Once again, I'm sorry it's taken so long to update. Work doesn't leave me much time to write and my health hasn't been too great either.

Chapter 49

Returning to Basics

While they were walking with Olivia around Viridian Ash noticed that the city has a different atmosphere to when he'd been here years ago. It could've been purely due to the time between then and now but the way the people just seemed to be happier and more friendly it felt like something else.

"You're right, the city is a lot different to what it used to be." Olivia said when Ash asked about it. "You probably heard about the previous Gym Leader, Giovanni, being the Leader of Team Rocket. Viridian City was their base and although it never showed Team Rocket had an iron grip on every person here, it had everyone here living in fear." Olivia smiled and waved at a couple of children playing nearby. "Officer Jenny did what she could but there was only so much one woman can do when most of the police force and all of the judges were on the take. I moved here just before Giovanni and the Rockets left, I remember the look on Jenny's face when the city was free. A massive smile and tears streaming down her face, the smile kept growing every time her Growlithe and Arcanine pounced on any Rocket collaborators that tried to escape. She dragged the former Mayor out of his house in his underwear in front of the entire city, could've done without the image burning itself into my memory but it's a worthwhile price to pay to hear the cheers of this city knowing that years of living in fear were over." Olivia stopped to pet a Rattata that was walking alongside their Trainer. "There's still a lot of wounds that are healing, a distrust of anyone that seems to be gaining power quickly, some harsh punishments for minor crimes but Officer Jenny is keeping an eye on everything. I help as much as I can, be visible to act as a comfort and a deterrent, I do what I can to make sure the people are happy and feel safe." Olivia's smile shifted to a savage grin for a split second before she hid it. "Plus if Team Rocket try to come back, they're in for a nasty surprise."

After that May asked where the nearest park was and once Olivia had led them there, the brunette opened all of her Pokéballs and started an impromptu display of Pokémon Co-Ordination. She quickly drew a large crowd with a lot of people recording the show, Pikachu jumped at the chance join in while Ash held onto Manaphy. He looked around at the crowd and tentatively reached out with his aura abilities and could feel the happiness that radiated from the people.

"She's one of a kind, isn't she?" Olivia said as she leant against a lamppost.

"Yeah, she is." Ash replied without looking away from May.

"Damn, you've got it bad." Olivia muttered under her breath.

After about an hour, May and her Pokémon took a bow and after a couple of her fans asked for an autograph she re-joined Ash and Olivia.

"You've got some skills." Olivia whistled, "I haven't seen much Co-Ordinating but your Pokémon don't look as…" She paused trying to think of the right word. "delicate as the other ones I've seen."

"That's cause I travelled with Ash when I first started out. We trained a lot together and you've seen how tough his Pokémon are." May replied, Olivia laughed.

"I do know that. Now come on, I want to sing."

The night out with Olivia ended just after ten, she did try to keep Ash and May out later but Manaphy was getting cranky and the couple were planning on heading out early in the morning. That didn't stop Olivia playfully complaining that it wasn't fair how the couple could sing so well as well as being talented with Pokémon. That wasn't to say the couple didn't enjoy themselves, they'd spent their time in the karaoke bar laughing and singing but with their big competitions coming up soon that wanted to be ready and that meant training hard.

Waking up the following morning and completing their exercises Ash and May made sure they had everything with them before leaving the Pokémon Centre and calling out Altaria and Charizard.

"Just a quick flight back home then we're straight into training." Ash said as he scratched Charizard's neck, getting a begrudgingly satisfied rumble from the fire and flying type. Looking over his shoulder after hearing a musical trill, Ash saw May being nuzzled my Altaria. He smiled at the sight and after a few seconds was hit by Charizard's tail.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Char." The Flame Pokémon rumbled with a smirk.

"I wasn't staring." Charizard just gave Ash a look. "Shut up." Charizard blew a small cloud of smoke in Ash's face.

"Ready to go?" May asked.

