Sorry about the late update, I've had this chapter ready for about a week but I've been busy filling out a job application so not had a chance to post until now.
I'll get straight to chapter but check out the note at the end.
Current Teams
Ash – Pikachu, Lucario, Gardevoir, Jolteon, Magby, Elekid, Ponyta, Pidgeot
May – Blaziken, Glaceon, Mawile, Litwick, Venusaur, Deerling, Sunflora, Lilligant
Chapter 31
New Paths and New Destinations
May just stared at Ash as her mind processed his words, he was asking her if she wanted to stop pretending and start a real relationship with him. She subtly pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, it had happened a few times since she'd confessed to him. Her mind was a flooded with ecstatic thoughts as Ash's question registered, May's conscious mind stalled as it tried to work out whether it had heard Ash correctly then it exploded into an ecstatic frenzy. Her mouth felt dry, everything stopped, even the air around her seemed to still, and all sounds died out, she could no longer hear the dull whir of the air conditioning or the distant sounds of people in the reception area. She felt her hands grow clammy under her gloves as she fought to regain her faculties. It was a couple of minutes before she managed to gather her frantic excited thoughts and find her voice, she wanted to scream in happiness and kiss Ash with everything she had but knew she couldn't rush into this.
"Ash, are you sure?" She asked, quietly as she looked into his eyes searching them for the truth behind what his answer would be. "Is this what you really want to do? It's not just because of what happened to Gardevoir is it?" It was taking everything she had to control herself, her heart was beating at incredible speed in her chest she could hear it pounding and briefly wondered if Ash could hear it too. Part of her mind was screaming at her, asking why she was making Ash think about his decision. The rest knew this was the wisest course of action to make sure neither Ash or May were hurt in the future but still see the reasoning behind the other part.
"What happened to Gardevoir is part of it, like I said it made me think about the important things in my life and it made me realise that life doesn't go on forever. We aren't going to be the same age forever and things can change in an instant. I don't want to regret missing out on anything because I'm too stupid to work out what I feel, what I want out of life." Ash paused to take a breath, "Since you confessed, I've been trying to work out what I feel and while I don't really know yet, I do know that I like you as more than a friend." Ash looked May directly in the eyes before adding. "I'm sure."
May studied Ash's gaze for a few seconds before coming to a decision. She could barely contain herself as she smiled and slowly stepped forward putting her hand on Ash's cheek. Slowly Ash moved his head forward and gently placed his lips on May's. May moved her hand from his cheek to the back of his head, curling her fingers in his hair, deepening the kiss as her other arm came up and wrapped around his neck. Ash's arms found their way around May's waist as he held her close, after a minute they parted breathing a little heavier than usual and resting their foreheads against each other's as they stared into the other's eyes.
"Wow." Ash said quietly, earning a light giggle from May. It was only then that Ash sensed another person nearby, his head snapped to the side and he saw Brock stood there with his mouth hanging open slightly. They stared at each other for a few seconds before May let out a small gasp, embarrassed at being seen like that. She tried to move out of Ash's arms but they wouldn't lessen their grip, if anything the appearance of Brock made them seem to tighten around her, almost protectively. There was a minute of silence before Brock's face broke into a large smile and he started to laugh at the reddening faces of Ash and May.
"Well, it's about time." The Pokémon Doctor said as he laughed. "I should've taken a picture while you were busy sucking each other's faces off, Lucy's going to be really annoyed that she missed that."
"Wouldn't she be even more annoyed to find out you ruined the moment?" May asked, Brock stopped laughing when he realised that May was right. If Lucy heard that he'd disturbed the moment Ash and May were having not only would the wedding be called off but she's have his head off too. Lucy kept up a serious face when she battled but to the people who knew her well, she had a soft spot for romantic moments and hated to hear if they'd been interrupted especially if they were moments her friends were having.
"So, I came to tell you that me and Lucy are leaving in about an hour. I want to get to Pallet Town and have everything set up for when Gardevoir gets there or at least get most of it ready." Brock said changing the subject. "I was coming get the latest readings from Gardevoir's monitors before I left." The Pokémon Doctor walked past them and into the room, Ash finally let May go but took hold of her hand as they followed Brock.
"Chu Pika!" Pikachu squeaked loudly as Ash and May entered the room.
"Not you too!" Ash said back, May looked between Ash and Pikachu in confusion.
"What did he say?" She asked.
Pikachu said 'About time!' Mistress May. Lucario answered from his place alongside Gardevoir's bed. May giggled at how even Pikachu had seen what was going on before his trainer, though not by that much.
"Okay," Brock said, "I've got everything I need here." Brock put away a small notepad he'd been writing on and turned to Gardevoir. "Is there anything you want me to set up for you?"
"Gar Voir Gardev Devoir?" The Embrace Pokémon answered.
"Gardevoir just asked is some of her puzzles could be brought from the Lab." Ash translated.
"Sure but what sort of puzzles are they?" Brock asked.
"They're pieces of wood that you have to put together to form a shape but they'll only fit together in a certain way. Gardevoir found one at Professor Oak's Lab the first time she went there and loves doing them." The group talked for a couple more minutes before Brock looked at the time.
"I've got to go, the train Lucy and I are getting leaves in about 30 minutes." He said. Pikachu, Lucario and Gardevoir said goodbye to Brock as Ash and May followed the former Gym Leader out to the reception area of the Pokémon Centre, with Pikachu jumping onto Ash's shoulder before they left the room. When they got there Lucy was waiting with Adam, Cynthia, Leaf and surprisingly Erika.
