A/N: Normally I try to bounce between Burning Nightmare and A Really Nice Shot but eh basically I don't wanna write the complex chapter that is coming up for the Burning Nightmare. Sooooo you guys get another chapter because I am procrastinating writing the next chapter. Of course it makes complete sense I am procrastinating on writing something I use as a stress reliever…sure. Anyway we stop in with May next and we will see why she hasn't been in contact for the last few years.
Chapter 4: Timelines
Indigo Plateau – Back stage
"May we're on in ten!" Barry opened her door without knocking and yelled in.
"BARRY!" May practically screeched half indignation and half surprise. "How many times do I have to tell you! Do not open my door! I could have been mid change!"
"Hehe…yeah." A slightly lecherous grin came across his face at the thought.
Grabbing the nearest thing, May hurled what happened to be a cup at Barry. "Pervert!"
"Geez, May!" Barry managed to duck out of the way as the ceramic cup sailed over him and smashed into the wall behind him.
May's face brightened a little when she heard the exclamations of surprise from other co-workers outside. She had not really meant to draw a crowd. Turning on Barry she let out a growl. "Thanks a lot Barry!"
"What'd I do?" Barry muttered as he stood back up and dusted himself off. "You're acting like a diva."
"Exactly asshole!" May growled before slamming down a bottle of water to get her through until the first commercial break. "If you didn't go around opening doors without knocking I wouldn't look like a diva."
"Look?…Check the mirror sweetie." Barry grumbled to himself.
"What was that Barry?" May leveled a glare at her co-host.
Throwing on a charming smile, Barry just shook his head. "Nothing, Mom."
Rolling her eyes, May just went back to giving herself some last minute prep work not that her makeup team hadn't done an amazing job but she always liked to touch up. "Only my daughter can call me that Barry. Last time I checked you were a twenty two year old man child."
"Hey Hey Hey! Now that is low!" Barry pointed towards May with a slight frown on his face. "It isn't like you are any older than me!"
"Yes but girls mature faster than boys." May smirked. "While you treat this as a vacation from your duties as a Frontier Brain for me this is a serious career."
Rolling his eyes, Barry tapped his foot impatiently. "Whatever just because I want to explore my options doesn't make me a man child. Anyway we gotta be on in." Checking his watch, Barry's eyes bugged out. "Mew almighty two minutes!"
"The set is literally right there." May responded but decided to play along with Barry's OCD and followed him out since he seemed to be close to a panic attack.
"You would jeopardize the poor women of Kanto missing my beautiful face for even a minute of screen time that we'd miss due to your inability to stay on a schedule?" Barry pulled a rather pathetic looking puppy dog face.
May casually pushed him away and continued walking down the hall. "Doesn't work for Samantha and it certainly won't work for you, pretty boy."
"You think I'm a pretty boy?" Barry's eyes lit up with interest.
"I'll admit you have certain qualities that may attract a member of the opposite sex." May slide into her chair with a very pleased Barry sitting down next to her and May decided to drop the hammer. "If we're talking about the sixteen year old girls you seem to attract like flies to a rotting corpse."
"We're live!" One of the crew members called out.
The camera's lit up just in time to catch Barry's distraught face and May smiling.
"Welcome to Battler's Review." May announced. "I'm here with my co-host Barry who has just learned some troubling news. Turns out that yes the plastic surgery he recently underwent was a bust and he still looks like a prepubescent boy."
"Har har har May!" Barry whined to the amusement of the audience. The two had a certain on screen chemistry that mostly came from their off screen relationship as friends. Both tended to make ribbing comments that their target audience loved. "Well I want to welcome our audience to the first live broadcast of Battler's Review from Kanto Region!"
A large cheer went up from the select crowd that managed to get seats to the show.
Throwing a smile on, Barry once more slid into his normal confident persona on camera. "Due to the volume of interest that the Light of the Stars Tournament has received from both coordinators and trainers as you know we had a last minute location switch. Thanks to Mr. Goodshow the event is now being hosted on the Indigo League grounds!"
