[Pokémon] Daughter of Norman

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"Vigoroth is unable to battle! The winner is Mudkip, Nicholai has won the battle!" The referee stuck out his right arm in the Knickerbocker wearing victor. The battle had happened in the Peralburg City Gym and it had only lasted roughly six minutes, much to the lad's delight but to other's dismay.
"Oh, Arceus…" A geeky looking boy with glasses and navy hair high-fived his face. That was their eight loss in only a month. He snapped an annoyed glare to the brunette, blue eyed Gym Leader who mournfully called back the ape back into its Pokeball.
"Sorry, Vigoroth." She sighed as she put it in her fanny pack "You did well."
"Hell, yes!" Nicholai punched the air, his Mudkip jumping onto his shoulder, chirping with glee. He walked up to the girl, a smug look on his face. She gave a soft moan and took the Badge of Balance out of her pocket. She dropped it into the boy's open palm.
"Well done." She said, trying to sound congratulating "As the Gym Leader of Petalburg, I award you with the Balance Badge." She added, she had said that phrase so many times she could say it in her sleep. But he didn't thank her, he tossed the thing in the air and caught it.
"Wow, I hope all wins are this easy." He commented before leaving the Gym. The girl sighed and put her face in her hands, she knew what was coming next.

"May, what the hell was that!?" She jumped as she turned to spot her younger brother glaring at her with his arms folded, like a scolding mother.
"What was what?"
"That! He took down all three of your Pokemon with a Mudkip- a Mudkip for Arceus's sake!"
May winced "I'm sorry, Max, I didn't know what to-?"
"How could you not know what to do!? I kept telling you to make Vigoroth use Scratch but you wouldn't do it!"
"I was trying to but his Mudkip was too fast!"
"Maybe it's because you're too slow!" May let out an annoyed shriek and yanked at her two ponytails, why did he have to keep doing this? She knew she was a complete failure at being a Gym Leader.
"If you know more than me, why don't you be the Gym Leader!?" She snapped at him, leaning over him as she was much taller than her 7 year old sibling. Unfortunately, he wasn't fazed.
"I'm too young, you idiot! I don't even have a Pokemon!" He yelled, craning his neck to look at her. May did not know what else she could say. He was right. But he what he lacked in experience he made up for with knowledge. She was so frustrated it was making her feel sick in her stomach.

Before May could say anything else, her mother Caroline poked her head through the main doors.
"Hey, guys." She walked up to them before her face lost its smile "Did the battle go ok?" She asked turning to her daughter, who had started shuffling the ball of her foot on the ground.
"Um, no." She answered reluctantly. Caroline put her hands on her shoulders.
"Aw don't be discouraged, honey, you'll get the hang of it." She said in an attempt at reassurance.
May doubted that. She had only had this job for a month and already things were going terribly. Being afraid of Pokemon did not help as well as knowing nothing about how to battle. She hadn't even started her journey and she was already in the deep end.
"I just came in to say I've just put out dinner. Chicken noodles, May." Caroline chirped. May gave her a weak smile, she was hungry and just the mention of noodles, her favourite food, was enough to make her stomach start rumbling.
"Thanks, mum but I have to tend to the Pokemon…" She said, scratching her stomach. She noticed Max rolling his eyes behind her.
"Ok, it will still be there when you come in." her mum said, trying to sound cheerful. May shrugged and trudged out of the Gym.


A few minutes later, in the greenhouse. May took out the three Pokeballs. Using her arm as a lever, she propelled them as far away from her as possible. Vigoroth, Slakoth and Slaking all appeared at the far end of the greenhouse. They were used to this treatment. Almost every interaction they had with their new leader was at a distance. They sensed she was afraid of them and didn't understand why, but they found ways to get around it. By being quiet and staying still as May applied –at an arm's length- the stingy elixir on their wounds.
After healing them, May poured their food into three separate bowls. She tried to measure them correctly as Slaking, being much bigger in mass and size than the others, was to get more. She pushed them away from her and paused to watch the three dig in.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow." May said towards the uninterested Pokemon, watching them eat had reminded her of her own hunger and she was eager to eat her dinner. She left the Pokemon to dine. But as she was about to enter the house, she growled under her breath as she realised she had forgotten to clean the gym. Another job she now had.

