Chapter Text
“Glalie, Icy Wind!” With a swift movement from his arm, came the command from the young Champion as Glalie recovered from Treecko’s pound and charged a cold wisp in his mouth.
“Detect!” Was the counter from the novice trainer. Treecko’s eyes shone for a split second before jumping out of the way from the super effective move and landing on top of Glalie’s head, using its adherent feet to hold position.
Despite their differing levels of experience, both Ash and Max were treating the battle with a seriousness expected from official battles, with the younger trainer putting all the knowledge he accumulated when traveling with Ash to stop him from landing a hit. The sticky webs that surrounded the field that he cleverly set up at the beginning of the battle combined with a U-turn allowed Masquerain to set up the terrain while avoiding damage. Now his starter stood on top of Glalie as the ice pokemon struggled to shake it off. Both trainers aware that where Treecko stood now meant that any move used by Glalie would have a lower chance of hitting.
If they can’t be hit, they can’t lose. That unconventional way of thinking is one of the things Max learned from Ash after all.
And another thing he should have learned by now was to always expect the unexpected from Ash. And yet, when he raised his arm with the key stone from his mega ring shining, he still gawked in surprise. Even Pikachu, who stood by his trainer’s feet, looked taken back at Ash’s decision.
“No matter what, don’t let go!” Max tried. It doesn’t matter if it’s a mega, as long Treecko can keep its place on Glalie’s head, he shouldn’t be hit.
But as the form change took place, an ice horn grew in Glalie’s forehead right under Treecko, sending the starter flying off with the impact from the sudden growth. He took damage, from the mega evolution itself.
“Don’t let them get back up!” Ash instructs as Treecko falls on one of the webs laying around the field. “Headbutt!” Glalie turns to the pokemon and aim his newly grown horn towards Treecko. The sticky webs around the environment not doing anything to stop its mega charged speed while trapping Treecko in it. Max’s own strategy turned against him.
The cold breath coming from Glalie’s mouth leaves a trail behind, making the pokemon look almost like a comet. And Treecko is about to experience mass extinction.
Except Glalie’s speed suddenly falters. The pokemon loses control of his own body, with his movement becoming uncoordinated and wobbly until it falls on the ground, unable to even float anymore.
“Glalie?!” Ash worries but Max sees this as a golden chance. With the cold spreading from Mega Glalie’s mouth, the webs that trapped Treecko now are frail and breakable.
“Focus Punch!” Max commands. It’s their chance to land the finishing blow. And Treecko’s arm shine a blinding light that becomes the last thing Glalie sees before fainting.
Glalie’s extra horn vanishes as he loses the mega form after blacking out. Ash recalls his defeated pokemon while Max celebrates his first win.
“Yes! We did it!” he jumps in place while Treecko copies his actions. Never in his wildest dreams he expected he could win against a Mega pokemon like that. “What happened to Glalie there anyway?” he wonders. He should have not won against a mega that easily.
“Ah. Professor Oak said that the form change must be too much for him to handle.” Ash explains as he remembers how he tried to attempt mega evolving Glalie when he first got the mega stone from Misty.
The girl had gone on a small journey to Hoenn to explore its famous beaches, aquatic locations and meet pokemon she never got the chance to see; and when she found a familiar stone in Shoal Cave, she sent it to Oak to research and deliver to Ash if her guess was right. ‘You can keep it. Unless I get a Glalie of my own that is’, she said. Why she has to act so defensive every time she gets him something, Ash will never understand.
“We still can’t control it, but we’re trying to get used to it.” Ash finishes his train of thought while putting Glalie’s pokeball in its safe place back on his belt. “We almost had this time, right?” While choosing for his next pokemon Ash turns to Pikachu, who nods along. Glalie’s mega form lasted a little longer this time. They just need a little bit more practice.
“So… you pretty much gave me that win?” Max wonders disappointed. Can he even brag about how Treecko defeated a mega evolved pokemon if said pokemon couldn’t even control itself?
