Hello readers, sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out but certain things have been happening so my focus has been split.
Anyway, there's not much more to say except enjoy the chapter.
Current Teams
Ash - Pikachu, Lucario, Meowth, Beldum, Skorupi, Sandshrew, Trapinch, Bagon
May - Glaceon, Blaziken, Venusaur, Litwick, Deerling, Sunflora, Altaria, Lilligant
Chapter 35
Wilting Blooms and Pastures New
May groaned as she started to wake up, her eyelids felt heavy and as she started to open her eyes she moaned and immediately closed them again. The light in the room felt like it burnt into her skull and she had a headache that felt like Ash's Tauros had trampled her brain to mush. She tried to turn over when she felt something holding her arm in place, slowly easing her eyes open again she followed the line of her arm down to her hand. She did this cautiously so that she didn't trigger another stab of pain like she'd experienced when she's first opened her eyes. Finally getting to her hand she saw that it was clasped in a man's hand, it took May's sleepy and hungover mind a minute to try and work out who the hand belonged to until it gave up and followed the man's arm up. It was a few minutes before May reached the man's face as she needed to tilt her head to get a proper look and the movement sent a flash of pain through her mind. May looked at the man's face and knew she recognised him but her hurting head refused to work so that she could remember the name, it took longer than she liked but she eventually got the name she was after.
"Ash." She said with a hoarse voice, it was barely above a whisper but Ash still stirred in his sleep and rubbed his eyes before turning his head to look at May.
"Good Morning May." He said with a smile making May moan and pull the bed covers over her head.
"Too loud." She muttered.
"Sorry." Ash whispered. "But it's your own fault for drinking so much."
"Your fault for letting me." May groaned in response while still under the covers. As Ash looked around the room for a clock there was a light knock on the door. "Too loud, go away." May said trying to get even further under the covers while still holding Ash's hand. The door opened slowly, creaking slightly making May groan again, turning to the door Ash saw Harley poke her head into the room with a hand over her eyes.
"Everyone decent?" She asked. "I don't care either way but apparently some people have a thing about nudity." The blonde peeked through her fingers and grinned.
"We're decent." Ash replied quietly. "May's not feeling well though." Harley slipped into the room, revealing that she was wearing a short red and black checked robe, she kept grinning as she crept towards the bed and grabbed the covers. With a quick tug she pulled the covers away from the bed leaving May with her eyes shut tight and an arm covering her eyes. Harley smirked and threw the bedcovers across the room.
"That's not illness." Harley giggled and put an arm around Ash's shoulder leaning over him. "That, my dear Guardian, is what we call a hangover, from the looks of it this is Xena's first one. Fall's in the same situation right now, except she's had hangovers before and she tends to throws things when you try and talk to her. It's why there's nothing breakable in Fall's room, it'd be really expensive otherwise. I prefer Xena's hangover, less violent and more adorable." Harley gently poked May's cheek, pulling her hand back quickly as May tried to bat her hand away.
"Is there anything I can do to help her?" Ash asked.
"Just get her to drink a lot of water for now, I'll see if Pammi will make some of her hangover cure." May moved her arm slowly so she could look at Harley.
"Cure?" The brunette asked, wincing at the even at the low volume of her own voice.
"Yep, Pammi can whip up a drink that gets rid of most of the hangover, it just leaves a bit of a headache but that'll pass after a while." Harley spun around and skipped to the door. "I'll get her to make you some now." Once the blonde disappeared out of the doorway, Ash turned and smiled at May.
"You okay?"
"Don't ask stupid questions." May snapped quietly.
"Yeah, I guess it was. Do you want to sit up?"
"No, I want to die." May groaned, Ash just kept smiling.
"Come on, let's sit you up." Ash gently lifted May up, moving her pillows so she'd be sitting comfortably. "This would be a bit easier if you let go of my hand." Ash said as he tried to fluff the pillows a bit.
"Wha?" May said before Ash lightly squeezed her hand, realising what he meant May let go of Ash's hand. Able to use both hands Ash quickly fixed the pillows and picked up the bedcovers, putting them on the bed again and tucking May in as best he could. He went over to the window next and opened it to let some fresh air in. May slowly looked around the room as Ash walked back to towards her. "Ash, where did you sleep?" She asked before her eyes landed on the chair with a pillow and blanket next to it. "You slept in the chair?" Ash nodded. "Why?"