Ten minutes later, she was in the middle of sweeping the arena. She didn't mind this part of the job but it was everything else she struggled with. Her father made it look so simple and the way Max would describe the role as Gym Leader made the whole thing seem like a breeze. Max had always had the ambition to take the position of Gym Leader after Norman and was baffled when it was given to May instead. The only reason was because he was 7, too young to train Pokemon and battle. May on the other hand had just turned 10 before Norman's death.
The door suddenly opened behind her, giving her a fright.
"Hey, boss." A familiar voice called, May turned to find Kenny walking over to her.
"Oh, hi, Kenny." May panted, continuing the sweeping.
"I heard you had another battle today, how'd it go?"
"He took down all three of them with just a Mudkip." Kenny's eyes widened and only made an 'Hm' sound before promptly taking the broom from May's hand.
"I'll take care of this, May." He said before May could retaliate, "You should go and eat."
"I'm fine, Kenny, I can do it." May insisted, "I'm not very hungry." For a second he seemed to buy it but whatever she had convinced him in that second was immediately taken as her stomach suddenly let out a roar and the empty gym amplified it. May clutched it in an attempt to muffle the sound but it didn't work.
"Oh aye, I totally believe you!" Kenny smirked after recovering from is brief laughing fit. The bridge of May's nose turned red, "Don't worry about it, boss."
"Kenny, I'd rather you didn't call me 'boss'." She hated being called 'boss' by everyone and it made her uncomfortable.
"Well…" He twirled the broom like a windmill "You are my boss, boss." He added with a smirk.
Irritated, May shook her head, "Hm…" She directed her eyes onto her shoes, "But please don't…" She added before looking away from her feet and towards the main doors. Kenny noticed this.
"Have you been ok since… you know?" He asked her.
"Yeah, kinda…" She answered. She was only being partly truthful. She remembered Norman's funeral well. Max bawled like a baby the whole time, Caroline had sobbed but not to the same degree and May barely shed a tear, she had spent the whole time staring at her feet, trying to stifle her grief. She didn't have a close relationship with her father like Max did. Afterwards, he accused her of being selfish and not caring. That wasn't true, Norman knew May was afraid of Pokemon and didn't like them and that created some distance between them.
"You sure?" The boy asked, knocking May from her daze.
"Oh, yes. What about you?"
"Well, it's different, but I think I'm doing alright. So… how are you coping with being Gym Leader?"
May sighed deeply into her lungs "Not well… I don't understand anything! I'm a joke."
"Don't think about it that way."
"Kenny, the guy I battled today said 'I hope all wins are this easy'. He isn't the first one to say something like that… even Max says that."
"Pfft, they can take a hike." Kenny turned his back on May to sweep. "And don't worry about Max. He'll adjust. He's a robust little guy." She directed her eyes back onto the ground. She remembered Max's face when it was revealed that it was her that was to take the reins. It was an expression of both shock and anger.

In a way, he then made it his job to be May's 'mentor' and teach her how to battle but his method of 'teaching' consisted of sitting at the side during a battle and yelling instructions. But by the time May could figure out what he meant and what she was supposed to do, it would be too late and the trainer she would have been battling would have kicked her ass.
"I wish someone else could take the job… I'm not cut out for it."
"May, if I was given the opportunity to be Gym Leader in your place, I'd take it like that." he snapped his fingers on the word 'that'
"Thanks…" She knew he didn't mean that in a bad way. He was one of her fathers most skilled students after all and would do a better job than she could. But the rules stuck: The role of Gym Leader runs in the family. May would have given the role to Kenny if it wasn't for this rule.
She remembered sitting on her bed in her room, her knees pulled up to her chest as she listened to Caroline and Kenny arguing with the officials about the manner downstairs, but despite their efforts it stuck. She didn't want the role, but they seemed to feel that it was better for the job as Gym Leader to continue through the family.

"I'll take care of the gym, you go in and eat, and I'll see you some time tomorrow." Kenny turned their conversation back to the subject of food.
"Oh, right. Thank you, Kenny." May nodded at him thankfully. The two waved to each other before May left the arena.
May went home and went into the kitchen to see Caroline sitting at the dinner table, reading a magazine about Co-ordinating. She closed it as she saw her daughter finally come back.
"Hello, honey. You took your time." She said with a smile as she went to the cooker to warm up the relatively large pot of noodles.
"I forgot I had to clean the gym and I ran into Kenny." May sat at the dinner table, massaging her aching and rumbling stomach.
"Oh, I see." Caroline said as she stirred the noodles.
"Well, Kenny insisted he would do it so I could come home."
"That was good of him. I'm glad he is still around." Her mum poured the chicken noodles into a bowl and pushed it towards May.
But before May could dive in, Caroline suddenly took the bowl away, much to May's anger.
"MUM!" She snapped, suddenly jumping onto her feet.
"Whoa, easy Arcanine." Caroline laughed, she was used to this behaviour and sometimes found it humorous. May crossed her arms angrily, making her smile more. Caroline, positioned in a way so May could see, she took the ladle and scooped two more ladleful's of noodles into her bowl. She pushed it back towards May. It was now almost overflowing.
The girl couldn't help but give a happy little vocalisation at the prospect of more noodles.
"Thanks, mum." She said, now smiling. Caroline put her hand under May's chin to lift her head a little.
"Try not to push yourself too hard, sweetie. It's still early days. Kenny and I will help you." She said with a smile before sitting back at the dining table to resume reading.
As she ate, May looked up at the magazine that her mother was busy with. She didn't want anything to do with battling but Co-ordinating? That was a totally different story. She had seen contests on the TV and even the Grand Festival. She was quite intrigued by this and, despite her fear of Pokemon, it was something she was wishing to try but after her life had been turned up-side down, that was impossible. She couldn't even leave Petelburg, the population of the city wanted her as Gym Leader and, despite hating it, she couldn't just abandon her post like that. It wasn't in her nature.

The two were quiet for a few moments until the silence was broken by a small burp from May after she finished her meal.
"Do you feel better?" Her mum asked peaking over the rim of the magazine.
"Mhm." May huffed, feeling totally stuffed. She leaned back in her chair and rested her hands on her stomach. She frowned as a thought went through her head, "…um, did Max say anything when he was here?" She asked, assuming Max had gone upstairs to his room.
"Max? No, I don't think so, why?"
"It's just that he was saying stuff to me in the gym…"
Caroline shook her head and yanked off May's red bandanna to ruffle her hair.
"I'll talk to him about it, tomorrow. Don't worry about it."
May wanted to tell her about it but she knew that Caroline was also under pressure. Being Norman's widow she had to deal with a lot of publicity. May, herself knew what this felt like. It was only in the last week, the press decided to leave her alone.
May stood up and stretched. She felt so stuffed that she was beginning to feel tired despite it being still early "I think I'll go to bed now."
"Sure, on you go." Caroline gave her daughter a little wave as she trotted upstairs.
In her room, May slipped into her light blue pyjamas and dragged herself into her bed, practically going to sleep immediately.

