Hi guys, sorry this is a little late but I was having trouble writing this. I got a bit depressed with how much I've put Gardevoir through, none the less I've finished the chapter and hope you enjoy it.
Current Teams
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Gardevoir, Jolteon, Magby, Elekid, Ponyta, Pidgeot
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Mawile, Litwick, Flaffy, Spoink, Beautifly, Cubone
Chapter 30
Effects of the Past
Ash's leg wouldn't stop bouncing, he'd been sat in the same chair for the last two hours and he was getting restless but he wasn't going to more until he knew what was happening to Gardevoir. When he'd burst through the doors of the Pokémon Centre yelling for help, Nurse Joy and her Chansey had immediately brought a stretcher out, carrying the unconscious psychic and fairy type to the emergency room. A second younger Nurse Joy, presumably here as an assistant for part of her training, had come out to ask Ash what had happened. It took him a couple of minutes to calm down and explain that he'd been in a Gym battle, heard May gasp and saw Gardevoir laying on the ground, Assistant Joy asked if there had been anything around Gardevoir that might've hit her or caused her to trip. Ash started to panic again as he couldn't remember but the question was answered by May who had flown to the Pokémon Centre on Pidgeot with their Pokémon, Ponyta had ran with Magby riding on her back. May told Assistant Joy everything that had happened, she had been watching the battle with Gardevoir and Lucario when the Embrace Pokémon had just collapsed suddenly.
Assistant Joy asked a couple more questions and May had answered as best she could due to the fact Ash wasn't really in any state to think clearly. Lucario supplied May with some information that she needed but otherwise stood next to Ash trying to get his trainer to relax. Just as Assistant Joy was going to join Nurse Joy May stopped her and told her about Gardevoir's scar and how it had happened, when asked about the Pokémon Centre that dealt with the scar originally May froze but Lucario was there to provide her with the correct answer. When May said it was the Mahogany Town Pokémon Centre, Assistant Joy thanked her and went to tell Nurse Joy what she'd learnt about Gardevoir and the events prior to her collapse.
Ash and May had taken a seat after that and were now waiting to hear anything about Gardevoir's condition. Frustration was coursing through Ash's veins, what was taking so long?, he thought as his leg bounced and his hand kept wringing themselves. Every few seconds he'd been glancing at the doors that Gardevoir had been carried through, hoping that Nurse Joy would come out of them. May was still sat next to him with an arm around his shoulders trying to comfort him in some way, she had an idea and not wanting to take away the small amount of support she reached across and took her X-Transceiver off her wrist. Ash was so stressed out and worried he didn't even notice May's face barely an inch away from his, May set her X-Transceiver on her lap and sent a message to two people and got a reply near instantly. May smiled when she saw the replies and waited, pulling Ash towards her and telling him that everything would be alright.
A third hour passed and still no news but the results of May's text had just arrived, Brock and Adam ran into the Pokémon Centre with Cynthia and Lucy close behind them. Brock and Lucy had gotten on the train and ran from the station while Ash and Cynthia had teleported to Cerulean City from Canalave City, thanks to Scotty (Adam's Alakazam) then flew the rest of the way on Aether landing just as Brock and Lucy were rounding the corner of the block that held the Pokémon Centre. After telling Brock what had happened the former Gym Leader went straight into the back of the Pokémon Centre carrying his bag of medical equipment, he'd received the results of his exams and not only passed but passed as head of his class.
"Adam? What are you doing here?" Ash asked, his usually lively brown eyes now dulled with worry.
"May sent me a message saying you needed some support cause something had happened to Gardevoir. I'm guessing May sent the same message to Brock too." Adam answered.
"When Adam told me what had happened I wasn't going to let him come alone, I think of you as my friend too Ash so I wanted to support you and help in any way I can." Cynthia added.
"I feel the same way." Lucy said, "May needs our support too, from what she's told me she's close to Gardevoir too."
A few minutes passed, during which Adam, Cynthia and Lucy told Ash and May what they'd been up to recently to try and keep Ash's mind off Gardevoir's condition. Brock came back through the doors and walked straight towards them, Ash stood up and met him halfway.
"How's Gardevoir? Is she going to be okay?" Ash asked, Brock sighed.
"She's stable for now but Nurse Joy needs to run more tests, she thinks the scar on Gardevoir's forehead might be affecting her brain but she need to go over the records from the Pokémon Centre in Mahogany Town to see the extent of the injury." The Pokémon Doctor said, he ran a hand through his spiked hair. "I asked Nurse Joy to let me be the one to talk to you, I thought it would be easier if you heard it from me. We've had to put Gardevoir in a medically induced coma to keep her stable." Brock stopped, he didn't want to say this but it had to be said. "Ash, you…you need to be prepared for the worst because we're not sure how severe the situation Gardevoir's in is, she might not wake up." The look of sheer despair in Ash's eyes broke Brock's heart, he hated that this was happening to Ash, that he was the one who said it but Ash needed to know how bad the situation looked. Ash fell to his knees and cried, he'd thought that after getting Gardevoir away from her former trainer that everything would be fine but fate was cruel to the kindest of souls.
"Can I go and see her?" Ash said quietly, looking up at Brock. The former Pewter City Gym Leader knelt down in front of his broken friend.
"In a few minutes, Nurse Joy is putting her in a private room and setting up a few monitors to keep an eye on Gardevoir's condition." Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Don't worry, we're doing everything we can for her. I'm not going to give up, you taught me that."
"Thanks Brock." Ash said quietly and like Brock had said Nurse Joy came up to them saying that if he wanted to Ash could go and see Gardevoir but only him. May told Ash to go ahead and that she'd still be there when he came back out. The distraught Aura Guardian nodded and followed Nurse Joy, the pink haired nurse stopped though when Lucario and Pikachu started to follow Ash.
"I'm afraid your Pokémon will have to stay here, until we know for sure what's happened to Gardevoir we'll need to keep her separated from other Pokémon." She said, Ash could see they wanted to see how their friend was but Nurse Joy was right.
"Stay here guys. I'll tell Gardevoir you wanted to be there." Ash told them, Pikachu accepted it with a sad look on his face while Lucario looked ready to storm past everyone but after a few seconds he nodded. Once that had been sorted out Ash and Nurse Joy walked through the doors and down a couple of corridors before stopping outside a plain white door, an anti-bacterial liquid disinfectant dispenser was hanging on the wall between the door and a large window that looked into the room. After taking some of the anti-bacterial liquid and rubbing it into their hands Nurse Joy and Ash went into the room, Ash's footsteps faltered when he saw Gardevoir laying in the bed. She looked even paler than usual, her hair seemed to be a lighter shade of green and her chest spike was a duller pink too it was as if the colour was being drained out of her. Various machine surrounded the head of the bed monitoring her vitals and beeping in a steady pattern, wires from each machine attached to her in some way and an IV was stuck in her arm.