"That's right!" May took over for Barry as the two constantly switched off between talking unless of course they were bickering which the normally were if they weren't updating the audience with the news. "We'll have Mr. Goodshow on our program but first we're going to go over some of the top trainers and coordinators taking part in this prestigious event. "
Barry's tone turned solemn and slightly serious. "Fans in less than three weeks we are going to have one of the greatest tournaments of our generation taking place here." With that Barry let his tone brighten considerably. "And who else would you trust to bring you the latest information and exclusive interviews with some of the top trainers and coordinators but Battler's Review!"
"Let's do the break down Barry! We are going to discuss who we think is going to end up top of the top in this event." May cut in. Barry had as usual done an amazing job of building up the audience's excitement. Despite May's general misgivings about his off screen personality she had to admit that he had an amazing ability to capture a room's attention with the pitch and tone of his voice alone.
"Time to talk trainers! I hear Tobias just recently registered and with that team of legendries by his side I don't think anyone else has a chance." Barry started out. "No doubts about it he is my number one!"
Shaking her head, May held up her hand and shook her hand back and forth. "No way! He is all steamroll and no strategy my friend. In fact my top placement goes to Paul from Sinnoh. If you remember last league match it was actually Paul that beat Tobias down with superior tactics. He made those legendries look like level 2 Pidgey's. Not only did Paul use his superior tactics but he made it through only losing half his team!"
"True, May! I would love to make Paul my number one pal!" Barry smirked at his corny joke while the audience and May just groaned. "But if you are talking strategy there is no one in the trainer world that can compete with Ash Ketchum! That's right he may be coming off an extended hiatus but my sources say that he has been training hard with Gary Oak. That is why I have to give Ash my second slot with Paul right behind. If you think it is all going to come down to strategy let's be honest Paul took a lot of his direction from Ash Ketchum's less than conventional tactics so you should put Ash at the top in your line up."
Groaning, May was sorry she brought up strategy, she knew that Barry would bring him up somehow. She had just been hoping they could have avoided the topic of Ash a little longer. "In your dreams Barry! There is no way he can just walk back and take center stage without so much as a how do you do. I don't care who he's been training with I don't think he'll place higher than the top twenty. I'm sorry it would take miracle!"
A slight grin passed across Barry's face. "Did you just say miracle, May? Because that is really unfortunate. You as well as I know that Ash has been known to do the impossible and luckily for you we will be having Ash on the show next week so you can tell him how you really feel!"
A blush crossed May's face as her face reddened a little. "Wait What?! You said that wasn't confirmed yet!"
Waving his finger and enjoying the discomfort he had put his co-host in, Barry imparted his information. "That's right fans! Right before we went on air I just got confirmation from Ketchum's camp that he will be on with Pikachu next Monday!"
Groaning, May melodramatically threw her hand over her face. "Please tell me we are going to have all the electrical equipment grounded."
Laughing, Barry gave May a thumbs up. "Not to worry darling we got it all covered. Pikachu's "shocking" personality is well known even to the entertainment community!"
"Oh Mew please stop Barry you are about to drive off what little audience we have." May threw her hands in the air causing most of the audience to laugh. "Can we get back on topic…"
/\ /\
( 0 0 )
"I still can't believe you would go behind my back and get Ash Ketchum on the show." May seethed as she walked down the hallway towards her dressing room. While she walked she started to take off her earrings. "Seriously Barry you know our history."
"Oh please you play the victim card every time his name comes up but does he even know?" Rolling his eyes, Barry strolled down at a slightly more sedate pace and ended up trailing May by a foot or two. He could bring up the point that this had been mentioned on air a few months ago but he figured it was pointless. May tended to have selective hearing regarding issues she wanted to avoid. "Anyway you know I am just looking out for the ratings and our viewership has popped up ten percent since we mentioned Ketchum coming on and I expect it to go up further now that we have a confirmed date."