She sighed heavily, exhausted. All she could hope was that there were no trainers turning up for a battle tomorrow. Three losses in a week was about all she could take.

May groaned as she rolled onto her back, the sun was peeking through the blinds and into her eyes. She pulled herself into an upright position and scratched the crust which had gathered at the sides of her eyes. She glanced at her watch, noticing the time.
"Great…" she sighed and dragged herself out of bed. She really didn't want to get up. Surely there was somebody downstairs just desperate to kick her ass today. In her tiredness she just puts on deodorant and throw her clothes on, usually she took better care of her appearance but today she just didn't have the energy.
She was practically falling asleep again when she finally came out of her bedroom, well she was until the scent of freshly made pancakes caught her attention. Feeling a sudden spark of energy, she practically slid down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Max was perched on the table, his nose buried into a large book and didn't acknowledge May entering the room. She noticed that Caroline had her back to them both so she decided to have a bit of fun –which was quite rare now- and nicked the glasses off of her smaller brother's face. He yelped and immediately jumped off of the table, he was practically blind without them.
"Hey! Give them back!" He snapped and tried to grab them off of her, but May, still annoyed with him for yesterday held them out of his reach.
"'Good morning' to you, too." May grunted, watching him jump up and down, she couldn't help but smirk with slight amusement. It was only after Caroline gave May a disapproved glare that she finally gave her brother back his glasses. She sat at the table and practically drowned her pancakes with maple syrup.
"You know, May, when people think of a Gym Leader, they don't think about someone stuffing their face like a Gulpin." Max commented behind his book in a smug manner.
"Harmph!?" May tried to snap a comeback at him but failed miserably due to the amount that was in her mouth at that second.
"Max, don't pester your sister like that." Caroline sighed without turning around.
"What!? You didn't say anything when she took my glasses!" Max snapped which caused Caroline to turn around to glare at him.
"You should know better than to snap at me, Maximus." She said, causing Max to wince slightly. He knew he had to watch his tongue when his full name was used. May finished her pancakes and proceeded to lick the left-over syrup which had been sticking to her fingers, becoming oblivious to the heated discussion her brother and mother were having. It seemed that whenever she ate something sweet her senses would slow down. All her focus would go onto what she was eating. 'Oh no, she's food drunk again!' her dad would always say. This would make her laugh and it was one of the few things that May remembered about Norman.

"May, have you fed the Pokemon yet?" Max asked his sister, who was distracted by trying to lick off syrup which had gotten stuck on her nose. She suddenly jumped out of her stupor at this question. She realised it was almost 11 am.
"Oh my Arceus!" May leapt from her chair and went to run out the door, only to collide foreheads with Kenny. She yelped and stumbled back, her vision blurred.
"Ow…" said the two Kennys as they rubbed their foreheads "Thanks for that."
"Oh, Kenny, I'm so sorry I just realised I forgot to feed the Pokemon and I-"
"Hey, don't get your bandana in a knot, I fed them!"
"You did?"
"Yep. Thought I could give you a hand."
"Oh, thank you."
"Don't worry about it." Kenny patted her shoulder, "You've been working really hard lately."
"He has a point." Caroline added in, causing May to turn and look at her "I was thinking that you and I could maybe go into the city centre and go shopping, maybe get some lunch as well."
May's heart gave a little flutter at this prospect, it had been quite a long time since she had been able to do anything like that. But the sensation of happiness suddenly faded, she dropped her head and sighed.
"I would but I have to-"
"You don't have to do anything today, boss." Kenny butted in, wagging his finger. May cocked her head.
"What do you mean?"
"Your mum and I agreed that I'll take care of everything involved with the gym and the Pokemon so you can have a day off!" Kenny answered, giving a little nod to Caroline.
May looked between them. Were they being serious?
"But what if someone-"
"I'll tell them to bugger off and come back tomorrow! Well, in a polite way of course." Kenny said as Caroline gave him a look.
May jumped a little with sudden joy and wrapped her arms around her mum, giving her a fright.
"Oh! Well, first thing's first, I think you should maybe tidy yourself up before we go." She gasped when May finally released her from her grip, surveying her daughter's rather shabby exterior.
"Oh ok!" May scampered upstairs, becoming aware of her appearance. A few moments later she was back down, hair brushed and clothes tidied.
"Bye!" She called to Max and Kenny as she and her mum went out the door. It felt good to be excited about something again.