"Well." Ash started, rubbing the back of his head. "You wouldn't let go of my hand and I didn't really want to leave you alone." He said sheepishly. May blushed and smiled at him, happy that he'd stayed by her and embarrassed that she'd held onto his hand all night. "Do you want me to get you a drink of water?" May nodded slowly but as Ash started to walk to the door it opened and Selina walked in, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, holding a glass of water and a pack of aspirin.
"Morning, I hope you behaved yourself last night young man." She smirked as she passed Ash, patting his cheek. Ash blushed and closed the door, taking a few seconds to try and get rid of his reddened face before facing May. Selina handed the aspirin to May and put the glass of water on the bedside table. "I thought you might want these."
"Thank you." May said, popping two pills out of the pack and putting them in her mouth before washing them down with a mouthful of water.
"Do you remember much from last night?" The former burglar asked, folding her arms while she still smirked.
"Not really." May replied, taking another drink of water. "I remember the meal and dancing but it gets a bit blurry after that."
"I'm not surprised, you don't look like the type that drinks very often. You do make quite an entertaining drunk though."
"What do you mean?" May asked, slightly fearing the answer.
"You get very handsy, I'm sure Ash can fill you in on the details. I do know that when Ash was putting you to bed, he got something I'm sure a lot of guys would've liked." Selina paused to torment May a little, she couldn't help it May was just too much fun to play with. "You pulled him face first into your chest and started giggling." May's mouth dropped open in shock as her face went completely red, she wanted to see what Ash's reaction was but dropped her head to stare at the bedcovers as she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Selina chuckled lightly and looked at Ash seeing he was embarrassed as May, it was only then she noticed to lipstick mark on Ash's forehead. "I see Pam doped you so you'd get a good night's sleep."
"Huh?" Ash questioned, Selina tapped her forehead making Ash reach up to his and taking his hand away he saw the lipstick smeared on his hand.
"That's probably laced with a little Sleep Powder and a few other things. Pam has a few different types of make-up that can help people out, cause you were going to sleep in that chair the stuff in that probably helped you get to sleep quicker and relax you muscles so that when you woke up there's be no stiffness and no pain." Selina explained, "She gives something similar to Harley but that's more like a Mamoswine tranquiliser, that girl has way too much energy for someone her size."
"Doesn't it affect Pamela?" May asked, Selina shook her head.
"Nope, I'm not sure how but she's got some sort of immunity to all sorts of things like Sleep Powder and Stun Spore."
"Is there anywhere I can go and wash this off?" Ash asked, pointing to his forehead.
"There's a bathroom just down the hall, second door on the right."
"Thanks." Ash left the room and Selina put a finger on her lips to telling May to stay quiet as she slowly counted down from five with her fingers. As soon as she got to zero May heard a scream, followed seconds later by a cackling laugh from Selina.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ASH!" May heard Leaf scream.
"SORRY!" Ash yelled in reply as May heard objects thudding against the door as Ash slammed it closed. "I didn't know you were in there. You should've locked the door." Leaf screamed again before more object could be heard hitting the door. Ash stomped back into the room and glared at Selina.
"Problem?" Selina purred, feigning innocence.
"You knew she was in there didn't you." Ash stated.
"Now you mention it I do vaguely remember Leaf saying something about taking a shower." Selina replied tapping a delicate finger against her cheek looking thoughtful. Ash had to resist the urge to throttle the former burglar in front of him as he walked over to the window. "Do cat burglars always land on their feet?" He asked turning to face Selina, hearing the edge in his voice the ex-criminal knew that she would be pushing her luck if she kept teasing him.
"I'll leave you two alone for a little while." She said before turning to leave the room but as she started to go out of the door she ran into a rushing Harley. Harley had been carrying a glass of yellow liquid but the collision caused her to let it slip from her grasp but Selina reacted quickly and caught the glass before it hit the floor, only losing a single drop of the contents. "Don't rush so much Harl, you know how Pam gets when a glass gets smashed." Selina passed the glass back to Harley but before walking past her tugged at the blonde's robe a little, raising an eyebrow at what she saw. "Really?"
"What? I'm comfier like this." Harley replied, Selina just shook her head, leaving the room and walking down the corridor. "Here you go." Harley said as she skipped into the room and held the glass out to May. "One medium strength express rebloomer from the flower queen."
"Thank you." May said, cautiously taking the glass and looking nervously at the liquid.
"It tastes a lot better than it looks." Harley giggled after seeing the look on May's face, before twirling and dropping onto the bed next to the brunette. "Pammi always make the best tasting hangover cures, though she never seems to need them." May nodded and took a small sip of the liquid, her eyes lit up a little as the drink flowed over her taste buds.
