest?" May asked herself again, but her question also made Ash, Liepard, and Pikachu wonder.
When Victini noticed the pondering expressions on their faces it grinned and spoke, "Victini v vi."
"What's wrong Victini?" Ash questioned the Legendary Pokémon.
Victini hovered slightly above the pair's heads and grinned, "Vi," it then put its hands on their heads.
"What's it doing?" May looked at Ash, feeling Victini's small hand on her hair.
"I'm not sure," Ash looked up at Victini who just kept smiling; even Liepard and Pikachu were confused.
All of a sudden, Ash and May's eyes turned baby blue and in their minds, a whole scene began to build up. It was from a third-person perspective and they saw themselves with Liepard and Pikachu, confronting a defeated Phantom.
"You annoying little brats, you're going to pay for the humiliation done to me today, you'll pay with your lives," Phantom grinded his teeth.
The Phantom then reached into his black coat and threw a Semtex Time Bomb at the stone in the middle of the room. When it made contact with the stone, it began to beep and beep.
"That bomb will blow up this entire room in less than 20 seconds, there's no escape for you, nice knowing ya," Phantom laughed and disappeared by going through a dark portal.
"Ash, there's only ten seconds left, what do we do?!" May looked at him with a worried look.
"There's nothing we can do, we won't escape in time," Ash gave May a fearful look and the brunette was in a state of shock.
The pair and their Pokémon looked at the bomb with fear and counted down in their minds, 3…2…
"Vi victini v," Victini shut its eyes tightly and a red aura formed around the group of five. Ash, May, and their Pokémon had their eyes shut and waited for the explosion to take them away, but a millisecond before it could, Victini teleported them away, in the process knocking them out with its psychic powers.
What Victini saw as it traveled at a speed almost as fast as the speed of light was a loud explosion coming from the lighthouse. The next moment, Victini found itself and its friends in another part of Unova, a very woodland area and when they arrived there, far away from harm. Victini let out a heavy breath and dropped the bodies of the gang, the red aura around them disappearing, when Victini saw them drop unconscious, it also felt very tired and dropped to the ground, falling asleep when it hit the ground.
Victini took its hands off Ash and May and their eyes returned to their normal color. Ash and May shook their heads to gain back their composure and they both looked at Victini. "So that's what happened," Ash now understood everything.
"We only survived by a millisecond from that bomb," May felt fear grow in her body, recollecting scene of how close they were from death, but the brunette shook it off and was glad she was here with Ash, Pikachu, Liepard, and Victini, alive.
"Thank you Victini," Ash grinned and looked up at the small Pokémon.
"Thank you so much, you saved our lives," May smiled and thanked the Fire-type. She was so thankful towards the Victory Pokémon that she leaped at it and embraced it in a hug. "Thank you so much," May rubbed herself against Victini and felt a few tears stream down her cheeks and onto Victini.
Victini looked up at May and wondered why it was crying, "V?" the Pokémon asked. Ash approached May and Victini and wrapped his arms around the girl from behind and embraced her and Victini, "It's alright, we're all here together now, that's all that counts," the boy grinned and placed his head on May's.
Pikachu climbed onto Ash's shoulder and hugged May from behind as well while Liepard rubbed itself against May's leg and Victini rubbed its face against her cheek, trying to make the girl happy.
May smiled when she saw all her loved ones around her and she let out a few more tears while grinning. For the next few minutes they all remembered in this position, embracing themselves like for there were no tomorrow.
When Ash realized the sun was setting fast, he was forced to separate and spoke, "May, it's almost nighttime. We should probably get moving and hope we find a place to spend the night."
May stopped hugging Victini and Liepard also separated from, "Good idea Ash, at least we have our supplies," May grinned at Ash, showing him her fanny pack.
"Good thing I didn't leave my backpack off somewhere," Ash showed his backpack, which was on his back and he tend to leave somewhere while going off to do something.
May wiped away the moist from the tears off her cheeks and spoke, "We should probably find out where we are exactly though."
Ash nodded and checked the Xtransceiver on his wrist and tapped on the screen a few times. The raven-haired teen scratched the back of his head with his free arm and said, "It says here we're north of Liberty Garden, near Virbank City, the closest town nearby and it's a day's walk away from here."
"That's what my Xtransceiver says too, you think we can make it by nighttime?" May looked from the Xtransceiver to Ash.
Ash turned to May and put on his thinking look. For a few seconds he looked up at the orange sky, when he finished he placed his fists on his hip and sighed, "I don't think we can. If we tried to walk nonstop we'd get there between the morning and noon."
"Then I guess we should just walk for a bit until it's time to camp," the brunette suggested.
"Yeah, after a long day we should just take it slow. Tomorrow first thing in the morning we'll head to Virbank City," Ash agreed with May's suggestion and stated what they would do after that.