(A few hours later)

"Go fish." Kenny picked up a card which was in the pile in front of them "Any twos?"
"Damn… go fish." Max spat as he picked up another card. "Any… kings?"
"Yep." Kenny handed Max his last cards and put his hands up in the air "Yeah, three times!"
"Yeah… yeah…"
The two were sitting in the middle of the gym, they had finished cleaning it and there was nothing much else today. They were bored until Max found a deck of cards in the dining room. They had been playing this for about an hour now.
"Another game?" Max asked, shuffling the cards for a fresh deck.
"Yeah, why not?" Kenny shrugged.
A few minutes later, Max smacked the floor of the arena as he lost another game.
"When will May be back?" He asked as he sorted out the cards to play Blackjack.
"Dunno. She can take her time." Kenny answered as he picked his cards up "The girls been working herself stupid."
"Or maybe she's just stupid."
Kenny frowned as he said this. He looked at his cards and asked Max for another.
"Damn it!" He snapped as his cards became a bust. "Well, I hope she feels better about it all after today, she didn't seem too happy at losing another one today."
"May had never been a good loser though."
Kenny frowned further but shrugged it off. He was busy shuffling the cards.
"Hello!?"
"Gah!" Kenny threw the cards in the air as a sudden voice called out.

He turned to face the door as he noticed a teenaged lad poking his head in the door. He looked to be roughly 13 and sported unruly black hair under a cap. He opened the door further and started to look around. A small yellow mouse like creature hopped from his shoulder. He turned his hazel eyes towards Kenny and immediately started walking towards him.
"Umm, hi." Max said as put the cards back in their pack, he seemed unfazed. It was only when the boy was closer that he actually became interested.
"Wait, your Ash Ketchum!" He yelped, causing the boy to jump.
"Umm, yes I am." He answered. His Pokemon chirped and flicked its ears.
"Yeah! You were in the Silver Conference."
"Oh, yeah that…" He rubbed the back of his neck "Umm, I'm here cause was hoping I could meet the Gym Leader-"
"Umm, she's not here. Deepest apologies, come back tomorrow, good day!" Kenny butted in rapidly, much to Ash's surprise.
"Nah, she'll be back later today, you can meet her then!" Max then said, ignoring Kenny's annoyed gestures as he stood behind Ash.
"Uff, ok you can meet her today but you can't battle her until tomorrow." Kenny said, in an attempt to distract Ash.
"Ok, fair enough." He shrugged.
"No, you can battle her today." Max added, fidgeting with the cards.
"But your friend just said-"
"And I did! So you can meet her today and battle her tomorrow!" Kenny re-enforced.
"Why can't he battle her today?! It won't kill her!" Max leaned forward towards Kenny.
"She's been under enough stress, Max! This is the last thing-"
"Wait, wait!" Ash put his hands up, causing the two boys to turn and face him "If she's been under a lot of stress, I don't wanna add to it. I'll meet her and she can decide if she wants to battle today or tomorrow or whenever! I'm not in a rush." Max and Kenny glanced at each other.
"Yeah, ok we can do that." They both said, much to Ash's relief.
After the three boys introduced themselves to each other, Ash joined in their game of scabby-queen. Pikachu ran around the arena, exploring every nook and cranny.
"So, Ash, what made you come here out of all the cities?" Kenny asked.
"Well, I was in the Pokemon Centre here after I arrived from Indigo. I asked around to find out what gym would be good to start out with and people were saying here was the best place."
"…why's that?" Kenny asked, not very happy with this information.
"I don't know if this is a bad thing, but they told me that it's the 'easiest gym to beat' and I just assumed that meant it was good place for a guy to start."
"No what those guys must have meant that the reason it's so easy to beat May is cause- MURPH!" Kenny had slapped his hand over Max's mouth to shut him up.
"Ha! Yeah that's what they meant, Ash, don't worry about it." He jumped in to cut Max off. Ash and Pikachu glanced at each other. What was their problem?

Pikachu loped out of the gym to explore the grounds. His ears flicking at every sound. He twitched his head in one direction as he thought he heard two pairs of feet walking on the path. He scurried up a tree to see a girl wearing a red bandanna and a taller woman making their way towards the settlement. They both had shopping bags.
"Thanks a lot for today, mum." May chirped as she almost skipped alongside Caroline. She smiled, it was good to see her happy.
"Well, you deserved it." She said with a smile.
Pikachu, seeing this, decided to introduce himself, but not in the best way. Using the muscles in his little legs, he propelled himself from the branch he was perched on and latched on May's back. The unsuspecting girl let out a shriek and dropped what was in her hands before trying to rip whatever had jumped on her off. Pikachu yelped and jumped off of May, who was practically panicking.
"May, what happened?" Caroline turned around quickly and put her hands on her shoulders.
"Something jumped on me!" May wailed, almost crying from the fright she had been given. The Pikachu squeaked apologetically and scurried back over to May, who yelped and jumped away from him.
"May, it's alright, it's only a Pikachu! I don't think it meant any harm." Caroline rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down "I think it was just saying 'hello'."
"By jumping on me!?"
"Pi…" The mouse type dropped his ears, saying he was sorry.
"See?" Caroline said in an attempt to defuse the situation. May looked at the Pokemon but didn't approach him. She picked up the bags she had dropped and resumed her walk back home. Caroline sighed and started walking after her, Pikachu scurried alongside her, knowing where they were going.