"Erika?" Brock said in surprise, "What brings you here?"
"Leaf told me you were leaving and I wanted to say goodbye to an old friend." The grass type Gym Leader answered, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Not at all, I thought you would've been busy with the Gym or your shop." Erika laughed softly at his response.
"Brock, I learnt to deal with the workload years ago, I have time whenever I need it." Erika held a hand out to Brock, "Even thought it was brief, it was lovely to see you again." Brock smiled and shook her hand.
"Likewise."
"It was lovely to finally meet the woman who finally managed to hold Brock's heart too." Erika said as she extended her hand to Lucy.
"It was nice to meet you too." Lucy replied as they shook hands.
"Great meeting you Brock." Adam said shaking his hand, "I'll see you in a couple of days."
"See you then Adam."
"It was a true honour to meet the Pike Queen." Adam said as he moved to say goodbye to Lucy. "Tell your fellow Frontier Brains that I might be coming for them next." He smiled.
"I'll let them know they have to start training hard." Lucy laughed as she shook Adam's hand. Cynthia came next bidding the pair farewell and Leaf followed her leaving Ash and May to say their goodbyes to the pair.
"Brock, I don't know what to say other than thank you…." Ash was about to say more when Brock put a hand on his shoulder.
"Ash, after everything you've done for me since we met I'm more than happy to do this, besides this way I get to see all your Pokémon and taste your mom's cooking again." The pair laughed and shared a brotherly hug. "I'll see you at the wedding."
"Deal." Ash said as they separated, Brock turned to look at Adam and Cynthia.
"That goes for both of you too." He said
"Are you sure?" Adam asked, "I mean you don't really know us that well."
"We're sure," Lucy said, "Ash and May trust you and that's good enough for us. Same goes for you Leaf, if you want to come that is."
"What about Miss Erika?" Leaf asked.
"I've already had an invitation." Erika said, pulling it out of her kimono sleeve. "Speaking of which I can give you my acceptance card now, I've already put Leaf as my plus one." Erika turned to look at the Gym Assistant and smiled. "I was going to tell you a little closer to the time but I suppose the Meowth's out of the bag now."
Brock said a quick farewell to Pikachu and a scratch under the chin before Ash stepped in front of Lucy. "Thanks for doing this…" Ash started but Lucy cut him off with a smile.
"What are friends for?" She gave Ash a quick hug and ruffled the fur on Pikachu's head letting both of them pass her to join everyone else.
"You look after her okay." May said to Brock, "Gardevoir's been through a lot and….."
"I promise, Gardevoir's going to be in perfect health next time you see her. There's no need to threaten me." Brock said holding his hands up in surrender. May smiled and hugged him before doing the same to Lucy.
"Call me when you get there." May said as she moved out of the hug, Lucy rolled her eyes at the brunette.
"Yes mom." She sighed sarcastically. They both laughed and Brock picked up their bags.
"Lucy, it's time to go." He said, Lucy nodded and as waved as they exited the Pokémon Centre doors.
The remaining people of the group walked to a nearby cluster of seats and sat down. Erika, Leaf and Cynthia sat on one couch, Ash and May sat on a slightly smaller one while Adam dropped himself into an armchair. They started talking about May's training for the contest for a while with Erika giving small pieces of advice due to her in depth knowledge of grass type Pokémon. After a little while during a small break in conversation Adam spoke up.
"So Ash, you and May are together now. When did that happen?" He said, Leaf, Cynthia and Erika snapped their heads to look at the couple on the other couch.
"Seriously, how do you do that?" Ash asked in annoyance as May blushed and looked shyly away but did place her hand on top of Ash's. "You always know stuff like this without anyone telling you, how do you do it?"
"I keep my eyes open." Adam replied. "Last time I saw you two there was a tension between you, something making you a bit edgy. It's not there now and through a bit of logical deduction I came to the conclusion that you two have decided to get together. It was either that or you each gave up on your feelings for each other but that was unlikely, you're both as stubborn as a Tauros."
"Hey!" Ash and May said in unison. Adam just started laughing but stopped when Cynthia cleared her throat.
"Do I have to bring that incident again?" She asked him, arching an eyebrow.
"No ma'am." Adam said, stiffening in his chair with a small amount of fear on his face.
"What incident?" May asked. Adam looked at Cynthia and shook his head pleadingly, the blonde Champion smirked and opened her mouth to speak but Adam interrupted her with two words.
"Mr Fluff." Cynthia's head snapped to Adam with wide eyes and her jaw dropped.
"You wouldn't…" She whispered just loud enough for him to hear.
"Try me." He replied challengingly, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. They stared at each other for a full minute before Cynthia sighed. The others had kept shifting their gaze between the Champion and her boyfriend in an attempt to understand what they were talking about or who would break first.
"Fine, but how did you find out?" She asked.
"I'll tell you later." He smirked, "Now back to my original question. How long ago did you to get together?"
"Just before Brock and Lucy left." May said before telling them what had happened.
"Does Lucy know?" Leaf asked. May jerked with realisation, she hadn't told Lucy.
"No, with all of us saying goodbye I forgot. I'm sure Brock's told her."
"If he had wouldn't she have called you?" May slowly nodded after hearing Leaf's question, "Call her now, she'll want to know sooner rather than later."