"The files about Gardevoir's accident when she was a Ralts are on their way to us now but I'd like to hear what you know about it." Nurse Joy said, snapping Ash out of his daze. Nurse Joy pointed to a chair alongside Gardevoir's bed, Ash sat in it while Joy picked up the chart that hung at the end of the bed. As Ash started to tell Nurse Joy the story about Gardevoir's scar, the nurse was taking notes so that she'd be able to find specific sections of the reports that she needed without having to go through the whole thing to save on time. The sooner she could treat Gardevoir the better the Embrace Pokémon's chances would be.
Once Ash had finished the story, Nurse Joy said that he could stay with Gardevoir for a while longer but he would have to leave even though she could tell he wanted to stay by Gardevoir's side until she woke up. Ash thanked her and turned a little in his chair so he could watch Gardevoir. The bed-sheets rose and fell with each steady breath she took, the light that came from the window seemed to make her look almost ghostly and Ash could see the end of the scar poking out from under her hairline. He pushed her hair out of the way so he could see the scar properly and felt anger burning away inside him towards her former trainer, it would be a dark and vengeful day if Ash ever saw him again. Ash lightly traced the scar with his finger before stopping at the end and closing his eyes, he could sense the build-up of Aura in the damaged tissue and assumed that was the problem but he didn't want to attempt anything in case it made Gardevoir worse. Opening his eyes Ash gently covered the scar with her hair and put his hand over hers, he wanted Gardevoir to know she wasn't alone, that he was right there next to her wanting her to wake up and get better.
Back in the reception Adam was getting as much information about Gardevoir's condition as he could and telling Brock about various medicines he'd made that might be able to help. When Brock asked about how he had made these medicines Adam told him it was a little bit of trial and error combined with watching which berries wild Pokémon used for various injuries that had, due to the natural ingredients Adam's medicinal potions were capable of speeding up recovery times and strengthening immune systems along with other benefits. Lucy was trying to keep May from worrying too much by asking for her opinions on the different things that would be needed for the wedding.
"What about the flowers? What type of flowers should I have for the tables?" Lucy asked.
"Roses are good." Cynthia said, trying to help Lucy keep May from stressing herself out.
"No Roses." May mumbled as she looked towards the doors that Pikachu and Lucario stood in front of, waiting for Ash to come back. Cynthia was about to ask why May had vetoed the Roses but a look from Lucy said not to bring it up now.
"Alright, how about Lilies?
"Lilies would be good but what about the pollen?" Lucy questioned.
"I might be able to help you with that." A voice interrupted, looking towards the voice Lucy, Cynthia and May saw Erika standing there with Leaf at her side.
"Erika? Leaf? What are you doing here?" May asked, her attention finally away from the doors.
"We came to see how Gardevoir is and to give Ash his Gym Badge." Erika said before looking at Lucy. "And in relation to the Lilies, I've managed to grow a type of Lily that produces a type of pollen that doesn't stain and is more fragrant than normal Lilies. I'd be happy to grow some for you if you want. Congratulations on your engagement by the way, I'm happy to see Brock has found someone to settle down with."
"Hello, I'm…" Cynthia started before Erika took her outstretched hand and shook it.
"The Champion of Sinnoh needs no introduction, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Erika, Leader of the Celadon City Gym and this is my Head Gym Assistant Lauren Elizabeth Alice Fiona Green." She said gesturing to Leaf.
"Call me Leaf, Champion Shirona." Leaf said shaking Cynthia's hand.
"Nice to meet you Leaf and please call me Cynthia."
"Ash isn't here right now, he's back there with Gardevoir. She's been put into a medically induced coma until they can work out what's wrong with her." May told Erika.
The next half hour was spent with the ladies getting acquainted and Adam trading medicine recipes with Brock before the former Pewter City Gym Leader decided to go and get Ash. Walking through the doorway and down the corridors of the Pokémon Centre's patient rooms Brock made his way to the room Gardevoir was in. He opened the door and was about to go in when he saw Ash was asleep in his chair, his head facing Gardevoir. Brock smiled as he quietly entered the room, making his way over to Ash, he'd known Ash long enough to know the Pallet Town trainer wasn't going to leave Gardevoir's side until she was better.
Brock took a blanket out of the cabinet next to the bed and covered Ash with it, Ash stirred slightly as the blanket made contact with him but quickly settled down again. Brock took a look at Gardevoir's charts before exiting the room, on his way out he saw Nurse Joy walking towards him.
"Nurse Joy, I think it would be best if Ash stayed with Gardevoir for the night." The Pokémon Doctor said. "There's a chance it could help Gardevoir recover. Even though she's in a medically induced coma her psychic and empathic abilities are still active, we both know they can only be dulled and not shut off. Gardevoir will be able to sense Ash's mind, that might be enough to wake her up long enough to get some answers."
"What do you mean? Even if Gardevoir is awake we'd still get the same results from the tests we've already done." Nurse Joy replied.
"I didn't mean answers from tests. Ash has this gift, this ability to understand everything his Pokémon say to him. We can ask Gardevoir what she felt before this happened and if she'd ever felt anything like it before. It'll help us work out whether this is a new problem or an existing one, if it's physical, mental or environmental."
"I suppose your right, I'll let Ash stay where he is for tonight and see if there's any improvement in the morning. I'd like to know more about his 'gift' Ash possesses though."
"I don't know that much about it and I don't think Ash does either, it's just a natural thing for him." Brock said, Nurse Joy nodded accepting Brock's answer. Nurse Joy then told Brock about the information she'd collected from Gardevoir's medical records in relation to the original damage underneath the scarred flesh.
Brock went back into the reception area and told everyone that Ash had fallen asleep so they all went to the Pokémon Centre's cafeteria to get something to eat. Brock went into the kitchen to make food for everyone while Adam talked to May.
"So are you going to compete in the Celadon Contest?" He asked.
"I was going too but now…" May answered before trailing off.
"You should still compete." Leaf said, as she sat next to May. "You still need to get your ribbons for the Grand Festival right."
"Yeah, I still need three ribbons but Ash…"
"Ash wouldn't want you to miss this opportunity to get another Contest Ribbon. May, I'm going to be blunt with you. There's nothing you can do for Ash or Gardevoir, so worrying isn't going to do anything except stress you out. Training for the Contest will help you take your mind off what happening." Adam said.
"I suppose you're right but…"
"Uh-uh, no buts I'll help you train." Leaf interrupted.
"We all will." Adam added with a smile, everyone else smiled too.
"I would like too but I'm afraid I can't." Erika said, "I've been asked to be a judge for the Contest due to the theme."