“Hey! A win is a win!” Ash laughs at Max’s offended face. “Not everyone would know when to take advantage of a situation like what you did there!” he tries cheering him up. “That shows you are a good trainer who is never going to be in a pinch!”
“He.” Max fixes the glasses on his nose with a single finger “I guess you’re right. I am a fast thinker.” Immediate regret. That’s what Ash feels when Max starts laughing arrogantly to himself.
“Let’s see how fast you can think against this one then.” He throws a ball up before catching it mid-air and taunting Max with it. Gotta put a stop to his raising pride before it gets over his head. “Quilava, let’s go!”
From the pokeball’s light, appears the volcano pokemon. Quilava stretches his body with a yawn before the flames pop out on his head and back.
“Flamethrower!” comes the order from Ash.
“Detect!” Treecko’s eyes shine as Max repeats the same strategy. He knows their level difference is too big for Treecko to withstand a direct hit from Ash’s pokemon so he is not risking it.
“We’re not aiming for you.” Ash says as he finishes his order to Quilava. “Let’s get rid of those webs!” he says as Quilava’s fire melt and break the webs around the battlefield that got hardened by Glalie’s freezing breath before. “Now there’s nothing slowing us down.” Ash smirks at Max, who can’t help but smile back at his out-of-pocket strategies. “Flame wheel!”
“Detect!” Max calls again only for it to fail this time. The negative effects of thinking a little too fast. “Darn it. Block it with Pound!” he tries his best to think of a way to stop the fast-approaching ball of fire as dodging now is out of question.
Pound succeeds in slowing down the speed of the flame wheel, forcing Quilava to stop the attack halfway but Treecko’s tail is left scorched from the contact. Not ideal but Max knows it could’ve been worse.
“Mega Drain!” Max tries, hoping that even despite the sub-par match-up, he can manage to recover some of Treecko’s health. A green light envelopes Quilava and while his vigor is drained slowly, Treecko’s tail regains color, healing from the damage taken.
“Flamethrower!” Ash calls forth again but this time Quilava aims at Treecko.
“Detect and continue with Mega drain!” Treecko avoids the stream of fire and circles Quilava while steadily sapping his energy. If they keep like this, Treecko may be able to recover all of his health.
“Flame wheel!”
“Detect and Mega drain!” No matter what move Ash orders, Max continues with the same combination.
“Continue with Flame wheel!” Ash calls, perhaps hoping that if he keeps the same move, Max would falter, but the young boy is not planning on it.
“Detect and Mega drain once more!” Max says immediately after Ash. Treecko jumps out of the way again while keeping focus on sapping Quilava’s energy even while airborne.
“One more time!” Quilava makes a turn while still in a ball of fire towards Treecko. “Aerial Ace!” Ash calls when his pokemon stops right under Treecko and in a blink of an eye, Quilava shoots upwards, hitting Treecko mid-air even before Max can call for a move.
“Treecko?” He worries for his pokemon while it falls on the ground. All the energy stolen from Quilava gone. “Tsk.” Max doesn’t like where this is going. He must think of a way to change things back to his favor. Treecko rises from the ground and with a slight nod towards his trainer, Max understands what they have to do. “Focus Punch!”
Treecko leaps towards Quilava with a raised punch and a clear goal. Do all damage possible on Quilava before fainting.
“Alright, meet them with a Flame wheel!” Ash calls and Quilava once again curls into a ball and rolls directly towards Treecko. The two attacks collide and Max is quick on his next words.
“Pound!” Treecko rotates on his feet to hit on Quilava’s side, causing him to lose balance and the fire around him to weaken. An opening! “Focus Punch again and again!”
Treecko chases after Quilava, throwing punches one after the another to stop Quilava from fighting back.
“Flamethrower!” Ash tries but Quilava can’t stead himself to launch the attack with the wall of punches Treecko keeps throwing at him. The volcano pokemon’s fire fades out, indicating he is not doing well. “C’mon, don’t give up yet! I know you can do it!” Ash’s support seems to do the trick as the flames reappear, crackling bigger and brighter than before. So bright that Quilava’s body becomes enveloped by light. “Wait..” Ash realizes that that’s not just the light from the fire rising up again, but something different. Something better.
