Ash, Serena and May have spent quite an eventful day in the North Petalburg City. It also lasted much longer then they wanted any day to last, and as such, their stay there, felt like it's been lasting forever, and not just one single day.
It all started in the Pokémon Center, where May was recognized by the Nurse Joy, as Norman's daughter. This was heard by some woman who was in the Pokémon Center at that time, and has quickly spread the word all over the North Petalburg.
When they left the Pokémon Center not long after, the gang of three were ganged up on, by a bunch of people from the City, who all wanted to meet May.
Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, depending on the point of view, many people recognized Ash, as the youngest winner of some regional tournament, as well as a kid, who almost became a regional champion at the age of 11.
Few people have also recognized Serena, as she has put on quite a show during the Silver Conference, and her match against Ash was quite popular, and many like to watch the recordings of it.
Not having a chance to meet such a famous people every day – they considered May famous, as she is a daughter of a very strong and popular gym leader – many of the younger trainers, challenged Ash, Serena and May to have battles against them, and to see how they battle. The older generation of people didn't want to battle, but they formed a crowd, in order to watch the matches. Even the news crew showed up, to record everything, and the people in the North Petalburg City and Petalburg City, were suddenly able to see it all, live on their TV's.
Now normally, Ash and Serena wouldn't be against battling anyone, especially young trainers, who want to learn. This situation though, seemed a bit too much to them. The problem is that, they couldn't refuse with so many people all around them, and with it all going live on TV. They would look ridiculous, not to mention that it won't look good for their public image, if they refuse these battles.
As for May, she wasn't used to something like this. This never happened before she started her journey, even if her father was a gym leader even back them. Then again, he was relatively new as a gym leader back them, and the people didn't know him that well. May guessed that in the few months since she left, her father was able to make himself very famous and is successful as a gym leader. It's a shame though, as May thought that he failed as a husband, and cheated on his wife, with another woman.
In the end, May, Serena and Ash, accepted the challenges of all the trainers there, who wished to battle them. They did mention though, that they can't fight forever, as there are only three of them, and several dozen of young trainers, so, each challenger will only have to satisfy themselves with using one of their Pokémon.
As such, Ash warned them to be careful when choosing their Pokémon.
May went first, and battled against as many trainers as her Pokémon were able to handle. At that time, she had Combusken, Taillow, Skitty, Beautifly, Loudred, and Sableye, on hand, and she used them all. The six of them, have battled for two hours, without stopping, with new trainers, coming after every previous one, was defeated. May ended up going against nearly two dozen trainers, with two dozen Pokémon being defeated by the six of hers. It was her 23th opponent that was able to defeat her final Pokémon, Combusken, thus putting a stop on May's winning streak.
Ash and Serena were very surprise by how many Pokémon, May's Pokémon were able to defeat. They knew that she was progressing and becoming stronger, but didn't know how stronger, as she was usually training her Pokémon, by herself, as she can't do the same amount of training, Ash and Serena, do. As such, two experienced trainers, were surprised by May's progress.
The people in the North Petalburg were shocked, though. They assumed that May is good, as she is Norman's daughter, but they had no idea she was this good. Some of them actually thought that May, might actually be able to defeat Norman in a formal gym battle, and get the Balance Badge from him.
They all assumed that May has gotten this good, in such a short amount of time, since she started her journey, because of two things. One is that she is a natural, and has a lot of talent. The second thing is because she seems to be traveling with Ash Ketchum, and Serena Gomez, two very young and very talented trainers. As such, the crowd thinks that they might be teaching May something, and that's why she was this good.
All of May's Pokémon have been defeated in the end, but she was able to give all of her Pokémon a good workout, by battling against many different trainers, and Pokémon. On top of that, her Loudred has evolved into an Exploud, so all in all, she was very satisfied with the results, even thought she was not happy to have to battle all those trainers.
Serena went next, and had her battles.
She lasted over half-an-hour longer then May, but Serena only used five of her Pokémon. She didn't want to use her Delphox. She said before the start of her first battle, that she will only use five Pokémon, and when all five are defeated, she will be defeated. She made this decision, as her Delphox is her first Pokémon, and is her strongest. She doesn't want to use it to battle against amateur trainers, when neither she nor her Delphox would get anything from it, but could potentially end up heavily injuring another trainers Pokémon.
Besides her Delphox, Serena had Corphish, Bagon, Torkoal, Magnemite and Golbat, on hand. She used the five of them, and gave them a good workout. Not as good as if she battled against Ash, or one of Ash's other girlfriends, but still, battling against all these trainers, one after the other, did help her Pokémon get some much needed battle experience.
