It's that time again here's a new chapter.
I know I said I'd try and make the chapter shorter but once I start writing I can't stop till I've put in everything I want to.
If any of you think that there's any thing wrong with the characters of the battles/contest are bad/going overboard then let me know so I can try and fix them.
If you have any questions then put it in a review or send me a PM.
Lastly I would again like to thank everyone who's supporting this story. When I started this story I had no idea it would become this popular.
That's enough from me for now let's get on with the story.
Chapter 9
A Sensational Surprise
A cool breeze flowed through the clearing as Ash woke up, it was early in the morning, around 6:30. Ash looked across the clearing and saw the Pokémon were still asleep, he then turned his gaze to May seeing her looking peaceful and warm, as a blanket had been placed on top of her sleeping bag during the night. Ash had woken up around 2 o'clock and saw May shivering slightly, so he had taken the blanket from his bag and covered May with it before returning to his own sleeping bag. Ash smiled She's beautiful, he thought, Wait, why am I thinking about May like that? What's happening to me? Ash shook his head to try and clear his mind before getting out of his sleeping bag carefully, so he didn't wake anyone up and starting to stretch so he wouldn't pull a muscle while he exercised. After a few minutes of warming up Ash started going through his morning routine, he stayed in the clearing so that May wouldn't worry if she woke up and saw he wasn't there. He first started by doing press-ups, once again trying to do them in a handstand but failed after doing two and landing on his head, Ash then did some shadow sparing followed by numerous other types of exercises along with some Aura training and meditation. The Pokémon had started to wake up while Ash was exercising and had joined him for some training. Ash sent them out for a run to warm up and to make sure that they didn't disturb May. The Pokémon soon came back from the run so Ash told them to start with press-ups and other exercises to increase their strength and stamina, they wouldn't do any attack training while May was asleep. After a few hours they stopped and Ash decided to relight the fire, which had died during the night, he reached into his bag to get his emergency matches when he felt something else brush past his fingers. He took hold of this object and pulled it out of his bag, it was his half of the Terracotta Ribbon he held it carefully, his fingers gliding over the polished metal semicircle and he felt the softness of the ribbon even though it as about six years old, he smiled again as the memory of the battle replayed in his mind. He put the ribbon in his pocket and reached back into his bag for the matches, finding them he restarted the fire and began to prepare some breakfast. After about twenty minutes Ash had nearly finished making breakfast and saw that May was still asleep, he walked over and crouched next to her.
"May, it's time to wake up." He said softly while shaking her gently but May just muttered under her breath and turned over. Ash looked back at the Pokémon and saw Blaziken point to her stomach, Ash smiled in understanding and looked back at May, leaning close to her ear and whispered. "May, it's time for breakfast."
No sooner had the word breakfast left his mouth, May's eyes flew open and she shot upright from her laying position, unfortunately Ash wasn't able to move away in time and their heads collided sending Ash falling backwards from the impact.
"OW!" They both shouted, the Pokémon were trying to stop themselves from laughing at the sight of their trainers lying on the ground rubbing their heads.
"Ash, what did you hit me for?" May demanded still rubbing the back of her head, even though he could see that she saw angry Ash still thought she looked beautiful.
"I didn't hit you," Ash replied calmly as he rubbed his forehead, slowly getting off the ground, "I was trying to wake you up to tell you that breakfast was ready but you wouldn't wake up. Blaziken told me the way to wake you up was through your stomach so I said time for breakfast, you sat up before I could move out of the way and we hit each other." May's eyes narrowed as she stood.
"Are you calling me fat?" May asked rage detectable in her voice as she slowly stalked towards the raven haired trainer, her fist balled up and ready to strike.
"What?" Ash said slightly panicked. Ash backed up as May tried to get closer to him, not watching his footing Ash tripped on a rock falling to the ground. Even though he didn't know much about girls, while he'd been home over the last three years his mom had given him a number of highly embarrassing talks about do's and don't's when with girls. One of the biggest things his mom had told him was never to say anything about a girl's weight in any way at all and the only way to avoid certain death was to pay them a giant compliment. Ash's mind latched onto his memory, as his life started to pass before his eyes and he acted on it.
"May, I'm not calling you fat. I think you look amazing!" Ash said, sounding panicked, as he curled into a foetal position and shut his eyes, cringing as he waited for the attack to come and to fall into the cold darkness of oblivion. However it didn't come, on hearing Ash's words May took a step back as if she had been hit in the chest, her heart pounded and a flock of Beautifly fluttered in her stomach. She stood there with her fist raised and a look of shock on her face under a deep crimson blush. Slowly May lower her fist as she stared at Ash, still curled in a ball waiting to be hit, his eyes tightly shut and his arms raised in defence. May took a step closer to Ash and knelt in front of him, Does, does he really mean that? She thought.
"A-Ash," she stuttered quietly, "Do...do you mean that?" Ash slowly opened his eyes to see May in front of him, he could no longer see the burning flames of anger in her eyes, only the clear, shining sapphires that made him feel happy. He lowered his arms and lifted himself off the ground so he and May were on the same level.
"Of course I do May, you're my best friend..." Ash started.
"PIKA!" interrupted a certain electric type.
"Sorry, best human friend. I'd never lie to you." He finished smiling then turned around to look at Pikachu and hide the blush on his face, "Pikachu, we've been over this we're more than best friends, we're more like brothers right?" Pikachu nodded happily before jumping onto Ash's shoulder and rubbing his cheek to Ash's. May watched them smiling at how close Ash was to all of his Pokémon and was a little shocked to hear that Ash and Pikachu thought of each other as brothers but thinking about it she realised that they really were like that. They are very similar, she thought, they're both strong, brave and cute. Now that I think about it they like brothers. She giggled quietly at that thought but stopped when her stomach rumbled, Ash started laughing.
"Come on, let's have some breakfast then we go to Cerulean." Ash said standing and offering a hand to May to help her up. May took his hand and once standing let go of it quickly before she started to blush. They walked over to the fire pit and while Ash finished the breakfast he had been preparing May fed the Pokémon, as they sat down to eat they heard a rustling in the bushes at the edge of the clearing. Looking over they saw a green rodent-like Pokémon who was painfully thin, as if starved, not recognising it May pointed her Pokédex at the Pokémon
Sandshrew, The Mouse Pokémon. Sandshrew are timid Pokémon and live deep underground in burrows. Their bodies are specially designed not to waste moisture and to protect themselves they curl into a tight ball which is able to withstand powerful attacks.
Ash quickly poured some Pokémon food into a bowl and walked slowly towards Sandshrew but the ground type backed away, knowing that the Pokémon was likely scared of both him and May, Ash turned to Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir, can you give this food to Sandshrew and say that we want to help." Gardevoir nodded and took the bowl from Ash. She placed the bowl on the ground in front of Sandshrew and moved back whilst trying to comfort the ground type and asking it to let Ash and May help. While Gardevoir was talking to Sandshrew May turned to Ash.
"Why this Sandshrew a different colour to the picture in the Pokédex?" she asked.
"It must be a Shiny Pokémon like my Noctowl," Ash said remembering some of the things Professor Oak had taught him while he had been at home, "there's one recognised colour for Shiny Pokémon but there are some that are different like my Gyarados. The normal Shiny colour is red but mine's black and when I started on my journey I saw a pink Butterfree. Looking at him, he seems to be a little smaller than most Sandshrew."