May nodded and turned her attention to Liepard. "Liepard, I think it's best if you return to your Pokéball. You've earned yourself some rest after everything you've been through," May told her partner with a soft grin.
"Liepard," the feline nodded and smiled at the trainer.
The brunette smiled at it and reached for her Pokéball, "Return," and with that Liepard became red energy and got transported inside the Pokéball. May then put away Liepard in her fanny pack and waited for Ash to make the call.
"Pikachu, you should get on my shoulder for this one, you've been through enough for one day," Ash recommended to his partner.
"Pi pikapi pi," Pikachu grinned at his friend and climbed all the way to his shoulder. The two friends smiled at each other and looked at May. Then he noticed Victini hovering right beside her.
Ash raised his eyebrow and began to wonder something. May quickly noticed and asked, "Ash what's wrong?"
"I was wondering if Victini would like to come with us," the auburn-eyed boy stated.
May turned to Victini and grinned at it, Victini began flying around up and down, left and right, smiling at the teens. The sapphire-eyed teen smiled at it and then at Ash, "I think we've got our answer Ash."
Ash grinned at Victini's jolly nature and nodded, "Welcome to the group Victini."
"You'll be coming with us to Virbank, it'll be fun," May winked at it while flashing a grin.
"Vi v vi victini!" Victini rubbed its cheek against May's and then rushed over to Ash and rubbed its cheek against the raven-haired teen.
The pair and Pikachu laughed as Victini flied around in joy. "Well let's get going then, Victini, you can get on my shoulder if you'd like," May said to the Legendary Pokémon.
"Victini!" Victini flew down to May and slowed its pace until it gradually descended on May's left shoulder and sat there. "V vi," Victini beamed.
"Let's go," Ash looked at Victini and May, causing him to smile.
May bobbed her head and they began walking through the woods, it was a very dense woodland area, but it looked like there were no Pokémon nearby. As they walked, they were all very quiet, not even Victini did anything, it just sat calmly on May's shoulder while walking through the forest.
"Ash what will we do when we reach Virbank City?" May inquired, wondering what they would do.
Ash showed a face of uncertainty, "I'm not sure May, the first thing we could do is try to contact Iris, Cilan, or anyone that we know and let them know where we are."
May then remembered the last time she and Ash saw the pair and wondered about them, pondering in her head as to where they were or if they were safe. Thinking of Iris and Cilan provoked her to think about their other friends they had left on the island, "Ash, do you think Iris, Cilan, Hilbert, Hilda or anyone we know for that matter, is ok? I'm worried as to what might have happened to them, what if they got captured by Omega, Team Rocket, or Team Neo Plasma?"
"I'm worried about them too May, we don't know what's going on with them and they don't know what's going on with us. They might think we are…dead… because there was trace of us after the explosion," Ash froze when he said "death", it was very a word he was comfortable saying, but this time he had no choice.
"Do you think they really believe we're gone?" the sapphire-eyed girl became concerned.
"I hope not, if they know us well enough, they'll know it takes more than a guy with a bomb to get rid of us," Ash joked and chuckled, trying to ease May's worries.
May still remained uncertain and her worrisome gaze worried Ash. The black-haired teen placed his hand on May's shoulder and told her, "No need to worry May, I'm sure our friends are alright and we'll be together again once we reach Virbank City. I guarantee we're all going to be reunited and celebrate that we stopped those guys from harming Victini or destroying Castelia City."
When the coordinator saw Ash's optimistic face she felt a grin forming on her face. His optimism passed onto her and she pictured the friends all reuniting and laughing together, the brunette was excited about reaching Virbank City, she was eager to see her friends safe and sound again.
"And once we're reunited, we'll get back on track and keep going to the gyms and contests, everything will turn back to normal," Ash assured her even further. He then reached for hand and connected his with hers.
May let out a deep breath and leaned closer to Ash, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked together. Victini got caught between the two heads, but the Fire-type couldn't be happier to be between his two saviors and got greeted by Pikachu, who he was happy to see.
"Thank you Ash, I needed that. I just can't wait to get to Virbank City," May explained to her boyfriend.
"Don't worry about a thing May, we'll be there by tomorrow, just relax ok?" Ash kissed her head as reassurance.
"Ok," May blushed slightly and squeezed Ash's hand affectionately.
The time had flown by since they began walking and the sky was slowly turning into a dark color while the orange was only half of the sky now. Ash took note of this and said something, "I think we should camp here for the night, it's getting late and it'll start to get cold."
"I don't see why not," May stopped when Ash stopped, "Look Ash, there's a lake just past these trees," May pointed northeast.