"Theme? What's the theme?" May asked as her interest piqued.
"Why grass naturally, the Contest is for grass type Pokémon only." May's mind started to go through her grass type Pokémon and the moves they knew as soon as the words had left Erika's mouth. They all talked for a while longer as they ate until it was late.
"I'm afraid I have to leave you all now, I need to close the Gym." Erika said. She turned to May and held out her hand revealing the Rainbow Badge. "Please give this to Ash when you get the chance."
"I will, thank you for coming Erika." May said taking the Gym Badge. Erika smiled and said goodbye before leaving to lock up the Gym, Leaf left a few minutes later to return to her apartment promising to return the next day and help May train for the Contest. Brock and Adam went to the main desk to ask Nurse Joy for a room each, Cynthia was going to stay with Adam while Lucy had opted to share a room with May to keep her company, leaving Brock to sleep on his own. Pikachu and Lucario stayed with May as they couldn't get to Ash.
In the morning May woke up early and went about the routine she and Ash had gotten into while travelling together, she got changed and was about to leave the room when she remembered Lucy, Pikachu and Lucario were still asleep. After writing a note for Lucy explaining where she had gone, May exited the room quietly closing the door and left the Pokémon Centre. After stretching out and checking Glaceon was ready she started to jog down the street. May could still feel her worry for Gardevoir and Ash bubbling away in her stomach, trying to force it down the brunette increased her pace until she was running. After about ten minutes May started to slow down as her lungs were burning slightly, Glaceon had stuck at her side the entire run and slowed down with her trainer.
May put her arm on a nearby bench leaning on it as she caught her breath, she didn't know how far she'd ran but once she was ready she started to jog again until the Gym was in sight. Deciding that she should turn back soon May jogged up to the Gym, touched the wall and started on her way back to the Pokémon Centre. As she jogged May tried to distract herself by thinking of what she could do for the Contest, Grass Legend immediately came into her mind but none of her grass type Pokémon could learn Psychic so that move was out. May arrived back at the Pokémon Centre and jogged around to the training fields at the back, the fields were empty so May went to one side and released the rest of her Pokémon. Before she'd gone to bed May had called Professor Oak and exchanged some of her Pokémon Spoink, Cubone, Flaffy and Beautifly had been sent to the Lab while Venusaur, Lilligant, Sunflora and Deerling had been called for the Contest. May had told Professor Oak what had happened to Gardevoir, the Pokémon researcher had asked that he be kept informed as to Gardevoir's condition and if he could be of any help to contact him immediately they spoke for a couple more minutes before they ended the call and May had gone to bed.
She wasn't sure which of her Pokémon she was going to enter for the Contest but May wanted all of them to be ready. May started giving out exercises to her Pokémon, Venusaur was strengthening her defences and had been taking advice from Ash's Torterra while at the Lab, Mawile worked to increase her strength and speed by running laps while carrying weights, Deerling and Sunflora were practicing their attacks on Venusaur to try and make them stronger, Lilligant was doing a similar exercise but concentrated on her control of her attacks. Blaziken was training with May with self-defence exercises while also working on the different fighting style that Adam had shown her back in Vermillion City, Glaceon was trying to learn how to get more control over her ice attacks and was practicing by sending out short blasts of Ice Beam and trying to make them form different shapes. The Fresh Snow Pokémon was keeping Litwick entertained at the same time, as the Shiny Ghost wasn't old enough or strong enough yet to start training. May had gotten so focussed on her training she almost didn't register someone calling her name, the brunette turned around and looked towards the voice. Adam was standing a few feet away from her with his Pokémon around him, as always Luxray, Luna and Umbreon were with him but May hadn't met his other three Pokémon.
"May, I'd like you to meet Hestia, Ironhide and Lola." Adam said gesturing to each Pokémon in turn. Hestia was a beautiful Ninetales with luxurious fur that seemed to glow, Ironhide stood at Adam's feet he was an Aron with red eyes instead of the usual blue and the final Pokémon looked out from behind Adam, Lola was a shy Lopunny. Adam had sent Scotty back to Dinah, the psychic type was extremely tired having teleported Adam and Cynthia from Sinnoh to Cerulean City in one jump. "Don't believe Lola's act, she isn't shy she just like people to think she is. She's probably the most battle hungry Lopunny you'll ever meet." Lola pushed Adam and looked away from him. "You know I'm right." He laughed over his shoulder, "Want someone to train with?"
"Sure." May answered, she stepped away from Blaziken and faced Adam while taking a ready stance. Adam stretched out a little before copying May and brought his guard up. Luna went up to Blaziken and started to spar with her, Umbreon ran alongside Mawile with Ironhide, Lola helped Glaceon train and keep Litwick happy. Luxray and Hestia started a mock battle as they worked on their general fitness.
Adam stood calmly as he and May waited patiently for the other to make the first move, a few minutes passed without event until May decided she'd waited long enough. She shot forward with a round kick to Adam's left but he just jumped back out of range May quickly followed up with a fast combo of punches all of which Adam parried out of the way. The brunette then dropped down to sweep Adam's legs but missed as he once again retreated out of her range, May sprang forward in another attack, attempting a round elbow strike but missed as Adam rolled to the side. This continued for a while longer, May would attack and attack but Adam never retaliated he only blocked, parried or dodged. As May started to get breathless Adam lowered his guard slightly.
"You feeling any better now?" He asked.
"What?" May asked placing her hands on her knees.
"Are you feeling any better? You're all worked up, worrying about Gardevoir, Ash, the Contest, you needed to vent. Talking about it only does so much, fighting helps a lot, believe me I know." May thought about what Adam had said and realised he was right, she was feeling a little better now there had been a cold, heavy lump sitting in her chest since seeing Gardevoir collapse but now it didn't seem as cold or heavy.
"I do feel better." May said, "Hang on, is that why you didn't fight back?" Adam nodded. "You let me use you like a punching bag so I'd feel better."
"Not really, you didn't land a single hit on me. I was more like a moving target." Adam brought his guard back up and started to bounce lightly on the balls of his feet. "Ready for round two?"
"Just let me get my breath back a second." May said before launching a sneak attack and throwing out round kick. Adam swayed back to avoid the kick and used a sweeping block to push May around before darting in and tagging her on the back with a few light jabs.
"You'll have to try harder than that." May got into a proper fighting stance and the spar started all over again.
They didn't know how long they'd been sparing for but when they stopped Adam and May found that a small crowd of people had gathered to watch them. Cynthia was smiling as she held a towel out to each of them while Lucy and Brock stood with open mouths, shocked to see May being able to fight like that.