May stopped as she saw the raven haired trainer come out of the gym. Her stomach did a flip as he looked experienced. Caroline took May's bags and went inside the house, leaving May with the trainer.
"Oh, hi." He turned towards her "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." He held out his hand towards May, which she shook.
"Umm, I'm May Maple." She replied before adding "The Gym Leader of this gym." Reluctantly.
Ash's eyes widened. He was quite astounded at this information. She looked quite young to be a Gym Leader, she seemed to be roughly the same as him but- no, she actually looked younger than him. If he didn't know any better he would think she's possibly the youngest Gym Leader in the district, if not the world.
"Really?" he asked to be sure. May nodded, looking away from him. She yelped as a yellow flash ran between her legs and jumped onto Ash's shoulder.
"Oh, yeah, this is Pikachu." Ash introduced the Pokemon, who cooed as it perched like a parrot on his shoulder. May took a step away.
"Yeah, we met." She said in a low voice.
"What's the matter? Did he hurt you?" Ash asked in a confused voice.
"Um… no I don't think he did."
"MAY!" Max's yell made the three jump as he ran up to them "Ash said he wants to have a battle for his badge!" May tensed at this, she didn't want to battle but if she said 'no' it could make her seem weak.
Before she could answer, Ash raised his hands.
"Whoa, wait a minute!" He snapped at Max "I already told you, she doesn't have to!" Max would have had a go at him if Caroline hadn't turned up. She quickly introduced herself to Ash.
After all of that, May turned back towards the boy. "So… I don't have to have a battle with you?"
"Well, I'd like to have one at some point but I'm not in that big a rush."
May blinked, a bit surprised by what he had just said but she knew she could not ask him to wait for her experience to catch up with her rank. She had no idea how long that would take.
"Well, I'm sort of taking the day off from battling, what about tomorrow?"
Ash shrugged his shoulders, a clear indication that he didn't really care "Sure, why not?"
"If you two are going to do that tomorrow, would you like to stay the night, Ash?" Caroline chirped, surprising May.
"Are you sure?" Ash asked.
"Yes, we have a guest room and it is easier rather than walking back to the PC just to come back the next day."
Ash, again, shrugged "Sure. Thanks a lot." He said with a smile. May sighed heavily, she didn't mind him staying over but she could not help but worry about having to go up against him with a battle. The others she had battled before were really just rookies starting on their journeys but he looked as though he had a few years of experience. She wasn't looking forward to it.

(A few hours later)