Ash focused his vision in the direction she pointed at and saw a circular blue color surrounded by grass, "You're right May, this is great. We can shower there tonight and get rid of all this dirt," Ash realized that they were both extremely dirty from the dirt and black smoke.
"We?" May smirked at him teasingly.
Pikachu couldn't help but chuckle while Victini became confused as to what the brunette meant. Ash put on a startled look and frowned at her, "I meant showering one at a time! We're not showering together!" Ash's face became red but not out of anger, but because of embarrassment.
May giggled and winked at Ash, "Relax Ash; I'm just pulling your leg. Even if we're a couple it'd be weird to see us like that while showering."
"Well ok," Ash sighed and gave her a sheepish smile.
Ash took his mind off May's joke and looked at the area around them, not only did they have a lake nearby, but the spot they stopped in was clear of trees and formed a circle with a diameter of about 20 feet. "This is where we'll camp, it's perfect in size and the lake is close. I'll start setting up the sleeping bags and anything else we'll need for the night," Ash informed May about his plan and dropped his backpack on the ground.
"Alright, while you do that I think I'll go shower, I can't stand being this dirty," May looked at her dirt-stained black and white clothes.
Ash nodded, knowing hygiene and being clean are valued highly by girls, after living and traveling with females, he knew that almost better than anyone. "Oka-," but before Ash could finish, the sound of loud grumbling filled the forest and Victini and Pikachu couldn't help but chuckle at Ash and May, whose faces became red from shame.
"Will we have anything to eat?" May grabbed her stomach while laughing nervously.
Ash laughed nervously and replied, "Well, I have some of Cilan's supplies in my backpack. I'm not much of a cook, but I have ham, cheese, and bread for a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, how hard can that be? " The boy sighed, even after traveling with cooks he became ashamed of himself for never paying much attention as to how they cooked, note to self, ask Cilan or Brock to teach me how to cook some day, the boy thought in his mind. "Usually I'm not comfortable touching food and cooking equipment because I'm afraid I'll end up burning it, but I'll make an exception for Pikachu, Victini, and you, May," Ash grinned at the girl, explaining his reluctance to cook, but for his friends and girlfriend, he would do anything, including cooking.
"Awww, that's sweet Ash, it doesn't have to taste the best. It's the fact that you're willing to cook something for us that counts," May walked over to him and pecked him on the cheek, making the boy smile because of her kindness.
"V victini," Victini showed the same gratitude towards Ash and flew around him.
"Pi pikapi," Pikachu also displayed appreciation for his best friend's willingness to cook.
"After showering, I'll come and help you k," May winked at him and reached for the towel inside Ash's backpack.
Ash nodded at her and then May walked away towards the lake. After a few seconds of staring at the beautiful brunette, Ash turned his attention to his backpack, "Well, let's get started."
He walked over to it and dug inside in search of the stuff he would need for the food. "Here's the cheese," Ash took out a plastic container with sliced cheese inside; he continued digging and pulled out something else, "Here's the sliced ham." He then reached in to get the last thing, "And the sliced bread," Ash pulled out a bag with a long stack of sliced bread inside.
"Pikachu pi pika," Pikachu walked over to the food with Victini and examined it. He began counting it and then turned to Ash, "Pikapi pi."
"There's only enough for one sandwich each?" Ash looked at the food and realized that Pikachu was right. There were only enough sandwiches for everybody if everyone ate one sandwich. The auburn-eyed teen sighed and spoke, "Well, everyone needs to eat so we have no choice pal."
"Pi," Pikachu nodded, understanding the situation and didn't mind having just one sandwich.
Victini just gazed at the food and licked its lips with delight; the Fire-type was clearly hunger and couldn't wait till it could get some food.
Ash stood up and crossed his arms, "Pikachu, I'm going to go get firewood, please take care of Victini and our stuff while I'm gone alright?"
"Pi-," Pikachu got interrupted by Victini.
Victini shook its head sideways and said, "Vi victini v vi."
Pikachu quickly understood what Victini tried to say and said, "Pikachu pi pika pi."
Ash was uncertain about letting the two small Pokémon go, but then again, Pikachu has done this before and with Victini's psychic powers, it'd be much easier. "Victini, do you really want to go get the firewood?" Ash inquired the Legendary Pokémon.
"V," Victini nodded happily.
"You too, Pikachu?" Ash asked his yellow friend.
"Pi," Pikachu nodded, the mouse was more than willing to go, but he also felt like he should be with Victini and protect it.
Ash let out a deep breath and said, "Well alright, but be back soon ok?"
Victini and Pikachu shook their heads up and down and rushed into the woodland area in search of wood. Ash looked at them until they disappeared among the trees, "Since they're off doing that, I'll just take out the pan, luckily it's the only thing I need for this," the boy spoke to no one in particular.