When they turned back to look at Sandshrew they saw that the mouse Pokémon had finished eating the food and Gardevoir was making her way towards them with the bowl. Gardevoir stopped in front of Ash and her eyes glowed blue for a few seconds as she stared at Ash, when her eyes stopped glowing Ash nodded in understanding. He refilled the bowl and gave it to Gardevoir. Ash saw May giving him a questioning look and he decided to explain, as Gardevoir went back to Sandshrew.
"Gardevoir was just telling me what she learned from Sandshrew." He said before earning another questioning look from May so he explained further after getting a nod from Gardevoir, "Gardevoir's like Lucario, she can talk telepathically but she doesn't do it very often, she told me that Sandshrew lived in Mount Moon and was forced out of his group a few weeks ago because he was a different colour and he's been in this area since trying to survive. He hasn't eaten in a few days and has taken a beating from a few trainers so he's a little distrustful of humans. Gardevoir told him that we only want to help and he's willing to give us a little bit of trust." Ash finished looking over at Sandshrew with the ground type staring back at him with cautious eyes while he ate the food.
"Poor thing." May said sympathetically, there was moments silence before May spoke again, "Ash, what does Gardevoir's voice sound like?" she asked. Ash thought about it for a minute before answering.
"I can't describe it properly you'd have to hear it to know what I mean, she sounds little bit like you but different, her voice is a slightly softer and sounds more like she's singing. It's a nice voice and when I was travelling alone I..." Ash's voice got quieter as he spoke until he mumbled the end of the sentence.
"Ash, speak up I want to hear what you said." May said, Ash took a deep breath before he repeated himself.
"I said when I was travelling alone I...found it comforting because it made me feel like I wasn't alone, like I was with you." Ash said quietly, he realized what he had said and quickly added, "and the others." May blushed when Ash said that it was comforting to feel like he was with her and giggled seeing the flustered expression on his face when he added to his sentence. Ash had turned a deep red and pulled his hat down to hide his face.
"So do you find it comforting to travel with me now?" May asked teasing the raven haired trainer.
"Well ,yeah I do," he replied, "although you can be a bit scary sometimes." He added smirking but as soon as he finished talking he found himself lying face down on the ground with May standing over him with her fist raised.
"What did you say?" she asked furiously. Ash slowly turned over to look at May and even though the look of fury on her face scared him more than facing a herd of Tyranitar with a newly hatched Magikarp, he also realised that to him she still looked beautiful.
"I said that I do find it comforting to travel with you and should have done it sooner." Ash said rubbing the back of his head where May had hit him, hoping to get on May's good side as soon as possible. The look on May's face softened at Ash's words and she once more lowered her fist, she held her hand out to Ash to help him up.
"That's sweet Ash, let me help you up." May said smiling at him, the fire in her eyes gone once more. Ash took her hand and started to stand until his mouth changed into a wicked grin as he suddenly threw his weight back causing May to fall on top of him. May shrieked as Ash pulled her down drawing the attention of all the Pokémon, Ash was laughing loudly with the Pokémon soon following. May pounded her fists against Ash's chest for a few minutes before she started laughing as well.
"Sorry May, I couldn't resist." Ash said while laughing.
"That's okay. I probably would have done the same thing." May replied. They stood up and brushed the dirt of their clothes, Ash was about to start tiding their camp up when he felt something pull on leg of his jeans. He looked down and saw Sandshrew looking back up at him.
"Do you want more food?" Ash asked kindly.
"Sand Shrew SandSand ShrewSand." Said the ground type thanking Ash for the food. Ash knelt down to look Sandshrew in the eye, he saw a desire to get stronger and a will that seemed to be too strong for such a small Pokémon.
"Sandshrew do you want to come with me? I know that we would make a great team and even better friends. What do you say?" Ash said keeping eye contact with the mouse Pokémon. Sandshrew stared at Ash for a minute before nodding, Ash took an empty Pokéball from his belt and held it in front of Sandshrew. "Are you sure you want to come with me?" Ash asked again, Sandshrew replied by tapping the centre of the ball and being sucked inside in a flash of red light, the ball didn't even shake once, the second it closed there was a `ding` and a small flash of light, the capture was complete. Ash quickly got his Pokédex out and pressed one of the buttons, stopping the ball being sent to Professor Oak's lab. May wondered why the Pokéball didn't go to the Professor's lab so Ash explained what he had done and they quickly cleaned up their camp so that they could start making their way to Cerulean City.
"Hey Ash," May said, "Why did I have a blanket over my sleeping bag?"
"I woke up during the night and you looked cold so I put it over you." He replied not looking up as he filled the fire pit in.
"Thank you for doing that but weren't you cold?" May asked quietly blushing slightly thinking it was very sweet of him to do that.. Ash shook his head as he looked over to May.
"No, when I was out training I spent some time on Mount Silver and Mount Coronet and it's a lot colder there then it is here." May just stared at Ash for a minute as he went back to work. Ash really has changed, he used to complain when it was cold but now he's not even bothered by it, May thought, he's not the boy I knew anymore, now he's a man but he's still the same when it comes to anything other then Pokémon, oblivious to the highest degree and willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. That's why I can't tell him how I feel it would either scare him away or, May heart started to flutter as she smiled, if he felt the same it would make him more protective and that could get him hurt badly or worse. May's smile faded and she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders, To protect Ash, I need to keep my feelings hidden.
Ash saw that May looked sad and walked over to her putting a hand on her shoulder. May jumped having not seen Ash walk up to her.
"May, are you okay?" he asked, "You look sad, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just feeling a little ill today." She lied, "I'll be okay later."
"You sure? You know you can tell me anything May right?"
"I know Ash. I'm okay, just a little dizzy that's all." May said, Ash looked at her knowing that there was something she wasn't saying. He could have used his Aura to find out what it was but he wouldn't do it because it wasn't something a friend would do and he knew that if May wanted to take about it she would.
"I hope you feel better soon, maybe this will help." Ash said before he did something unexpected. He pulled May in, enveloping her in his arms and hugging her, May was surprised by this but soon rested her head on Ash's chest and wrapped her arms around his back holding him tightly with a smile on her face as her heart pounded in her chest from happiness. Ash was smiling as well but he didn't know why. "When I was a little kid if I was sick my mom would give me a hug and it made me feel better. I thought it might do the same for you." He explained, May didn't reply in words she just nodded her head. rubbing it against Ash's chest. While their trainers hugged the Pokémon all exchanged knowing glances and Glaceon edged her way closer to Pikachu.
After they stopped their hug, Ash noticed that May did look a lot happier, they continued to clean up the campsite finishing in about half an hour and then put their things back in their bags, May returned all of her Pokémon except for Glaceon while Ash returned Meowth, Gengar and Sceptile leaving Pikachu, Gardevoir and Lucario out.
"Ash, why have you left Gardevoir out?" May asked curiously.
"If I'm travelling with you again then I want Gardevoir to feel comfortable around you. Keeping Gardevoir out of her Pokéball will let the two of you get to know each other and Gardevoir will be able to see what a nice person you are." Ash answered, "Meowth's still injured from what happened in Rota and wants to rest some more, Gengar would just keep pulling pranks on us and Sceptile didn't feel like staying out. You already know that Pikachu won't go in a ball and Lucario just refuses to go in his ball saying that he has to stay by my side and not in a ball on my belt." May nodded in understanding, "Why have you left Glaceon out May?" he asked. May looked at her ice type Pokémon, then to Pikachu and finally at Ash.
"I thought Pikachu would like some company and seeing that he gets on so well with Glaceon, I thought it would be nice for the two if them to be out together." May answered, Ash simply smiled and agreed that it would be a good idea. "Er...Ash," May started, "because we're going into a city, we need to look like a couple again." Ash looked confused for a minute then he realised what May was saying.