"Not the point Barry!" May pocketed her earrings before stopping at her door. "How could he not know anyway."
"Yeah no you're right how could the guy that is so dense a freight train could hit him and he would walk away wondering why everything hurt ever not know about something. I mean I'm sure you contacted him immediately and told him in a direct and straight forward manner." Barry smirked a little when May just huffed in response. "Right anyway I got a date tonight so I gotta get out of here."
May pulled a disgusted face at Barry's comment. "Seriously we haven't even been here a solid two days and you already are going out with a girl?"
Chuckling a little, Barry leaned against the wall opposite of May's door. "Sure thing beautiful, I am despite your objections to the contrary a very desirable man."
"As usual Barry I find myself wondering about the quality of women you manage to find. Anyway I gotta get going and pick up Sam." With a final wave May disappeared into her changing room leaving Barry in the hall.
"Well I think things around here are about to get a little more interesting." Barry chuckled to himself before making his way towards his own changing room to get out of his suit.
/\ /\
( 0 0 )
Indigo League – Registration Area
"I hate you."
"I know." Gary grinned while walking towards the registration desk.
"I hate you so much right now." Ash grumbled as he was more or less dragged along towards the registration desk. Pikachu riding on Ash's shoulder with a smile on his face seemed to be taking great pleasure in his trainer's discomfort judging by his laughter. "Pi Pi Pi ka chu."
"I know." Gary continued to push through trainers and spectators alike seeking a registration desk.
"I am going to go to your home murder your family and dance naked in their blood." Ash responded sullenly.
"I don't have a family other than Gramps but hey whatever gets you off." Gary responded with a slight smirk.
Ash pulled a distasteful face. "Fine I will put in the time and wait until you have a family. I am going to stay at this level of anger until you produce the necessary two point five kids for the slaughter."
"You're so dark." Gary retorted. "You know I only want one. I can't split my awesome teachings amongst that many children. Especially since I already have to take care of a pissy man child."
"You're such a dick." Ash grumbled while marching along behind his much more eager friend.
"I know." Gary responded quickly before spotting an open registration line. Practically dragging Ash along, Gary bulldozed his way through unaware trainers to get to the registration desk.
A moment later Gary was casually leaning up against the registration desk with Ash standing behind him with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Hello Nurse Joy, looking wonderful as always my dear. Gary Oak reporting for duty." Gary threw in a little salute to the blushing Joy.
"Well Gary, it seems you are in the system. Let me get you registered I'll need your pokedex." Gary's top of the line easily identified him as who he said he was for Nurse Joy. Silence hung over the three while Nurse Joy typed away. "There we go added into the system for you. And here is your pass. I think we have you in building F in a double unit with an Ash Ketchum."
"That'd be me." Ash stepped up as Nurse Joy handed Gary his pass and key card. To be honest he was just happy that Gary had not done anything ridiculous like dump him in a room with a stranger.
"Ah Ash!" A smile crossed Nurse Joy's face. "It's been a while. Pikachu still putting holes in Pokemon Centers?"
"Huh?" Ash responded unintelligibly.
This reaction caused Nurse Joy to laugh aloud. "I was the Nurse Joy you ran into in Viridian City, remember?"
"Oh Yeah!" Ash responded with a smile. "Sorry Nurse Joy it's just that…you all kinda look the same."
Nurse Joy nodded in understanding. "I'll just need to see your pokedex to confirm not that I really need it."
"Sure thing!" Ash dug around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out the new pokedex that Professor Oak had given him. "Er I don't think I've actually used this thing yet I kinda lost my old one and Professor Oak gave me this new one a few days before we started off to Indigo."
"Not a problem, Ash." With ease Nurse Joy took the pokedex out of Ash's hand and turned it on. A moment later the pokedex started up.