“Quilava is evolving?” Max is the one to call it what it is.
As his form changes, large flames burst from Quilava’s silhouette, wrapping Treecko in a curtain of fire as a powerful Flamethrower hits him point blank.
When the light of the flames and of Quilava’s evolution extinguish, what is left on the field is a roaring Typhlosion and a scorched Treecko.
“Alright! You evolved!” Typhlosion moves closer to his trainer with a fanged grin to receive celebratory pats on his head from both Ash and Pikachu.
“That’s not fair.” Max complains while he recalls his starter. “Treecko is the one who should have evolved.” Ash and Typhlosion both look at him confused. “You don’t need another evolved pokemon, you have a ton!” he points at Ash, who just laughs at him.
“C’mon, don’t be a sore loser!” Ash pats on Typhlosion’s back for him to go back to the center of the field. “We’re tied now. Doesn’t that make things more interesting?” he asks and while Max feels that things are more unfair to him than before, he can’t help but smile.
“It really does.” He enlarges the ball of his next pokemon. “Kirlia, I’m counting on you now!” Max calls the psychic pokemon and Ash cheers at the pokemon’s name.
“Is that Ralts?!” The markings on Ash’s cheeks get squished with his large smile when he sees the pokemon elegantly landing on the ground without a sound. “The one from that time?” He wonders as he remembers just how attached Max got to it back in their shared journey through Hoenn.
“Of course!” Max boasts. Even if Ash’s question was awfully vague, he still understands him. The Ralts that he cared for when they were sick, the Ralts he helped reunite with their family. That Ralts he promised to come for once he became a trainer. That Ralts indeed. “Let’s show them how much you’ve grown in those three years Kirlia!” Max’s comment earns a smile from the pokemon’s face despite their still closeted eyes. “Lucky Chant!”
The horns on Kirlia’s head shines as they sing a quiet melody. Ash isn’t sure what the move does so he waits for Kirlia to finish the humming. When nothing happens afterwards, he changes his attention to Typhlosion.
“Let’s make use of your new strength! Eruption!”
With his trainer’s words, Typhlosion gets on all fours, with the fire on his neck spewing upwards like a reverse waterfall. When it reaches the sky, the burning fountain explodes into balls of fire that fall back down into the battlefield creating large explosions where they land.
“Teleport!” Kirlia finally open their eyes that now shine with Max’s commands.
The pokemon vanishes in thin air, avoiding the flaming rocks raining on the arena. Shifting their place in space continuum whenever a projectile threatens to get too close, Kirlia successfully avoids the powerful attack down to the last flaming rock.
Max really planned his team to be able to avoid all of Ash’s attacks didn’t he? He keeps spamming moves that allow perfect dodges while not attacking and all that does is extend a battle that shouldn’t even be that long.
“Stumped?” Max asks on the other side of the field, aware of how irritating his strategy is.
“A little.” Ash admits as he fixes the hat on top of his head, something he tends to do when he is thinking his next move in a battle. “But that’s what makes it fun.” he looks back up at Max with a sharp smile. Max’s ideas are irritating indeed, but finding a way around them is one of the things that makes battles like this the more fun.
“You..” Max matches Ash’s smirk. Battling with Ash really is an experience of its own. “Let’s see how fun it will be when you lose!” He extends an arm towards Kirlia “Disarming Voice!”
“Aerial Ace!” Ash calls at the same time.
Kirlia’s acute shriek hurts Typhlosion’s head while also slowing his movement for a bit before he finally manages to jump through the air and then dives towards his opponent, hitting Kirlia with glowing arms. The emotion pokemon falters before they float slightly, softening the blow they received.
“That’s.. weird.” Ash thinks to himself, wondering if that could be related to the Lucky Chant used before or just some of Kirlia’s abilities. “Well then.” He doesn’t waste time mulling over it. “Flamethrower!!” He tells Typhlosion, who spews fire towards his opponent.