"You're doing well May, a little more practice and you might be able to get within an inch of me." Adam teased as he wiped his face and rubbed his neck with the towel, stretching out a little more. May flicked her towel at him with a small glare. "But seriously you've come a long way since I last saw you train. I do have one bit of advice though, try and get out of the habit of using the same combinations over and over again, make some of your own up I can see Ash's fighting style in the way you move. That's not a bad thing, Ash has a strong fighting style but it doesn't suit your build, you're smaller so while Ash can take a lot of hits you can't. Use your size to your advantage, keep out of your opponent's range until you see an opening then get in, hit hard and fast then get out. Aim for weak spots, pressure points and dismantle your opponent a little at a time until they're down."
"Dismantle?" May asked.
"Aim for the back of the knees to take away height advantage, clap their ears to disorientate them, poke them in the eye stuff like that. If you're fighting someone bigger than do what you can to make them smaller, if they're faster trip them up do something that will take away their edge, doesn't matter what it is. Small things can have a big effect on a fight, a fight can change in a split second if the right move is used at the right time, even a misstep from your opponent can give you the chance you need to win." May nodded in understanding.
"What's your fighting style like?" May asked.
"Whatever I need it to be, I can fight like Ash and take a few hits till I see my opening, I can go fully offensive or completely defensive. Generally I use a similar style to what I just told you, I'll go for weak points and exploit them but I'll do what I have to do to win. I'll fight dirty if I have to but I haven't been pushed that far in a while and I hope I don't ever again."
"Fight dirty?"
"Get really vicious, I know some things that will take anyone down quickly no matter how big or strong they are."
"Like what?" Adam's face darkened slightly as he looked away from May.
"You really don't want to know." The brunette gulped and nodded slowly, the way Adam looked away made her remember the scars he had. She decided that she didn't want to know after all, it was then that she realised that people looking at her and Adam.
"What are they looking at us for?" She asked, Adam turned to look at the crowd and shrugged.
"You and Adam have been sparring for nearly an hour, Hestia came in to get me and everyone else in the Pokémon Centre seems to have followed me out here." Cynthia said, stroking the luxurious cream fur between Hestia's ears as Adam's Shiny Pichu waved from on the top of her head. Adam had transferred Pichu to Cynthia's Trainer ID during his Battle Frontier challenge so he could have a full team of six battling Pokémon and keep the small electric type with him.
"Shows over everyone." Adam said to the crowd, making it disperse.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Brock asked.
"After what happened outside Pewter City, I got Ash to start teaching me self-defence." May explained. "He helped me learn a pattern of moves for my last Contest too."
"What Kata was it?" Adam asked curious to know what May had learnt.
"I can't remember Ash telling me a name but it starts like this." May was going to perform the first couple of moves to demonstrate but as soon as she did the first move Adam knew what it was.
"Kata Bassai Dai. That's quite an advanced Kata, when you said helped you learn the moves I take it that you performed with one of your Pokemon. Blaziken?"
"Yeah, I was doing the appeal with my Mienshao. The Contest was themed you have to dress and act like the Pokémon you'd entered."
"Please tell me there are pictures of you dressed as a Mienshao." Lucy said with a smile, May shook her head.
"No photos sorry but I still have the costume, I made it myself. I'll show you later."
May and Adam returned their Pokémon before going back into the Pokémon Centre. They passed their Pokémon to Nurse Joy for a check-up and went to get showered. Cynthia and Lucy waited in the reception area swapping battle stories while May and Adam went to get changed, Brock left the two women talking and wandered away from them. Once Adam and May were ready for the day the group went to have breakfast, while they were eating Brock came back he said he'd gone check on Ash and Gardevoir. Ash was still sleeping and from looking at the monitors connected to the Embrace Pokémon it looked like she'd improved a little over night but still had some way to go before she was ready to go anywhere. Brock had left some food for Ash and exited the room telling Nurse Joy what he'd seen on the readouts before finding everyone in the cafeteria waiting for him. Brock, Lucy and Cynthia told Adam and May that they'd had been waiting for them in the Pokémon Centre to finish their workout but when Hestia came in and nuzzled Cynthia's hand the three of them had followed the Fox Pokémon outside to find them sparring.
Once they'd finished eating May collected her Pokémon from Nurse Joy and went back out to the training fields, she let her grass types out and told them about the Contest. May had Venusaur and Lilligant think of and practice on their own appeals while Deerling and Sunflora work together to create an appeal. Cynthia send out the grass types she had on her, Roserade, Abomasnow and Nuzleaf, Lucy did the same letting out her Serperior. These new grass types waited alongside their trainers for a few minutes before Cynthia called May over.
"What moves do your Pokémon know?" The blonde Champion asked. May opened her Pokédex and passed it to Cynthia, the Sinnoh native quickly flicked through the entries as she and Lucy talked quietly to each other. Lucy handed the Pokédex back to May and smiled at her.
"Your Pokémon know some good moves but I think they need a bit more variety, Cynthia and I are going to help teach them a few extra moves to give them a boost. It'll help in appeals and in battles to have a more varied moveset." The Frontier Brain said. The next couple of hours were spent by Cynthia and Lucy having their Pokémon demonstrate the moves May's Pokémon could learn outside of their natural typing.
While everyone was outside Pikachu and Lucario were stood waiting inside the Pokémon Centre facing the doors that lead to the medical wards, they wanted to go and see how Ash was doing but couldn't. Lucario jerked slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking back he saw Adam stood behind him with Umbreon at his side.
"You must be really worried if I was able to sneak up on you like that." Adam said as he knelt down to pick up Pikachu, letting the electric type sit on his shoulder.
I am concerned, Gardevoir has been through too much already. She deserves a better life, one free from these afflictions and haunting memories. Lucario muttered turning his gaze back to the doors. Master Ash shouldn't have to bear the burden of the mistakes a pitiful wretch made. Anger started to burn in Aura Pokémon's words, Adam's eyes widened a little at what Lucario had said.
"Cover for me." Adam said putting Pikachu on Lucario's shoulder, the two Pokémon had enough time to look confused before Adam walked straight through the doors and out of sight Umbreon watched Adam go and turned around to go to the training fields.
Umbreon, why not stay with us? Lucario asked.
"Um Umbreon Reon Umbreon." The Moonlight Pokémon replied with a smirk earning a light chuckle from Lucario and Pikachu.
I can see your point, I wouldn't want to have the Sinnoh Champion be angry at me either. Umbreon smiled at them and ran off to find Cynthia.
Adam walked down the corridors past a few of the Pokémon Centre assistants but none of them stopped him to ask what he was doing back there. It never ceased to amaze Adam that if you walked through a building like you belonged there/knew where you were going nobody thought twice about whether you actually belonged there or not. After a couple of minutes Adam found the room the Gardevoir was in, he went in closing the door behind him, Ash turned his head a little to see who it was before looking perplexed.