The raven-haired teen walked over and kneeled down to get the pan, "Cilan put me in charge of his favorite pan, wonder if he'll freak out when he remembers that I have it. He's really fond of it," Ash said when he pulled it out and examined it. "I still don't see what's so special about a pan, but everyone has something they are fond of," Ash smiled at the pan, remembering of his good friend, Cilan.
Suddenly, he heard the sounds of leaves rustling and Ash turned instantly, "Huh?" the boy inspected the area, "Who's there?" Ash began to worry that it might have been an enemy.
He looked through the trees and spotted something very odd wandering through the woods for a second before it disappeared again. "What's that?" Ash had seen the figure before, but couldn't exactly remember what; it was the projected soul of a creature, but he still couldn't make it out. It had two tails and a cone-shaped head with elf ear-like protrusions on each side. Nonetheless, Ash failed to identify it and it disappeared again, never appearing again. "That was weird," Ash looked in the direction of it and looked on for a few more seconds. He shrugged his shoulders, "It's gone now though, guess I'll just get back to setting up camp," Ash said and returned to his business.
Meanwhile, May was tying the shoelaces of her shoes, which had the same design of her original ones, except black and white. She stood with her towel in her hand, "That was refreshing," the girl let out a deep breath, she decided not to wear her usual white sleeveless jacket or her white bandana, and instead chose to wear a simple black tank top, which like her regular black shirts exposed some cleavage, but unlike her black shirts, did show her lower stomach. May was well aware of the slightly provocative shirt she wore and how mature she had gotten physically, "Hope Ash doesn't mind me wearing just this shirt and shorts," she looked at herself in the reflection of the water and smiled at herself, "I don't think so, it'll be funny if he calls me cute though," May giggled as she spoke to herself and kept checking her body in the reflection of the water.
When she finished examining herself in the water, she looked up and saw the projected soul of an unknown creature hovering above the middle part of the lake. It looked extremely familiar to her; she had seen it before in drawings when she visited Sinnoh over a year ago. It had two and four long, drooping appendages. It hovered like a statue above the lake, "What Pokémon is that?" May rubbed her eyes with the towel to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
While May did that, the creature shot up into the sky like a rocket and disappeared from sight. When May lowered the towel to see again, it was no longer there, May shook her head and spoke, "After a long and exhaustive day, I'm starting to see stuff, at least it's over," she then stared at the sky and was thankful for coming out in one piece. When she snapped out of her trance she said something else, "I should get back to Ash, wonder how it's going with the cooking," the girl turned back to the woods and began running.
"Great job you two," Ash congratulated Pikachu and Victini as they stood in front of the pile of wood. Ash walked closer to the pile of wood and said, "Now that that's done, I'll just start the fire."
Before Ash could do anything though, Victini stopped him, "V victini vi," the Pokémon put his hand in front of Ash.
"What's wrong Victini?" Ash asked the Pokémon, confused.
"Victini," Victini grinned a spewed out a Flamethrower, lighting up the wood very easily.
"Pika!" Pikachu cheered that the fireplace was now set.
Ash chuckled and displayed a sheepish grin, "Oh right, I forgot you were a Fire-type," the raven-haired teen scratched the back of his head with awkwardness.
"V," Victini grinned.
"I feel like you guys have done everything, it's my turn to do the stuff now," Ash grinned and revealed his pan, "I'll do the cooking part now." He kneeled down and untied the knot of the bag of bread and took out a slice. He placed the bread on the pan and spoke to himself while Victini and Pikachu watched with curiosity, "Ok, so am I supposed to put the bread on the pan first?"
Victini and Pikachu sighed when they heard Ash, wondering if they were actually going to eat it tonight. "Not exactly," a voice said and giggled. They all looked to the right and saw May standing in front of them; she was spotless and had traces of dirt or smudges.
Ash felt himself heating up when he saw May, he wasn't sure if it was the fire or the way she looked with her tank top and her sparkly clean appearance, he couldn't stop staring at her from head to toe, but when he realized what he was doing, he shook the thought off. The auburn-eyed teen felt humiliated inside for thinking of May in that way, it wasn't like him, but he still couldn't ignore the fact that May was extra cute tonight.
May couldn't help but giggle when she saw how dumbstruck Ash was when he saw her; I knew this would happen, the girl smiled at herself. She decided to snap him out of his trance and said, "That's not how you start Ash," the girl sighed and grinned at him.
Ash let out a deep breath and gave her a sheepish smile, "Then how do you start?"
"Let me help you," May walked over to him, causing Ash to stand up. "First you're supposed to butter one side of each slice of bread, we have butter and a knife right?"
"I think sooo…" Ash smiled nervously, not sure if they did.
"Pika pika," Pikachu called out.