“Teleport!” Max calls again and Kirlia blinks out of dimension.
“Keep it going! Don’t let them get away!” The flames coming out of Typhlosion’s mouth don’t stop, shooting aimlessly into the field until Kirlia pops into a different place and he follows after them with the flamethrower.
Kirlia keeps avoiding the stream of fire, teleporting to safe places where the flames don’t burn over the grassy field. However, as they keep repeating this game the fire spreads through the arena, limiting Kirlia’s options of where to go next. And the next time Kirlia jumps between dimensions, they find themselves standing close to their adversary. Close enough to feel Typhlosion’s fur rubbing against their back.
“Now!” At his trainer’s command, Typhlosion holds onto Kirlia, hugging the smaller pokemon close to his chest. No more running away! “Flamethrower!” Kirlia looks up as Typhlosion’s mouth fills with flames.
“Confusion!” Comes Max desperate call.
Kirlia’s horns glow with a bright pink before being engulfed by blazing flames. Fire spews between the two pokemon like fireworks, with embers flying around until Typhlosion’s body is surrounded by a faint blue light that forces his head upwards and his grip on Kirlia to loosen.
The emotion pokemon leaps away from their opponent and with a swift movement from their arms, Typhlosion slams against the ground before the light in Kirlia’s horns fades.
“Typhlosion!? Are you okay?” Asks Ash while the pokemon forces himself up again. The flames on his neck burn harder when he manages to stand back on his hind legs. “Good to know!” Ash cheers to see the damage wasn’t as bad as it seemed. “Let’s go with Flame Wheel then!” He points forwards, towards Max’s Kirlia.
“Disarming Voice!” The younger boy’s shout is followed by Kirlia’s own yell.
This time their shrieking voice does nothing to stop Typhlosion’s speed as he rolls towards them with full force, absorbing some of the fire that still burned in the field. Kirlia stands proud however, unstoppable in their attack despite Typhlosion coming closer and closer towards them.
As he approaches, Typhlosion suddenly makes a 90 degree detour to the right and ends up slamming a nearby tree rather than his target.
“Uh?” Ash watches as his pokemon unrolls and wrap his arms around the tree.
“He is confused!” Max celebrates on his side of the field.
“No way!” Ash looks back at his pokemon who is seemingly trying to pick the tree up, despite it being obviously too much for him. Does he think that’s Kirlia?
“Yes way! Kirlia, Confusion again!” Both Max and Kirlia smirk before the pokemon’s horn shines once again.
“C’mon Typhlosion! You got to snap out of it!” Ash tries reaching for his pokemon while Kirlia moves their hands around as if casting a spell. “If you can hear me, use Flamethrower!” Typhlosion’s ears tweak before his body glows with Kirlia’s power. Raised into the air, Typhlosion does shoots fire at Ash’s request. Up to the sky. “Aw c’mon…” Ash watches as Kirlia moves their hands around elegantly before once again throwing Typhlosion face-first against the ground.
Dust rises from the impact while specs of ember fall from the sky.
“Typhlosion? Are you okay?” Ash worries if that was enough to cause his fainting, but the volcano pokemon stands up again despite everything, causing him to breath out in relief. “Let’s try again! Aerial Ace!”
Typhlosion gets on all fours in what looks like the stance needed to attack, but soon starts rubbing his hands on his head. Kirlia’s voice echoes in his head, confusion making him believe he is being attacked when that’s not the case.
“Typhlosion?” Ash asks as the rubbing grows rabid and Typhlosion’s claws starts to leave wispy marks on his temples. He is so confused he is now hurting himself.
“Is our chance!” Max announces “Kirlia, another Confusion!” The pokemon’s horns shine again and Ash must make a quick decision.
“Come back!” Just as the blue light from confusion starts surrounding him, the red light of the pokeball covers Typhlosion before being recalled. “Take a break, you did great so far.” Ash compliments through the pokeball before shrinking the device.