"It tastes like a banana smoothie."
"Told you it tasted better than it looked." Harley said stretching out as May drank the rest of the hangover cure. "So what do you to have planned for today? Want me to leave you alone in here or can I join in?" Ash blushed and looked out of the window while May nearly choked on the hangover cure, causing the glass to slip out of her fingers but Harley caught it without looking as she laughed. "Oh, you two are so easy to mess with."
"Harley, go and get changed. Your shift at the centre starts soon." Pamela said as she stood in the doorway. Harley bounced off the bed and walked to the door as if she was on a tightrope, pecking Pamela on the cheek as she passed. "May I come in?" The Elite asked.
"Of course." May said. "Good morning Pamela."
"Good Morning May and to you too Ash." Pamela said as she walked up to the bed, she was wearing a long forest green robe, with her initials stitched onto the breast pocket with light green thread. "I apologise for Harley and Selina, they like teasing people. It's hard to keep them under control sometimes."
"This is under control?" Ash asked.
"Unfortunately, yes it is." Pamela opened the draw of the bedside table and took out a small pack of tissues, tossing them towards Ash. "These should take care of the lipstick mark on your head, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but the sleeping mixture works better if you don't know about it."
"That's okay." Ash said wiping his forehead with a tissue. "I'm kind of glad you did it, otherwise I'd probably be stiff." Pamela smiled and turned to May.
"That should start taking effect in a few minute, after that I'll have Chef Foom fix you some breakfast before you leave. If there's anything else you want just let me know."
"Could you protect Ash from Leaf?" May asked, not having to look at Ash to know what the look on his face would be.
"I'll see what I can do." Pamela giggled, looking over to Ash. "Is there anything you need?" Ash thought for a few seconds.
"Could I use the dance floor to do some exercises? I just want to stretch my muscles out a bit."
"That's not a problem, the doors are open just go down when you're ready."
"Thanks." Ash replied but as he went to walk to the door, May stopped him by grabbing his hand.
"Just give me a few minutes and I'll come with you." She said, Ash shook his head.
"You stay here and feel better, I won't be long." Ash tried to move again but May kept hold of his hand.
"You promised me that we'd exercise together, so if I can't go then neither can you." May stated firmly, Ash just stared at her for a few seconds before sighing and sitting on the bed. They ignored Pamela as she hid a grin behind her hand.
"Okay, I'll wait for you to get ready but you need to let go of my hand now."
"Why?"
"I still need to use the bathroom." May blushed.
"Oh…right." May said shyly, letting go of his hand as he stood up and left the room. Ash was gone for a few seconds before his head appeared around the door again.
"Pamela?"
"Yes?" The red haired Elite replied.
"There's no-one in there right?"
"There shouldn't be, Harley will have finished getting ready and on her way to the centre by now, Leaf's downstairs having some breakfast and Selina's with her. There are fresh towels in there if you want to take a shower."
"Thanks." Ash disappeared again, leaving Pamela and May alone together.
"I have a favour to ask you May."
"After everything you've done for me and Ash I'm happy to help, what do you need?"
"Can you tell me more about the move you used at the end of the Contest?"
"Sakura Baku? Sure no problem, what do you want to know?" Pamela then had May explain everything about the combination so that she could understand how it worked.
"So how did you even get the idea in the first place?"
"It was when I started training with Ash again, he's invented a lot of combination with his Pokémon like the move he used to beat Erika. He called it Storm Bird, if I remember properly it was a combination of Brave Bird and Hurricane."
"That's a powerful combination, I can't wait to battle Ash when he takes on the Elite Four Challenge. Of course he has to win the League first but from what you've told me and what I've heard from others I doubt he's going to lose."
"I'm happy to have your support." Ash said as he walked back into the room, rubbing his hair with a towel. "I've spent three years getting ready for this, I'm not going to lose." Ash let the towel drop so it draped around his neck. "The bathroom's free when you want it May." May nodded and slowly got out of the bed, her hangover was mostly gone but she didn't want to take any chances. She left the room and walked down the corridor leaving Ash and Pamela to talk about the League challenge.
"Have you fought any Elite Four members outside of the Pokémon Leagues?" Pamela asked.
"I battled Lorelei when I was in the Orange Islands about a year after I became a trainer, when I was in Hoenn Drake fought me and in Sinnoh Volkner didn't want to battle me for the Gym Badge so Flint took his place."
"How did those battles go?"
"I lost them all, badly, but I did learn from them though. I've met a lot of Elite Four members and all of the Regional Champions." Pamela raised an eyebrow.