"Vi victini," Victini also called out.
They both looked down and saw Pikachu holding a knife and Victini holding the butter. "Oh good," May received the items and grinned.
Ash let out a sigh of relief and smiled at May. The sapphire-eyed girl then continued speaking, "Anyway, you place the butter and then you put the side that's buttered face down so the heat can melt and give the bread a good taste."
"How could I forget that?" Ash laughed nervously, knowing how important that step was.
May smiled, "Don't worry Ash, you're not use to this kind of stuff, but we'll make the sandwiches together," the girl winked at him.
Ash turned slightly red, embarrassed at his stupidity when it came to cooking and May's suggestion, but he knew it could be fun, "Alright," the messy-haired teen grinned.
"I'll put the butter on the bread, why don't you handle the stuff on the pan," May recommended and Ash nodded in agreement.
"Pikapi," Pikachu called out to the teens one more time. Ash and May looked down and saw a spatula in his paws.
"Oh yeah, you'll need a spatula to do the heating up stuff with the bread," the brunette told Ash.
"Even Pikachu knows more about cooking," Ash murmured in disappointment and received the spatula from his friend.
May pecked his lips to cheer him up, knowing Ash felt bad for his lack of knowledge on cooking, "You'll remember it next time Ash, it's just practice, like a Pokémon battle," the girl smiled, using the concept of something Ash was familiar with to help him.
May's encouragement made the boy smile and shoved his spatula in the air, "Well then, let's get cooking!"
Victini, Pikachu, and May laughed at Ash's behavior, but they were glad at how quickly he regained his spirit from one kiss and a few words. May fetched a plate for the bread and began buttering the slices as she sat near the fire while Ash opened the containers with sliced cheese and ham.
"May, there aren't enough sandwiches for everyone to have two each, so I agreed on each of us having one sandwich with Pikachu," the boy said as he got placed the covers of the containers on the floor.
"No problem, you and I have big appetites, but tonight we'll be willing to let it go so the rest of our Pokémon can eat," May didn't mind the lack of food there was for her and Ash, bringing her Pokémon into consideration and feeding them was more important.
"At least we don't have any Pokémon that are fully-evolved aside from Liepard, that would probably give us a problem or if we had Munchlax or Snorlax with us," Ash said, smiling when he mentioned Munchlax and Snorlax, remembering the problem those two Pokémon gave their respective trainers when it came to food.
"That would've been a big problem," May grinned, reminiscing of her Normal-type companion, she had to be honest; she did miss him at times. When she finished buttering two slices of bread, she told Ash, "Two buttered slices are ready Ash; you should probably get them on that pan."
"Coming right up," Ash grinned as he brought all the supplies closer to the fire and got next to May. He extended the pan out so May could put the bread and like she instructed earlier, she put the buttered sides facing down. Ash then proceeded to placing ham and cheese on the non-buttered side of the bread and after that he placed the pan over the fire and the sounds of the butter sizzling could be heard.
"Doing this won't take too long, we'll be done soon," May told Ash.
"I hope so, because the smell of that butter is making me hungry," Ash said and the two laughed, they were probably the ones who were starving the most in all honesty.
After a few minutes, May instructed him, "Time to place the other bread on top of the sandwich."
"Ok," Ash said and placed the slice of bread with no ham and cheese on top of the slice that did.
"And it's ready," May clasped her hands together and admired the sandwich.
"Great," Ash smiled and placed his spatula under the sandwich and placed it on the plate May had brought. "That's one down," Ash cheered.
"And some more to go," May grinned and they quickly continued cooking.
After repeating the steps numerous times, they were halfway through the bag of bread. "You aren't bad at this Ash; you basically have the hang of it. I bet all these sandwiches will taste amazing once we're done," May complimented him while slithering butter on the white bread.
"Thanks May, but I don't think it'll be that good," Ash grinned her, showing his usual modest attitude.
"Whatever you say Ash, but I can barely stop myself from getting one of the sandwiches right now," May looked at the stack of sandwiches on the plate, she could hardly control her stomach from making her run over to the plate and it eat all. Ash also had a similar issue; his eyes had a difficult time focusing on the pan since it kept motioning towards the stack of sandwiches.
After getting bored from watching them play, Victini and Pikachu had begun playing. Victini had the task of trying to touch Pikachu's tail and when he did that, Victini would win, but Pikachu was no average mouse, his amazing speed allowed him to avoid Victini multiple times, but the Fire-type only became more determined to touch Pikachu's tail. They were both having a fun time.
"Pika!" Pikachu narrowly moved his tail from Victini.
"V!" Victini made a U-turn and narrowly missed Pikachu's tail.
"Pi!" Pikachu leaped to the right as Victini made another U-turn and the process was repeated multiple times.