"Okay, we need to hold hands again right?" he asked, May nodded blushing slightly.
"Right." May said sheepishly as Ash took her hand in his, they then started walking through the forest to Cerulean City.
After about an hour of walking Ash felt something vibrating in his pocket, he stopped, letting go of May's hand and took out the object. It was his GCS (G-Men Communication Sphere), Ash opened the Pokéball like device he flipped it open and on the small screen he was the worried face of the Johto League Champion Lance.
"Hi Lance." Ash said.
"Ash, I've only just seen that you tried to contact me. What's the problem?" asked the Champion.
"It's okay Lance, I've dealt with it." Ash explained before telling the Dragon trainer what had happened with Team Rocket. "Lance, why did it take so long for you to call me back?" Lance nodded his head and started to explain.
"I was on a mission to try and calm down the Legendary Birds of Kanto. For some reason they started to attack towns at random, during one of the attacks I was about to call you and ask for your help when Zapdos launched a Thunderbolt at me, I dived out of the way but dropped my GCS. The Thunderbolt fried it and I've only just been issued a new one. A couple of days ago they just stopped attacking, they looked a little confused and then returned to their nests though we don't know why. It's good to know that you were able to rescue the girl you kept talking about." May had been standing nearby wondering what was going on and blushed slight when she heard what Lance said.
"I think I might know why they stopped." Ash said as he told Lance what had happened in Rota with Mew leaving out the fact he was now an Aura Guardian.
"Makes sense Mew is the strongest Legendary Pokémon in Kanto and because it's a Psychic type it would be able to affect other Legendary Pokémon. Well, it seems that you saved the day again, Ash." An alarm could be heard behind Lance, the Champion sighed. "No rest for the weary. Goodbye Ash, good luck on your journey, well done getting your first badge and congratulations on becoming an Aura Guardian. First person to actually win the battle since Sir Aaron, right?"
"How did you know about that?" Ash asked surprised.
"I like to keep track of any trainer that can give me a challenge," Lance laughed, "and I like to know how my friends are doing. Goodbye Ash, remember if you need any help just press the green button."
"Same to you Lance, bye." Ash said smiling before closing his GCS, he turned back to May and saw the puzzled look on her face. "What's wrong May?" he asked.
"Why did Lance call you and what is that?" she asked pointing at the GCS in Ash's hand. It was then that Ash remembered that May didn't know that he worked with the G-Men from time to time. Ash took hold of May's hand again and as they walked to Cerulean City he explained how he had come to know Lance better and how he had become an ally of the G-Men. By the time Ash had finished explaining everything to May they had reached the outskirts of Cerulean City.
"Let the trick begin." Ash said grinning at May who smiled back as they started to walk into the city.
Ash and May quickly found the Pokémon Centre and booked a room, Ash called his mom to let her know how he was getting on with his journey, Brock to tell him that they had made it to Cerulean City and Professor Oak to exchange some of his Pokémon. Brock told Ash that Sian had passed on his message and congratulated him on passing his Aura Graduation along with what happened with Mew, Ash promised to tell Brock the whole story next time he visited. May called her parents, while Ash was talking to Professor Oak about swapping his Pokémon. Ash had convinced Meowth to go to Professor Oak's Lab until he was fully healed, Ash had told the Professor about the situation with Meowth and to explain it to his other Pokémon. Ash kept Sandshrew with him so the ground type could adjust to having a trainer.
"Hi mom, sorry I didn't call sooner but I've been really busy." May said when her mother answered the phone.
"Hello honey, where are you now?" asked Caroline.
"I'm in Cerulean City and I've won my first Contest Ribbon." May opened her ribbon case showing the Aura Ribbon to her mother, "and I drew in an unofficial contest in Pewter City."
"I'm so proud of you dear but who did you draw with?"
"I drew with Ash, we're travelling together again."
"I take it you asked him to help with your 'problem'. You know the green haired one." Caroline said. May had told her mom and dad that Drew was bothering her and that she had said Ash was her boyfriend.
"Yes I did and he's helping me. Ash beat Drew in the contest easily, he's trained with Wallace and he's stronger than ever now."
"You like him a lot don't you May." Caroline asked.
"Of course I do, he's my friend." May replied not looking her mom in the eye.
"You know what I mean May. I'm your mother, you can't hide things like this from me." May blushed and dropped her head slightly before looking back at the screen.
"Yeah, I do like him a lot," May admitted, "but I don't know if he likes me back. I was going to tell him how I felt but things got in the way." May then explained about the banquet and dancing with Ash after the contest leaving out the part about Ash being an Aura Guardian and Mew being the problem, simply saying that a Legendary Pokémon interrupted the moment and after seeing how Ash was willing to protect her, she was scared to tell him as he might put himself in more danger to help her if he returned her feelings. At that point May started to get quite emotional, Caroline just smiled and tried to comfort her daughter, after a minute May had calmed down and explain what she had done during the contests. After May finished talking Caroline asked a question.
"Is Ash with you now? Your father and I would like to talk to him."
"I'll get him but please don't tell him how I feel, I need to tell him myself when I'm ready."
"Don't worry we won't, I'll go and get your father." May walked over to the phone that Ash was sat on, she tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned round she say that he was talking to Professor Oak.
"Ash, my mom and dad want to talk to you about something." She said.
"Okay May," he said before turning back to the phone, "I'll call you back later Professor bye." Ash was about to hang up when May stopped him.
"Ash, can you leave it on, I want to ask Professor Oak something."
"Sure May." Ash got up and walked over to the phone that May had been using to talk to her parents after she quickly told him what she had told her parents about Rota.
"So May, are you having a good time travelling with Ash?" asked Professor Oak.
"Yes its good travelling with Ash again, I'd forgotten how fun it was." she said "Professor, can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can May. What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering I'd be able to transfer my Pokémon to your lab while I travel with Ash, if it's not too much trouble." Professor Oak smiled at her.
"It's no trouble at all, the last time your Pokémon were here they were very well behaved and got along really well with Ash's Pokémon, just have them transferred to my lab and call me when you want to exchange them."
"Thank you Professor, I'll send them over soon."
"I'll be waiting for them May. Now tell me how your contests are going."
While May was talking to Professor Oak, Ash had sat down at the phone May had been using.
"Hello Mr and Mrs Maple." Ash said when they appeared on the screen.
"Hello Ash, you know that you can call us by name don't you." Said Norman.
"I know you said that when we first met but it's been a while so I wanted to be polite."
"That's very nice of you Ash and we want to thank you for helping May with her problem and for travelling with her again. We worry about her being on her own but knowing that you're with her helps us to relax a bit because we know that you won't let anything happen to her." Said Caroline and Norman nodded in agreement before Norman cleared his throat.
"Ash, May told us that you agreed to pretend to be her boyfriend," Norman started, "and I want you to know that if you do anything to hurt her then you'll need to run far and run fast because I will be after you. So tell me, what have you been doing with my daughter?" He finished in an eerily calm voice and a stern expression on his face. Ash felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in fear and anger starting to form in his gut.
"I would never do anything to hurt May," he snapped quietly so he didn't draw any attention to himself. When he saw the shocked looks on Norman's and Caroline's faces Ash calmed down, "I'm sorry about that but thinking that you thought I would hurt May made me angry." He apologised.
"That's perfectly understandable Ash. Norman, leave the poor boy alone he's the nicest person that May's travelled with and you know that." Said Caroline chiding her husband.