"That might not be such a good idea." Erika said, Cynthia nodded in agreement knowing what Erika was thinking.
"Why not Miss Erika?"
"May would be telling Lucy that Brock, the man Lucy intends to marry, interrupted a romantic moment that her friend was part of. It might just be me but I would be rather angry at Brock if I was in Lucy's place."
Before anyone else could say anything May's X-Transceiver rang, looking at the screen the brunette saw it was Lucy calling her. I thought Anabel was the Psychic, May thought before answering.
"Why didn't you tell me you and Ash were a couple?!" Lucy shouted in question before May had a chance to greet her.
"Everyone was busy saying goodbye to you and Brock and I got distracted. How did you find out?" May asked.
"I got a text off Ash." All eyes turned to the young Aura Guardian who dropped his gaze to his lap.
"I'm going to go check on Gardevoir." He said but a firm hand from May stopped him.
"Why did you text Lucy?" May asked him.
"Well, Brock knew so I…" The rest of Ash's answer was cut off by Lucy.
"Brock! You knew?! May, I'll call you back." With that Lucy ended the call, there were a couple of seconds of silence before Adam chuckled.
"Congratulations Ash, you just signed Brock's death sentence." Leaf, Cynthia and Erika all nodded in agreement.
"Yup, Brock's a dead man." Leaf said. "Especially when he has to tell Lucy that he interrupted your moment."
They talked for a while longer before May stood up and held her hand out to Ash. He looked to her face to her hand then back to her face.
"What?" He asked.
"Come on, we're going outside. This is the first time you've been out of Gardevoir's room since you brought her here. You haven't been outside either, you need to get some fresh air and let your Pokémon know what's happening with Gardevoir. Back in Cerulean City you said that your Pokémon are your family, they're going to be worrying about Gardevoir as much as you." She said still holding her hand out for him to take, Ash smiled slowly and reached out to May.
"Let's go." He said taking her hand lightly in his and standing up. They walked together hand in hand out of the Pokémon Centre with the others following them. When they got to the training field, finding May's Pokémon still training hard.
"Everyone come here please." May said getting their attention. Her Pokémon stopped what they were doing and ran up to her. Glaceon yipped and danced around when she noticed the look on May's face and her hand held in Ash's. The Fresh Snow Pokémon then skipped around the other Pokémon telling them that Ash and May were together.
"Guess Glaceon's figured it out." Adam muttered to Cynthia earning an elbow in the ribs. Ash let his Pokémon out and immediately noticed the concerned look on their faces. May had been right they were as worried as he had been.
"I've got a couple of things I need to tell you." Ash said as all the Pokémon gathered round. "Gardevoir has woken up and she's going to be alright." All the Pokémon cheered. "She has to go and spend some time in Pallet Town to recover though so she's not going to be travelling for a while. Professor Oak, Brock and my mom will be looking after her while she's recovering." Ponyta and Mawile stepped forward and started to talk to their trainers, due to both of them speaking at the same time Ash turned to look at Pikachu.
"Little help here buddy." Ash said.
"Pi Pika ChuPi Pikachu." Ponyta and Mawile nodded after Pikachu finished.
"What are they saying?" May asked.
"They want to go with Gardevoir."
"I wonder why."
"I might know why." Cynthia said. "Have Ponyta and Mawile spent a lot of time with Gardevoir?"
"Well they've all been travelling together for a while." May said.
"Professor Oak said that they spend most of their time with Gardevoir when they're all there together." Ash added, once they'd finished Cynthia nodded to herself.
"I think they've imprinted on Gardevoir a little. They probably see her as a mother figure or at least an older sister." She explained, "Did you get Ponyta and Mawile as Eggs?" Ash and May nodded. "Was Gardevoir there when they hatched?"
"No, but they did meet her a day or so later." May said.
"It's more likely they see her as a older sister." Cynthia turned to the two Pokémon. "Am I right?" Ponyta and Mawile looked at each other then back at Cynthia.
"Cyn, I don't think they fully understand what you mean by sister. I remember Luna explaining it to me a while ago Pokémon refer to family in a different way then people do." Adam said. "Pikachu, can you translate it for them?" The Electric Mouse nodded.
"Pika PiChu Pika Pika?" Ponyta and Mawile let out a happy noise and nodded their heads.
"Okay, now I'm starting to wonder how you know stuff like that by sight." Cynthia said, "Do you have Aura too?" Ash and May jerked at the question.
"What do you mean 'too'?" Leaf asked.
"She meant like my Lucario." Adam said having seen Ash's and May's reactions. "And no, I don't have Aura. Well, no more then a normal person, I'm just observant." Cynthia's eye widened as she realised what she'd said.
"May, if you want you could use some of my Pokémon for the Contest." Ash said changing the subject, "Is there anything special you need for the Contest? You had to dress up for the last one."
"I can only use grass types for this Contest." May replied.
"You could use Sceptile, he's a grass type and already has experience in Contests."
"Thanks for the offer Ash but I'm going to use my own Pokémon, they've been training hard for this Contest and it wouldn't be right to enter with Sceptile after all the work they've done." Ash nodded in understanding he'd feel the same in her position. May turned to her Pokémon, "Alright everyone return for a nice long rest." She held up all her Pokéballs and a red beam shot out of each, pulling her Pokémon inside of the capsules except for Glaceon who dodged hers and ran up to May. The ice type sat at May's feet and looked up at her with pleading eyes, May giggled and once she'd put her Pokéballs away she bent down and picked Glaceon up. Ash let his Pokémon stay out and train with Adam's for a while so they could get some exercise.