"Victini!" Shot straight at the tail full speed, but Pikachu made a 360 spin and caused the Fire-type to miss.
"Pi," Pikachu smiled at Victini, encouraging it to keep going, each time he was getting closer.
"Vi!" Victini grinned and charged at Pikachu again.
"Those two are having a blast aren't they?" Ash had taken notice of the two Pokémon.
"It's cute, I haven't seen Pikachu play like this in a while," May commented as she gazed at the Pokémon.
"Me neither, he's always been playful with other Pokémon, but I rarely see him have this much fun," Ash added, "I've only seen him play this way with Togepi, a Larvitar I knew, and your Glaceon."
May listened to Ash intently and grinned, coming to a conclusion, "You know Ash; I think this Victini is actually a baby."
Ash turned to May with a puzzled look and asked, "How do you know May?"
"From experience with Eevee and Manaphy; Victini shows the same characteristics as Eevee and Manaphy when they were just born. They enjoy playing a lot and the way Pikachu treats Victini implies that it's only a newborn and the fact that it's so close to us might be more than just because we saved its life, but because we were the first affectionate things it saw, it thinks we're its parents," May went into detail with her explanation.
Ash smiled at May and thought about her talent for being a maternal figure for newborn Pokémon and he couldn't help but say, "You're going to make a great mother one day May."
The comment caused May to blushed and look down at the ground with a sheepish grin. "Well I think you'll be a great father Ash, considering the way you treat your Pokémon, I can only imagine how you'll treat our children," the brunette commented about him.
Now it was Ash's turn to blush, at first only a hint of red appeared on his face, but when he heard "our" he almost wanted to blast off into the sky. "Our?" Ash became tense and laughed nervously.
May giggled and lifted her head, grinning at him, "Just kidding Ash, but I still believe you would make a great dad."
Ash let out a sigh of relief and laughed, smiling at the girl as he cooked the last sandwich. When it finished he told May, "That was the last sandwich, time to get out the Pokémon,"
May nodded and reached for Pokéballs. "Pikachu, Victini, time to eat," Ash called the two Pokémon and they stopped their game to have some food because after so much playing around, even they had built up an appetite.
"Everyone, come on out!' Ash and May declared when they threw their Pokéballs in the air. From them, a white light shot out and Oshawott, Snivy, Blaziken, Liepard, and the other Pokémon came out. When Victini saw the large group of Pokémon it quickly moved behind Ash and May and stared at the other Pokémon.
"Osha," "Sni," "Blaz," "Lie," "Tepig!" the Pokémon cried out with joy when they saw their trainers, happy to see them again after a long day.
"Hey guys, time for you to eat," Ash grinned at them and revealed the stack of sandwiches.
"Hope you like it, we made it ourselves," May smiled at them, but then said something else, "Sadly, you can only have one sandwich each and we don't have enough stuff to make more," the brunette sighed and showed an empty bag of bread and a pair of empty containers.
All the Pokémon nodded at May and Pikachu jumped in front of them saying, "Pi pikapi pikachu!"
"It seems like they don't mind May," Ash grinned and crossed his arms.
"Blaziken blaz," Blaziken looked around the area and then turned back to the human duo. Soon the other Pokémon began to look around as well and had baffled faces on.
"Bet you're all wondering where Iris and Cilan are huh?" Ash let out a deep breath and they all shook their heads.
"Well, something happened in Castelia, the city got attacked by Team Rocket, Team Neo Plasma, and the Majestic 12. We defended it with Iris, Cilan, and other friends and the battle against those guys moved to an island near Castelia City, where they tried to capture this little guy," May explained to the Pokémon and revealed Victini to the group by moving away her leg.
"One of the members tried to take Victini, but we defeated him and he tried to blow up the building. It was thanks to Victini that we survived, it teleported us to this place, and even though we got separated from our friends, now we're going to Virbank City and try to contact them from there," Ash added to what May said as the Pokémon stared at the nervous Victini, who peeked behind May and Ash's legs since they stood next to each other.
Liepard and Pikachu included some other details like who exactly tried to take Victini since they were the only Pokémon that combated with Ash and May against the threat. In the end though,
"Now that we told you what happened though, we'd like you guys to meet Victini," May moved her leg away again to show Victini.
The Pokémon all grinned they saw the little Fire-type, the Tepig pair especially tried to approach Victini, but the Victory Pokémon was clearly nervous. "Vi victini," Victini began to fly and hid behind Ash's head, peeking down at the fire pigs that became confused by its attitude.
"It's a little shy. Victini is just a baby and the only ones its comfortable around right now is May, Pikachu, Liepard, and me," Ash smiled sheepishly and moved his head slightly to see Victini.