"I know that but it's a father duty to terrorize their daughter's boyfriend, even if it is only pretend. It's a sacred tradition that cannot be ignored. Now back to my question what have you and May been doing?" Norman asked, Ash decided to start from the beginning so Norman understood what was going on.
"When May asked me to help her I didn't know what I had to do so I asked May to tell me. She said that we needed to hold hands, I could give her flowers but not roses and put my arm around her but I only needed to do it if Drew was around. I said that I'd need to do it all the time because I wouldn't remember to do it when I needed to, before the contest in Pewter City Drew was bothering May so I walked over and put my arm round her, gave her a kiss and..."
"YOU KISSED MY DAUGHTER! START RUNNING! SLAKING, VIGOROTH COME HERE. WE'RE GOING HUNTING!" Norman roared drawing the attention of everyone in the Pokémon Centre, May ran over to see what was going on. She saw her mother trying to calm her father down, Slaking stood in the background looking confused as he scratched his stomach and Vigoroth jumping up and down while looking excited.
"Ash, what's going on?" May asked, Ash quickly explained what had happened and May understood why her dad was acting like that.
"Dad, DAD!," May shouted getting her father's attention, "He kissed me on the cheek and I've done the same to him," May blushed admitting it to her parents, "calm down, nothing else has happened apart from the occasional hug, holding hands and in Rota we danced together that's all." Norman started to calm down and turned back to look at Ash and May.
"That had better be all. Now Ash what are your intentions towards my daughter?" he asked still sounding angry.
"DAD!" May cried out of embarrassment, her face crimson, she was about to disconnect the call when Ash put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Mr Maple, my intentions are to help May in any way I can and to keep her safe. I promise you, I won't let anything happen to her, no matter what I have to do and no matter the cost. You have my word." Ash said looking Norman in the eye. For a minute nothing was said until Norman nodded his head.
"Good," he said calming down, "I'm glad that May is travelling with you again because I know you'll look after her and make her happy. Ash, I trust you and I know that you'll protect May."
"I've done it before and I'll do it again." Ash said. May blushed at Ash's promise then realised what he had said.
"Well that's good to hear...wait, what do you mean you've done it before?" Caroline asked but before Ash could answer May interrupted.
"Bye mom, bye dad. We need to go now Ash has a Gym Battle soon. Can you transfer my Pokémon to Professor Oak's lab please. I love you and I'll call you soon. Bye." May said ending the call before her parents could say anything and walking to the main desk to see if their Pokémon were ready. Ash gave May a quizzical look not knowing why she did that and followed her.
"Why did you do that for May?" he asked. May sighed and turned around to look at Ash.
"I haven't told my mom and dad the truth about the adventures we've had." She said
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't tell them I nearly drowned in the Temple Of The Sea, that I've fallen off cliffs or any of the other dangerous situations I've been in over the years. Neither has Max,we decided to keep it a secret."
"Why?"
"Because if we told them they wouldn't have let us carry on our journeys or travel with you. They would have said it was too dangerous and kept us at home. Please don't tell them, please." May begged whilst using her most powerful weapon, her puppy dog eyes.
"Okay I understand now, I won't say anything to them. I'm going to get ready to play the trick on Misty." Ash said caving to the power of her eyes as he walked to the room that they booked and May waited at the desk for their Pokémon.
When Ash came back a few minutes later he was dressed in his Aura Guardian uniform and May had collected their Pokémon, she was sat on a chair scratching Pikachu behind the ear while Glaceon napped on her lap.. People in the Pokémon Centre were staring at Ash but he wasn't bothered by it, he just walked across the reception area to where May was waiting. As if sensing their trainer Lucario and Gardevoir came out of their Pokéballs and moved next to Ash, Ash simply shook his head and chuckled lightly.
"May, can you keep hold of Pikachu for me because he'll give the game away. Misty would recognise him anywhere." Ash asked.
"No problem Ash, right Pikachu." May said.
"Pika." Squeaked Pikachu as he jumped on to May's shoulder. Ash left Sandshrew with Nurse Joy so that the ground type could get a full check-up and have some more food. Ash and May left the Pokémon Centre with Lucario and Gardevoir walking just behind Ash until they got close to the Gym.
"I'll go in first May, in case Misty's by the door. Wait a minute then come in if you don't hear Misty's voice." Ash said, May nodded and watched Ash enter the Gym with Lucario and Gardevoir following him.
As Ash walked into the main entrance of the Gym he saw Misty's sisters peeking through the door that lead to the Gym's battlefield. Ash pulled his hat lower to hide his face in case they recognised him and cleared his throat to get their attention. Ash could see that Misty's sisters hadn't changed much, they still wore designer clothes, had perfect hair and makeup and they were still very pretty.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where the Gym Leader is please." He asked making his voice sound a little deeper than it already was. The three women turned around to see a man wearing a blue tunic over grey pants and a grey shirt, around his waist was a brown leather belt with a small pouch attached to the right hand side. He had blue boot on his feet, blue gloves with a crystal and yellow lines on them, he also wore a dark blue, almost black, cape and hat. His hat was pulled low on his face just showing his mouth and chin, there was a yellow symbol on a blue ribbon that wrapped around the hat. The man had black spiky hair and stood at about 6 feet in height. Even though they couldn't see his face properly the three Cerulean sisters could tell that the man was handsome, Daisy was the first to approach him swaying her hips from side to side.
"Hey cutie, what are you doing here?" she asked, hugging one of Ash's arms. Ash sweatdropped as Violet and Lily grabbed hold of him as well. All three of them getting close, VERY close, to Ash trying to look under his hat, Ash was starting to feel uncomfortable with the amount of contact they were making . Lucario and Gardevoir took a step back, Lucario was unsure whether to help his Master and Gardevoir was frightened by the way Daisy, Violet and Lily were acting around Ash.
"I'm looking for the Gym Leader, can you tell me where she is please." He asked again trying to escape from their grasp.
"Well you're in luck gorgeous because," Lily said standing directly in front of Ash only a few inches away from him, "I am the Gym Leader." She whispered seductively, Violet and Daisy gave her an angry glare.
"No she's not, I am." Said Violet, knocking Lily away and taking her place.
"They're like both wrong, I'm like the Gym Leader." Daisy said pushing Violet out of the way so she was now standing in front of Ash. The sisters started to fight until Ash got between them. (AN Ash is a brave man.)
"I'm looking for Misty," he said getting their attention once more, "Is she here?" The three sisters stopped fighting and sighed.
"Why does Misty get all the hot guys?" asked Lily out loud, not directing the question to anyone, Daisy and Violet looked at each other and sighed they turned to the now confused Ash.
"She's like, in the pool, she has company but I think she'd like, want the interruption." Daisy said. Violet nodded her head in agreement while Lily kept staring at Ash with pleading eyes as if asking him to forget about Misty and spend the day talking to her.
"Thank you," Ash said, "I'll go and see her now." He walked to the doors and was about to walk through when he heard Violet speak.
"Wait a minute," she said, "What's your name?" Ash stopped he'd spent so much time thinking about how to trick Misty he hadn't thought of a fake name to use. Ash was about to say his name was Tom Ato, when he heard Lucario's voice in his head.
Master, if I may make a suggestion. Said the Aura Pokémon as he gave Ash a name to use.
'Thank you Lucario' Ash replied through his Aura, he turned to look at the Cerulean sister and smiled, "My name's Aaron and it was a pleasure to meet you all." He said before walking through the door with Lucario and Gardevoir following behind him.
May walked into the Gym just after Ash went through the door to the pool, she decided to wait another few minutes and talked to Misty's sister about what they had been doing recently.