Of the Pokémon she used, only her Magnemite evolved into a Magnetone. Still, Serena was happy for her electric/steel type, and she is sure that it will become even stronger in the future. The same goes for all of her other Pokémon, even though they haven't evolved. She did notice though, that Bagon is very close to evolve, and probably would have if he was able to last one or two more battles. This way, he was defeated before he could evolve. Serena is sure that in the coming days, Bagon will end up evolving, and be one step closer to his dream of evolving into a Salamence, which would allow him to fly.
When it was Ash's time to battle, he said that the Pokémon he has with him are, Combusken, Dusclops, Swallow, Grovyle, Milotic, Mudkip and Shiny Metang. He said he will start with the weakest, and go up to his strongest… that is, of course, if the trainers are capable of defeating all of his Pokémon, to get to his strongest.
Ash started with Mudkip, and in the next two hours, he was able to defeat over 30 trainers. The only other Pokémon he used, besides Mudkip, are Shiny Metang, Dusclops, and Swallow. The reason he didn't use any more of his Pokémon, is because he has run out of the opponents. Between May, Serena and himself they have basically, 'cleaned the town', and have defeated anyone who wished to battle against them.
Still, Ash was satisfied with his Pokémon's battles. They got good exercise, and learned some new moves. Not to mention that four Pokémon have battled against over a 30, which has put their endurance to a test. They've done OK, in Ash's opinion, but they still have a long way to go, before they reach the level of his older Pokémon.
All this was going live on the TV's in the North Petalburg and Petalburg City, and by the end of the day, all over the Hoenn Region. Trainers from all over the Region were able to see this, and have enjoyed the battles, along with learned some valuable lessons from Ash and Serena, who have made sure to give some tips to the trainers they battled against. They told them what to do in battles, and when they train their Pokémon, along with telling them what, not to do.
In the end, that day was finished, with everyone being satisfied. Ash, May and Serena got to put their Pokémon in the battle against many different trainers and Pokémon, along with train them against many different battle styles. As for the people of the North Petalburg, they got to witness the battles of a Elite trainers, along with a daughter of Norman.
They were happy as well.
Ash, Serena and May, spent that night in the North Petalburg Pokémon Center, before they restarted their journey to the Petalburg City.
XXX
Finally, Ash, Serena, and May, have arrived in the Petalburg City, and are now walking through it.
"This place sure has changed a lot since the last time I was here." May commented, as she was walking on the sidewalk, and looking at all the new stuff she could notice.
"If you say so," Serena countered. She didn't know Petalburg City at all, as she has only been there, once, and has only seen the gym, back then.
"Yes, there are a lot of new stores in here," May said. "I would know. I have spent a lot of time going through all the stores the city has, and know perfectly well, which are old and which are new."
Ash groaned. "I bet you have cost you dad a fortune, every time you visited those stores." He said, feeling sorry for Norman, and wondering if one day - when he has a daughter, and he is sure he will have at least one, with the amount of future wives he will have - someone else will feel sorry for him, as he will be the one who will have to finance all the spending his daughters will be making… not to mention his sons, as the boys can spend just as much as the girls, thought they don't do it that often.
"Well, I did spend a lot of money on my shopping's," May admitted, with a blush on her face, while Ash and Serena laughed at her.
May looked at Serena, and didn't like that she was laughed at her. "What about you, Serena," May asked? "Why are you laughing at me? I bet you spent just as much as I did."
Serena stopped laughing, and said. "I'm sorry for laughing at you, May, but I just couldn't help myself. As for your guess. Well, I didn't spend nearly as much money on the shopping's as you did."
"Why," May asked? "All the girls I know, loved shopping's and loved to spend their parent's hard-earned money."
"Well," Serena spoke. "There are girls who simply don't like spending money, unless necessary. Then there are girls who would love to spend money, but can't, as they don't have it, and neither their parents have it.
"I belong in both of those groups. I was never that interested in spending money on stuff I won't need, or the cloths I would only wear once or twice, and then discard them. I have also lived only with my mother, and while she has been earning a good deal of money, from her job, which was more than enough for the two of us; we couldn't go and spend too much, as we never knew what the future might bring, and we wanted to save as much money as we could, just in case."
May wondered what happened to Serena's father, as she said she only lives with her mother. May really wanted to ask, but as young as she is, she knew that you don't really ask other people, those kind of questions.
Ash also didn't know anything about Serena's father. As long as he has known Serena, she has never mentioned her father, and he has no idea who he is/was, or what happened to him. He was also curious, just like May, but just like May, he knows not to ask.
Serena though, did see on Ash's and May's faces, that they were interested in her father, but they don't want to ask, as it's not polite. She decided to tell them about her father, as she doesn't really have anything to hide.