After about half an hour Ash and Adam returned their Pokémon and went back into the Pokémon Centre, they all passed their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy so they could get healed up properly.
"Mr Ketchum, I've arranged to transport for Gardevoir, it will be here to pick her up the day after tomorrow." She said as she collected their Pokéballs for treatment.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Ash said, the pink haired nurse smiled back at him.
"It's what I'm here to do." She then walked away with their Pokéballs.
While they waited Ash went to check on Lucario and Gardevoir, Adam flicked through a magazine leaving May and Cynthia to talk about the upcoming wedding. A few minutes later Ash returned to the group with a slightly confused look on his face.
"What's up Ash?" Adam asked, drawing May and Cynthia out of their conversation causing the two of them to look at Ash.
"Huh?" Ash replied.
"What's wrong? You look confused."
"It's nothing." Adam just raised an eyebrow. "It's just something I thought I saw."
"What was it?"
"Lucario and Gardevoir looked closer then they used to be."
"Can't even tell when his Pokémon like each other." Adam mumbled to himself before raising his voice so Ash could hear him. "The Aura Lucario absorbed has probably made them feel closer, could be connected on an emotional level now." May's eyes widened as she caught the double meaning of what Adam had said.
"You really think that could've happened?" She asked. "The Aura's made them feel 'connected'?"
"Maybe, I don't know that much about how Aura works but it's probably pulled existing emotions to the surface."
"Oh." May said, after a couple of seconds she stood up and went over to Ash. "Let's go and see Gardevoir, she's going to be leaving in a couple of days so you should spent time with her." She took his hand and waited to see what his reaction was.
"What about Adam and Cynthia?" Ash asked.
"Don't worry about us." Cynthia said to him before slowly turning her head to look at Adam. "Adam and I need to talk privately anyway."
"Take me with you." Adam said meekly. May just laughed and pulled Ash away before he could say anything.
"I don't think it's a good idea for Gardevoir to be overwhelmed by so many people seeing her at once." The brunette Co-Ordinator said over her shoulder with a wink. Adam just scowled at her while Cynthia laughed and Ash looked a little confused. Once May and Ash had gone through the doors that led to Gardevoir, Cynthia shuffled a little closer to Adam so their conversation wouldn't be overheard. The blonde Champion released her Garchomp for added security.
"Now about Mr. Fluff." She said in a scarily sweet voice, Adam swallowed dryly and started to sweat.
May knocked lightly on the door of Gardevoir's room, once she and Ash had arrived there.
"Come in." A voice said inside Ash and May's heads, they smiled at each other and entered the room.
"I'm guessing your abilities have come back." May said as she approached the bed Gardevoir was lying in. Lucario was sat in the chair next to her, he started to get up but both Ash and May told him to stay sitting.
"Not completely, I can only managed a small telepathic connection at the moment." Gardevoir answered. "I'm pleased to see that you both have formed a relationship Mistress May." The Embrace Pokémon went quiet for a few seconds before adding. "I will miss both of you."
"We'll miss you too, it's only going to be until you're better." Ash said, "We'll call you when we get the chance and tell you about everything we've been doing. It'll be like you were right there with us."
"But I won't be." Gardevoir said sadly, Lucario put a paw on her shoulder drawing her attention.
You will be in our hearts, just like you always have been. Lucario said causing Gardevoir to blush.
"Is this what Adam meant by Lucario and Gardevoir being connected on an emotional level?" Ash whispered to May, Lucario's ears twitched as he heard what Ash had said and was thankful that his dark fur hid his heated face. May just nudged Ash in the ribs and they all spent the next half hour talking about general things and the upcoming Contest.
"Ash, I think we should let Gardevoir rest." May said when she saw Gardevoir trying to suppress a yawn. "She's been through a lot over the last couple of days."
"Okay, we'll see you later Gardevoir." Ash said putting his hand on her arm. "Lucario, will you keep an eye on her for me?"
Always, Master Ash. Lucario answered near instantly, May hid a giggle with a small cough at Lucario's response.
"Get some sleep." May said before placing a light kiss on Gardevoir's forehead.
"Goodbye." Gardevoir said sleepily as she started to drift into a peaceful sleep.
The rest of the day was spent by Ash helping May train for the contest, he'd sent Pidgeot, Magby, Elekid and Gardevoir's Pokéball back to the Lab and temporarily called on some of his grass type Pokémon to give May experience battling grass type Pokémon with her own. He alternated his time between the training fields and spending some time with Gardevoir when she was awake.
Adam and Cynthia also spent a little time with Gardevoir, she already knew Adam so it was mostly getting the Embrace Pokémon to feel more comfortable around the blonde Champion. The couple also spent time getting ready for their journey to Pallet Town and for the small amount of time they would be spending there. They helped May train too, giving her a couple of ideas for the Contest.
Inevitably the day came where they had to say goodbye to Gardevoir, everyone was gathered in front of the Pokémon Centre. Gardevoir was laying on a gurney by the back doors of the medical transport ready to be loaded as everyone said their goodbyes.
"Don't worry Ash, I'll let you know when we get to Pallet Town and got Gardevoir settled." Adam said putting a hand on Ash's shoulder. Cynthia was having a similar conversation with May but May was having a little trouble concentrating on what the Sinnoh Champion was saying because Pichu was looking around at everything in wonder and waving to every person and Pokémon that passed.
