May's Crush

Chapter 6:Crash Landing

"May!" Ash and Drew shouted. Ash turned and leapt from Flygon and dove to catch May, who was belting out an ear drum melting screech, her eyes clenched shut. When she felt herself land in the strong arms of a boy, she stopped screaming and opened her tear filled eyes to see Ash looking down at her, giving her a smile.

"Grab onto me, May," he told her, calmly yet sternly. The girl obeyed and wrapped her arms around Ash's neck, her face planted in his chest. Ash used one of his newly freed hands to reach for a Pokéball. He held it out and opened it in the palm of his hand, and his familiar Swellow appeared. "Swellow, grab on to my shoulders and help us glide down!" Ash commanded his Flying type. Pikachu, currently residing on Ash's shoulder unzipped and climbed into Ash's pack as the swallow Pokémon obeyed and landed his talons on Ash's shoulders. The combined weight of Ash, May, Pikachu, and both of their packs took the Pokémon by surprise and he dug his talons into Ash's flesh. Swellow felt what was happening and gawked at his trainer's face. Ash looked up at him and shouted, "It's alright. Just do what you gotta do!" Swellow nodded and spread his wings to help lower their airspeed.

Flygon tiring, and Masquerain still weakened from the battle, Drew could only sit and watch as Ash and May fell towards a lake. "Damn it…" he cursed himself with clinched fists. He decided to fly his Pokémon to the center to get it healed, and return with more help.

His talons gripping his trainer's flesh, Swellow glided Ash and May to the best of his ability towards a lake below them. As he descended, he could feel himself ripping his friends flesh. Ash cringed as the sharp claws of his Pokémon cut against him. May's eyes filled with horror when she saw what Swellow was doing to Ash. Before she could voice her concern, Swellow loosened his grip on Ash, letting his talons slip from the boy's shoulders into the ring on the top his pack. Ash let his grip on May go for a moment to let his arms slip out of his pack and allow Swellow to carry it himself. Afterwards he immediately clutched May again in his arms as they plummeted into the cold waters of the lake. Pikachu looked down as he saw Ash and May fall into the lake. "Pikapi…" the electric Pokémon muttered sadly. Swellow flew and landed on the shore of the lake, waiting for Ash to surface.

Amidst all of the Water Pokémon in the lake, Ash held May in his arms and swam with his legs to what looked like to him the shore. Seeing the surface of the water above him, he held May above him in order to get her to breach the surface first. May opened her mouth gratefully took in the fresh air. Ash stood up from under the water and held May in his arms. He walked up to the shore and dropped May into the grass. Ash fell to his knees and rolled over on to his back, breathing heavily. After coughing for a bit, May sat up and looked over at Ash. It was obvious he was in a great deal of pain. Swellow and Pikachu flew from the other side of the lake, having landed opposite of where Ash had decided to swim. The bird Pokémon stood on his master's pack, and Pikachu leapt out of it and ran to his friend and placed his hands on Ash's face. Ash opened his eyes to see Pikachu, and the electric Pokémon smiled in relief. Ash attempted to sit up, but the pain in his shoulders dragged him back down. May crawled over to the injured trainer. "Oh, Ash…" she saw the holes in his sweatshirt. The threads loosely covering the punctures were stained with blood. She gripped the bottom of his sweatshirt and began to pull it over his head.

"May, what're you…" Ash managed to get out before the shirt covered his mouth. The movement of his arms caused him to scream in pain. Luckily for May, his scream was muffled in the wet sweatshirt. After the sweatshirt was discarded, May knew that the black shirt the boy was wearing had to come next. She could see the bleeding through the shirt. Ash watched with some kind of horror on his face as May continued to undress the upper-half of his body. The black shirt fit his lightly muscular form more tightly than the sweatshirt, and being wet made it stick to Ash even tighter. May tugged on his hard and managed to pull off the offending shirt. Once again, Ash screamed when his arms were moved by the garment. This time the scream hit May's ears, but she knew she had to do something. With out being treated, Ash could die from his wounds. Tears appeared in her eyes, especially after she saw Ash's shoulders without clothing. Blood was streaming down his body in a slow, yet steady, flow.