“Pi ka!?” The yellow mouse asks expectantly while Ash puts away Typhlosion’s pokeball.
“Nah, I have someone else in mind.” Pikachu’s ears drop with the reply. He wanted to have some fun too.
Kirlia and Max watch him, readily waiting for the next pokemon that is not Pikachu. Ash can’t hold the smirk that grows on his face while he tries imagining Max’s reaction when he sees him.
“Alright! Is your turn!” He throws the pokeball into the air and his next pokemon lands into the ground with full control of his own body.
“You did it! You brought him!” Max sounds even more excited than when he defeated Glalie and Ash laughs at his reaction. Going all the way to Kalos and convincing Z2 to let him take his pokemon for a little bit was worth it just because of Max’s reaction.
Besides calling him asking for a battle pretty much everyday since he got his starter, Max made sure to always ask about the ‘amazing Greninja’ he heard from the stories Serena shared with him and May. Ash is not sure how much the girl told them, but whatever she said made Max into a fan of the pokemon, and every time the two boys talked Max would ask something about it or the Bond Phenomenon. So of course when Max begged him to bring Greninja to their battle, Ash had to give it a shot.
He knows that Z2 and Squishy are not happy with him taking Greninja away just to participate in a silly battle against a newbie trainer, but seeing Max jumping from one feet to the other with shining eyes feels it was worth it.
“He is so cool!!” Max can barely contain his excitement while Greninja shifts his stance, crossing his arms and changing into an even cooler posture —not on purpose— that makes the boy cheer even louder.
“He really is!” With his hands on his hips Ash laughs, proud of his partner. Greninja meanwhile closes his eyes, embarrassed over the compliments. Pikachu humorously rolls his eyes at the display.
“But is he strong?” Max taunts before turning to his pokemon. “Kirlia, you know what to do!” Their horns shine brighter than the previous times. They were just waiting for this.
Kirlia extends their arms towards Greninja, who calmly watches their movement as if studying the emotion pokemon. The blue light washes over his body and Kirlia moves their arms to lift him into the air but as soon as they do it, the energy fails to drag him up.
“Dark type?!” Max notices Greninja’s eyes squinting in a smile. He knew Confusion was coming and he knew it wouldn’t work.
“Water Shuriken!” Ash calls the trademark move and Greninja taps the markings on his legs to create the weapons out of moisture accumulated on his skin.
“Teleport!” Kirlia manages to follow his command seconds before being hit by the water blades.
“Double Team!” Ash’s retaliation comes fast. Commanding Greninja is like second nature to him, he doesn’t even need to think much between each attack and is one of the things he likes the most about battling alongside the ninja pokemon.
Greninja form duplicates. And then again and again, with each mirror following after Kirlia when they appear again in the field. Kirlia blinks out of dimension once more but no matter where they go, they find themselves surrounded by one or more copies of Greninja. With nowhere to escape, Kirlia is soon surrounded by a flurry of projectiles that pop on impact.
“Kirlia!” Max calls as the mist left from the move dissipates to show a wobbling Kirlia. Badly damaged but not yet fainted. “You are strong alright.” Max looks at the ninja pokemon that now went back to being one singular entity. “But we’re not going down that easily! Disarming Voice!” He screams and it merges into Kirlia’s own wail, both trainer and pokemon sharing their emotions during the spirited battle.
“Cut!” From the same markings on his leg, Greninja unsheathes a blade made of mist and runs towards Kirlia, taking the super effective damage upfront before knocking off the psychic pokemon with a single swift slash. Kirlia falls on the ground with a whimper before being recalled by Max.
“You were great.” Despite all, they held off pretty well and scared Ash enough to force him to change pokemon, and that alone was amazing. “Masquerain, one last time, let’s go!” Max calls out the flying bug that helped set up the terrain at the start. He didn’t have the chance to show what that one was truly capable of before, but there’s no better time than now. “Quiver Dance!”