"I know the two of you are wondering about my father," Serena spoke, and May blushed immediately, as she was caught, while Ash didn't blush, but he looked away from Serena. He didn't like when people are able to read him. He is the one doing the face reading, and he is proud of his ability to do that. "But I can only tell you that I don't know who my father is, or what happened to him. From what my mother told me, he disappeared not long after I was born, and she never heard anything from him, again. As such, we have no idea where he is, or if he is even alive."
Ash and May felt sorry for Serena. They both grew up with both of their parents, even though in Ash's case, Red was more away then at home, but he was still there when needed. Serena though, only had her mother, and Ash is sure that they didn't have an easy time, even though Serena's mother, Grace Gomez, is worldwide known as one of the best Rhyhorn racers, ever.
Nothing was said after that, except that May and Serena agreed to go on a little shopping spree, and spend a little of that money they earned by selling those pearls and gold nuggets, they found in Granite Cave.
Not long after, maybe half-an-hour, the three of them were very close to the Petalburg Gym, just five minutes walk from it. As they were getting closer, they were able to see that there are much more people in the last hundred meters, then there were before then, and the closer they were getting to the gym, more and more people were there.
"What's going on," May wondered? "Why are there all these people so close to the gym? They can't all be here to challenge dad… can they?"
"I doubt it," Serena said. She was also confused by the amount of people. She has never seen such crowd in front of some gym, and she has been to about a dozen gyms.
Ash didn't say anything, but he had his eyes narrowed. He had a bad feeling, and he doesn't like when he has bad feelings, as it always means that something bad has happened.
Few minutes later, and they were just outside of the gym. Unfortunately, they couldn't come in, as the whole place was surrounded by the crowd, who also couldn't get in. The gym was surrounded by the police officers, and there was yellow tape, surrounding the whole place, so that everyone would know not to come any closer as the place was the crime scene.
"What's going on, Ash," May asked Ash, while looking at him with wide eyes. She was afraid of what's happened, and why her house and her father's gym, were surrounded by the yellow tape, and guarded by the police.
"Stay here," Ash said, as he looked at May and Serena. The two girls suddenly wanted to argue, but he gave them one look, and they immediately quieted, and looked down to the ground. They knew not to piss off, Ash, even though he won't do anything to hurt them, if they did piss him off. "I'll go and see what's going on. You two stay here, and don't come closer. There are many people, and I don't want you injured by this crowd. Is that understood?"
May and Serena nodded, before Ash walked through the crowd of people, pushing them away, so he can pass and get to the yellow tape and one of the police officers, which were there, trying to calm down the crowd, and stop them from storming into the place.
It took Ash almost a full minute to get through the crowd, as he didn't want to push them away too forcefully, and injure anyone, so he had to go slowly and carefully. Once he was there, he got in front of one of the police officers, and asked. "What happened here?"
The police officer saw Ash, and saw the confused look on his face. He also saw slightly narrowed eyes, and the officer suddenly felt chill run down his spine. He felt that whoever this kid is, is dangerous, even though he is just a kid.
Normally, the officer wouldn't have said anything too specific, but Ash and the look on his face, gave him the creeps, and he didn't have the guts to deny any information to Ash. Just as he was about to speak, the officer was interrupted by the Officer Jenny, who approached him from behind.
"What's going on here," Officer Jenny asked? "You shouldn't interrupt my officers, young man. They are not here to entertain the crowd, they are here to guard the scene of a crime."
"What crime?" Ash asked with an edge in his voice. He was annoyed as all hell, because Jenny has interrupted the officer from telling him what's going on. As such, he was annoyed, angered, but also worried that something happened to Norman and Max, as they were the only ones who should have been in the gym.
"Who are you, young man," Jenny asked? "You don't seem like a normal kid to me. Nor do you seem like you are from here, of someone who is just passing through. If you are from here, you would have already known what happened here, and if you were passing through, you wouldn't be this interested in knowing what's going on."
"My name is Ash Ketchum," Ash spoke. "I was on my way here to meet with Norman and his son, Max. I know them well, and as such, I want to know what the devil happened here!"
Officer Jenny took a better look at Ash, and a moment later, she recognized him. "Wait, you are that kid who almost became a Kanto Champion, and is currently traveling with Norman's daughter, May. I saw your battles in the North Petalburg, yesterday."
"Yes, that's me," Ash confirmed, glad that Officer Jenny knows that who he is, and that May is his friend. As such, she should give him the information he needs. "Not, are you going to tell me, what the hell happened here."
Officer Jenny didn't particularly like how Ash was talking to her, but she let it go, as she knew that if he is May's friends, then he must be worried that something happened to Norman and Max. She also guessed that, if Ash is here, then May is most likely in the Petalburg City as well.
Officer Jenny sighed. They won't like the news.