"So, Ash, what Pokemon are you going to use tomorrow?" Max perked after he finished his dinner. He, Ash, Kenny and Caroline were in the dining room eating their dinner of spaghetti Bolognese. May was absent as she had to prepare the gym for the next day and feed the Pokemon as well as pick out the ones she was going to use the next day.
"Ow!" Ash grunted as the end of the spaghetti strand he was slurping slapped him on the nose, "I'm thinking of using Pikachu, Taillow and Treeko."
"You have a Treeko? That's the Pokemon I want as my starter!"
"How long is it until you go on yours?"
Max pouted "Another 3 years."
"Ah, don't worry about it too much, Max." Kenny jumped in "You can always help May with her Pokemon."
"She needs more than just help with Pokemon-"
"Max." Caroline gave him a glare that made him stop in his tracks.
"Speaking of May, she seemed very jumpy around Pikachu. Do you know why?"
Caroline sighed "Oh, yes I'm sorry about that, Ash. It might be hard to believe but May is actually afraid of Pokemon."
"She is? Why?"
"Cause she was attacked by a bunch of Teltacool when she was a kid, actually it's quite a funny story-"
"Thank you, Max!" Caroline hissed at the boy, who rolled his eyes.
"Well, if that's the reason I don't blame her." Ash said, trying to defuse the tension. He could not help but find it odd that a Gym Leader, whose career fully revolves around Pokemon, was scared to death of them. Surely that would affect her skills as a trainer- or lack thereof. He hoped he wasn't being mean by thinking this, but she didn't seem like the experienced type.
"When people first meet May she can come across as laid-back and stupid but she really isn't. She can be really persistent if she had to be." Kenny comments "And kinda bull-headed." He added with a bit of a laugh.
"Stubbornness is not a bad trait for a Leader." Ash said. He knew that all too well with the apparent pig-headedness his old travelling companion, Misty would constantly complain about.
"It's the only trait she-"
"Max! That's enough!"
Ash jumped at this. Max's rather insulting comments towards May seemed to be common in conversations and Caroline seemed to be becoming more aggravated with them. Taking a wild guess, he figured this had been going on for a while.
An annoyed huff and the sound of the door opening caused them all to turn and see a disgruntled May walk into the hallway. She turned to look at them and, judging by her knitted eyebrows, she was clearly unhappy about something.
"What's up?" Kenny asked the girl.
"…The Pokemon started fighting when I mentioned the battle." May answered in an uncharacteristically deep voice.
"Well, if it was about who was going to be battling I guess it's not a bad thing." Ash said with a shrug. May's eyebrows suddenly sank even lower, which Ash thought was impossible.
"About who was not going to be in it…" May snapped in an even lower voice. Ash guessed keeping his mouth closed for now would be the best idea, judging by everyone's behaviour it seemed that annoying the girl further was not a good idea. Unfortunately Max had to throw a match to the tinder.
"Well, I guess they knew they were going to get their asses whipped so-"
"Oh!" May yelled as she shot her arms up "No shit!" She snapped before slamming both fists on the table, making Ash jump, slightly afraid.
Caroline didn't seem fazed by this, after giving Max an angry glare she tapped May's shoulder, which seemed to bring her back to reality.
"Wha?" She looked back towards her mother, her voice suddenly normal. She suddenly looked scared and upset, as if she didn't know what she just did.
"Your meals in the kitchen, May." Caroline said in a plain voice. May turned to look at the others, Kenny and Max didn't seem fazed but Ash looked terrified.
"Umm… ok…" She took a few steps back before walking into the kitchen with her shoulders hunched.
Ash blinked in disbelief "Umm… is that normal?"
Kenny waved his hand as if nothing had happened "Yeah, she does occasionally have an outburst but it's normally over really quickly. It's nothing personal, Ash, she can get a bit tense when there is a battle coming up."
"A bit? I felt as though she was gonna kill me!"
Kenny, noticing that Max had left to go to the bathroom leant a little closer to the young trainer.
"She's had a really bad losing streak lately. She hadn't had the role for that long… and I think it's really getting to her."
"I'm not surprised. How old is she?"
"Ten."
"Ten!? Ten as in she hasn't gone on her journey!?"
"Sadly, yeah." Ken shifted his eyes a little.
"Alright," Ash put his arm over the back of his chair so he could turn to face the other boy, "But riddle me this: Why is she the Gym Leader? From what I knew, it was a guy called Norman who ran it."
The green haired boy sighed "He did. But he died just over a month ago."
Ash bit his lip, now regretting his question.
"It's ok," Kenny shrugged, as if he could read Ash's mind "And well, because May is the oldest she was made the Leader in his place. Caroline and I tried to argue in her favour, trying to tell them that she was too young but they wouldn't listen." He decided to leave out the words 'inexperienced' and such, sure he seemed like a nice guy but May had been taken advantage of before.
"Well… that's kinda stupid!" Ash said, a bit annoyed now "Don't they know any better?"
"You'd think so… look, Ash, I think it's better if you don't bring this topic up around May, she's a bit… fragile about it." Kenny said in a serious tone, 'fragile' barely covered May's emotions towards the whole thing.
"Oh no, no, no, no I totally respect that. Don't worry I won't."
Kenny gave him a thankful nod just as May re-appeared with her plate. She sat at the other end and began the process of wolfing down the food as if it was going to run away if it wasn't eaten fast enough. Kenny, no stranger to this behaviour didn't seem to care but Ash couldn't help but be a little astounded. He never knew anyone, let alone a female, who ate like that. Well, except for himself.
She must have noticed him staring at her as she hesitates to keep going at one point and even pushes the plate away from her, even though there was still some of her dinner on it.
"You feeling ok?" Ash asked, a little worried.
She mumbled something about not feeling hungry before leaving the dining room in the direction of the living area.
Ash wanted to follow her but she seemed to give off an aura which told him she wanted to be alone.
The reflection of the TV reflected in May's blue eyes. It was some cheesy kids program but she wasn't even paying much attention to it. She was drowned in her thoughts, she really didn't want to fight Ash tomorrow but, despite his persistence, she couldn't hold off a battle from him. It wouldn't be fair on him.
"May?" Her mum's voice cut through her thoughts, she turned to look at her.
"Hm?" She grunted.
"Are you feeling alright? You seem tense."
"…I'm ok…" May mumbled, looking at her feet. Her mum gently stroked her hair.
"I think you'd benefit from an early night. Why don't you go and have a shower and go to bed?" she suggested. That suggestion sounded really attractive to May and she decided to do just that.
After muttering 'night' to everyone she had her shower, which relieved a large segment of stress and replaced it with vague relaxation. But that feeling of ease immediately diminished once she was lying on her back in bed. She started to feel a dull ache in her belly. She spent a number of minutes massaging it and trying to figure out if it was being caused by indigestion, the fact she didn't finish her dinner or fear of looking like a total idiot in front of Ash. She guessed it was all three at once, but why was she so afraid of looking bad in front of Ash? Granted she felt this way about other trainers but she didn't feel it so much that it made her stomach ache.
She sighed as she lied on her back, wide awake. What she wasn't aware of was that across the hall in the guest room, a pair of chocolate coloured eyes were also wide open as if worrying with her.

May didn't want to do it. She really didn't. She had embarrassed herself enough in front of trainers, all less experienced than Ash, and that fact alone made it worse.
Ash noticed that she hadn't said anything over breakfast. She just ate her food without looking at anyone. He guessed it was just nerves, being as young as she was he wasn't surprised. Max was giving her an earful on what she was supposed to do during a battle but she didn't seem to be listening.