As Ash walked down the corridor to the pool he heard Misty's voice.
"I've told you before I don't want to be your girlfriend. Now get out of my Gym!" she said angrily, Ash then heard a man's laugh he came to the end of the corridor and looked into the pool area. Misty was standing on the edge of the pool arguing with a man. The man was slightly over 6 foot tall and wore an orange shirt, green pants and a green belt with a gold buckle shaped like a roaring Gyarados. He had short blond hair and carried himself with an air of overconfidence. Misty was wearing a yellow short sleeved jacket over a blue t-shirt, yellow shorts and red trainers. Misty had grown over the years she was now a few inches taller, her hair was longer and slightly darker, she was no longer the skinny girl Ash knew now Misty was a fully grown and beautiful woman with a curvy yet athletic body.
"Come now Misty, I'm the King of the Seas. Tell me why you don't want to become my Queen?" the man said in a deep voice. Ash could see Misty was getting even more angry and was about to leave planning on playing the trick on her tomorrow, when she would be in a better mood but before he could turn around and leave Misty saw him.
Misty wondered who the person stood at the end of the corridor and an idea popped into her head normally she wouldn't do something like that but desperate times call for desperate measures.
"You want to know why," she said to the man, "I'll tell you why I already have a boyfriend and here he is now." Misty turned away from the man walking straight to Ash, she grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the pool. She stopped a few feet from the man and gave Ash a quick peck on the cheek as she whispered into his ear, "I'm sorry to drag you into this but please play along." She doesn't recognise me, she's going to kill me when she finds out who I am Ash thought as he was a bit stunned by the kiss, he nodded his head slightly to show Misty that he would help.
May was walking down the corridor to watch the trick when she saw Misty grab Ash's hand and drag him out of view. May ran to the end of the corridor as quietly as she could and when she got there she peeked out and saw Misty kiss Ash on the cheek, May felt a pit of anger form in her stomach, she was jealous, she noticed that there was a man in front of Ash and from looking at their body language May quickly worked out what was happening.
"This," the man said looking at Ash in disgust, "is your boyfriend?"
"Yes he is." Misty replied. "We've been together for a few weeks now, I've like him longer than that but it was only a few weeks ago when I told him how I felt." Misty hugged Ash's arm while Lucario and Gardevoir waited behind them. Ash wanted to know who this man was, who was bothering the first human friend he made on his journey, so he decided to introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Aaron. Nice to meet you." He said in his altered voice extending his hand, the man looked at Ash's hand but didn't take it and he just glared at Ash, "Who are you?" Ash asked. A look of shock appeared on the man's face and Misty's mouth twisted into a barely contained smirk.
"You don't know who I am?" the man asked in shock, Ash shook his head, "I am the King Of The Seas, I am Arthur the Water Type member of the Kanto Elite Four." He said putting his hands on his hips.
"Oh, nice to meet you. What are you doing here?" Ah asked not that impressed by Arthur's title.
"I'm here because Misty is destined to be my Queen, no other water type trainer is capable enough to stand at my side. Now leave us so that Misty and I can go about our destiny as the Monarchs of the Seas." Arthur said as he tried to intimidate Ash, Arthur pushed his chest out to show off his athletic physique.
"No." Ash replied. Arthur took a step back in shock, he had been able to intimidate everyone he met apart from the Champions, yet this unknown person in strange clothes wasn't bothered in the slightest. "Misty has told you she's has a boyfriend," Ash said putting his arm round Misty's waist, glad that his hat hid the blush on his face, his hat also stopped him from seeing the blush on Misty's face, "she's not destined to be your Queen and she's asked you to leave the Gym. So YOU go, leave Misty alone and never come back." Ash finished his every word had been filled with the conviction that he would fight anyone who challenged him. Arthur stood there for a minute before Ash raised his head, turning it so Misty wouldn't see his face and showed Arthur his Aura filled eyes causing the man to back away from them heading towards the exit of the Gym in shock.
May felt jealousy fill her stomach once more when she saw Ash put his arm around Misty though she knew he was only doing it to help her. She felt proud of Ash for standing by his friend like that and slightly in awe of the power he put behind his words. She saw the man walking towards her so she pressed herself against the side of the corridor trying to escape his gaze.
Ash took his arm from around Misty's waist and took a few steps away from her.
"Sorry about putting my arm round you like that Miss Waterflower. You asked me to play the part of a boyfriend so I did. I'm sorry if made you feel uncomfortable to be held like that by a stranger." Ash said bowing.
"It's okay, thank you for helping me. He's been asking me out for weeks and he wouldn't give up. How did you get him to leave? I mean you just looked at him and he went." Misty asked.
"I must just have a scary face." Ash chuckled as he stood upright, "I was coming to talk to you anyway. I have got a couple of favours to ask."
"After you helped me I can't really say no now can I. What do you need?"
"I was wondering if I could use your pool just to give one of my Pokémon a chance to stretch a little. Being in his Pokéball for too long makes him a bit cranky."
"No problem, feel free to use the pool for as long as you want." Misty replied.
"Thank you," Ash said taking a Pokéball from his belt and hesitated before throwing it, "one question is your Gyarados in the pool?" Misty shook her head.
"No, all of my Pokémon are at the Pokémon Centre for their annual check-up otherwise I would have gotten rid of Arthur a lot quicker. Why?"
"Because I don't think he'd like to share the pool," Ash said throwing the Pokéball into the air, "Come on out." He shouted. The Pokéball burst open and his black Gyarados appeared in the pool announcing his arrival with a roar. Misty's eyes started to sparkle on seeing the enormous water type, Gyarados lowered his head close to Ash. Ash reached out his hand and stroked the crest on Gyarados' head.
"Can I?" Misty asked, Ash smiled and nodded as Misty slowly walked towards the Pokémon and gently put her hand on the crest. "So what else can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you could give me some information about a trainer I'm trying to find." Ash said after a minute bringing Misty's attention back to him.
"Who is it you're looking for?"
"Ash Ketchum," Ash said, "I've heard rumours that he's appeared all over the world for the past three years but I'm unable to find him. I heard that you travelled with him for a couple of years when you were younger so I was hoping that you could help me find him." Misty was surprised that this mysterious new person was looking for Ash but there was something about him that made her trust him.
"I haven't seen him for a while but I heard from my friend Brock in Pewter City that he was heading to Rota about a week ago. You might be able to find him there." Ash decided to mess with Misty a little more.
"What can you tell me about him?"
"Why do you want to know?" Misty asked suspiciously.
"I plan on battling him and I just want a little insight into who he is to get an idea of his battling style, that's all."
"Well, Ash is impulsive and very determined, when he battles he never hold back and comes up with the strangest ideas but they always turn the battle in his favour if he's backed in to a corner. He loves all of his Pokémon and he's loyal to his friends, he's saved my life a few times over the years and I think he's the best person I've ever met but don't tell him that he's got a big enough head as it is." She giggled.
"I might be a little late for that." Ash said as he stopped talking in a deeper voice, reaching for another Pokéball, "Misty I've got a little confession to make my name's not Aaron. This should tell you what my name is." He opened the Pokéball and a purple Pokémon with large white wings materialised. The Pokémon wore a yellow handkerchief round his neck, the Pokémon looked around and saw a familiar face. He flew over to Misty and landed on her shoulder rubbing his head against hers. Misty was a little apprehensive about the bug type but when she saw the handkerchief she realised that she knew this Pokémon.