The three jumped in surprise when Professor Oak's voice came out of the small pokedex. "Ah! Hello there! I am a pokedex that has been programmed for a young man that goes by the name Ash Ketchum. Ash is a trainer from Pallet Town and a fairly responsible young man. I remember a time though when he was in diapers and he decided to run starkers through Pallet Town. Let me tell you we all got an eye full that day. Ash has…let's see now where did I…Ah! Here it is clearance to take care of wounded pokemon as it appears he has earned honorary Ranger status. Which reminds me of a story between Gary and Ash…now if I can…"
"Turn it off turn it off turn it off!" Gary all but screamed as he grabbed the pokedex out of Nurse Joy's hands and tried to hit the cancel button. Unfortunately he just made the volume louder. "Dammit Gramps! What sin against god have you created!?"
The pokedex continued on unaffected. "Now I remember! Well you see the two of them decided they were big bad Trainers and decided to start their journey early without nary a pokemon to their name."
Ash's eyes widened as he realized the story that Professor Oak had recorded. A moment later he joined Gary in trying to silence the damn thing. Nurse Joy on the other hand was completely useless and was too busy laughing which started to draw a crowd.
"Well Delia and I had to go find them. Wouldn't you know it, we found the pair of them a mile outside of town that night hiding in the tall grass and crying because a lost Hoothoot had scared them. They kept screaming about a demon bird that was out to take their souls. Oh they cried all the way back to Pallet Town! In fact I think they had night terrors for a while after that. What really was interesting was that they tended to wet their beds the same night as if synchronized. Who would have thought a harmless Hoothoot would have caused so much trouble. Now look at how much they have grown which reminds me of another funny story." Professor Oak's pokedex continued to prattle on.
Finally Ash just took the pokedex out of Gary's hand and started to stomp on it until it finally went silent. Both trainers let out a relieved sigh before Ash picked up the pokedex.
Upon inspection Ash found that it was looking nothing worse for the wear. Which was unfortunate since Ash wouldn't have been disappointed if it had been smashed to bits and had to inform the Professor he needed a new dex.
Nurse Joy finally managed to recover from her laughter enough to provide Ash his ID Card and keycard to the apartment he would share with Gary. Presenting a professional face the practiced Nurse managed to fight through the urge to laugh and spoke in a much calmer tone. "Well I wish you luck Ash. Between you and me a lot of the Nurse Joys are rooting for you. I don't think you've ever made a single bad impression."
"Oh…er thanks Nurse Joy." Ash scratched the back of his head. "Well I'll try my best I promise."
"I know you will." Nurse Joy responded with a smile.
The two Pallet Town Trainers quickly made their way down the main street in the trainer's village and away from the embarrassing scene that had drawn a crowd. In every direction there were tall buildings and shops galore. Trainers, spectators, League officials, and children were everywhere.
"I'd say I'm astounded that Gramps would do something like that but it is right up his alley." Gary grumbled.
Laughing a little, Ash looked over the pokedex before commenting. "Yeah I'm kinda concerned what the pokemon descriptions are like that he loaded in there."
"If your identification is anything to go off of I'm going to go with pretty much terrible." Gary responded as he put his arms behind his head. "Gramps said he was working on updating Dexters voice but I didn't realize he was developing a torture device."
"Yeah well I think I just found my motivation to continue my pokemon journey." Ash commented lightly.
"Oh yeah?" Gary asked with some genuine interest.
"Yeah." Ash smirked a little. "To travel the world and try to unload this sin against god on one of the other regional Professors and hope they don't check it out before I am well away from their lab with a normal regional dex."
Gary laugh a loud. "Well whatever motivates you."
"Wow I'm still amazed how big this place has grown." Ash commented as he changed gears and finally looked around at the shops. Some of them he recognized from his time here as a young boy and others were new.
Gary nodded a little as he meandered along. "Yeah well ever since Sinnoh's Lily of the Valley premiered it's new stadium and amenities, Indigo has really been making an effort to catch up."
"Well they certainly have done that in spades. Hmmm really should tell Mom to get a Pallet House opened up here. It would rake in money no questions asked." Ash had been eyeing the competition and couldn't really find anything that could really compare in his biased opinion.