"Y-Yeah, let's go. We've got a lot of work to do." Ash swung himself on to Charizard's back and once May was on Altaria they took to the skies. Their Pokémon made a lazy circle around the Pokémon Centre before setting their sights on Pallet Town. The flight didn't take long, a little over an hour, Charizard went into a steep dive as soon as he saw Ash's house while Altaria followed at a more reasonable pace. A roar shook the air a few seconds before Charizard landed with a thud, the ground cratering slightly under the fire and flying Pokémon.

"Do you have to be so dramatic?" Ash asked as he shakily slid from the Flame Pokémon's back while Pikachu hung from Charizard's snout shouting at him. The door of the house opened quickly as Delia stood there in her dressing gown, the worried look on her face melted into a warm smile as she ran forward and hugged her son. "Hi mom." Ash said returning the hug.

May and Altaria landed shortly after to see Delia admonishing Charizard for making such a fuss so early in the morning.

"It's nice to see you again Mrs. Ketchum." May said as she dismounted Altaria.

"You know to call me Delia, dear." Delia replied as she gave May a hug. "I like the new look too." She said as she pulled back.

"Oh, right." May turned towards Ash and took his hat off. "You lost this on the way down." She reached over and put the hat back in its rightful place, pecking him on the cheek in the process.

"Thanks, I think it looked better on you though." Ash said with a smile. As they turned back to Delia they saw an amused smirk on her face.

"Even though you're in a relationship, I'm not letting you sleep in the same room while under my roof. Marriage first, my grandchildren can come later." Delia started to laugh as the couple in front of her both turned red. "Come in and get yourselves settled before you start training." She said over her shoulder as she walked back into the house. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, not yet." May replied, having recovered first as she followed Delia, pulling Ash by the hand behind her. "We wanted to get an early start on training."

"Well, you can't train on an empty stomach. Go put your bags in your rooms while I make something for you." With that Ash and May went and settled into their rooms while Pikachu, Glaceon and Manaphy stayed with Delia, before returning to the kitchen to find pancakes, bacon and fruit waiting for them. "Dig in, you've got a month and a half till the League and a week after that for the Grand Festival. You shouldn't let any of that time go to waste."

Ash and May didn't reply in words, just nodding and eating their fill, while Delia nursed a cup of coffee. Once breakfast was finished they started towards Professor Oak's lab, idly discussing training ideas.

"Should we call the others?" May asked. "They did offer to help us." Ash opened the contact list on his X-transceiver and called the first person on his list. It rang a few times before the screen flickered on to show a barely awake Adam.

"Hello?" He yawned.

"Er, sorry." Ash replied. "I thought with the time difference you'd be awake already."

"Usually am. I had a long day and a late night." Adam rubbed his eyes. "What's up Ash?"

"Well, me and May are going to start training for the League and Grand Festival. We were hoping you could help us?"

"Yeah no problem, give me a day or two and I'll be there." Ash saw some movement in the background.

"Is there.." Ash started.

"I'll call you when I'm on my way. See you in a few days." Adam interrupted, ending the call but not quick enough to stop Ash catching a flash of blonde hair and a slim arm appearing from behind Adam.

"I'll just send a text to the others." Ash said a little red faced, the rest of the walk to the lab was a slightly awkward silence. Tracey let them in when they arrived and let them walk through to the ranch.

Ash and May let their Pokémon out and just like last time Pikachu and Glaceon launched a combined Thunderbolt and Ice Beam into the air but unlike last time, there wasn't a stampede charging towards them. After a minute of nothing the two Pokémon fired off another signal but still nothing.

"Do you think…" May started when a column of fire shot into the air. "Let's go." She returned her Pokémon and climbed on to Altaria's back while Ash did the same with Charizard. The rocketed across the ranch until they reached the clearing their Pokémon spent most of their time and were surprised to see that there wasn't an attack like they'd feared but all of their Pokémon were training, hard.