"Thank you Adam." Adam's head jerked around when he heard a voice in his head, his gaze settled on Gardevoir.
"Was that you?" The Embrace Pokémon nodded and Adam smiled. "That's the first time you've spoken to me. I'm honoured you trust me enough to do that. Your voice sounds a lot like May's but more lyrical, it's very pretty." Gardevoir blushed a little and looked away.
"I'd better see you at the Grand Festival." May said as she moved in front of Adam, poking him in the chest.
"Right back at you." He replied and lightly flicked May's forehead. They glared at each other for a minute before smiling, May pulled Adam into a hug.
"I know you don't like hugs but deal with it." Adam sighed and awkwardly returned the hug. "You look after her okay." May added as she pulled back from the hug.
"Gardevoir or Cynthia?"
"Both." May giggled.
"Yes ma'am." Adam saluted. "You look after Ash, we both know he'd be lost without you. Now more then ever."
"Hey!" Ash shouted earning a laugh from everyone else.
"Excuse me, Champion Shirona, Mr Williams. We need to go now." The driver of the transport said.
"Well I guess this is it for now." Adam said shaking Ash's hand before climbing into the transport followed second later by Cynthia.
"I will miss you." Gardevoir said as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
"We'll miss you too." Ash replied taking the Embrace Pokémon's hand gently. "You just focus on getting better, okay." Gardevoir nodded as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Don't cry." May said taking Gardevoir's other hand. "Even though you'll be at the Lab, you'll still be with us…in our hearts." Unable to hold them any longer tears started to roll down Gardevoir's cheeks.
"I love you both." She said barely above a whisper.
"And we love you." May replied, the three of them hugged before it really was time for Gardevoir to go. Lucario stepped forward with Pikachu on his shoulder, the electric mouse jumped down and rubbed his cheek against Gardevoir's as he squeaked his goodbye before jumping over to Ash's shoulder, giving Lucario some privacy.
Lucario put his paw on Gardevoir's cheek and bent down, gently pressing his forehead to hers, no words or thoughts were exchanged between them the act alone was enough.
Once everyone had said their final goodbyes, Gardevoir was loaded into the vehicle followed. As the doors closed Ash and May waved and kept waving until the transport was out of sight. Ash and May walked back to the training fields to run through her Appeal again, they went over it numerous times until they'd ironed out all the kinks. May saw that a sad look sat on Ash's face and walked over to him putting a hand on his shoulder and kissing him on the cheek.
"Don't worry Ash, Gardevoir will be better in no time. Brock's going to be there to look after her and Adam said he and Cynthia were sticking round Pallet Town for a while, everything's going to be fine." She said.
"I know it's just…." Ash stopped as his X-Transceiver buzzed on his wrist, lifting his arm up he answered the call.
"Hey Ash." A familiar laidback voice said.
"Scott?"
"Adam sent me a message earlier saying he needed to put the Battle Frontier on hold for a while. I asked him why and he told me about Gardevoir, is there anything I can do to help?" The owner of the Battle Frontier asked. Ash was surprised that Scott was offering his substantial resources to help Gardevoir.
"Thanks for the offer Scott but all I can do now is wait until Gardevoir's better. Brock's going to be taking care of her treatment, it's just a matter of how long it takes for her to respond to it."
"Okay but if you need anything don't hesitate to ask."
"Scott, not to sound ungrateful but why are you doing this? I mean you don't really know me and you haven't met Gardevoir, I'm just wondering why you're offering your help like this." Scott chuckled softly.
"I can't say that my motives are purely selfless. I'm still hoping you'll take up my offer of becoming a Frontier Brain but even though, like you said, we don't really know each other I do count you as a friend and I want to help Gardevoir get better. It's not in my nature to let a Pokémon suffer when I have so many resources at my disposal." The rotund man answered. "My offer for help still stands no matter what you choose to do about being a Frontier Brain. You know how to reach me, bye. Oh and congratulations to both of you for becoming a couple." Scott pulled his sunglasses down and winked at them before ending the call. Ash and May were left open mouthed as they stared at the screen, sharing the same thought. How did he know?
Leaf arrived an hour later and helped May train while Ash changed his Pokémon, he wanted to get started on training for his next Gym Battle and meet more of the Pokémon his dad had given him. Ash called the Lab telling Professor Oak that Gardevoir was on her way with Adam and Cynthia before sending his grass types back and calling on Sandshrew, Trapinch, Skorupi, Bagon and Meowth. The second Meowth's Pokéball arrived it burst open, revealing the Scratch Cat Pokémon in a flash of white light.
"Aaaah, it's good to be out of that thing." He said stretching.
"You were only in it for a minute or two." Ash replied.
"And that's a minute or two too long." Meowth smirked before a questioning expression formed on his face. "I thought you would've kept me at the Lab so I could translate for Gardevoir."
"Professor Oak and my mom know Gardevoir well enough to work out what she's saying." Ash explained as they made there way out to the training fields again. "Besides I want to see how you've been doing at the Lab." Ash took a second to look at the Pokéballs containing Trapinch and Skorupi. "Can you tell me what to expect from these two?"
"Trapinch is a good girl, really smart but can be a little clumsy at times."
"What about Skorupi?"
"He's a pain in the neck, big attitude problem might be worse then Charizard's. You might want to carry some Pecha Berries around with you just in case." Ash just raised an eyebrow, "I think he's on a high level, it'd explain the superiority complex he has."