Groaning aloud, Gary smacked the back of Ash's head. "Stop thinking work. You aren't even an employee there anymore. You gotta start thinking pokemon. I need you to have pokemon on the brain 24/7!"
"Pika!" Pikachu chimed in agreement with Gary's assessment.
Meanwhile Ash was left to rub the back of his head with his free hand. "Geez Gary I'm sorry I see potential."
"Well how about you stop assessing your business options and start thinking strategy. It will be a real embarrassment if you get knocked out in your first round." Gary responded.
"I won't!" Ash responded sullenly.
Gary continued to make fun of Ash and his upcoming chances in the League. Ash though had tuned his friend out completely. Instead a young girl about the age of five had caught his eye. The young girl was clearly lost and on the verge of tears as she tried to push through the ever growing crowd that steadily flowed down the main drag. What really caught his attention was how much she looked like May when he first met her in Hoenn.
A moment later decision made, Ash dashed off into the crowd.
"Hey! Ash did you hear me! Where the hell are you going?" Gary called out when he realized that Ash and Pikachu had disappeared from his side. A moment later though Gary caught sight of the problem and he started off to retrieve his wayward friend. "Mew almighty still playing hero."
Ash bullied his way through the crowd. Luckily Gary's training regimen had gotten him back into the same shape he had been in during his travels. He had slimmed down considerably but still had broad enough shoulders he easily pushed his way to the little girl.
"Hey there, my name is Ash and this is Pikachu!" Ash pointed to Pikachu who gave the little girl a giant smile. "Can we help you?"
"Uh huh." The little girl nodded. "I was gonna surprise mommy but I got lost and all these people came outta nowhere."
"Here let's get you outta here." Ash bent down and gently took the young girl's hand and lead her off to the side of the main drag and into a pocket of free space in front of some of the shop fronts.
"Picking up a stray already Ketchum." Gary chuckled as he shouldered his way through the crowd and came up next to Ash. The researcher eyed the child for a moment and immediately saw the similarities between May and the young girl. "Who's the squirt."
For her part the little girl stomped on the ground before turning bright red and let loose on Gary. "I'm notta squirt! My name is Sam!"
"Huh why are you dressed as a girl then?" Gary prodded.
"I'm girl!" Samantha stomped her foot down but this time brought it down on Gary's toes.
Sighing in annoyance, Ash just shook his head. "Seriously? How old are you?"
Gary was currently nursing his foot and just glared at Ash. "If you would stop playing hero we wouldn't be having this problem."
"I couldn't just leave her there in that crowd." Ash rolled his eyes at Gary's comments. Turning his attention away from his friend, Ash smiled a little at the girl. "Well then Sam, where were you trying to go?"
"I was gonna surprise mommy at her show." The little girl innocently responded.
"Ok do you know where it is?" Ash queried.
Shaking her head a little Samantha started to cry again when she realized she didn't in fact know where her mommy worked. If they were still in Sinnoh she could have gotten there without any issue. When she signed herself out of daycare to surprise her mom she had forgotten she didn't know where the new show was.
"Alright alright." Ash gently picked the crying child up and rocked her back and forth a little. "We'll find your mom. Do you know where you live or her number or name?"
"Nu uh Mommy is Mommy." Samantha responded.
Rolling his eyes, Gary grumbled. "Of course she is."
Ash silenced his friend with a glare over the child's shoulder since her face was currently buried in the nook of his shoulder. "Gary shut it."
Glancing around, Gary found that the crowd was thankfully dying down and there were not nearly as many people crowding the main drag any longer. "Come on, we'll find a Police Officer and get this sorted out."
"Do you want me to carry you, Sam?" Ash queried as he continued to gently rock the crying little girl. "We're going to find an Officer Jenny to help you find your Mom."
"I can walk." Samantha mumbled before wiggling a little to get down.
Smirking a little, Ash set the little girl back down but made sure to keep a hold of her hand.
Pikachu crawled down off of Ash's shoulder and offered his tail to the little girl to hold since he was a little too big to sit on her shoulder. "Pi Ka!"