"Well, that explain why there wasn't a stampede." Ash said letting his Pokémon out again and shrugging off his jacket. "Let's get to work!" He dove towards his Pokémon with a grin, dodging a Water Gun as he sent out a volley of Aura Spheres. Charizard roared as he flew into the fray with Pikachu blitzing in ahead of him.

May smiled fondly as she watched Ash getting in the midst of a brawl before turning towards her Pokémon and clapping loudly twice to get their attention.

"Ok everyone, time to be creative. Try whatever comes to mind and we'll see what works." May calmly walked up to her gathered Pokémon, leading them to a quieter and safer area so they could work without risk of a stray attack. A few hours later Brock and Misty walked into the clearing to find Ash walking around his more experienced Pokémon as they ran through exercises while his newer Pokémon practiced using their moves in different ways, such as focussing Flamethrower into a smaller, hotter stream.

"Looks like you've been busy." Brock called out.

"We want to be ready." Ash replied walking over to greet his friends. "Thanks for coming."

"Why wouldn't we come help?" Misty said, "You know you'd be lost without us."

"If I thought it would do anything, I'd throw you in the lake." Misty answered that by sticking her tongue out.

"Where do you want us to start?" Brock asked.

"Can you keep an eye on the young Pokémon, according to Tracey they have a habit of trying to keep up with the others." Brock smiled and gave Ash a thumbs up.

"I'll have my Pokémon spread out and help where they can." Ash nodded in understanding before turning to Misty, "Would you go help with resistance training?"

"Which group?"

"Take your pick. Oh, be careful around the Fossil Pokémon especially Aerodactyl. They've still settling in and Aerodactyl is very territorial." Ash held up a hand when Brock and Misty opened their mouths to say something. "I'm going to deal with it, I just want the other Pokémon to know what they're doing first."

"If you need help, let us know. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thanks, but this is something I'll need to do on my own."

"Where's May?" Misty asked. "We're here to help her too."

"She's in the next clearing over trying some ideas. Tracey's with her, he had a few idea he'd draw out and wanted to see if they were possible."

"We'll go say hi and then get stuck in." With that said, Brock and Misty went to find May. As they entered the clearing they watched as a Thunderbolt stalled in the air and started to change shape but soon fizzled out.

"Keep working on it Spoink, I know you can do it." They heard May call out. "Blaziken, try spinning out of Flare Blitz into Sky Uppercut." Looking around the clearing the Gym Leaders could see groups of May's Pokémon working together to combine attacks and movements to show what they were capable of. In the middle of the clearing was May, her bandanna sticking out of her back pocket as she'd tied her hair up into a bun. "Beautifly, Glaceon let's try Frost Maiden again. Wartortle, Mawile, Flash Spiral." They could see Tracey at the side showing Delcatty and Munchlax something he'd drawn and explaining the idea behind it.

"Well, someone's working hard." Misty called out, getting May's attention. Turning the brunette beamed as she ran towards them, throwing her arms around the pair and hugging them tightly.

"It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too." Misty replied, hugging May just as tightly. "Looks like you don't need our help though."

"No, I do need your help." May said ending the hug but holding onto an arm of each of the Gym Leaders

"I'll be by to help later," Brock said apologetically, "Ash want me to help his younger Pokémon."

"I wasn't sure if you'd be able to make it. With the wedding happening soon and all."

"Lucy wanted me out of the way while she finalised everything." Brock scratched the back of his neck. "I was getting a bit hysterical."

"I can stay and help, just need to send some of my Pokémon over to help Ash." Misty replied. "With the League a week earlier then the Grand Festival…"

"I know, I understand. I just need people to give me an outside opinion of the appeals I'm coming up with. Tracey's helping already but I need more opinions, I want brutal honesty and I know you won't give me anything else." May interrupted.

"I'd be insulted if that wasn't true." Misty smiled, "I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I want your best."

"You wouldn't get anything else." May said with a challenging glint in her eye.