"Just give it some time and it'll start to get comfortable around you," May told the Pokémon.
They all nodded and just grinned at the Psychic-type Pokémon. May walked over to the stack of sandwiches and handed one to each Pokémon, "Enjoy," the sapphire-eyed girl smiled.
They all began eating the sandwiches with delight. Oshawott, Snivy, both Tepigs, Pikachu, Deerling, Petilil, and Scraggy all sat together near the fire and began talking with each other. Liepard and Tranquill decided to stay with Blaziken, Blaziken and Liepard calmly ate their sandwiches while lying against a tree trunk and Tranquil was perched on a tree branch.
Victini sat near Ash and May, who were just a little farther away from the fireplace than Pikachu and the others. The couple finished their sandwiches in three bites, and they became disappointed when they finished, nevertheless, both enjoyed their sandwiches.
"That was a great sandwich Ash, I couldn't have done it better myself," May rubbed her hands repeatedly and made any crumbs on her hands fall.
"You helped too May, but yeah, I didn't expect them to taste as good as it did. For someone who doesn't know much about cooking, it came out well." Ash savored the taste of the sandwich in his mind and smiled to no one in particular.
"It wasn't enough to fill us up, but it'll keep our energy up till the morning," May said while grinning up at the sky after eating.
"I should ask Brock or Cilan one day for some tips on cooking. Bet if I had actually paid attention when they cooked, the sandwich would've come out better or I could've come up with something more filling or delicious," The auburn-eyed teen stated.
May giggled and replied, "Don't worry, you'll get the whole cooking stuff one day, just like you were able to learn things about Pokémon and battling."
"I guess you're right, thanks May," Ash looked up at the sky and grinned.
Some minutes later, after staring at the night sky and full moon, the pair gazed down and saw that most of the Pokémon had already finished their sandwiches and were asleep. "Looks like everybody's already hit the sack," Ash noticed when he saw Pikachu and the other Pokémon were curled up or lying down, sleeping peacefully.
"All but one," May said when she noticed Victini just a few feet away, still eating its sandwich.
"Vi," Victini began to hover over to Ash and May with its sandwich. "Victini v vi," Victini got between Ash and May and sat down, grinning happily at both of them.
"How come you still haven't finished Victini?" Ash asked the little Pokémon.
"Vi v," Victini took a small bite of the sandwich that was over half his size.
"I guess it's too much for the little guy, it's only a baby," May believed.
Victini prepared to take a bite until something interrupted his eating, the sound of Ash and May's stomachs grumbling. "Vi?" the Victory Pokémon looked at both of them.
The pair laughed nervously and held their stomachs. "My mind says I'm good for tonight, but my stomach says the opposite," May had a hint of red on her face and continued to giggle.
"You're telling me," Ash chuckled uneasily and continued to hold his stomach.
"Victini vi!" Victini stretched its small arm out to Ash, giving the raven-haired teen his sandwich.
Ash raised his eyebrow when he Victini did that and asked, "You sure about that Victini?"
"V!" Victini shook its head up and down.
Ash let out a deep breath and smiled, "Thanks Victini." The auburn-eyed teen then took a piece from the sandwich and began to eat it.
Victini then motioned his sandwich to May and spoke cheerfully, "Vi victini!"
May sighed and giggled, "Alright Victini, thank you." May took a piece from Victini's sandwich and ate it.
They each ate a third of the sandwich and just gazed at each other, chewing and smiling. When Victini reached the last morsel it joyfully shoved it into its mouth, "Victini vi vi!" and chewed cheerfully.
Ash and May also ate their pieces and thanked Victini one last time. "Vi!" Victini began to hover and rubbed its cheeks against both trainers, making them smile.
Suddenly, Victini stopped flying around and began to yawn. May smiled and spoke, "Looks like it's time for us to go to sleep too."
Ash stood up and yawned, "I think so too, after a hard day we've all earned ourselves a good sleep."
Victini's eyes became heavy and hovered over to May and slowly let itself drop into the brunette's arms. May grinned down at Victini and cradled it, "It's so cute," the sapphire-eyed girl cradled it and then looked at Ash, smiling.
"Let's leave it sleeping with the other Pokémon," Ash recommended while grinning and the brunette agreed.
They walked over to Pikachu and May slowly put Victini down, next to Pikachu, but the moment the Victory Pokémon was free from May's arms, it started to shake uncomfortably and tears formed on the corners of its eyes. "Vi vi v," Victini groaned and got into fetal position, the tears still at the corner of its eyes.
"Something tells me it wants to be with us," Ash started to believe.
May let out a deep breath and grinned softly at the baby Fire-type. She kneeled down and picked up the Victory Pokémon, the brunette put her arms around the newborn. The embrace somehow managed to calm Victini's behavior and the tears from its eyes vanished and it rubbed itself against May's chest, feeling warmth as it pressed up against her.
"V…" Victini placed its head on May's chest and felt something soft like a pillow and the Pokémon went into a deep sleep as it made itself comfortable. May couldn't help but blush at the baby's actions and just smiled softly down at the little one.
"Told you," Ash crossed his arms and looked at Victini, smiling at the little creature. The way May held and cradled Victini provoked Ash to picture the brunette as a mother, in his mind though, Victini was replaced by an actual baby.
May seemed happy as she cradled the infant and Ash's smile only got bigger; the fact that May was good at being a maternal figure just made happy. The coordinator clearly had a knack for this.
May also let her motherly instincts come out while she held Victini; it was a feeling she only felt twice before, with Eevee and Manaphy. The sensation made her feel blissful, she held Victini up against her a bit more and she never wanted to let go of it, it was like her baby and her arms were protecting it.
"Time to sleep," Ash's voice broke her train of thought and May saw Ash standing next to two sleeping bags, one blue and the other pink.
As May cradled Victini, she asked, "Ash, aren't you going to shower though?"
"I think it's too late now, I'll do it first thing in the morning," Ash explained to her as he adjusted the sleeping bags and left them close to the fire. "There," the boy grinned and slipped off his shoes and took off his dirty hoodie.
May raised an eyebrow and inquired, "Are you going to sleep with your jeans on?"
"Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time. Besides, I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing just my shirt and boxers with only the two of us around," Ash explained to her with his arms crossed.
May began to flutter her eyelids, "Are you worried we might take it there tonight, Ash?"
Ash's face became as red as a Tamato Berry and the boy frowned, "No May, I just think it'd be inappropriate."
The brunette giggled and winked at Ash, "Don't worry Ash; I think it'd be kind of inappropriate too. I'm going to sleep with these clothes on tonight. Can you do me a favor though?" The sapphire-eyed girl asked.
"Sure May," Ash grinned, having gained his composure after May's comment.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" May questioned him.
Ash almost turned as stiff as a stone, this would be the first time they'd be sleeping together without anyone's supervision. In Pallet Town, his mother was there and on their way to Unova, they slept on separate beds.
"I-I-I," Ash was too uncertain to answer.
"Please Ash," May put on her puppy face while still holding onto Victini.
Her charming sapphire eyes and the puppy face were enough to get Ash to surrender though and the next moment he found himself letting out a deep breath and saying, "Alright May, but why?"
May grinned when she heard Ash's response and replied, "After everything that happened I would feel safer next to you, because I know you'd be protecting me."
Ash sighed and smiled, she was right though, the auburn-eyed teen would always look over her and protect her from anything and in all honesty, he'd feel more reassured if she was in his arms. "Ok May, we can sleep together."
May walked closer to Ash and pecked him on the cheek, "Thank you Ash," the brunette gave him a sweet smile. Ash only nodded and they then proceeded to slipping inside Ash's sleeping bag, which was actually big enough for two lovers and a Victini.
They gently slipped in and got themselves comfortable while Victini was placed between the two teens. When they finally settled, they looked at the Fire-type and saw how big its smile was, the Legendary Pokémon had never felt so safe and sound and it rubbed itself against both trainers' chests affectionately.
"How adorable," May said softly and pushed Victini a little closer to her, leaving her hand on top of Victini's head and rubbing it.
Ash smiled and placed his hand on top of May's, caressing it while the brunette grinned at him. "How long do they you think it'll stay with us?" Ash looked down at Victini for a second, but then turned back to May.
"I hope it's for some time, I've already grown fond of it," May looked down at and kissed its small head.
The raven-haired teen smiled once more and moved his hand from May's hand to her hair and began to stroke it gently. May returned the gesture and grinned, stroking Ash's hair with her hand gently. Ash's touch couldn't have been more comforting than it was right now.
"Good night Ash," May said and flashed one last smile at him.
Ash slowly leaned in and kissed her forehead, "Good night May," the boy said. After that, the two gradually fell asleep while gazing and embracing each other, with Victini between them, who just grinned happily as it, slept.
That was it for this chapter, much longer than I intended. I'm going to start focusing on the length of these chapters because it's getting pretty out of hand; however, I hoped you guys all enjoyed it nonetheless. Stick around for Chapter 24 and remember to REVIEW, PM, ETC, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions regarding this chapter. Keep in mind, this chapter's purpose was to refocus on Ash and May's romance rather than the actual plot since it's been a while since I posted a chapter like that. Hope you also liked the other short ffs I posted up these past weeks, I'm especially proud of Dying Inside, which was my favorite. If you haven't checked any of those out, you should and remember to REVIEW, PM, or anything like that. Until next time guys!