With a cry of delight the little girl grabbed the small electric rodent's tail with her free hand and giggled as she was led along by the tiny creature her tears forgotten.
"You know we could be unpacking right now." Gary pointed out as he glanced down at the little rug rat that Ash had taken in. This little girl without a doubt looked just like May. The clothing was a bit off being a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a red collared polo. The complexion matched May as did the shape of the girl's face from when he met the girl. The blue eyes and the light brown hair even matched May's exactly. The only thing missing was the bandana and the girl would almost look like a carbon copy of May Maple.
"Yeah well what's the fun in life without the detours you told me yourself to stop being so dead set on getting to the end as fast as I can." Ash was pleased as punch to parrot back Gary's own advice to him.
"Yeah…well I didn't mean this." Gary grumbled as he continued to walk with Ash, Sam, and Pikachu. 'Now to see if Ashy boy is as dense as ever.' Coughing a bit to get Ash's attention, Gary motioned to Sam. "She look like anyone we know?"
"Huh?" Ash responded with a curious look. At Gary's insistence though he looked over Sam and attempted to see what Gary was talking about. After a full minute though nothing was coming to mind and he gave up with a slight shrug. "No why?"
"No reason." Gary responded while casually whistling.
"Well who's she look like if you are so sure I should know her!" Ash responded in a slightly heated tone. He hated when Gary mocked him like this.
"Uh no way." Gary shook his finger. "No way am I telling you. If you can't figure it out it isn't my problem."
"Fine be that way." Ash huffed in annoyance. Just as he was about to ask Sam how she was doing the little girl broke away.
"Unca Barry!" The little girl screeched in delight before making a bee line down the sidewalk until she threw herself onto Barry's leg.
"Huh? Sammy? What are you doing here?" Barry awkwardly patted the kid's head.
Barry's date on the other hand didn't take it so well. "You've got a kid?" The young girl that clearly was in her early twenties at best pulled a slightly disgusted face. "This date is over!"
"Wait! Veronica!" Barry reached out with his free hand but the young girl was already half way across the street in a huff. He had to hide a groan from coming out. Without a doubt he knew he was going to score tonight well at least until Sammy came out of nowhere and attached to his leg.
"Barry. Glad we found someone who knew this kid." Gary shot a smirk towards the blond haired pretty boy as he strolled up towards the pair.
"Yeah we found her lost in the street looking for her mom." Ash said as he stepped up next to Gary. The moment he saw Barry in person it finally clicked. Somehow seeing him in clothing that looked closer to what he wore in Sinnoh brought everything back to Ash. The suit and tie on TV seemed to have changed Barry just enough that Ash had never really noticed. Not that he paid much attention to anything other than May on the show. "Oh hey Barry long time no see!"
Barry pulled an odd face at Ash's statement. "What are you talking about Ketchum? You know who Sammy's mom is right?" The TV personality had a sinking feeling that perhaps Ash did not know about Sam despite May's protests to the contrary.
Shaking his head, Ash just looked confused. "Nope first time I've met her but Gary says that she looks like someone we both know if he is to be believed."
Barry glanced down at Sam and could not see anything other than May shining through, glancing back at Ash, Barry just shook his head. 'I don't know if getting hit by a bullet train would even phase him.'
Gary just rolled his eyes at Ash's inability to put two and two together. 'Really Ash? The girl knows Barry well enough to call him Uncle and Sam's mom works on TV and happens to be at Indigo Plateau. Well at least this explains why May never came to the Christmas Party and avoided everyone at all costs despite being in Sinnoh.'
"Uh what's up guys?" Ash noticed the pair were giving him looks with varying degrees of disbelief.
"Nothing Ash." Gary quickly answered. "We should probably get going."
"Yeah alright, well nice seeing you again Barry." Ash gave the older man a wave before shooting a smile at Sam. "Nice meeting you Sam say hi to your mom."