"Adam? What are you doing here?" The raven haired Aura Guardian asked.
"I came to see how you're doing." Adam replied looking at the monitors that beeped quietly. "So how are you?" Ash took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair.
"How do you think?"
"Thought as much. Looks like Gardevoir's doing alright but her vitals are a little weak." Adam said looking away from the monitors.
"You can understand them?"
"Not fully but I know enough to get the general idea." Adam moved to lean against the wall. "You know everyone's worried about you, right. Pikachu and Lucario are outside waiting for you, May had to drag them away last night just to get them to sleep."
"I don't want to worry anyone but…"
"You don't want to leave Gardevoir." Adam paused and studied Ash's face. "You made her a promise didn't you?" Ash nodded.
"When she said she wanted to come with me I promised her that I wouldn't let anything happen to her, that I'd protect her but I can't do anything." Ash clenched his fist, hitting the arm of his chair. "Gardevoir's in pain and there's nothing I can do to help her."
"What about your Aura? Can that do anything to help?" Ash's eyes lit up with Aura as he looked at Gardevoir.
"I can sense a build-up of Aura, I could remove it but I don't know what effect it might have. I don't want to risk hurting her more."
"But not doing anything might keep her like that. Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith. Ash, this is your decision and I'll support you either way but I really think you should do it." Ash was quiet for a while before he spoke.
"Can you go and get Brock, I'm going to remove the build-up. I want him here in case something happens."
"Sure thing, be back in a minute."
Adam left the room to find the Pokémon Doctor leaving Ash to prepare himself for what he was about to do. Ash closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, he needed to be perfectly calm in order to do what he was about to attempt. He let his Aura reach out and felt it connect to Lucario's, Ash sent a small pulse of Aura to Lucario and received one in return. A minute later Lucario and Pikachu appeared in the doorway of Gardevoir's room.
You called to us Master Ash. Lucario said.
"I'm going to try and remove the built-up aura around Gardevoir's scar, I want your help in case something happens." Lucario nodded.
Of course Master. Ash wanted to tell Lucario to stop calling him Master but didn't have the energy to try. The raven haired Aura Guardian sat back in his chair and closed his eyes again, Pikachu jumped from Lucario's shoulder on to the arm of the chair before curling up in Ash's lap. Ash started to stroke Pikachu's fur as he calmed his mind, Lucario sat cross-legged on floor and meditated as they waited for Adam and Brock to arrive.
Once the Pokémon Doctor entered the room Ash told him what he was going to do, Brock was hesitant to agree but in the end he did. Ash closed his eyes putting his hand over Gardevoir's scar and felt Lucario's paw brush past his hand. An unconscious agreement passed between them so they began, each of them let their Aura flow out and connect with the built up Aura in the scar. Slowly they started to draw it out, the monitors started to beep in a different pattern. Brock looked at them and saw Gardevoir's vitals had dipped slightly, he was about to stop Ash and Lucario but Adam put a hand on his shoulder.
"They know what they're doing, let them work." Adam said, reluctantly Brock left Ash and Lucario to remove the build-up. As more and more of the Aura was extracted Gardevoir's vitals gradually got better, the Aura that was being removed formed a ball floating between Ash's hand and Lucario's paw. The whole process took a few minutes and once they'd finished the ball was the size of an orange. Both Ash and Lucario opened their eyes to look as the ball of Aura then to each other.
"Gardevoir's vitals have improved and it looks like we should be able to wake her up soon." Brock said, earning a smile from Ash, Lucario and a happy squeak from Pikachu.
"What are you going to do with the Aura now?" Adam asked but before Ash could answer Lucario took the ball of Aura into his paws and absorbed it. Lucario grimaced as the ball of Aura shrank and was taken into his body. Once the Aura was fully absorbed Lucario staggered a little and put a paw on his head.
"What did you do that for? You know how dangerous it is absorbing Aura that isn't yours." Ash said making Lucario sit in the chair he'd been in all night.
It was the only solution Master. We couldn't put the Aura back into Gardevoir and if we left it out in the open it would've exploded. You wouldn't have been able to absorb it but as a Pokémon I could, though it wouldn't be pleasant. Lucario took his paw away from his head. I am feeling better now Master, please allow me to stand.
"No way, not until you've been checked out." Ash said keeping a hand on Lucario's shoulder. As Brock gave Lucario a quick check up and Adam went to get Nurse Joy, Ash glanced at his X-Transceiver to see what time it was. It was then that he noticed a missed call, he quickly called the person back and they picked up on the second ring.
"It's about time you called me back, what's happened?" A female voice asked.
"Sabrina, what are you talking about?" Ash asked in reply.
"I felt your Aura levels spike yesterday, I know something happened so tell me what it was." The Psychic said. Ash explained the whole situation from how he'd been in a battle with Erika and Gardevoir had fainted to the Aura removal and Lucario's absorption of the Aura that had just happened.
"Gardevoir's fainting must've been the cause of your Aura spike, your emotions took over for a while."
"Now you mention it I did feel a surge of power when I ran to the Pokémon Centre, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing but I must've been using my Aura to increase my speed. I got from the Gym to the Pokémon Centre in less than a minute." Sabrina's usual straight face turned to one of shock.
"Ash, I've made that trip many times and it would usually take about fifteen to twenty minutes. Your Aura abilities are exceptional to move at the speed, you must've looked like a blur to anyone you passed." This time it was Ash's turn to look shocked. "This will have been a distressing time for you and Gardevoir not to mention your other Pokémon and May, I'm here to talk to if you need me though I think May might be able to help you more than I could. She knows you better and she knows Gardevoir too that a connection and perception I don't have which will help you deal with everything that's happened." Sabrina and Ash talked for a couple more minutes before they ended the call and Nurse Joy came back into the room followed by Adam.
At first Nurse Joy read Ash and Lucario the riot act for performing the Aura removal without consulting her, they omitted the part where Ash was involved with the actual removal just saying it was Ash's idea and Lucario removed the Aura on his own. When Nurse Joy heard that Lucario had absorbed the Aura into his body she called for Assistant Joy and told her to take Lucario for a full battery of tests to make sure he wasn't going to have any negative effects from the procedure. After checking and double checking Gardevoir's vitals then running a couple of tests Nurse Joy said it would be safe to bring Gardevoir out of the medically induced coma.