"That's highly unusual, though I can't say I'm surprised."
"Why not?"
"I did a little looking into you, seeing as your Lance's Golden Boy."
"You did a background check on me?"
"Not really, I just did a quick database search to see which cases you helped out in. He's always boasting to the other regional G-Men about having you as an ally, and a girl gets curious. You've been in a lot of difficult and dangerous situation but you always come out the other side without injury, your Pokémon tend to show a lot of strength in those situations some of them appear to come close to Elite levels so it's a little surprising to hear you lost. Ash shrugged.
"I can't explain that, it just sort of happens. In all honesty I'm not sure if I could beat an Elite now, I know a few of my Pokémon are strong enough to do well in the battle but I think with a bit more training and some luck I might be able to win."
"I think you're selling yourself short Ash, from what I've read about you, the clips I've seen from the Leagues and the G-Men cases not to mention what May just told me about your combinations, with a bit of prior knowledge and research into an Elite you could beat them and give a Champion a run for their money. Especially with that little ability you've got."
"My Aura?"
"No," Pamela smiled and tapped the side of Ash's head. "That unpredictable instinct of yours, you've been in some tight spots but always pulled it back thanks to that brain of yours working out the strangest but most effective way to change the odds in your favour." Ash chuckled.
"I suppose you're right, I'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Ash and Pamela talked for a little while longer about their grass type Pokémon, with Pamela asking to meet Sceptile after she's watched his battle against Tobias' Darkrai. As Ash promised that Pamela could meet Sceptile during the Pokémon League Selina walked back into the room.
"There's a Pikachu, Lucario, Meowth and Glaceon at the door. I think they want you and May." She said. "It looks like they just checked you out of the Pokémon Centre, they're carrying bags which I'm assuming are yours."
"I'll go and get them. Tell May, I'll be right back." Ash said as he left the room and went downstairs, seeing the Pokémon waiting there with his and May's bags on the floor in front of them. "What are you doing here? Me and May were going to come back to the Pokémon Centre soon." He asked, Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and started to explain that after getting the message that he and May were staying in the club overnight Glaceon had made the point that May would probably want some fresh clothes so they agreed to check out of the Pokémon Centre and bring everything with them to the club.
"Ash, could you pass me May's bag please?" Pamela said from the top of the stairs. "I told her that the Pokémon were here and she wants to get changed for your travels now instead of later." Glaceon grabbed the strap of May's bag in her mouth and ran up the stairs, pulling it behind her. "If you want to get changed there's a bathroom down there you can use, just ask Leaf where it is." She then led Glaceon to where May was. Ash picked his bag up and followed the smell of food to a small private kitchen where he found Leaf washing up some dishes. "Leaf, where's the bathroom? Pamela said I could use it to get changed." Leaf turned on Ash and glared at him.
"Who are you planning on peeking on now?" She growled. Ash held his hand up defensively in case Leaf jumped at him with the frying pan she had in her hand.
"No-one, I didn't mean to do that. Selina told me the bathroom was free and I didn't hear the water running." Ash replied quickly, "I'm sorry, I really am. Please don't kill me."
"That does sound like something she'd do, okay I won't kill you but only on two conditions. One, you never tell anyone that happened and Two, you never tell anyone what I said last night when I was drunk." Leaf pointed at him with the frying pan. "Deal?"
"Deal." Ash agreed, "Do you even remember what you said last night?"
"Bits, enough to know that it's worth killing you over."
"Got it." He paused for a second. "So where's the bathroom?" Leaf used the frying pan to point at a door, "Through that hallway, second door on the left."
"Thanks." Ash told Pikachu and Lucario to wait with Leaf before following her instructions and coming back a few minutes later wearing a pair of combat pants and a black t-shirt. As he walked back into the kitchen he saw May had come back down stairs and was now back in her usual travelling clothes, her bandanna securely tied around her head. Glaceon sat on a stool next to her eating some Pokémon food with Lucario and Pikachu. Pamela quickly whipped up some breakfast for Ash and May before asking what was next on their travel plans.
"Fuchsia City is my next Gym Badge but there's a few places I want to visit along the way." Ash said.
"Anywhere in particular?" Selina asked, giving Glaceon a scratch under the chin.
"I want to visit someone who trained one of my Pokémon for a while and I was going to revisit the place I caught Muk but he didn't want to go back. I'm actually a bit glad about that to be honest."
"Why's that?"
"I caught him in Gringy City." Selina and Pamela nodded in understanding.