Masquerain twirls in the air, the markings on their large antennae shining bright as they do so. Another move Ash isn’t sure what does, but knowing Max it must be something to lower Greninja’s power or raise Masquerain’s.
“Aerial Ace!” It doesn’t matter what it does though, if they attack while it is busy doing that, more chances for critical hits. Skipping in the air with the help of the wind, Greninja throws a kick towards the flying pokemon.
“Sticky Web!” Masquerain’s attack is not enough to trap Greninja but as the web wraps around his leg, it does slow down his kick, softening the blow and preventing Masquerain from fainting immediately.
As Greninja lands, he and his trainer can tell that the web will be limiting some of his movement from now on.
“Don’t mind it!” Ash’s optimism make Greninja smile to himself. “Water Shuriken!” Greninja’s movement is fast after the command.
“Gust!” With a flap of their wings, Masquerain creates a wind barrage that breaks the blades back into their liquid form.
“Double Team with Water Shuriken!” Using the same combination that damaged Kirlia the most, Greninja’s figure multiply and his shadows corner Masquerain as they attack in unison and rapidly. The water stars are the last thing the bug see before falling into the ground, out of energy.
“Ahhh, I can’t believe we only took out one of your pokemon!” After a long gulp of his water bottle, comes Max comment. Glalie stops eating from his bowl to snicker at the boy. “Hey! You’re the one we defeated y’know! I don’t think you have the right to be laughing at us!” Max points towards the ice pokemon while Treecko argues alongside his trainer with a mouth full of pokefood.
“Hey, you did pretty well for your first battle!” Ash compliments after swallowing a whole half of his sandwich.
“Pika pikachu!” Pikachu too compliments Max’s starter and whole team on a well battle before going back to munch onto his food as well.
“Except it wasn’t my first battle.” Max’s voice is muffled when he leans his cheek on his free hand. He really feels he should have held better against Ash.
“Wait, it wasn’t?” Max raises an eyebrow towards the older boy.
“Ash, is been weeks since I got Treecko… Of course I had to battle other people!” He snaps out of his looming for a bit, excited to talk about his just-beggining journey. “I had to train for when we finally had our battle too.” He says, a little more proud of his choices. No wonder Ash thought he was good for a first timer, it wasn’t his first time at all! “You’re like,” Max pulls out the pokenav plus from his pocket and searches for a specific application while Ash chews over his shoulder. “the 28th person I battled, see?” He points at the screen that shows a list of trainer names, with the last one having a ‘27’ in front of it.
“28?” Ash says between swallowing. “Not even a cool number, like number 10 or 20?” He looks dejected at the screen before Max pulls the pokenav back on his pocket.
“It is your own fault.” He explains “I’ve been calling you since day one and you took that long to come and battle me.”
“Hey! I have been busy with other things y’know?!”
“Like what?” Max doubts. Then he remembers something. “Wait, you’re the World Champion right?! Are you battling more people in the World Tournament?”
“What? No.” Ash replies. Rose and Leon once called about defending his title or something but he was on the other side of the world at the time and going to Galar just for that seemed like a hassle. “I don’t think I need to do that since it’s a whole new tournament with new people now.” he explains. The event has become very popular with trainers who want to turn famous and Ash honestly doesn’t care much about that part of it.
“How about being Alola Champion? You’re surely busy with that?” Max asks. Steven and Wallace both participate in all sorts of special events and there’s plenty of tales about the former meeting with legendary pokemon or dismantling evil organizations so Ash got to be doing the same, right?
“Not really..” Ash tilts his head up as he thinks about it. “There has been more people participating in the Island Challenges,” winning the title of World Monarch while representing Alola did put the region in the spotlight and many people have been visiting and looking forward to the league since. “but the League tournament will only be happening later this year so.” Ash shrugs. Even if he has to defend his Alola Champion title at some point, that won’t be happening anytime soon. “And my friends said I shouldn’t be battling the challengers now so they have something to look forward after the league…” He winces as he remembers when he tried battling Kiawe and his friend started berating him about ignoring Alola’s traditions and how, as the Champion, he shouldn’t be battling people casually like that unless they prove themselves worthy and how important the title of Champion means. And then he promised he would battle Ash in the champion league after he finishes his Island Challenge.