"Sounds like I'm going to have some work to do." Meowth nodded in agreement. "What about Bagon?"
"She's come out of her shell a little but she's still shy. She really looks up to May's Altaria and keeps asking her to take her flying." Meowth said, Ash smiled glad that Bagon was opening up to the other Pokémon.
Just before they walked onto the training fields Ash told Meowth about Leaf and whether the Scratch Cat Pokémon wanted to keep his ability to talk a secret or not.
"If you trust this girl then so do I." Meowth answered, Ash smiled and they walked onto the field together. Pikachu and Lucario came over to greet them with their training partners, Glaceon and Blaziken, following. May saw the Pokémon moving out of the corner of her eyes but couldn't look to see where they were going as she was in the middle of a heated battle against Leaf.
"Alright May, let's take a break." Leaf said once their Pokémon had separated.
"Okay Leaf." May answered and walked over to her Pokémon. She knelt down and picked Deerling up in her arms, the faint smell of cherry blossoms coming from the tired Season Pokémon's pink coat. "Come on Deerling, let's get you healed up." May giggled as the normal and grass type rubbed her head against the underside of May's chin. The brunette walked over to her bag and placed Deerling on the ground as she pulled out a few berries, which the deer-like Pokémon happily ate. Only once May was sure that Deerling had recovered her strength did she look to see where Glaceon and Blaziken had gone, she smiled when she saw Ash standing with the Pokémon and seemingly having a disagreement with Pikachu. When Ash looked in her direction she waved to him, causing Ash to smile and wave back before starting to walk towards her with the Pokémon in tow.
"Hi Meowth, it's good to see you again." May greeted the normal type.
"Good to see you too May." Meowth answered.
"Er…guys tell me I'm not going crazy." Leaf said as she stood by the group. "I could've sworn I just heard that Meowth talk."
"You're not crazy." Meowth said, "I taught myself how to speak like humans."
"Oookay, I'm going to need a couple of minutes." Leaf said shakily and sat on the ground as she tried to wrap her mind around this new piece of information. "Wait, I remember Miss Erika telling me about a talking Meowth. You're from Team Rocket!" Leaf jumped to her feet and her hand flew to her Pokéballs.
"Leaf stop!" Ash shouted and moved in front of Meowth. "If you want to attack Meowth then you need to go through me."
"And me." May added moving to Ash's side.
"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked from Ash's shoulder and Lucario silently moved to join his trainer.
"Why are you defending a member of Team Rocket?" Leaf asked, her hand still hovering over her Pokéballs.
"Because he helped save me." May said and started to recount what had happened outside Pewter City, her kidnapping, Meowth helping Ash to get her back and willing to deal with the consequences of his past when Officer Jenny arrested him.
"He saved me too." Ash added, he didn't tell Leaf the whole truth about what had happened in Rota just that one of the Pokémon that lived there lost control and Meowth had taken a powerful attack to protect him. All the time that Ash and May were talking Meowth was staring at their backs in slight disbelief, they were willing to put themselves in harms way to defend him.
"Okay." Leaf said moving her hand away from her Pokéballs and resting it on her hip. She wasn't as suspicious as she had been but wasn't willing to give Meowth any trust just yet. They all talked for a few minutes before Leaf's Pokégear rang, it was Erika asking for her to come back to the Gym, a shipment of chemicals needed for their Perfume production had unexpectedly arrived and Leaf was the one who set up the storage plan, therefore being the only one who knew where to put everything properly.
After Leaf had gone Ash let his Pokémon out of their Pokéballs, Sandshrew looked around the training fields and lightly tapped his tail against the ground ready to do whatever Ash asked, Bagon ran forward and hid her face in the leg of Ash's pants as she hugged him, Trapinch looked up at Ash and slowly walked towards him, lastly there was Skorupi who glanced at Ash before scuttling under a nearby bench and going to sleep.
"Told ya about that one." Meowth said. Ash sighed and told Sandshrew and Bagon to work on their speed by running sprints from one side of the training field to the other. Trapinch waited to one side while Ash went to talk with Skorupi.
"Hey there Skorupi." Ash said as he knelt down and peered under the bench. Skorupi lazily opened one eye slightly and looked at Ash before closing it again. "Don't be like that, I want to be your friend." Ash reached out to put a hand on Skorupi's head but quickly pulled it back to avoid the poison and bug type's tail. "Oh, I get it now. You're scared that you can't measure up to my other Pokémon." Skorupi's eyes opened as he turned to glare at Ash. "It's understandable, you're a proud Pokémon, you don't want to look a fool in front of my Pokémon." The Scorpion Pokémon hissed and scuttled towards him.
"Ru Rupi Skor!"
"You want to fight one of my Pokémon?" Ash said as he stood up and moved away from the bench. "Alright then. Pikachu, Skorupi wants to battle." Pikachu squeaked and stood ready on the field as Skorupi made his way over. "I want you to show Skorupi how we do it." Pikachu gave Ash a quick salute and dropped on to all fours, an unspoken signal passed between the two Pokémon and the battle began.
Skorupi made the first move, spitting out a Poison Sting at the Mouse Pokémon but missed as Pikachu rolled to the side and shot forward with a Quick Attack. Skorupi was quick to adapt and before Pikachu could react he was hit by a Confuse Ray. Pikachu careered to the side and skidded across the field, shaking his head to try and clear it. Skorupi acted on his advantage and advanced towards Pikachu quickly powering up a Cross Poison attack his claws glowing purple. As the Scorpion Pokémon closed in on Pikachu the electric type spun around meeting Cross Poison with Iron Tail, sending Skorupi back across the field.