The little girl looked back at Ash and smiled shyly before waving back. "Thank you Mr. Ash!" A moment later the little girl engulfed Pikachu in a hug. "Thank you Pikachu you're the best!"
"No problem." Ash responded.
"Pi Pika chu!" Pikachu gave the girl a final thumbs up before he dashed up Ash's leg and back onto his shoulder.
With a final wave the three departed from Barry and Sam.
"So are you gonna tell me or not?" Ash asked Gary as they slowly walked along the main path towards the building that they were going to be staying in.
Laughing aloud, Gary shook his head. "No way Ashy boy, if you are too slow to figure it out then I'm not telling you."
"Jerk." Ash muttered.
"Yeah yeah. I would have thought with your attention to detail in business would have bled over to people but apparently that ain't happening." Gary chuckled a little.
"I'm good at business so sue me." Ash muttered.
"Maybe I will." Gary retorted.
The pair then fell into a companionable silence as they trudged along the Indigo grounds. Their silence was interrupted though just as they were about to get to the building they were staying in finally.
"Hey Gary!" A voice called out from the crowd.
"Ughhh…you've gotta be kidding me." Gary cried out aloud. He was so close…so close to a shower after their journey on Victory Road at Ash's insistence since it would in Ash's words 'Make it a real experience.'
"Hey!" The person finally made it through the crowd and doubled over the moment they were through breathing heavily from the run to catch up.
"Huh…hey Brock what's up?" Gary asked.
Brock raised his one hand off of his knee and lifted a finger in the air to indicate he needed a moment.
"OH hey Brock!" Ash cried out excited to see his long time traveling companion.
"Ash?" Brock asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh…I'm competing…" Ash mumbled looking a little embarrassed over the fact.
"Oh hey and Pikachu I haven't seen you in forever!" Brock shot a smile at the small electric rodent.
"Pikkkka" Pikachu smiled happily before sending a glare down at Ash.
"I know I know I'm sorry Pikachu." Ash gingerly patted Pikachu's head hoping not to receive another thundershock for his troubles. Turning his attention to Brock, Ash shot his friend an awkward smile while rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "Umm hey so long time no see…"
"I'll let you two catch up." Gary smirked before leaving his friend behind to deal with Brock alone.
"Thanks Gary." Ash muttered.
"So you're competing again?" Brock tentatively asked.
"Umm yeah…uh…my Mom kinda fire me." Ash laughed a little causing Brock to raise an eyebrow.
"So you decided to be a trainer again?" Brock asked.
Shrugging a little, Ash nodded a little. "Uh…well my Mom…you know how she can be when she's angry. She kinda set me straight and Gary kinda made me realize what a dick I was being. So I mean I owe it to my pokemon to make an attempt ya know. That and Pikachu will murder me if I put him back in the ball again."
Brock smiled hesitantly at the statement. "Yeah I know Pikachu hates being in his ball." With that Brock rubbed Pikachu behind the ears.
Ash nodded a little as the uncomfortable silence dropped over the two. Ash just stared at the ground while Brock concentrated on Pikachu.
"So Pikachu looks to be in tip top shape." Brock commented trying to break the silence.
Taking the topic, Ash ran with it. Excitement actually entered his voice again for the first time in a long time when it concerned Pokemon. "Yeah! Well Gary and I went through a training regimen to get both myself and my team back into shape."
"I'll bet." Brock chuckled once more the silence descended upon the two.
"Brock…look I…I mean." Ash struggled with the words unsure how to articulate what he wanted to say.
Luckily for Ash, Brock held no ill will towards the younger trainer. He understand better than anyone what it was to get caught up in something. "That you'll never do it again and you are done trying to play grown up, and if you ever leave pokemon training again it will because you decide it is the right thing for you. It will not be due to you feeling you can no longer have a dream you feel is something you have outgrown out of some odd sense it is for children."
"Uh…yeah actually." Ash laughed a little and scratched the back of his head. "Look I am sorry though it's not excuse."