"It'll take some time for the effects of the inducing mixture to wear off." Nurse Joy said to Ash. "I suggest you go and get yourself cleaned up, it will help you feel more awake." Ash nodded and with Pikachu on his shoulder when to get a shower and a clean set of clothes. As Ash left the room Adam followed him, he was going out to the training fields to let the other know what had happened. When he got there he saw that May was still training for the Contest but there was a look in her eyes that said her mind was somewhere else. Leaf had joined them at some point and was helping Sunflora work on her evasive abilities. Umbreon tugged on Cynthia's trousers with his teeth when he saw Adam walking towards them, the Sinnoh Champion looked at the Moonlight Pokémon and he nodded in Adam's direction. A chill ran down Adam's spine when Cynthia looked into his eyes, she knew he didn't know how she knew but she did.
Cynthia stalked towards him and as much as Adam wanted to run and hide he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Cynthia stopped barely an inch away from Adam, grabbing his t-shirt and pulling him even closer to her.
"I know what you're going to say and…." Adam was cut off as Cynthia gave him a powerful kiss. "…I really don't regret what I did now." He finished with a goofy smile. Cynthia moved her head alongside Adam's and whispered in his ear.
"Do something like that again without telling me and that's the last you'll be getting from me for a very long time….Understood?"
"Yes, My Lady."
"Good, now what were you coming out her to tell us?
"Gardevoir's going to wake up soon." Adam said loud enough for everyone to hear him once Cynthia had moved to stand alongside him. They all cheered and Adam's Pokémon tackled him to the ground knocking all the air from his lungs.
"What happened?" May asked as she ran up to Adam, helping him off the ground. He quickly explained that Ash and Lucario had removed a build-up of Aura from Gardevoir's scar and that made it possible for her to be brought out of the medically induced coma. "So Gardevoir's going to be alright now?" Adam shook his head.
"This is only a temporary fix, Nurse Joy will be able to figure something out soon. She's going to ask Gardevoir how she felt when she fainted to get to the root of the problem."
"How's Nurse Joy going to understand Gardevoir?" Leaf asked.
"Ash's connection to his Pokémon is that strong he can understand everything that say, he's going to act as a translator." Adam answered. "We didn't get properly introduced yesterday, I'm Adam Henry Williams." Adam held out a hand.
"Lauren Elizabeth Alice Fiona Green but everybody calls me Leaf." She shook Adam's hand. "I actually know who you are, I was in the crowds when you won the Silver Conference last year. I'd love to know what you give your Shiftry to make her so fast."
"Drya's speed just comes from training hard, she's always racing something. One of her favourite ways to train is playing table tennis with herself, it helps her work on her power too cause the harder she hits the ball the faster she needs to get to the other end of the table to hit it back."
"Where's Ash now?" May interrupted getting back to the more important matter.
"He's gone to freshen up and put on some clean clothes. It's going to a bit of time for the inducing mixture to wear off and Nurse Joy wants to run a couple of test when Gardevoir is awake, right now she's doing a couple of scans on Lucario."
"Why? What happened to Lucario?" May asked, worry in her voice.
"Didn't I mention it?" Adam said scratching his head. "Lucario absorbed the Aura he removed from Gardevoir and Nurse Joy is making sure he's all right. Apparently he wasn't meant to absorb it because it wasn't his Aura and it could make him ill, he seems fine though. He wobbled a little but being the Aura Pokémon should make it easier for him to deal with it."
"Can we go and see them?"
"You'd be better asking Nurse Joy but I think we should wait until Gardevoir's been given time to adjust to what happening to her." May nodded in understanding. "Come on, let's get you Contest ready. Give me a minute to get my grass types together. Hestia, Ironhide, Lola come on back." Adam called his three Pokémon back into their Pokéballs and went into the Pokémon Centre, he returned a couple of minutes later and threw three new Pokéballs into the air. First Pokémon to appear was a Ludicolo, the second was a Sawbuck and the final one was the Pokémon that Leaf had been asking about, Adam's Shiftry. "I'd like everyone to meet Manolo, Bambi and Drya." He said gesturing to each Pokémon in turn. "Now let's get to work." He smiled.
Half an hour later Gardevoir's eyes fluttered open, she was about to put a hand to her head but stopped when she felt something resting on top of it. The Embrace Pokémon turned her head to see what it was and saw Ash looking back at her, a relieved smile on his face.
"Gardevoir, you're okay." He said. "You fainted, do you remember that?" Gardevoir nodded slowly. "You're in the Pokémon Centre, you've been unconscious for a while."
Gardevoir let her mind open to feel her surroundings, she jumped as she felt the mind of another person in the room, she turned to look at the person and saw a familiar person. She'd never been introduced to this person but she had seen him before during the Pokémon Contest in Pewter City.
"Hello Gardevoir, my name's Brock." The former Gym Leader said gently, he remembered what Ash had told him about Gardevoir's past and he didn't want to scare her.
"It's okay, Brock's a good friend. He's almost family, you can trust him." Ash said as he felt Gardevoir tense up. After hearing Ash, Gardevoir relaxed and Brock took a small step forward.
"You're going to be a little disorientated for a while, because of what happened to you Nurse Joy and I had to put you in a coma to stabilise you. I need to give you a quick check up if that's alright, just to make sure that everything's alright." Brock said, Gardevoir nodded slowly at him after getting an encouraging look from Ash. Brock checked her motor functions, nerves and general health to make sure she had all her faculties. "Everything seems alright, I know you're probably wondering about your abilities. They'll be dulled for a while so you probably won't be able to communicate psychically for an hour or so, your other abilities will come back soon after that."
"Garde Voir." The Embrace Pokémon said.
"She understands." Ash translated.
"Alright, we'll give Gardevoir a bit of time to get her bearings before we do anything else." Brock said as he left the room to tell Nurse Joy that Gardevoir had woken up.
Another half an hour passed before Nurse Joy entered the room with Brock behind her. Nurse Joy carried a clipboard in the crook of her arm and Brock was pushing a new machine into the room, seeing Gardevoir tense up at the sight of the machine Nurse Joy tried to calm her.
"It's okay Gardevoir, this is a machine that will show us how your brain is processes different things. I'll show you." Nurse Joy took her nurse's cap off and put a circular cradle that had sat on top of the machine on her head before flicking a switch to turn the machine on. "Watch the screen and you'll see what I mean." Gardevoir looked at the monitor and saw a scan of Nurse Joy's brain, a certain region was lit up brighter than the rest. "The brighter part is where my speech centre is, the machine will show which parts of the brain are working and how they work." Nurse Joy took the cradle off her head and turned the machine off. "See it's completely harmless."
"Gar Gar Devoir." Gardevoir nodded in understanding.
"Can I stay here?" Ash asked.
"I was actually going to ask you to stay. I need to ask Gardevoir a few questions and Brock told me that you can understand everything your Pokémon say." Nurse Joy answered. "I must say I'm impressed, how do you do it?"
"I don't actually know, it just sort of happens."