At the last second before Skorupi's Confuse Ray hit, Pikachu had shut his eyes to avoid the effects of the attack and lure Skorupi into close range. While Skorupi was still recovering from the surprise attack Pikachu unleashed a Thunderbolt which sent the Scorpion Pokémon across the field again. Skorupi slowly pushed himself back to his feet as smoke gently rose into the air, his tail snapped forward and hit a pressure point on his head. The poison and bug type then charged back into the battle with a Night Slash coating his claws, Pikachu kept dodging the attacks and occasionally retaliating with a Thundershock or Iron Tail.
So he knows Acupressure Ash thought as he watch the battle. He'd moved over to where Trapinch had been waiting and was slowly stroking the ground type's head, earning a slight purring sound from her. Ash could see why Skorupi had his attitude, Meowth was right it looked like the same reason for Charizard's attitude but it couldn't be resolved the same way. That's why Ash had baited Skorupi into a battle to show him how much stronger he could be if he trained with Ash. Watching the scorpion Pokémon's Aura Ash could see subtle changes already, not much but it was a place to start. After a few minutes Ash called an end to the battle and walked on to the field, but Skorupi wasn't going to stop until Pikachu had been defeated and lunged forward to attack with a Poison Fang. Skorupi felt a sense of victory as his fangs sank into flesh and delivered their venomous load but that sense of victory soon changed to confusion when he heard Pikachu shout, not in pain but in shock. Turning his gaze to focus on what he'd bitten Skorupi saw a gloved hand in his mouth and not yellow fur as he'd expected, following the hand to the arm and then up the arm to the face Skorupi saw that he'd bitten Ash instead of Pikachu. The Scorpion Pokémon relinquished his grip on Ash's hand and scuttled backwards, looking around he saw that the rest of Ash's Pokémon had surrounded him with angry written in their features even Trapinch who's only just met Ash.
"Leave Skorupi alone." Ash said as he waved the Pokémon away. "I'm alright, I just need a minute." May came running over with a Pecha Berry and her Pokémon joined Ash's in surrounding the Scorpion Pokémon. "Thanks May." Ash said as he bit into the Pecha Berry. "You're really strong Skorupi." Ash moved to sit in front of the poison and bug type, "but if you train with me then you'll be even stronger." Ash slowly reached out to Skorupi, holding his injured hand palm up and it started to glow with Aura as Ash healed himself.
"Skor SkorupiSkor?"
"Why did I protect Pikachu? Because he's part of my family like all my Pokémon, even you." Ash showed Skorupi his now healed hand, the only evidence of the attack were two small holes in his glove where Skorupi's fangs had gone through. "If you think what you did was bad there's some stories I can tell you about Pikachu and Charizard." Ash laughed. "I know it's going to take some time for us to get to know each other but if you're willing to give me a chance I can help you achieve whatever your dream is. So Skorupi what's your dream?"
"Rupi Skoru Pi."
"To be the strongest Drapion ever. That's a good dream and together I know we can make that come true. Skorupi will you work with me?" Ash asked holding his hand out again, Skorupi looked at it for a few seconds before slowly reaching out with his tail and putting it in Ash's hand. They shook and Ash smiled, "I think this is going to be the beginning of a strong friendship." Everyone smiled to see that Skorupi was starting to get over his attitude problem but jumped when they heard Ash yell in pain.
"Skor Skoru RupiSkor!" Skorupi clicked as he jumped back pulling his tail out of Ash's hand.
"Guys, it wasn't Skorupi." Ash said with a pained voice and held up his other hand from which Trapinch was hanging. "I think Trapinch wanted to shake my hand too." Slowly lowering his hand, Ash managed to get Trapinch to let go and he stroked her head again.
The next hour or so was spent by Ash getting to know his new Pokémon and May putting the final touches to her Appeal for the Contest. When they were ready they returned all the Pokémon except for Pikachu, Lucario, Meowth and Glaceon, going back into the Pokémon Centre Ash and May overheard the news report from the TV.
"And our main headline tonight is the announcement that Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo, has died. As well as running the business Mr Iwata was a developer for the first Pokémon Stadium game and singlehandedly created a compression program that allowed Pokémon Gold and Silver to include the Kanto Region with the Johto Region in the popular journey simulator series. Tributes have come in from all corners of the gaming community and businesses, they are noted in saying 'Satoru Iwata was a CEO by title, Developer by nature and a true gamer at heart.' Mr Iwata contributed a lot to the world of gaming and he will be truly missed." The News Anchor said.
Ash and May bowed their heads in respect as did their Pokémon before walking over to the desk and handing their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy. They received their Pokémon a few minutes later and May went to the sent Mawile back to the Lab and called her Altaria on to her team. It was only a few minutes later that Ash got a call from Adam letting him know they'd arrived in Pallet Town and Gardevoir was settled in, they'd run into a bit of traffic on the way and had to take a large detour around some roadworks. When they sat down to eat May felt something stick into her leg, putting her hand into her pocket she remembered something she'd meant to do earlier.