An hour later, Ash was standing at the opposite side to May in the Gym. Both Max and Caroline were sitting on the side benches to spectate. Kenny was standing on a platform as he was refereeing the battle. May barely heard him reciting the rules with the sound of her heartbeat in her ears.
"Pikachu, go!" Ash ordered the yellow mouse.
"Pi!" he yelped as he took his place on the arena. May took a Pokeball and threw it into the arena.
"Slakoth!" The sloth like creature yelled once it was released. A surge of panic suddenly caught May in her chest; she hadn't meant to release Slakoth in the first place!
She quickly took out the Pokeball to call him back in but-
"NO!" Max yelled, making Caroline jump out of her skin.
May, with the fright she got almost threw the thing out of the window.
"Wh-what?"
"You can't switch Pokemon, May! Only challengers can!" He snapped harshly.
"But I wanted to send out Vigoroth not-"
"NO!"
"Ok, I get it!" May huffed, now sweating under her bandana. She was about to order Slaking to use Tackle but Ash beat her to it.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"What?!" Before May could react, the yellow mouse propelled itself into the air, and curled itself into a ball so only its tail was sticking out.
"Pi-ika chuuuuuu!" It yelled as the flash of light soared from the mouse and squarely hit the sloth on its back, causing it to cry in pain.
"Slacking, use Tackle!" May yelled, trying to keep her cool. The Pokemon shook his head and got to its feet, barrelling towards Pikachu for impact.
"Dodge it and use Iron Tail!" Obeying him, Pikachu avoided the charging Pokemon and swung his now glowing tail straight into the square of Slaking's back, making it scream upon contact and collapse onto its front. It was out of May's eyeshot but Kenny then filled her in.
"Slaking is unable to battle! The winner is Pikachu!" He yelled, gesturing his arm towards Ash's direction. How did that happen so quickly? Ash though. That was far too easy. Any other Gym Leader and this would have been seen as a good thing and to his advantage but this is someone younger than him, he couldn't feel that way about her. For a moment he even considered continuing the battle.
May, after being yelled at by Max, had also been thinking that, but she couldn't it would make her look even weaker and she'd get an even bigger row from her sibling.
"Vigoroth, let's go!" she yelled as she threw another Pokeball which revealed the ape like animal, bigger than Slakoth and whiter in colour.
"Use Scratch!" May yelled, causing the ape to leap into the air, bringing out his talons.
"Pikachu, Tackle!" Ash shouted in retaliation. Pikachu propelled himself into a run, head-butting the unsuspecting Vigoroth in the gut, it roared and swiped the mouse away.
"Flamethrower!" May called. Vigoroth obeyed and fired out the fire which had built up in its mouth, much like an actual flamethrower. The mouse yelped and tried to dodge but was hit with the blast.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as his Pokemon squealed.
"Good boy, Vigoroth! Now use Scratch again!" May shouted, the Pokemon immediately brought his claws down on the Pikachu, knocking him to the ground, he was about the swipe them against the mouse when-
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called. In an eye blink, Pikachu had turned and a flash of yellow light flew from its little body hitting Vigoroth squarely in the chest. As he as in very close range –centimetres from the mouse- it was badly affected. It collapsed onto the ground, sparks flying from its body.
"Vigoroth get up!" May pleaded, not now! Things were just getting better!
"May, he can't! He's been paralysed, you idiot!" Max snapped, making Caroline flick him on the ear.
'Paralysed? What the hell does that mean!?' May's inner thoughts pounded.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash's call cut through her mind as she saw Pikachu smack the still paralysed Vigoroth under his chin, causing him to fall back, swirly eyed.
"Shit." May hissed through her teeth, this was going so badly. She called the Pokemon back and stuffed the ball into her fanny pack.
Ash saw this, sensing her frustration. But he had to admit, the fight between Vigoroth and Pikachu was quite a big improvement from the one with Slakoth. He actually worried for a second.
"Slaking, go!" May called as she threw the final Pokeball but by now she had lost the ability to keep herself calm and was fidgeting anxiously. Why couldn't she just call the battle off?

'Why can't we just call this off…?' Ash pounded in his mind, it was obvious that she is clearly not coping well and was struggling. From what he knew, Norman was a very powerful figure who was very deeply respected by trainers and fellow Leaders alike. But May on the other hand couldn't be any more different.
The huge King Kong like Pokemon seemed to have picked up on his trainer's anxiety as it too seemed to be fidgeting, waiting for her command. Ash had usually seen Slaking lying on their side in a lackadaisical manner so this was quite worrying.
Pikachu had recovered from his attack from Vigoroth and was ready for Slaking but May seemed to be in a state of some kind of shock. Ash took this to his advantage.
"Pikachu! Use Thundershock and then iron tail!" He yelled. The mouse launched himself into the air and thunder flew from its body, hitting the Slaking. It grunted and stumbled back before he realised that he was paralyzed, why wasn't his leader doing anything?
"Piiii- Ca!" The mouse shouted as it swung its tail at the Slacking, getting him in the eyes. The ape yowled and stumbled backwards before the huge Pokemon tipped backwards and fall onto its back. Right where May was standing.
"May look out!" Kenny shouted from the side-lines, May blinked twice and only managed a small "Ah!" before the enormous Pokemon collapsed on top of her.
Caroline gave a shriek and zipped over, trying to lift the still paralyzed ape. Ash, panicking joined her. It took the four of them to lift Slaking, who eventually recovered and was also startled at what had happened. May was out cold, there was a splash of blood on her face which caused Ash to worry that she had a broken nose.
"How are we supposed to wake her up?" Ash spluttered, gently smacking May's cheek in an attempt to arouse her.
"Make Pikachu use Thunderbolt?" Max shrugged, for whatever reason, he didn't seem overly concerned about the situation.
"I want to wake her up, not give her brain damage!" Ash snapped, he picked May up as they took her into the house.