"You should look into a reason why, it would help a lot of people if you could find out how you do it. I know it would make my job a lot easier if I could understand Pokémon. Anyway let's begin." Nurse Joy clicked her pen and looked at Gardevoir. "How did you feel before you fainted?"
"Devoir Garde."
"She felt dizzy and had a bit of a headache." Ash translated, Nurse Joy noted the answer down on her clipboard.
"Have you felt anything like that before?" Gardevoir hesitated before she answered
"Gar." Ash stared at her before translating.
"Yes." He said to Nurse Joy. "Why didn't you tell me?" Gardevoir looked away.
"Voir Gardevoir Garde." Ash sighed and smiled softly.
"Gardevoir, I'd never be disappointed in you and I know you don't want me you worry but if you don't tell me when you're feeling ill it's going to make me worry more than I would normally." Nurse Joy gave the raven haired trainer and his Pokémon a moment before carrying on with her questions.
"How did you deal with the headaches?"
"Gardevoir Gar De Gardevoir."
"Using Psychic usually helps." Ash translated as Nurse Joy wrote down the answer.
"Have you felt any other effects apart from the headaches?"
"Devoir Garde Garvoir Gardevoir."
"Sometimes the headaches would happen in a battle and she'd lose control." Ash said, "That's true, last time it happened was a couple of months ago during a battle in Cerulean City. She was battling a Blastoise and lost control when she was caught by a Bite attack."
"It sounds like adrenaline and dopamine play a part in how the scar affects Gardevoir." Nurse Joy mumbled as she wrote down some more notes and asked a few more questions before she had all the information she needed.
Throughout the questioning Brock had been watching the monitor that showed Gardevoir's brain functions and making notations of what he saw.
"Okay from what Gardevoir has told us and from the tests I ran when she first came in I can work out what's happening to her." Nurse Joy said as she looked over the notes Brock had made. "The original injury underneath the scar has damaged a small section of Gardevoir's brain. By my understanding Gardevoir was still very young when the injury occurred, little more than a baby and like human babies her skull hadn't formed properly yet. This allowed the injury to reach her brain and damaged the portion that dealt with emotions. Due to Gardevoir's empathic nature the processing centre for the majority of her attacks is in the same part of the brain as her emotional centre. The damage isn't too serious but the specific area affected deals with how Gardevoir creates and controls her attacks. It explains why her headaches would fade or get worse depending on the situation, using a small amount of her energy would take the strain from her part of her brain but during a battle having to constantly use the section to create attacks of varying types and strengths would increase the strain. This coupled with the adrenaline and dopamine that would be rushing through her system is why her headaches would get worse or why she would sometimes lose control."
"That probably explains why Gardevoir's Focus Blast looks different to other ones." Ash said.
"What do you mean?"
"When she uses Focus Blast it's got a pinkish look to it instead of being completely blue."
"Oh, yes that would be explained by the damage." Nurse Joy paused to make a note of what Ash had just explained. "Now I have found a way to treat Gardevoir but she'll need to stay here for a while, I want to keep her under observation until I'm sure she's alright."
"How long would that be for?" Ash asked.
"It could be anything from a couple of weeks to a few months, it all depends on how she progresses through the treatment." Nurse Joy answered. Gardevoir clutched Ash's arm and shook her head, she knew that Ash would be leaving Celadon City in a couple of days and didn't want to stay here without him or make him stay here and put his journey on hold.
"Is there any other way to treat Gardevoir? With everything that's happened in her past she doesn't like staying with people she doesn't know."
"Well, if you know of someone who has the training to look after Gardevoir and give her the treatment and her medicine then she could be transferred to them. To be on the safe side though I'd prefer to have Gardevoir transferred by medical transport instead of via the Pokéball Transport System."
"I can supervise her recovery." Brock said. "But I don't think my house would be the best place for her."
"What about Professor Oak's Lab?" Ash suggested. "I'll call him now and ask." Quickly accessing is X-Transceiver Ash placed a call to Professor Oak.
"Oak Research Facility, Tracey speaking. How can I help you?" The Pokémon Watcher said a second before he appeared on the screen.
"Tracey, its Ash. Can I talk to the Professor, it's urgent."
"Sure thing Ash just let me go and get him for you." Tracey disappeared form the screen for a couple of minutes before returning with the Professor by his side.
"Ash my boy, what can I do for you?" Oak asked. Ash started to explain the entire situation to the Professor but was cut off when Oak held up a hand. "I already know what's happened to Gardevoir. May called last night to change her Pokémon and told me everything. Just tell me how I can help."
"Gardevoir needs somewhere to rest and get her medicine but she doesn't want to stay here in Celadon City. I was hoping she would be able to stay at the Lab. Nurse Joy said "Gardevoir needs to kept under observation for a while by someone who can look after her properly."
"I see, is Nurse Joy there? I would like to talk with her about the specifics of Gardevoir's condition." Ash nodded and passed his X-Transceiver to the pink haired nurse. Professor Oak and Nurse Joy spend a few minutes discussing the full details of Gardevoir's injuries and the necessary treatment. Once they'd finished talking Nurse Joy passed the X-Transceiver back to Ash.
"So can you do it Professor?" Ash asked hopefully.
"Ash," The Professor sighed. "As much as I want to help I simply don't have the time to look after Gardevoir. She needs someone to watch over her at all times, I have too much work to do with the other Pokémon and my research."
"Perhaps I can help." A voice said, before Ash could mention that Brock was willing to oversee Gardevoir's care. Professor Oak turned around and saw Ash's mother entering the room. "I have some medical training from when I went on my journey and I'm sure Professor Oak can teach me anything I need to know."
"That would be a viable solution, your mother has helped me around the lab enough to be able to administer Gardevoir's medicine properly and I'm nearby if she needs help." Oak said. "Plus Gardevoir is comfortable around your mother so she would be better off staying with your mother then at a Pokémon Centre or even here at the Lab." While Ash and the Professor had been talking Nurse Joy had moved round next to Ash to listen to the conversation. "I can have any necessary equipment moved into your house and it's easy enough to operate."
"I'll start processing the transfer paperwork and Gardevoir will be able to travel in a day or so." The pink haired nurse said.
"Travel?" Delia asked.
"Yes, I think it would be better for Gardevoir to be transferred to Pallet Town by medical transport then the Pokéball Transport System. I'm going to send my assistant along for the journey to keep an eye on her."
"I think it might be a good idea for Gardevoir to travel with someone she knows well." Brock said. "It'll help keep her calm on the journey."
"So you'd be willing to travel with her?" Nurse Joy asked.
"I don't actually know Gardevoir that well so it would need to be someone else."