"Butterfree? but that would mean..." Misty started to say in confusion before she stopped talking, watching as Ash lifted his hat up to reveal his face. Her face paled as she recognised Ash's face, a number of emotions flooded through her mind going from happiness to see her friend after so long, to amazement that Ash was able to play the part of a boyfriend so easily, to embarrassment that she had kissed him and finally to anger that he had tricked her into admitting what she really thought about him.
"Hey Misty, it's been a while." He said grinning, Misty stood looking at him in shock for a minute before she pulled her trusty mallet out of thin air, a look of rage on her face and a vein visibly throbbing on her forehead. Ash took an involuntary step back out of instinct and past experience. She still has the mallet, I'm going to die. He thought.
"Ash Ketchum, I am going to kill you." Misty said in a scarily calm voice before charging forward swinging the mallet, aiming for Ash's head intent on beating him into the ground. What happened next surprised Misty more than finding out that Ash had tricked her, as she swung the mallet down to smack Ash on the head he sidestepped it, dodging the attack completely. Misty tried again and again but Ash kept dodging the mallet, sidestepping it, ducking under it, jumping over it and at one point he bent over backwards letting the weapon skim across his chest. Lucario watched with an amused smile on his face while Gardevoir looked worried, Ash had told them that this would probably happen and not to get involved. Finally Ash decided to end the assault, he grabbed the handle of the mallet pulling it out of Misty's grasp before spinning it around in one hand and breaking it over his knee. Ash dropped the two pieces on the ground looking at the shocked and now tired Misty.
"Is that anyway to say hello to your friend." he said smiling, he was about to explain everything to Misty, about how he was able to do what he had done and where he had been when they heard the smack of skin on skin and a man's voice yell.
"HOW DARE YOU STRIKE THE KING OF THE SEAS!" Ash took off running towards the corridor and saw Arthur standing in front of May with his fist drawn back and May with a look of fear on her face. Ash immediately fired an Aura Sphere directly in front of Arthur's face, barely missing him. Arthur turned to look at Ash, as May ran to his side, standing slightly behind him, the Pokémon forming a defensive line in front of her.
"That was a warning, leave her alone and get out of this Gym or the next one won't miss." Ash said as he slowly formed two Aura Spheres in the palm of each hand, his eyes filled with glowing Aura once more, flames of Aura flickering across his shoulders and down his arms. Arthur's eyes widened in fear and Misty looked at Ash as if he was a stranger. Is this really Ash? She thought.
"What are you?" asked the Elite Four member quietly.
"I am an Aura Guardian of the Sovereign state of Rota, knight and member of the Royal Court, honoured protector of Queen Ilene. My name is Sir Ash Ketchum and you will not harm my friends. Leave now or I'll make you." Ash answered, standing taller, and to Misty and May looking very heroic the only thing missing was a light breeze to make his cape move. Lucario and Gardevoir stood alongside him holding an Aura Sphere and Focus Blast respectively, Butterfree's eyes glowed ready to fire a Psybeam, Pikachu stood his ground in front of May with electricity crackling across his body and Gyarados positioned his head at the end of the corridor glaring at the man who threatened his trainer's friends. Glaceon stood next to Pikachu, her fur bristled and she bared her small fangs willing to do whatever it took to protect May. Arthur slowly started walking backwards before turning and nearly running from the building. Both Misty and May were in awe of Ash he had just saved May from being attacked and given a very intimidating speech. Ash and the Pokémon stopped their attacks and relaxed, Misty tapped Ash on his shoulder. He turned to face her and saw a look of part fear, part awe and part questioning.
"Ash Ketchum, you have some explaining to do." She said, Ash nodded and after Misty had said hello to May and Pikachu they went to sit down. Ash, May and the Pokémon followed Misty into the living area of the Gym, as it acted as both the Gym and the home of the Waterflower family. Butterfree was returned to his Pokéball and Gyarados was left in the pool. Misty led them into the living room and sat in an arm chair while Ash and May sat next to each other on the couch. Lucario stood behind the couch, Gardevoir sat next to Ash, Pikachu sat on May's lap and Glaceon sat by May's feet. The room was painted a light blue with various pictures on the walls showing Misty and her sisters with their water type Pokémon, along with some family photos. The furniture was a pale green and the carpet was the same colour.
Ash started from the beginning telling Misty how he had spent the last three years training his Pokémon, catching some new Pokémon and reuniting with old ones, starting his journey, meeting with May, the favour, running into Team Rocket, going to Rota and nearly everything else that had happened. Ash kept some things a secret because they were his training methods, some of his newest Pokémon and some other things.
"Misty, there's a couple of reasons I've come here, one is a Gym Battle. I'm entering the Indigo League and I'm collecting the badges again, this time I want to earn them properly." He said.
"That's great Ash but you won't be getting the Cascade Badge this time." Misty said teasingly.
"I don't know Misty, Ash has gotten a lot stronger than he was last time we saw him." May said defending Ash. Misty noticed that May was quick to side with Ash and how close they were sitting next to each other.
I guess Brock wasn't joking when he called about Ash and May. Misty thought, "So Ash," she started, "You said a couple of reasons that's one, what's the other? Are you finally going to give me the bike you owe me, come to think of it now you owe me a mallet as well." Misty started laughing, Ash laughed along with her before rowing serious. "Come on Ash what is it?" Ash looked at his friend and sighed, he knew that Misty would want her memories back and he didn't want her to be upset by them but it was her choice.
"Do you remember when we were travelling together and ended up in that port not knowing how we got there?" he asked.
"Barely, why?" Misty replied.
"I remember and if you want, I can help you remember as well."
"Ash, why would I want to remember how I got to a port?"
"Because something else happened and we were made to forget."
"Ash, tell me what happened. What could make us forget?" Ash took a deep breath before answering.
"Mewtwo." He said. Misty immediately looked at May then back at Ash, "It's okay Misty, May knows. I was training in the woods by Brock's house and Mewtwo came to talk to me, May walked into the clearing and Mewtwo said it was okay to tell her. Now do you want to remember or not?"
"What do I need to do?" she asked.
"Nothing, just sit still." Ash leaned forward his hand glowing with Aura as he placed it on Misty's forehead, he then closed his eyes and focused. Memories long hidden flooded into her mind she saw herself, Ash and Brock clinging to Squirtle and Staryu as they braved a storm trying to get to an island, hearing a strange Pokémon talk about clones, seeing a brutal battle between Ash's Charizard and a cloned one, the other trainers on the island trying to defend their Pokémon from black Pokéballs, Ash diving down a chute after a ball that had captured Pikachu, an explosion followed by Ash's voice saying 'I won't let you', an enormous battle ending with Ash running between two powerful blasts of energy and being turned to stone and finally the tears of the Pokémon floating through the air landing on Ash bringing him back from the dead. Ash took his hand from Misty's head and placed it on her shoulder, floods of tears flowed from her green eyes as all of the emotion from that day came back in one go. Misty pulled Ash into a hug and wept into his shoulder, Ash wore a sad smile as he rubbed Misty's back trying to comfort her.
May watched this and though she felt jealous of Misty of being in Ash's arms, she knew that what had happened that day was something the needed to deal with together. A small part of May wanted to know what actually happened, she wanted to see it with her own eyes so she could full understand what Ash, Misty and Brock had gone through, so that she could help them deal with their returned memories. A few seconds after thinking that memories flooded into May's mind, she saw the events on New Island and Mount Quena. The sudden intake of memories was too much for May to take and she collapsed on to the couch, Ash was still holding Misty trying to calm her. Pikachu felt May start to fall and let out a surprised yell.