Brock placed one of his hands on Ash's shoulder and shot the younger man a smirk. "Look Ash it hurt that you left us all even when you were there physically you were to concerned with business to pay attention to us."
"I know I'm really sorry…I mean there really isn't any excuse for it." Ash mumbled a little embarrassed that Brock had hit the nail right on the head.
"Yeah but I really can't stay mad at you. I did the same thing when I got into Pokemon Med School." Brock confided. "I just…luckily am not as hard headed as you are. Forrest confronted me one night after he hadn't seen me for a week because I was off studying. He made me realize I while I was advancing in my career and living my dream I was not making any time for anyone else. After that I put aside one night a week to spend with my family no matter how busy I was. So I understand how you ended up where you ended up but just don't let it happen again alright?"
Ash nodded gratefully to Brock a smile finally crossing his face. "You bet Brock…but again I am really sorry about everything."
Brock held up a hand to stop Ash. "Really don't worry about apologizing to me I understand."
"Thanks Brock." Ash sighed in relief.
A devious grin crept across Brock's face. "Beside I wouldn't want you to squander your best excuses on me. You still have to contend with Max, Iris, and Misty."
Ash's smile faltered as he realized he was in fact screwed. "Ah crap…"
Brock nodded a serious expression coming over his face. "Yes you are screwed but with a little perseverance you'll get through it. Mostly in one piece…if you're lucky." Ending the thought with a shit eating grin, the once gym leader of Pewter patted Ash on the shoulder.
"Are they here yet?" Ash ventured.
"Nope not yet." Brock shook his head with a small smile. "Max should be here in another day or two. You know how he likes to be prepared. Iris will be here by the end of the week and boy will she kill you. Misty probably won't be here until closer to the start of the tournament since she does have to keep the gym open until the bitter end."
"Well…at least that leaves Cilian and Dawn on my side." Ash let out a breathe of relief.
Brock laughed at the comment. "Yeah…no you're still going to get it from the two of them but I think they like me are going to be more understanding."
"Oh great…" Ash muttered.
Brock laughed again in Ash's expense before finally lifting his hand off Ash's shoulder. "You'll survive it Ash. Just remember the fetal position is probably the best if you rile Misty up too much. Just nod a lot and agree and you'll make it through. If not well I am a Doctor."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Ash muttered a sullen look crossing his face.
"Well Ash I gotta get going I am running a clinic in half an hour. You should stop by sometime my shop it right down on the main drag." Brock mentioned before a lecherous grin crossed his face. "Not to mention all the other Doctor's and Assistant's there are total babes."
Rolling his eyes, Ash couldn't help but smile a little. "Same old Brock. Well I will be sure to stop by. Gary and I are here in Building F level 20 and apartment 30 if you want to stop by."
Brock nodded before started to head off towards his clinic. "No problem we'll get together sometime later this week. But seriously make sure to bring your pokemon by so I can give them a once over before the tournament."
"Thanks Brock." Ash called out. "I mean it really thanks!"
Brock waved once more as he walk off his hand held high enough the Ash could see it as Brock disappeared into the crowd.
Ash was actually looking forward to see the rest of his friends despite the potential arguments that his reappearance may spawn. "We'll get through it right Pikachu?"
Pikachu just stared incredulously at his trainer before shaking his head. "Pika…Pi Ka chu!"
"Er right…or I will…" Ash muttered. "Thanks for the support."
"Ka!" Pikachu smirked lightly as the pair disappeared into the complex together.
A/N: I know I'm sorry I threw in a standard cliché into my story but I needed a reason for May to quit Coordinating and I didn't want to use the same excuse as Ash of he gave up on it. I needed May to have an adult reason to quit and that was creating a fairly stable home life for her child. Anyway being that the child looks completely like May I have left it open as to who the father is. Should I go down the super cliché route of it being Ash's or make it someone else's! No one knows but read and review! Hope the interaction with Brock was satisfying. I will say that Brock's reaction will probably be the shortest and calmest of all the interactions. I'm not sure