"I'm sorry, Ash," she spoke. "But someone broke into the Petalburg Gym sometime yesterday in the afternoon. They beat-up all of Norman's Pokémon, and then tortured Norman. In the end they… they killed him."
Ash felt sick as soon as he heard what Officer Jenny told him. Someone attacked Norman and his Pokémon. The Pokémon were beaten-up, and Norman was tortured and killed.
This was bad. This was really, really bad. When May finds out, she will blow. She is too young to accept something like this, especially since she hasn't seen her father since she started her journey, and as such, she didn't even have a time to say goodbye to him.
Ash is angry, though. He didn't know Norman, so normally, to him, Norman would be just like any other person in the world. But, even though he didn't know the man that well, his daughter and son were his friends, and as such, Norman is someone he wouldn't want anything to happen to, as he knows that May and Max will be said and suffer, especially because they already had problems, because of Swampy's death, then Norman and Caroline divorcing, and now this.
Ash started to wander, what the hell is going on, as ever since he came to the Hoenn Region, things have started going straight to hell. He can't even start to think of what will happen next, and how to stop whatever is coming.
He knew one thing though. He needs to help May with what happened to Norman. The same goes for Max… Wait. Max.
"What happened to Max?" Ash suddenly asked, while glaring at the Officer Jenny. He was clearly angry, and Jenny knew this, just by looking him in the eyes.
"He wasn't in the gym," Jenny said, and Ash sighed in relief. "He was with some friends, when Norman was attacked. Norman was found last night, by the Nurse Joy, who has been living with him, as they were in the relationship. She came from work in the Pokémon Center, and found him in a… well I won't explain how she found him. That image is not for everyone."
"Who did this to Norman, and why," Ash asked? "He is a gym leader, and when I met him, he didn't seem like the guy who is in funny businesses, so I doubt this was done by someone he screwed over. But the fact that he was tortured, means that this WAS personal."
"Unfortunately, we don't have any leads," Officer Jenny said, with a sigh. "It has already passed several hours since his death, until Joy found him. By then, the attackers have gone, who knows where, and from what we've found at the scene of the crime, there was nothing out of place, and nothing which would give us even a single clue as to who did this and why."
Ash was even angrier now. Someone attacked and killed Norman, and no one knows who or why. It is possible that Norman had some enemies, and they attacked him because of something he has done, but there is another possibility. Ash thought that this was done by Members of Team Aqua or Team Magma. Ash, Serena and May have messed with their business several times now, and they can't be happy about that.
Then again, after what Ash has done on the volcano outside of the Lavaridge Town, it might have been enough to put fear in the hearts of Team Aqua and Team Magma members, to the point that they wouldn't want to mess with him and those close to him.
The third possibility is that it was done by the members of the Shadow Legion. Ash, Serena and May have only had one run-in with them, and out of the three members they run into, two were in jail, and one is MIA. As such, Ash has his doubts about them, but still there is a possibility.
In the end, Ash decided that he will find out what happened, and he knows exactly how to do it. But first, he has to find out where Max is, and talk with May and tell her what happened. He does not look forward to that conversation.
Ash nodded at the Officer Jenny, and thanked her for the information, before he turned around, and walked toward the back of the crowd, where Serena and May were still waiting for him.
Few minutes later, Ash arrived in front of the two girls, who immediately looked at him with curiosity on their faces, with May's face also having some fear on it.
Ash sighed. "I have some bad news."
As soon as he said that, May felt tears run down her face, as she knew that something really bad has happened to her father and Max, or at least just one of them. She wished she was wrong, though.
She wasn't.
XXX
A little away from the crowd, which was standing around the Petalburg Gym, Julian and his two sons, were watching it all from the shadows. They were wearing smirks on their faces, and look satisfied with themselves.
"Look, Ketchum and the girls are there," David spoke, drawing the attention of his father and older brother, who followed David's eyesight, and saw them all. All three of them frowned the moment they saw the kids, and each thought of how they were going to have their revenge on them, for what they've done to them.
"I can't wait to get my hands on that bitch," Martin said. His whole head was covered by the hood, which is hiding his burned head and face, as he doesn't want to be seen with his face disfigured. "What we've done to Norman, will look like child's play, compared to what I'll do to her!"
"You do that," Julian said. "But I'm having my eyes on the Ketchum kid. What he has done to us, almost got me killed by the Queen, and I'll not let that slide so easily."
"I thought we won't go after Ash Ketchum for a while?" David wondered out loud.
"We won't," Julian said. "But when the time comes to catch him, I'll be the one to end him. Is that understood?" Julian glared at his sons, as he asked that. The two young man, nodded.
"Good," Julian said. "Now, let's go back to the safe house, and call Albert. He should have finished with his job by now. He had almost a whole day for himself and his boys to play with his target."
The three vanished from their position, and none even knew that they were there.