"I'll do it." Brock, Ash and Nurse Joy turned to look at the doorway. Adam was stood there leaning against the frame. He stepped into the room and spoke again. "Gardevoir knows me well and to be honest I need a little break from the Battle Frontier. All I've been doing since I got to Sinnoh is train and battle, I could to with a bit of rest."
"Adam…What about Cynthia?" Ash asked.
"I'll talk to her, she'll understand. Besides I'm sure she'd like to visit Pallet Town, there's some ruins in the mountains nearby right?" Adam asked, Ash nodded. "She'll want to go and investigate them but there one thing we need to do before anything else."
"What's that?" Nurse Joy questioned.
"Ask Gardevoir if she's okay with me and Cynthia accompanying her." Adam said turning to look at the Embrace Pokémon. "Is it alright for me and Cynthia to travel with you?"
"Gar Devoir." She answered after a few seconds of hesitation, she had been surprised to have been asked.
"Alright then, I'll go tell Cynthia and the others what's happening. They're all worried about you." Adam said before nodding to Ash, Brock and Nurse Joy and leaving the room.
"Professor, Mrs. Ketchum I can help with Gardevoir's recovery. I've got my Pokémon Doctor's license and I've been helping treat Gardevoir while she's been here." Brock said.
"I'll make up the spare bedroom for you Brock." Delia said. "I'll see you in a few days." Brock nodded and thanked her for letting him stay with her. Ash then ended the call and smiled at Gardevoir.
"You're going to be alright, I promise." He said, Brock and Nurse Joy left the room to start preparing the travel arrangements and medicine that Gardevoir would need.
Meanwhile
Still on the training fields May and her Pokémon were working hard for the upcoming Contest and had come up with some good ideas for Appeals. They were about to stop for a break when Adam came walking up to them with a smile on his face.
"Gardevoir's going to be alright but she needs to go back to Pallet Town to recover. Ash's mom is going to look after her for a while until she's better." Adam said as he reached everyone. "Brock thought it would be best if someone who knew Gardevoir travelled with her to Pallet Town. I volunteered to go with her." He took a second to gather himself before turning to Cynthia. "I know you have your duties as Champion and I have the Battle Frontier but…" Adam stopped as Cynthia put a finger on his lips.
"I know this is more important and I'm going to come with you. I've always wanted to visit the home of Professor Oak." The blonde said.
"There's some ruins in the mountains nearby too." Adam added with Cynthia's finger still pressed to his lips. An excited smile crossed Cynthia's beautiful face at the thought of new archaeological site to investigate.
"And the fact that you think of things like that is one of the reasons I love you." Cynthia took her finger away from Adam's lips and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm going to go and get a few things for the trip." Cynthia told her Pokémon to continue helping May's perfect their new moves and walked back into the Pokémon Centre to collect her purse before out to the shops.
"Can we go and see Gardevoir?" May asked.
"You'd be better asking Nurse Joy but I don't see why not." Adam replied, May smiled and asked her Pokémon to carry on training while she went to check on Gardevoir and Ash. Adam stayed outside to keep an eye on the Pokémon and chatted with Lucy. The Pike Queen was interested to know how Adam's Battle Frontier challenge was going and if he would consider taking on any of the other Frontiers.
As they were talking Brock came out to speak with Lucy, Adam walked over to Deerling and Sunflora with Manolo to help them with their dodging ability. Brock was telling Lucy that he was going to spend a week or so in Pallet Town to get Gardevoir settled and help Delia with the arrangements that needed to be done to her home. He was going to travel there later that day so he could start setting everything up for when Gardevoir arrived.
"It's okay Brock, I understand. I'm going to go and pack." Lucy said giving the Pokémon Doctor a kiss on the cheek.
"Pack?" He asked.
"You're not going alone, besides I've still got a week left of my vacation and I said I was going to be with you the whole time." Lucy then returned her Pokémon and walked into the Pokémon Centre, leaving Brock and Adam out on the training fields.
"We're lucky men, Brock." Adam said.
"Yes we are." Brock replied. "Must've done something right in a past life."
"I don't think we could've done enough right in an infinite amount of past lives to end up with those women." Adam laughed, Brock chuckled as well.
"You're right about that but I'm not going to complain. Years of failure and I've finally found the woman I'm going to spend my live with."
"I know what you mean, I was too scared to say anything cause I thought it would ruin the friendship I had with Cynthia. Now I'm going to do whatever I have to do to keep her." Adam and Brock talked for a little while as they watched the Pokémon training together.
May walked through the Pokémon Centre's hallways until she found the right room, knocking lightly on the door she heard Ash's voice saying 'Who is it?' May slowly pushed the door open and entered the room.
"Is it okay if I come in?" She asked, Ash smiled when he saw her walk in.
"May, sure come in." Ash stood from his chair and offered it to her. May declined and stood alongside Gardevoir's bed, putting a hand on the Embrace Pokémon's shoulder.
"Do you feel better now?"
"Gardevoir Devoir Gar." The Embrace Pokémon replied.
"She said she feels better but still feels a little dizzy." Ash translated. "Gardevoir's abilities aren't working properly, Nurse Joy said the stuff they used to put her in the coma needs to work its way out of her system before she can use them properly again." He explained seeing the slight confusion on May's face.
"How are you doing?"
"Honestly? I've been better but as long as Gardevoir's going to be okay then I'll be fine." Ash walked forward and put a hand on May's arm. "Can we talk outside for a minute?" He asked, May nodded wondering what Ash wanted to talk about. "Pikachu, Lucario can you keep Gardevoir company for a bit while I talk to May?"
"Pika." The Electric Mouse squeaked with a quick salute as he jumped onto the chair's armrest, Lucario just nodded and stood at the bedside. Lucario had been allowed back into the room once Assistant Joy had finished the tests, the test results would take a little time to come back but everything seemed to be alright with Lucario aside from a mild headache. Ash gently led May out of the room and into the corridor, May closed the door as she passed through it.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" May asked, Ash was quiet for a few minutes before he answered.
"While Gardevoir was in the coma it made me think, think about the important things in my life. My family, my Pokémon, my friends, you and what would happen if I lost any of you. I understand what you were talking about when you were calling me reckless for always jumping into dangerous situations." Ash let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. "May, I know you've given me time to think about what you said and telling the truth I still don't know what I feel towards you." Ash felt his heart ache as May's face fell into a crestfallen expression. "But I have realised that I care for you as more than a friend so I wanted to ask if you'd like to stop pretending and give a real relationship a try to see if I can make sense of what I'm feeling. What do you think?"
That's all I've got for now, I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can.
Current Teams
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Gardevoir, Jolteon, Magby, Elekid, Ponyta, Pidgeot
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Mawile, Litwick, Venusaur, Deerling, Sunflora, Lilligant
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer