Pokemon The time traveler

Ch 24 Professor Oak Lab

Ash—with Pikachu on his shoulder—and May had quickly left the house and headed towards the lab, so they could have their practice battle and see Ash's Pokémon. Ash, basically, just changed his top. He was now wearing a fitted black shirt with a red lightning bolt in the center with the same jeans and shoes he used to garden. He told May he did not really get dirty when he was working outside, so he just changed his sweater.

The was a bright sunshine shining down, a clear, blue sky with a few clouds floating around, and a nice breeze flowing through the air as the duo walked. And just like the sky was quiet, so were Ash and May—mainly because May was looking away trying not to stare at Ash's physique while Ash tried to figure out how to overcome this small obstacle.

After a few minutes of thinking, Ash sighed. He knew she would have to get over her staring situation on her own, so the only thing he could do was act like nothing was odd. Ash took a deep breath and spoke up. "May?"

"Yeah?" May turned to face him. Her cheeks were a visibly pinkish color.

"This going to be hard to ignore...I must've been really focused on Pokémon not to notice people's feelings before," Ash thought. "Um, what Pokémon did you bring with you? I know you brought Eevee because she was eating dinner last night with Pikachu, but did you bring anybody else?"

"I have Blaziken and Munchlax, too," May stated. Again, she looked away from the trainer.

Ash sighed once more. "I can't wait to meet up with Brock again..."

XxXxXxX

About five minutes later, they reached the facility's doorstep and May rang the doorbell. The door opened and revealed Tracey Sketchit. He still wore his orange headband and a green shirt with some red shorts. The Pokémon Watcher smiled when he saw whom it was.

"Hi, May! I didn't know you were here in Kanto," Tracey stated. He looked passed her and towards the trainer behind her. "Whoa, Ash! Is that you?"

Ash smiled. "Yeah, it's me, Tracey."

"You've really...grown!"

"Well, I'm gonna have a battle with May if you really want to how much I've grown as a trainer," The raven-haired teen densely responded.

Tracey and May both sighed in disappointment.

"I meant you specifically, Ash," Tracey distinguished. "As in you've got muscles to show for."

"Oh...I guess I have, huh? Sorry, I guess I miss understood what you said," Ash lied as he rubbed his head sheepishly and chuckled. "It's going to get harder to keep this 'dense' charade up." He stopped laughing before he continued. "Anyways, we were wondering if we could have a practice battle in the fields. Is that alright, Tracey?"

"Yeah, just head out there. I'll tell the Professor you're here with May."

Ash smiled. "Okay, let's go, May."

The duo walked through the laboratory and into the ranch. There were plenty of Pokémon stretched out for miles around the facility. Many different kinds of Kanto Pokémon were around the fields and lakes.

"May," Ash spoke up. "Why don't we have our battle over there?" he pointed to a nice grassy clearing in front of a large lake a few yards away. "It'll give us plenty of room to have our battle; what do you say?"

May looked at it and smiled. "It looks perfect. Let's head out there now!"

"How about I meet you over there, okay?"

May gave him a confused look. "Why can't we just go there together?"

"Well, I have to run a-"

"MWAARR!"

Pikachu quickly jumped off Ash's shoulder after hearing the loud noise. The mouse rapidly paced over to May's side.

Ash turned his head quickly and saw a herd of Tauros running in their direction. He did not bother finishing as he ran passed May and Pikachu in the opposite direction the Tauros were running. "I'll just meet you there!"

May looked on as Ash ran as fast as he could away from his Pokémon. She giggled as she knew that would be the kind of relationship Ash would have with his Pokémon. She grabbed Pikachu and began walking slowly to the clearing to wait for Ash. When they arrived to the location, she put down the yellow mouse and quickly scanned the area to get a feel for it. As the breeze picked up a little, she briefly closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Ah, I see your taking in the scenery..."

May opened her eyes and turned around to see Professor Oak, Tracey, and Gary walking up to her.

"I do the same every now and then to remind myself that I am extremely fortunate to work and live in such a place," Professor Oak continued his statement as he walked up to the brunette. "It's nice to see you again, May. How are you, Pikachu?"

"Pika," said Pikachu cheerfully.

May smiled brightly. "It's nice to see you, too, Professor," she replied happily. She looked passed the Professor and saw Gary standing behind him. "Hey, Gary! How have you been?"

"I'm fine," Gary replied nicely. "I've been helping gramps do some research. I actually just got back from the Power Plant close to Cerulean City; I was there for roughly three months studying the Electabuzz. I've been doing a lot research lately, so I've been less focused on Pokémon battling, but I still enjoy watching it. So, when I heard Ashy-boy was going to have a battle with you, I thought I'd might as well check it out. Where is he?"

"Oh, he was ru-"

"I'm right here," Ash cut off May before she could finish. He and Bulbasaur were walking up to the four individuals conversing. "My Tauros thought they'd say 'hi' to me, and...well, you all know how that turns out."

"Bulba!"

"Oh, yeah," Ash continued. "And Bulbasaur helped me out. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be running right now."

Pikachu ran over to the Grass-type and patted him on the back. "Pikachu!"

"Bulbasaur," the Kanto starter smiled and replied.

"So," Ash spoke up again. "How's everything, Professor?"

"Everything is great, Ash," the older man stated. He then quickly scanned the young trainer. "And I see you've been training yourself just as much as your Pokémon."

"Yeah," Gary added. "I actually didn't believe Tracey until I saw you right now."

"I've been getting that a lot lately..." Ash then turned to May. "Are you to ready to have our battle, May?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah," she put on a confident look and clenched her fist. "Let's get started!"

"Great," Ash turned to Oak's assistant. "Do you mind officiating the battle, Tracey?"

"No, I don't mind at all, Ash."