"Say no more, we can understand why."
"What's wrong with Gringy City?" May asked.
"It's one of the most polluted cities in Kanto, everything there stinks." Pamela explained. "I'm not surprised you found a Muk there."
"Muk did smell a lot to begin with but Professor Oak's got some special Pokémon food that helped get rid of the smell." Ash said. Once they'd all eaten their breakfast and quickly went through some easy exercises Ash and May went back to the Pokémon Centre to turn in their room keys and swap their teams around.
At the Lab
Gardevoir, with the help of Greninja, was taking a slow walk around the ranch. She was grateful to be out of the house and get some fresh air after being cooped up for a few days.
(Pokémon Language Translator Activated)
"Thank you for helping me, Greninja." The Embrace Pokémon said. "I hope I'm not too much of a bother for only being able to walk at a slow pace."
"Think nothing of it." Greninja replied calmly. "The pace doesn't bother me, I'm not like Infernape, Sceptile or Floatzel. I like to take my time occasionally and reflect on nature, I don't feel a need to move at speed unless it is necessary."
"I'm glad to hear that." Gardevoir giggled a little. "I'm sure that if I'd asked Infernape for his help he'd be getting impatient, maybe you could help him slow down." It was Greninja's turn to laugh now.
"I have tried that but it does little to calm him, it has helped when he's in a battle though. He isn't so quick to anger anymore." They walked for a little longer in silence before Greninja spoke again. "What was travelling with Ash like?"
"It was quite the adventure, he still manages to find himself in the middle of troublesome situations. Things have taken a turn for the better between Ash and Mistress May though." Greninja's eyebrow raised slightly.
"How so?"
"Mistress May's confessed and while Ash hasn't completely worked out how he feels, he has asked her to be his girlfriend."
"Really? I have a bit of a hard time believing that."
"If I hadn't heard it myself I wouldn't have believed it either but it did happen. I'm actually the reason why he asked her."
"How so?"
"When I collapsed Ash said it made him think about the important things in his life. His family, you, me and the rest of the Pokémon, his friends and Mistress May along with what you happen if he lost any of us. He said that even though he still wasn't sure how he felt towards Mistress May he did know he cared for her as more than a friend. That's when he asked her if she wanted to stop pretending to be a couple and actually become one to see if it would help him make sense of what he was feeling."
"I see." Greninja was silent for a few steps. "I'd very much like to meet this woman who has caught Ash's affections."
Greninja and Gardevoir paused their conversation as they heard the drumming of hooves approaching them, looking in the direction of the noise they could see Ponyta galloping towards them.
"Sister!" Ponyta shouted excitedly as she drew closer, gradually slowing down until she stopped in front of Gardevoir. "Swellow said you were here and I came as soon as I could. How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling better, Greninja was kind enough to offer his help in letting me take a walk around the Lab." Gardevoir replied.
"You can sit on my back."
"Oh no, I couldn't do that. You're still so young and I…"
"I'm strong enough to carry you." Ponyta interrupted, "I fought a Torterra and nearly won. I'll definitely win my next battle thanks to everyone helping me train, Typhlosion said I'll be as strong as him soon." She flicked her head back, making her fiery blue mane ripple in pride.
"I know I saw you battle remember but I also saw you get hit by that Wood Hammer, I don't want you to Eeekk!" Gardevoir squeaked as she was lifted off the ground and placed gently on to Ponyta's back. "Greninja, what did you do that for?"
"You are babying Ponyta too much, you can see as well as I can that she's fully recovered from her battle and is more than strong enough to carry someone as light as you are." He replied. "You need to rest as much as possible and you also wanted some fresh air, this way you can get both." Greninja turned to look at Ponyta. "Just take it easy, nice and slow."
"Yes Sir." Ponyta nodded and started to walk at a slow pace. Ponyta told Gardevoir and Greninja about her training as they walked to where the other Pokémon were, Mawile was bouncing up and down excitedly and ran over to meet them.
"Sis!" The fairy and steel type said with a smile as Greninja helped Gardevoir down from Ponyta's back. Gardevoir stumbled a bit but the Ninja Pokémon easily steadied her, helping her to sit under the shade of her favourite tree as all the other Pokémon gathered around her. Ponyta and Mawile sat on either side of Gardevoir, Mawile put one of Gardevoir's arms around her while Ponyta carefully rested her head on the Embrace Pokémon's lap.
Gardevoir patiently answered all of the questions about how she was feeling and waited until there was a lull to tell them all that Ash and May had started a real relationship. A cheer went up from the clearing along with a few attacks that created a fireworks display in the sky as they all celebrated. After a minute Gardevoir raised a hand and within a few seconds all the other Pokémon were silent again
"Thank you, Ash and May will probably be on their way to Fuchsia City soon and may call on any of use at any time so we all need to train hard. We all know that types of situations Ash gets himself and others into, we have to be at our best and be ready for whatever comes our way." A roar went out from all the Pokémon once Gardevoir finished speaking as they paired up, the more experienced Pokémon with the newer Pokémon. "Remember not to push yourselves too hard, if we are called on then we need to be in good shape to be able to help." Another roar went up, this time in acknowledgement as they all started to spread out and start training.
A few minutes later Meowth came strolling into the clearing.
"Hey Gardevoir, you doing okay?" He asked when he saw her resting against the tree.
"I'm getting better, thank you for asking. I assume that Ash wants someone to train the newer Pokémon he has with him?"
"That's right. Krookodile, you've been called up for duty." Krookodile looked over and nodded, giving Rhyhorn a few words of advice and telling her to train with Donphan before leaving the clearing on his way to the Lab.
"How do you want to train with Meowth?"
"I don't really know, I'm not sure where my strengths lie so I don't know how I need to train."
"Well, it's funny you should say that. This is the first time I've managed to get out of the house since I came here to recover so I've had a lot of time to myself. Adam showed me how to use a tablet and I spent some time looking at the statistics for the Pokémon here, just out of idle curiosity. Your strength is your speed, the faster you get the more momentum you'll have behind your attacks giving them more power."
"I can help you with that." Meowth turned to look at the new speaker and saw Greninja. "I can teach you the way of the ninja if you wish me to." A sly grin started to creep across Meowth's lips.
"That'll work. Let's get to it but first I've got a story to tell." Meowth then told the Pokémon in the clearing what had happened during Ash and May's time in the club. "I didn't get any details other than apparently May can get a bit 'grabby' when she's had a few drinks."
Back in Celadon City Pokémon Centre
Ash and May were sat in front of a Vid-Phone talking to Professor Oak while they waited for Krookodile to be sent over, a couple of minutes later Krookodile walked into the Lab and was returned to his Pokéball before being sent over to them. Professor Oak was in the middle of saying goodbye when May interrupted.
"Oh, Professor before you go I've got something I've been meaning to ask you." She rummaged around inside her bag for a minute before pulling out the Blazikenite she'd found by the Power Plant. "Do you know where I can find a Key Stone and something to put this in so Blaziken can use it?"
"I haven't got anything here at the Lab but I can make a few inquiries, I'll get back to you as soon as I hear anything. Where did you find that, if you don't mind me asking?" Oak replied, writing down a note so he didn't forget to make a few calls.
"In the mountains by the Power Plant, it was at the bottom of a pool of water. Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Centre by the Rock Tunnel told me that it was Blazikenite."
"Well, congratulations on finding your first Mega Stone May. Hopefully I'll be able to find the things you need soon, do you have any idea how you want the Mega Stone or Key Stone mounted? A bracelet, necklace or ring maybe." May thought for a minute.
"Would I be able to get a bracelet for the Key Stone and an arm band for the Mega Stone?"
"Shouldn't be a problem, you might need to go and get Blaziken measured so the arm band is the right size."
"Thanks Professor."
"I'll look for a Key Stone for you too Ash m'boy."
"Thanks Professor, can I have something to mount it on my gloves?" Ash asked.
"I'll see what I can find, I think I remember you telling me about a Kalos Gym Leader wearing something like that."
"That's right, Korrina in Shalour City." Professor Oak made a note of her name so he could contact her if he needed too. "Do you know where we might be able to find more Mega Stones?" Professor Oak leant back in his chair and rubbed his chin.
"Mega Stones are hard to find, May was lucky to find hers and even more lucky that it was for one of her Pokémon. The best places to look are probably caves and mountains, you might be able to find some by lakes or rivers too. The Mega Stones may have been embedded in the ground on their banks or washed down stream. Professor Sycamore is working on a machine that may be able to detect Mega Stones, I'll call him and see how he's progressing."
"Thanks again Professor. If we find anything out ourselves we'll let you know." May said. The three of them then said their goodbyes and ended the call, Ash and May picked up their bags and were about to leave the Pokémon Centre when Hayley, the Gym Assistant that had tried to stop Ash entering the Gym, came in and walked up to them.
"Miss Erika would like to speak with you, please follow me." She said before turning and walking away, Ash and May looked at each other and shrugged before catching up with Hayley.