"Kachuka!" (AN, I've picked this as Pikachu's name for May as it sounds like her Japanese name). Ash and Misty looked up and saw May roll off the couch and lie on the floor unconscious. Lucario had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed moved to May's side and used Heal Pulse to try help her. Glaceon nuzzled her trainer trying to wake her up.
"May!" Ash shouted releasing Misty and moving to May's side, shaking her gently as he tried to wake her up, "What happened?" Ash asked looking at Lucario and Pikachu, both of them shook their heads not knowing what had happened. Ash then looked at Gardevoir and saw that she was looking down at the floor. "Gardevoir, do you know what happened?" he asked as he edged closer to the psychic type, Ash saw tears rolling down Gardevoir's pale cheeks and heard her voice in his head. Misty got control of herself knowing that they would talk about Mewtwo later and that right know May needed their help. Misty knelt next to May trying to wake her and telling her that everything would be alright.
'I didn't mean to hurt her. She only wanted to help you and your friends. She wanted to understand.' She said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked putting his hand on Gardevoir's shoulder. Misty look at Ash in surprise she hadn't heard Gardevoir talk, yet Ash was obviously having a conversation with her.
"I heard her thoughts, she wanted to understand what you and your friends had gone through on New Island and Mount Quena. I showed her what happened, thinking that it would help but I was wrong...I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me. You are the nicest person I've ever met and I don't want you to be disappointed with me."Gardevoir was crying openly now and she started to glow, Ash realised that she was about to Teleport away so he channelled his Aura making it surround her, stopping her from leaving. Ash pulled his psychic type into a hug as she wept in to his shoulder.
"Gardevoir, it's okay. I'm not angry or disappointed with you, I know you didn't mean to hurt May. Can you help her? Can you wake her up?"
"I'll do whatever I need to do to help May. This was my mistake, I need to fix it."Gardevoir nodded and moved closer to May after Ash released her from the hug and closed her eyes. Ash lifted May up and placed her on the couch, he sat on down and rested her head on his lap slowly stroking her hair as he silently prayed she would be okay.
Meanwhile May was living through everything that happened between Ash and Mewtwo, she felt everything, the emotions that Ash, Misty and Brock had felt during those events, the pain of seeing their Pokémon being captured and seeing them fighting their clones. May felt Ash's life being taken away causing tears to pour from her eyes, even though she knew about it, seeing it happen made it real and it scared her more than anything else in the world. Her tears of sorrow were soon replaced by tears of joy as she saw the tears of the Pokémon return Ash's life. The event at Mount Quena played through her mind next, she saw Team Rocket attack the home that Mewtwo had found for himself and the clones, Giovanni gloating over Mewtwo while he was caged by the robots. She could feel Ash's resolve to help Mewtwo no matter what and the weight of Mewtwo's tired body on her shoulders as if she was the one carrying him not Ash. She experienced everything that had happened during the encounters with Mewtwo, the memories faded to black after Ash, Misty and Brock left Mount Quena and May fell into the blackness.
May woke up to find she was lying in a sea blue bed, she sat up but soon regretted it she held her head as she felt a pounding like a herd of Tauros were stampeding around inside it. May lay back down for a few minutes trying to remember what had happened but her mind drew a blank, she tried to sit up again, this time she sat up slower and was able to do it without feeling any pain. Looking around the room she saw pictures of Ash, Brock and Misty on the walls This must be Misty's room she thought, she then saw something curled up at the end of the bed. It was Pikachu and Glaceon, May gently nudged them with her foot to wake them up. Pikachu rolled on to his stomach and stretched he looked up at May and smiled.
"Kachuka." He said happily before leaping off the bed and running to the door, he jumped up grabbing the handle with his front paws and pushed off the wall with his back paws causing the door to open slowly. May smiled at how funny it was seeing Pikachu open the door. Glaceon stood up and jumped onto her trainer, thankful she was okay May smiled and started to stroke Glaceon's fur, enjoying the coolness of it.
"Pikapi, Pikachupi." He shouted out of the door before running back to the bed and launching himself into May's lap next to Glaceon. May started to pet Pikachu as well, she heard footsteps coming towards the room quickly, Ash ran into the room and stopped when he saw May sitting up in the bed smiling at him.
"Ash," May said, "What happ..." was all May could say before she remembered everything and her eyes started to water, she held her arms out to Ash, he walked forward, sat on the bed and enveloped her in a hug.
"It's okay, May," Ash said soothingly as they rocked back and forth, "It's okay. I'm not going anywhere, I'm right here."
"I saw...you were...it was...I" May tried to speak but her tears wouldn't let her. They just sat there holding each other for a few minutes until May had stopped crying but was still clinging to Ash as if he would disappear if she let go. "I saw what you did for the Pokémon." She said quietly, "You...died."
"I know but you should know by now that it takes more than that to stop me. I'm going to be a Pokémon Master and nothing's going to stop me" Ash said earning a small giggle from May. "After all I still needed to meet you, Max, Tracey, Dawn, Cilan and Iris. I had a lot of other places and Pokémon to save too, didn't I." Ash felt May nod her head against his chest. They heard a knock on the door, looking up they saw Misty standing in the door way with a smile on her face. While May had been asleep Ash and Misty had talked about their returned memories and Misty's sisters had left the Gym to do some shopping.
"Glad to see you're okay May. You've been asleep for a while." Misty said.
"How long have I been asleep?" May asked.
"Three, nearly four hours." May was about to ask how she had gotten the memories when Gardevoir came into the room with her head bowed and her hands clasped together in front of her. Gardevoir that lifted her head, looked May in the eyes and spoke to her.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you. Please forgive me." Gardevoir said softly. May was a little shocked that Gardevoir was talking to her, realising that Gardevoir voice did sound like her own, "I heard your thought about how you wanted to understand, I thought I was helping you but I hurt you instead. I am truly sorry for all the pain I have put you through. I will accept any punishment you see fitting as a way of repaying the anguish I put you through."After Gardevoir finished speaking she lowered her gaze back to the floor. May just stared at the Psychic type, after a minute of silence May spoke.
"Gardevoir, can you come here please." She said quietly. Gardevoir nodded and moved to stand in front of May, her head still facing the ground, she was expecting to be slapped and insulted but something else happened which truly shocked her. May wrapped her arms around Gardevoir and gave her a hug, "I know you didn't mean to hurt me and I'm not the type of person who would punish a Pokémon for any reason." She said. May released Gardevoir from the hug and held the Psychic type's shoulders, "I do have a couple of things to ask though, one will you help me train Spoink to use Psychic like you can and secondly will you be my friend?" While Gardevoir wore a look of shock, Ash smiled he knew that May wouldn't be mad at Gardevoir and would only want to be her friend.
"It would be a great honour to friends with someone as kind as you, Mistress May."Gardevoir said, emotion ruling her words as she held back tears of joy.
"You don't have to call me that, just call me May." May said. Ash could hear both sides of the conversation and started to chuckle, he saw the questioning look on Misty's face and explained what had happened.
"Gardevoir apologised to May and said that she would take any punishment May would give her. You heard May's answer to that and then Gardevoir said that she would be happy to be friends with Mistress May." He said.
"Mistress May?" Misty asked.
"Yeah, Lucario started it and now Gardevoir has started to call May, Mistress. Lucario said it was as a sign of respect, the thing that confuses me is that he calls every other girl I know Lady. He calls my mom Lady Delia, you Lady Misty and the same with everyone else but I don't understand why he says Mistress instead of Lady to May."
"You'll figure it out eventually Ash," Misty said having an idea why May was being called Mistress and liking the fact that Lucario referred to her as Lady Misty, "I have a question though. Why can't I hear Gardevoir's voice?"
"Gardevoir's had a...er...let's call it a difficult past. If she'll let me I'll tell you about it later, because of what happened she gets very scared around people and it takes her a while to get used to new people. It took a while for Gardevoir to feel comfortable around Professor Oak and my mom, just give it some time and she'll start to open up to you." Ash replied. They both then turned to look at May who was staring at Ash as if he were a ghost.
"Ash," Misty said, "let me talk to May, I know what she's going through and I'll be able to help her more than you can."
"How?"
"It's a girl thing." Misty replied. Not knowing what the 'girl thing' was and not wanting to know Ash nodded and left the room with Gardevoir and Pikachu following him. Glaceon stayed in the room curled up on May's lap. (AN like Ash I have no idea what a 'girl thing' is so please use your imaginations).
While May and Misty were talking Ash decided to get a little training done, he walked to the pool where his Gyarados was still swimming and jumped onto one of the floating platforms. He looked over to where Lucario sat meditating.
"Hey, Lucario want to do some training?" Ash called across the pool. The Aura Pokémon opened his red eyes to look at Ash.
Of course Master. He replied standing up before jumping onto another platform and settling into a fighting stance. Shall we begin? He asked with a grin on his face. Ash nodded and started to make his way towards his Aura partner as Pikachu and Gardevoir watched.
"So, you feel better now?" Misty asked. It had been an hour since Ash had left the room and after talking with Misty, May was starting to adjust to the events involving Mewtwo.
"Yeah, thanks for helping me Misty. It means a lot to have you as a friend." May answered.
"So are you going to tell Ash how you feel about him?" Misty said changing the subject.
"I...I don't know what you mean." May said looking down at the floor, not meeting Misty's gaze.
"Yes, you do May," Misty retorted before trying a different approach, "I'm going to let you in on a little secret, when I was travelling with Ash I had a crush on him." May looked at the Gym Leader in shock. "If you're not interested in Ash, do you mind if I try? When Ash was pretending to be Aaron I was going to ask him out and now I know it is Ash and you don't like him like that, I think I will ask him out."
"Ash is mine, Misty not yours or anyone else's MINE. Do you understand me?" May snapped viciously causing Misty to jump from her seat on the bed in shock. Misty quickly composed herself and gave May a cocky grin.
"I knew you liked him." She said teasingly, it was then that May realised what Misty had done and tried to turn it back around.
"Misty, were you telling the truth about liking Ash?" Misty blushed lightly.
"Sort of," she said quietly, "When we travelled together I did have a crush on him but I've gotten over it now. Though I was going to ask him out when he was Aaron to say thank you for the help and because of how mysterious he was. Does Ash know you like him?"
"No and I can't tell him."
"Why not?" Misty asked, May then explained what had happened since they met in Viridian City but from her point of view, how she felt after seeing Ash after so long, how he had helped her with Drew, the tam rocket attack and the days following, how Ursula acted around Ash and Sian's trick to get her to battle properly, dancing and singing together in Rota, the midnight walk and what nearly happened before the trouble with Mew started.
"That's why I can't tell him, if he feels the same way then he'll just put himself in more danger to protect me and I don't want him to get hurt again." Misty put a reassuring hand on May's shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. It's obvious Ash cares about you, helped you a lot and I think he feels the same way but doesn't realise it. Next time you get a chance to tell him, take it. Now come on let's go and find Ash. He's probably bored after waiting so long." Misty said. May nodded getting out of the bed, Glaceon jumped to the floor.
"Misty, how did I get here I remember sitting on the couch and fainting after the memories came into my head."
"Ash asked Gardevoir to help you and then carried you in here so you could rest, he didn't want to leave you alone but I made him in case he woke you up. While you were asleep we talked about the memories and how he helped Brock remember as well." The two girl and Glaceon left Misty's bedroom and walked through the Gym to try and find Ash, they heard a loud bang followed by some familiar laughter.
They quickly made their way to the main battlefield of the Gym finding found Ash and Lucario jumping from one platform to another knocking an Aura Sphere back and forth. May and Misty also saw Pikachu and Gardevoir cheering them on, as Ash moved to another platform he saw that Misty and May were watching them. He formed an Aura Sphere in his hand and shot it at the one they had been using for their training causing both spheres to destroy each other. Glaceon walked up to Pikachu and sat down next to him.
"That's enough training for now Lucario." Ash said to his Aura partner who nodded in return, they both made their way to the side of the pool where Misty and May were waiting. "Hi May, you feel any better now?"
"I feel fine now Ash, it'll just take me a while to get used to these new memories," May turned to Gardevoir, "Gardevoir, thank you for giving me these memories. Now that I know what happened my friendships with Ash, Misty and Brock..."
"Pika!" interrupted Pikachu making May giggle.
"and Pikachu will get stronger. I hope we can have a friendship just as strong." May finished, Gardevoir looked at the brunette and nodded while smiling. Misty looked around the Gym to see that there was a scorch mark on one of the walls.
"Ash, what was the bang we heard?" she asked glaring at her friend while pointing at the scorch mark.
"Sorry Misty," Ash said scratching the back of his head, "I missed the ball. I'll clean it up later okay." Misty nodded then remembered something, she excused herself from the group and disappeared down the corridor, a couple of minutes later she came back with a small brown parcel.
"This was delivered here a couple of months ago addressed to you Ash, with a note saying that it needed to be hand delivered to you and no-one else. I don't know who it's from and I would have taken it to Pallet Town sooner but I've been really busy preparing the Gym for the trainers coming for Gym Badges for the Pokémon League." Misty handed the it to Ash, he sat down on the nearby bench and carefully opened the parcel. Inside was an envelope and three shrunken Pokéballs, Ash picked up the envelope, opened it taking out the letter inside and started to read it. Ash's face showed no emotion until he finished reading it, he put the parcel and letter next to him on the bench before standing up and starting to walk out of the Gym with his head bowed low. Misty and May were worried about Ash, May ran in front of him causing him to stop him from leaving.
"Ash, who was the letter from?" She asked trying to see his face. A few minutes of uncomfortable silence followed until he looked up and what May saw broke her heart, Ash's brown eyes were filled with tear and pain was visible in them. She could see that what ever was in that letter had a devastating effect on Ash, finally he spoke saying only two words in a voice completely filled with emotions log held back.
"My dad." He said before he fell to his knees, put his head in his hands and cried while May and Misty stood there in shock. They both wondered what the letter had said to make Ash breakdown like that. May knelt next to Ash trying to comfort him the same way he had done for her, holding him close and telling him everything would be alright as she slowly rocked him back and forth while Misty comforted Ash's Pokémon who felt his pain as if it were their own.
So what did you think of the trick. I know that any advanceshipper reading this probably don't like the bit where Misty's thinking about asking Ash out but I had to do it.
I had a request to put in the teams being used by Ash and May so this here they are.
Ash: Pikachu, Lucario, Gardevoir, Gyarados, Butterfree and Sandshrew
May: Glaceon, Blaziken, Wartortle, Spoink, Flaffy, Munchlax
I'll start putting their teams in at the start of future chapters and the end if they've changed during the chapter.
For Ash's Gym Battle against Misty I'm going to introduce two of his new pokemon and I want to use one from either his Hoenn, Sinnoh or Unova team. So I give that choice to you the readerbut please take into account that heavy pokemon such as rock/ground types won't really work well on floating platforms.
One last thing before I sign off. I've got a list of the move combinations that I've thought up and wondering if I should up load it. I'd appreciate your opinions on if I should or not.
That it from me.
See you next time.
Basic Trainer.