"Ash, I'm so sorry I forgot to give you this." May said taking her hand out of her pocket and presenting him with the Rainbow Badge. "Erika gave it to me after you brought Gardevoir to the Pokémon Centre but with everything that's been happening I forgot all about it." Ash reached out and took the badge from her, bouncing it lightly in his palm before closing his fist around it.
"Thanks May and don't worry about it, I forgot about it too. Five down, three to go. Now we need to get you your next Ribbon, are you ready for tomorrow?"
"More then ready, that Ribbon's mine." May said excitedly , punching the air.
"That's what you think May." A voice said from behind them, a voice the recognised all too well. Dreading the sight behind them Ash and May slowly turned around to see the smug face of Drew as he held a rose out for May.
"Go away Drew." May scowled as she turned away from him and moved closer to Ash. Drew moved round so he could face May, still holding the rose out to her. Glaceon, who was sat under the table with Pikachu, was about to freeze Drew but Pikachu stopped her.
"Come on May, I'll tell you what. When I win this Contest I'll take you out for a meal."
"No, you won't." Ash growled, putting his arm around May's shoulders. "I'm taking May out when she wins."
"Ketchum don't even try and pretend you're in a relationship with May. No one would believe it." Drew scoffed, Ash just smirked.
"Believe this." Ash said before turning May's face towards his and kissing her. Drew's mouth fell open and the rose he held dropped to the floor, where Pikachu fried it with a Thundershock. When Ash and May separated Drew was still staring at them in shock. Both Ash and May were slightly out of breath after the kiss and smiled at each other, they looked at Drew to see his reaction but the green haired Co-Ordinator was still frozen in disbelief. Ash and May moved past him and left the cafeteria going back to their room.
They got ready for bed and watched TV for a couple of hours before going to sleep, so that May and her Pokémon were fully rested for the Contest. A satisfied smile sat on both Ash's and May's lips as they slept knowing that finally they'd found away to shut Drew up. A few hours later, while it was still dark, Ash shot up and cursed, waking May and the Pokémon in the process. Meowth, Pikachu and Glaceon woke with a start whereas Lucario jumped up into a fighting stance with an Aura Sphere ready to attack.
"Ash, what was that for?" May asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"You're Dad's going to kill me." May just stared at Ash in confusion for a few seconds as her brain started to wake up, her eyes widened as she realised what he meant. Now it was May's turn to curse, they hadn't told their parents they were officially together but judging by the fact that Delia hadn't called them Brock, Lucy, Adam and Cynthia hadn't mentioned anything about the relationship to her.
"We'll call and tell them in the morning." She said and turned over. "Don't worry about it, they'll be happy for us and my Dad will have to get through me before he can get you." May closed her eyes and drifted right back to sleep, not fully realising what she'd said. Pikachu gave Ash a small shock for waking everyone up before curling up with Glaceon to go back to sleep, her cool fur reminding him of sleeping out in nature, Lucario stood tensed for a minute before dispelling the Aura Sphere and laying back down to sleep and Meowth settled back into the chair he was sleeping on. Ash took a couple of calming breaths before going back to sleep, hoping May was right about their parents being happy for them.
The next morning after waking up Ash and May went about their usual routine of exercising before getting ready for the day and having breakfast. May asked Nurse Joy to have one last look at her Pokémon before they headed out to the Contest Hall, along the way they met up with Leaf and together entered the Hall. May kissed Ash and went to get ready for the Contest, leaving Ash and Leaf to go and find a seat with the Pokémon.
Roughly twenty minutes after they'd sat down the lights dimmed and the Contest MC Julia walked onto the stage.
"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the Celadon City Contest. Due to illness Mr Sukizo is unable to be a judge for us, however we have been able to find a last minute stand in. Please welcome our Judges, Mr Contesta, Celadon City's own Gym Leader Erika and our replacement Judge for Mr Sukizo, Kanto's Elite Four's Goddess of Grass, Pamela!" The crowd cheered as the Judges came on to the stage, the volume rose as Erika waved and rose again when Pamela cross to her seat. She was about 5'11'', had long red hair that flowed to her lower back, full rose red lips and pale skin. She wore a green strapless dress that looked like it was made from leaves with a slit going up to mid-thigh on one side letting her long pale leg appear as she moved. Men in the audience started to wolf whistle as she turned and blew a kiss to the crowds.
Once the audience had settled down and the Judges had taken their seats Julia started to speak again.
"This Contest is solely for grass type Pokémon, this is in honour of the founding of the Celadon City Gym. It was on this day 70 years ago that the doors of Kanto's strongest grass type Gym opened for the first time. Since then the Hikami family have provided this city with powerful Gym Leader from Mistress Kyoko Hikami all those years ago to Miss Erika Hikami who leads the Gym today. The winner of this Contest will be awarded the Flower Ribbon." Julia held up the Ribbon, it had a golden flower shaped plaque in the centre and a light green ribbon bordered in white tied behind it. "Now without further ado let the Contest begin!"
Current teams
Ash - Pikachu, Lucario, Jolteon, Sandshrew, Trapinch, Skorupi, Bagon, Meowth
May - Blaziken, Glaceon, Litwick, Venusaur, Deerling, Sunflora, Lilligant, Altaria
That's all I've got for now, the next chapter has already been started and I'll try to get that out as soon as I can.
I've been asked to get the word out for a forum that I'm a part of, it's called Advancers. You can find it by googling Advancers Proboards, it full of really cool people and games. We're always on the lookout for new members so I encourage everyone to join and become part of the Advancers community.