Their journey to the Gym was a quiet one, Hayley was obviously still annoyed that Ash had gotten into the Gym and Leaf had given her a talking too. They entered the Gym and were led to a small office where they found Erika sitting behind a desk and Leaf sat opposite her.
"Oh good, Hayley managed to find you before you left." Erika said, standing from her seat. "Please take a seat." Ash and May walked over to a pair of empty chairs next to Leaf and sat down. Pikachu and Glaceon leapt into their trainers laps while Lucario stood behind them. "Thank you Hayley, can you go and water the hydrangeas please."
"Yes Miss Erika." Hayley said quietly as she bowed once and left the office, closing the door behind her.
"I think you were a little too hard on her Leaf."
"She needed to learn." Leaf replied, "She has to follow your orders, even if she doesn't like them."
"You make it sound like I'm in charge of an army not a Gym."
"You are our Leader." Leaf grinned. "We live to serve, General." Erika let out a small giggle.
"Behave yourself Leaf." Erika then turned her attention to Ash and May. "I suppose you're wondering why I asked you to come here." Ash and May nodded. "Well, I wanted to say a proper goodbye and to ask a favour. I'm sending Leaf to collect some special herbs from Fuchsia City and to deliver something to the Gym. I was wondering if you'd consider letting Leaf travel with you, I know she can be a handful but I'm sure she won't cause that much trouble."
"I've still got some stories to tell about Ash." Leaf added.
"Sure/No." May and Ash said at the same time.
"We're not going straight there, I want to recreate my first journey as much as possible so there's a few detours along the way but you can come if you keep those stories to yourself, remember I still have some stories about you and Gary." Ash stated after a minute of thought, Leaf paled a little as a few of those stories popped into her mind.
"Deal." She sighed. "This mightn't be as fun as I thought it was going to be."
"I have something for each of you." Erika said, opening a draw of her desk and taking out three small dark green pouches and handing one to each of them. Ash opened the pouch and pulled out a seed that was about an inch long. "That's a Miracle Seed, if you give that to one of your grass type Pokémon then it will strengthen their grass type attacks, don't ask me how it works because I don't know. These are the first ones I've been able to grow and it's taken me years to do that because of how special they are. I know you'll each put them to good use." The three of them thanked Erika and while Ash and May stored their Miracle Seeds in their bags for now, Leaf ran out of the office to find one of her Pokémon. "She's probably giving it to her Venusaur." Erika said as she stood up again. "I'm sure you want to be on your as soon as possible, let me walk you out." Ash and May stood and followed Erika out of her office and through the Gym. On the way Erika asked how their night at the Siren's was, May related most of the night with Ash adding a few details here and there.
Leaf was waiting at the door for them with a yellow satchel bag strapped across her chest and a grin on her face. Erika bid them goodbye sharing a quick hug with Leaf and telling them to be safe, Leaf kept waving as she walked away until the Gym was out of sight.
"So, what's the first detour?" She asked as they left the city.
"To see a man named Anthony." Ash replied.
"What's so special about him?"
"He trained my Primeape to be the P1 Champion, for eight years running." Leaf's eyes widened slightly.
"That's your Primeape? He beat all comers and held the belt for longer than any other P1 Champ. He took down a Machamp with one blow, threw a Golem around like a pebble and won against an Infernape without being his once. Everyone wondered why he retired undefeated but there wasn't any explanation given."
"How'd you know so much about him?"
"Oh, come on Ash. You know me, I'm not like the other girls at the Gym, and I'm definitely not a delicate flower girl. The P1 is something I've always loved watching, I did try to enter with my Breloom a couple of years ago but we didn't get past the preliminaries." Leaf shrugged. "Guess if I want to enter again I'll just need to train harder. Any chance I can meet Primeape?"
"You can meet Primeape when we get to Anthony's gym." Leaf pouted but agreed as they kept walking.
A week later Ash, May and Leaf arrived at Anthony's gym and saw him with his Hitmonchan training his daughter Rebecca and her Tyrogue. Ash called Primeape from the Lab so Anthony could see him and how strong he'd gotten, Hitmonchan wanted to spar with Primeape so while the two fighting types trained together Anthony recounted the story of how he trained Primeape to become the P1 Champion. He also offered to give Blaziken and Breloom some training while they were there, May and Leaf released their fighting types and let Anthony look them over.
"Blaziken is in amazing shape and I can see you've started to train her in other fighting styles." Anthony said to May.