“Then what have you been doing all this time?”
“Uh…..” Ash’s smile remembering Kiwae’s self imposed rules change into an awkward one while he scratches his cheek. “Having fun?” Max’s disapproving stare tells Ash all the boy is thinking.
“And here I thought that after winning a league you would become a more serious trainer.” Max raises his hands high in an exaggerated shrug. “Then again,” he cradles his chin before smirking at Ash. “World Monarch losing to a newbie? With a mega evolved pokemon nonetheless? Of course you’re still the same Ash as ever. Horrible strategies and all.”
“Why you..” Ash’s hands twitch before he drags Max into a headlock and noogies his head, making Max scream laugh. “Next time I should use Pikachu to really show you who is horrible!”
“Pika!” The mouse agrees as he jumps on Ash’s shoulder, looking down at Max with fire in his eyes as the boy’s laughter subdues. He will show him he is much cooler than Greninja too!
“Sceptile too!” Max asks still tangled in Ash’s arms. “I want to see how strong he is now!” He raises his fists up excited at the prospect. “You would like battling him too right Treecko?”
“Tree!” His starter replies, climbing on Max’s lap to copy his trainer’s movement.
“Sure, maybe he could teach you a new move or two.” Ash lets go of Max’s neck to pet the gecko’s head.
“Oh, that would be aweso-”
“Ring ring ring. Ring ring ring. Phone call. Phone call.” The familiar tune Ash hadn’t heard in years plays from Max’s pokenav.
“I got to remember to change this old ringtone.” Max comments as he sits straight up, holding Treecko in one hand and his pokenav on the other as he press ‘answer’ on the screen with his sister’s name. “May, can you go one day without calling me? I’m fine!” He replies. Ever since he left to his journey, she has been calling every single day to check on him. He bets their mother told her to.
Some reply comes from the device that Ash can’t make out and he decides to get up and recall his pokemon back into their pokeballs while Max is busy.
“Really? What for?” Kirlia jumps into the bench, taking Ash’s place to look at Max’s confused face at whatever his sister said. “I won, of course.” Ash, Pikachu and Kirlia all look at him with suspicion before he blushes a little. Was it that obvious he was talking about their battle? “No…” he admits to the phone while his friends laugh at his lie being caught by May too. “Alright, alright.” He pulls the device away from his ear and extends towards Ash, who just finished putting the last pokeball on his belt.
“What?”
“She wants to talk to you.”
“About what?” Ash shoots up an eyebrow as he picks the pokenav from Max’s hands, sitting next to Kirlia while Max shrug, clueless as him. “Hey May, what’s up?”
“Why don’t you answer your damn phone, Ash?” She scolds him immediately.
“Eh? Ah! I..” he holds the pokenav between his ear and collar bone, digging into his bag for the aforementioned object. “It’s turned off…” he admits when he press a button on the side of the phone. The screen stays black and he hears the soft snoring of the pokemon inside.
He rarely uses the phone he got from Cerise to the point the Rotom attached to it had created the habit of sleeping when Ash is not actively looking for pokemon. And Ash is not the type to interrupt someone’s sleep so this predicament had become common place for him.
“Sorry about that.” He scratches his neck and May sighs on the other end.
“It’s alright. But say, have you heard about Dawn?”
“Dawn?” He is confused. Why is May calling him of all people to get to Dawn. Wouldn’t Johanna be the best option? “She went to Alola a few weeks ago and we hung a bit before she left back to Sinnoh.” He thinks about the encounter. “She even caught an Oricorio!” He explains with a laugh, but when May fails to tag along, he grows wary. “May..?”
“She is not back in Sinnoh…”
“What?”
“Dawn never came back from Alola.” May’s voice falters. Asking Ash about their friend was her last hope and now…
“Dawn disappeared, Ash.”