He lay her on the sofa as Kenny got a pack of ice and started dabbing her still bleeding nose with it.
"Wow, I've seen May get hurt during battles but I've never seen her actually being knocked out like that." Kenny mumbled as Ash tended to her nose.
"Wait, so she's been hurt before?"
"Yeah, I don't know if the trainers do this on purpose but I have seen May getting quite badly cut up by their Pokemon, she's even been poisoned a few times."
"What?" Ash's jaw dropped, he had been poisoned before so he knew how painful it was. Then a thought went through his head.
"So… did I win the battle?" He asks Kenny but before he could answer, Max butted in.
"Of course you did! She only had Slaking left!" He said as he sat at May's head.
"But the battle didn't actually finish." Ash pointed out.
"Even if it did, you still would have won!"
Ash sighed, Max was right. He would have won, even if the battle continued. He seriously didn't know what to think. In a way he was glad that he had won but he actually felt guilty. It wasn't a fair battle.
"Well, when she wakes up, tell her I don't want the badge." He said as he turned to a confused Kenny and Max.
"But you won!" Max yelped.
"No I didn't! It wasn't fair! She didn't seem to have any idea what she was supposed to do!"
"That's because she doesn't have any idea!" Max rolled his eyes, aggravating Ash even further. He was about to snap at Max before he heard May give a small grunt and her sapphire eyes fluttered a little before they opened up fully.
"Where, what hap- ah!" She whimpered and instinctively cupped her hands around her nose, it was stinging like hell.
"It's alright, May, you just passed out." Kenny handed her a glass of water as she hauled herself into a sitting position.
"I did…?" She muttered, looking around with a glazed expression "Who won?"
"Well-"
"Ash did."
"NO!" Ash growled at the navy haired boy "No-one did!" May was confused, as far as she could remember, Ash was winning. She drops her head and rummages around her fanny pack. She took out a small badge.
"Nah-ah, nope I'm not taking that!" Ash grabbed it from her and put it back in her fanny pack.
"But you-"
"May, it wasn't a fair fight!" He leant closer to her "May, you don't know anything about Pokemon, do you?" He asked sternly. May looked into his glistening hazel eyes, he was serious.
"No, I don't." She sighed unhappily, she just knew Max was itching to throw in an insult.
"And you do not know how to battle?" Ash continued.
"No…"
"No," Ash repeated "…Listen, I wouldn't feel right if I took a badge I won unfairly. If I'm going to win a badge from you or any other Gym Leader, I feel that the fight has to be fair on either side. I'm sure you can do it, but you just don't know how!"
May looked at the ground with a melancholy expression. He was wrong; she'd never live to her father's example. Everyone said the same thing, she was making his name a joke! She didn't deserve to be defended…
"…May, are you alright?" Ash's voice cut through her thoughts. May suddenly became aware of the water forming in her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine…" May mumbled, "It's just… well, if it were dad-"
"If it were dad the battle would have been so different!" Max chimed in, oblivious to both Ash and Kenny's threatening gestures to shut up "Ash, you should have seen him, undefeated for seven months! I remember everyone saying-"
"SHUT UP!" Ash almost fell onto the coffee table as May sprang to her feet with her shout. She whipped her head around to face the three, Ash could see the anger in her eyes; the anger and grief.
"STOP TALKING ABOUT DAD! STOP SAYING HOW BRILLIANT HE WAS AND HOW PATHETIC I AM! I GET IT! JUST STOP IT!" She screamed, causing the three lads to recoil. Ash had to deal with angry girls before, seeing how he had spent years traveling with a certain red haired hot head. May couldn't control her emotions any longer, she covered her face with her hands and ran upstairs. A few seconds later Ash heard a bang.
Kenny sighed and pulled his hair back with his hand "She'll calm down." He said in a tired voice, he had to deal with that quite often but never that extreme. Ash was shell-shocked. This girl was clearly not ready for such a big role. But she didn't seem to have a choice. So, if that was the case, the least he could do was to help.

"Kenny…. How would you feel about me helping May?" He asked the boy next to him some minutes later after the atmosphere had calmed down.
"You mean teach her how to battle?" He asked.
"Well… in a way yes but there are a few other things I need to help her with. It might take a while but I think I can."
Kenny sighed heavily "Well, if you want to, be my guest. But I told you before, she can be stubborn." Ash smiled a little but it then faltered as he could hear May's muffled sobbing through the ceiling. He was going to help her, and he thinks he knows just how.

I wonder why nobody's commented on this story yet? I like the idea of Norman passing and his kid taking control of the gym, especially since close to nobody dies in Pokemon.

Chapter One

Chapter Two


Chapter Three

Aisu said:

I wonder why nobody's commented on this story yet? I like the idea of Norman passing and his kid taking control of the gym, especially since close to nobody dies in Pokemon.

Chapter One

Spoiler:

I'm sorry, what's a Knickerbocker? Also, you have to be careful when giving information. Show it to me rather than just telling me.



Well, the games have kindergartners roaming alone in fields with hundreds of dollars on hand, but eh.



In pokemon biological terms, a Slakoth and Slaking "digging in" would probably take three hours considering their notorious laziness, so yeah sure dig in you guys. I got time.



You gotta write out the numbers rather than just pressing the key.



Yet she still had to stand up and take Norman's place. I can understand her inner conflict.



Ladylike.

Chapter Two

Spoiler:

Tentacool



Actually, the species is mouse pokemon.



Maple tree in May hi



Wow



meal's



I think that 'fragile' barely covered... should be it's own sentence.

Chapter Three

Spoiler:

Is that a rule in the anime/manga? 'cause it wasn't in the games.



Slaking

Also, I don't know if you're using abilities as well, but if so, because it's still the first turn, Slaking's ability should've had it paralyzed.



I actually just realized you wrote Slaking earlier. I don't know if you meant Slakoth earlier or just made a mistake.



She should've hit Max too. I understand where he's coming from but he's just...a total dick about May and her pokephobia and how she's anything but like Norman.

Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the comment. Yeah, I know I made a lot of mistakes here and they are pretty stupid ones. This was written two years ago and I know it isn't all that good. But thanks for the criticism. I appreciate it.