"Thanks but it wasn't me that taught Blaziken the other styles, it was a friend of ours. He said it would make an opponent hesitate when Blaziken does something no-one expects." May replied. "How can you tell though?"
"I've been doing this along time, I can see it in the way she carries herself. There's a bit of Jujitsu and Judo in her stance, maybe a little Aikido." Anthony moved on to look at Breloom. "Breloom's in good shape but there's always room for improvement, he attacks more with special attacks them physical right."
"Er…yeah, that's right." Leaf answered. "What gave it away?"
"Although you've kept him in shape, his muscles in his arms aren't as developed as I've seen in physical specialised Breloom." Anthony explained. "It's easy enough to fix, just get some light weights and have Breloom work on his punches. Every day battle I'd recommend teaching his Thunder Punch, if you want to enter the P1 again get his Mach Punch faster than it is now, work on his aim, observation and accuracy, they're just as important as power. It doesn't matter how hard or fast you hit if you don't aim for the right area."
"I get the aim and accuracy but what do you mean by observation?"
"Every Pokémon's got a weak spot and I don't mean a type weakness. There's always one spot where if you hit it just right you can take any opponent down with one well aimed punch, for instance Blaziken's weak spot is right here." Anthony pointed to the right side of Blaziken's jaw where it met the cream feathers. "Hit there just right and Blaziken will be out for the count. Whereas Breloom's weak spot is there, just under the neck frill on the left side."
"How do you now that?"
"Like I said' I've been doing this for a long time. It's not just your Pokémon that need to train, you two have too as well, if your Pokémon can't see the weak spot it's up to you to help them. Lucario's weak spot is…" Anthony trailed off as he circled Lucario, scrutinising him. After a couple of minutes Anthony poked Lucario in the back. "Right here just between his shoulder blades. He knows that though so he knows how to hide it, nearly had me stumped but I found it in the end."
They spent the rest of the day training and learning how to find the weak spot of an opponent, whether Pokémon or person. Ash helped May and Leaf learn as he already had experience from training with Riley in Rota, when they eventually stopped it was late and Anthony offered to put them up for the night at his house. The trio thanked him and after Ash cooked them a meal they all settled down for the night. The next morning Ash, May and Leaf left early, thanking Anthony again for his help. Ash sent Primeape back to the Lab and brought Sandshrew back onto his team, they all kept travelling passing through the mountains that would've been a Dam if not for the Diglett and Dugtrio that lived there stopping the construction when Ash first travelled through the area, a few weeks later.
Ash was looking forward to his next Gym battle and with help from Leaf and May had been training his new Pokémon hard so they would be ready for when the time came. Ash knew that he would use Krookodile as his back up just in case but he was still unsure about which of his newer Pokémon to use, Beldum had immunity to poison type attacks and could use psychic type attacks, Sandshrew was strong and already had some experience fighting Gym battles, Skorupi would be resistant to poison type attacks and couldn't be poisoned, Trapinch was getting stronger and could use some real battle experience (so far it was only practice battles and a couple of new trainers that had challenged Ash) and Bagon although she wouldn't have a type advantage and could be poisoned had proven to be a skilled battler despite her young age.
"Not far now." Ash said, looking around before pointing towards the horizon. "Fuchsia City should just be over that mountain another few days and we'll be there but it's getting late we should set up camp."
"Sure thing Ash." May replied, letting her bag drop to the ground. "I'll go find some firewood."
"I'll get the water." Leaf added, putting her bag next to May's. "You set up the tents." May walked over to Ash and pecked his cheek.
"We'll be back soon." She said with a smile before she and Leaf walked into the trees. Ash started to unpack the tents and assemble them as he thought about what was happening between himself and May, he was still adjusting to their new relationship and kept worrying about doing something wrong but he was enjoying the new closeness that now existed between himself and May. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely dodged a needle that would've impaled his shoulder had ne not moved.
Ash rolled to the side and jumped to his feet searching for his attacker but couldn't see anyone or anything, channelling some Aura into his eyes Ash checked the area again. He still couldn't see anything but did pick up an annoyed voice.
"Guardian, you are trespassing. Prepare to die." The voice growled as a volley of shuriken flew towards him from multiple directions.
Current Teams
Ash - Pikachu, Lucario, Krookodile, Beldum, Skorupi, Sandshrew, Trapinch, Bagon
May - Glaceon, Blaziken, Venusaur, Litwick, Deerling, Sunflora, Altaria, Lilligant
That it, hope you liked it.
I'm going to start writing a Valentine's Day one-shot then the next chapter.
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer