Chapter 6: The Attack

May and Ash were up bright and early the next morning, wanting to get to Rustburo before breakfast.

"So, what's Rustburo like?"

"Well, I've only been there once, but it's a lovely little settlement, really. The leader is a good friend of mine, and her letters often speak of how successful the mines are. It was only settled a year ago, but it's become a thriving community."

Before long, they saw the gates of the settlement…

Completely busted down, knocked over by force. May's eyes widened in fear.

"Oh no."

"Could it be Magma again?"

"No, they don't have the resources for this. But I do know who does, come on!"

Before Ash could pull her back, May took off, determined to help in any way she could. Ash followed right behind, not willing to fail his duty to protect her.

May ducked behind a wall as she saw a group of soldiers moving from the town, a pack of Pokemon at their command. Ash quickly joined her, catching a quick glance at the invading force before joining her. The enemy was dressed in similar garb to the clothes the Magma forces had worn, only blue where red had been.

"Who are those guys?"

"Forces from the Aqua Kingdom, and trouble."

"Aqua?"

"A rival kingdom, similar to Magma. They use Pokemon, but they don't have Pokeballs to capture them. If I had to guess, they're here to steal material to make some."

"Princess, are you alright?"

Ash turned to see a woman in her twenties coming towards them.

"Roxanne! Is everything okay? What happened?"

"Those Aqua grunts broke our gate down and barged in! The guards tried to stop them, but they overwhelmed them with their Pokemon."

"Have they made any demands?"

No sooner had May asked that did the leader of the enemy soldiers spoke.

"We know you're out there! And unless you want your citizens to wind up dead, you'll surrender to us! Don't make this any harder for yourself!"

To punctuate his point, he tossed his captive, an older man, to the ground and stomped on his back. May's blood began to boil.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing! We've got Pokemon too, let's take the fight to them!"

"Your highness, I can't let you do that! I've already sent a messenger to the nearest fort, reinforcements will be here soon."

"I'm sorry, Lady Roxanne, but my people need me!"

May ran out from behind the wall they were hiding behind, Ash right on her heels.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size!"

The leader turned to her, sneering.

"So, the Princess graces us with her presence, huh? I'm sure the king will see things our way when he learns we have you!"

"Like hell I'll go anywhere with you! Torchic, Wurmple, I choose you!"

The soldier chuckled, gesturing for his Poochyena to attack.

"This will shut you up. Poochyena, bite!"

"String Shot, Wurmple! Torchic, use Ember!"

Wurmple shot out a stream of silk, wrapping around Poochyena like a cocoon, stopping him in his tracks while Torchic pelted him with ember.

"Snap out of it, you stupid Mutt!"

Poochyena whimpered, but finally managed to bite through the webbing and charge at Torchic, biting down hard on her neck.

"Torchic!"

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack! Ralts, use Confusion!"

Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and rammed right into Poochyena, forcing the hound to release his grip while May ran over to Torchic, cradling her in her arms.

"Torchic, are you okay?"

"Chic."

Meanwhile, Ralts concentrated deeply, allowing an aura of psychic energy to envelop Poochyena, only for it to have no effect.

"You fool! Dark types are immune to Psychic type attacks. Not that a pathetic little runt like that could do much anyway!"

This made Ralts upset, and he let out a high pitched wail, forcing everyone to cover their ears. But poor Poochyena wasn't so lucky, and was blown off his feet, landing on the ground unconscious. The leader wasn't too happy about that, and kicked him.

"You stupid mutt! You're worthless!"

"Hey, you shouldn't treat your Pokemon like that!"

"Shut up, brat! Boys, come over here and teach these punks a lesson!"

A whole swarm of soldiers appeared, each having either a Poochyena or a Flying type May had identified as a Taillow ready to attack them. Ash twisted his cap around, ready to help defend the town.

"Alright then, Pikachu, use Thunder Shock! Ralts, use Confusion on the Taillow!""

"PikaCHUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Various bolts of lightning shocked the assorted Pokemon, knocking them out. Most of the flying types fell right out of the sky, while any that weren't were flung to the ground with Ralts's psychic powers.

"Alright, way to go guys!"

"Pikachu!"

"Ralts!"

But their victory was very short lived, as more Tailow and Poochyena swarmed in.

"Give up! You're outnumbered!"

"Never!"

But even as Pikachu and Ralts kept going, they slowly began to be worn down by the constant assault of Pokemon coming in. After the fifth wave, they collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion as more Pokemon approached. Suddenly…

"Bullet Punch, Metang!"

Suddenly, a blue bullet-like Pokemon zipped into the fray and started punching all of the enemy Pokemon, knocking them away, much to the enemy's confusion. Just then, a blue haired knight came running in, eyes glaring into his enemy.

"Unless you want to end up like your Pokemon, I suggest you run. NOW."

The grunts did so, not even caring to take their Pokemon with them. The knight then turned to Ash and May.

"Are you alright, your highness?"

"I am, thank you Sir Steven."

Ash was amazed by Steven's performance.

"That was awesome! You totally saved our asses."

Steven turned toward Ash, a smile on his face.

"Ah, you must be the new knight I've heard about. I'm Steven Stone, the captain of the royal guard. You are quite welcome, but don't sell yourself short. Your Pokemon put up a valiant effort, my Metang and I just cleaned up."

"Metang!"

"Sir Steven, what were you doing in Rustburo anyway? I thought my father had you on the Western border."

"He did, and I handled the dispute easily. My father wrote to me, telling me that he'd moved to the new settlement to help set up the mine. I wanted to come visit him. Looks like I made the right call."

"Agreed. Thank you, Sir Steven."

Steven smiled, and gently kissed May's hand as he bowed.

"Always a pleasure to serve the royal family, your highness."

Once everyone was sure the coast was clear, the citizens began to rebuild. The gates were put back up, the streets were cleaned, and all of the Pokemon abandoned by the Aqua grunts were being treated before they would be released back into the wild.

Ash smiled as a portion of stew was spooned into his bowl.

"Awesome, thank you!"

He then found his Pikachu and Ralts, who were enjoying their dinner. The town healers had looked them and May's Pokemon over, and assured Ash that they'd be fine after a bit of rest.

"Hey guys, how are you feeling?''

Pikachu gave him a thumbs up, while Ralts smiled up at him.

"Glad to hear it. How about you, May?"

But May was too deep into her own thoughts to answer.

"May?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Ash, what was the question?"

"Are you okay? You zoned out on me for a second, there."

May shook her head.

"No, I'm not. I tried to protect my people, but all I did was get in the way! If it weren't for you and Steven, I would've been captured, or worse! I can't protect my people, and I don't deserve a Pokemon."

Ash got up, and grabbed her in a big hug.

"Don't ever think like that! You're brave, and strong, and you'll make a great trainer."

"How? You saw how badly I did. You were amazing, I was in over my head."

Ash just chuckled.

"You remember how I told you about the Spearow?"

"Yeah, how they chased you on your first day as a trainer."

"Well, I sort of neglected to tell you why they did that. See, I was trying to catch my first Pokemon, but Pikachu wouldn't do as I told him. So first I tried to catch a Pidgey with my shirt, but that didn't work. Then I threw a rock at a Spearow and, well…"

Pikachu fell over laughing, making Ash glare at the little rodent.

"Yeah, laugh it up. It's your fault too, you know?"

Pikachu just hopped up on Ash's shoulder and licked his cheek, making him smile. He couldn't stay mad at his partner for long.

"Look May, I get that this was discouraging for you, but don't give up! You'll get better, it just takes time."

May smiled, wiping tears away from her eyes.

"Thanks, Sir Ash."

"Anytime, Princess."

"Alright, now that everyone's had a fair portion, who wants seconds?"

"Me!"
Ash and May laughed, realizing they had said it at the same time. The levity was just what they needed after a long day.