Misty and Brock walked back to the clearing Ash was in, let their Pokémon out and after telling them how to help went to work themselves. The rest of the day and the next followed the same pattern. Ash's Pokémon would spar with each other as a group in the morning before splitting into groups and working on physical training and then testing new ways of using their moves.

On the third day of their training Ash's X-Transceiver rang while the group of four were walking to the ranch.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ash, I'm guessing you're in Pallet?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, we're just walking to Professor Oak's Lab."

"We'll meet you there in a few minutes." Adam ended the call.

"We?" Misty asked.

"You'll see." May replied as she kept walking.

When they got in sight of the Lab there was a flash of light at the base of the stair, once the light faded they saw Adam and Cynthia stood there with Luna and an Alakazam.

"Thanks Scotty, on target as always." Adam said to the Alakazam and returned him to his Pokéball. Cynthia looped her arm around Adam's as they walked towards the group.

"That's Champion Cynthia Shirona" Misty deadpanned.

"After everything and everyone we ran into when we went through Kanto and Johto, did you really think I wouldn't have met her?" Ash asked.

"Not enough to ask for help training!"

"To be fair, Ash asked for Adam's help." May said.

"Well, Cynthia did help me train a bit a couple of years ago." Ash added sheepishly.

"Ugh, I forgot how stupid your adventures could get." Misty pinched the bridge of her nose. "Anything else I've missed?"

"Adam won the Johto League last year, is currently doing the Sinnoh Battle Frontier and he's Cynthia's boyfriend."

"Mostly done the Sinnoh Battle Frontier, I only need one more Print." Adam said as he approached.

"Hi, I'm…"

"Misty Waterflower, the woman who holds the record of the biggest raise in the Gym ranks in a single season needs no introduction." Adam smiled holding his hand out. "I'm Adam, it's nice to meet you." Misty smiled back and shook his hand. "This is Cynthia."

"No big introduction for your girlfriend?" Cynthia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You complained the first couple of times I did that." A faint red dusting covered Cynthia's cheeks. "I can give you a big introduction but we'd be here a while, there's a lot I can say about you."

"…Shut up." Cynthia said looking away, her cheeks darkening before she cleared her throat and faced Misty with her hand out. "Cynthia Shirona, pleasure to meet you Miss Waterflower."

"Just call me Misty, Champion Shirona." Misty took Cynthia's hand and shook it.

"Please call me Cynthia, while I can deal with all the pomp and circumstance of being a Champion I prefer things being informal."

"Good to see you again Brock, how's the wedding plans coming?" Adam asked shaking the Pokémon Doctor's hand.

"Lucy kicked me out while she sorts the finishing touches. I was getting in the way trying to help." Brock shrugged.

"We're wasting time stood here." Cynthia said, with a clap of her hands.

"The Champion has a point." Adam added, a dark smile crossing him lips as he turned to Ash. "Welcome to Hell Month, and you're getting trained alongside your Pokémon." Adam lashed out with a jab which Ash blocked. "Good, you haven't gotten rusty. Now let's get started."

The following weeks were some of the hardest but most fun Ash and May had ever experienced. Leaf and Sabrina turned up a week after Adam and Cynthia to help out and all of Ash and May's Pokémon were pushed to their limits of strength and creativity. Sabrina brought along a couple of Eggs, one yellow and brown, the other pale pink and pale blue, she gave one to Ash and the other to May. Leaf passed along a few tricks she'd learnt from Pamela and Erika while Sabrina helped some of the Pokémon get past mental barriers that were holding them back. All of the hard work they put in bore results, mostly good but some bad, either way lessons were learnt and progress was made.

It wasn't all training though, Ash and May found time to go on a few dates, picnics mostly just to get away from everything and relax together. They grew even closer and were showing more affection towards each other publicly. Towards the end of the month Brock, Misty and Sabrina were called to the Pokémon League Headquarters to go over their win/lose ratios, Brock normally wouldn't have to attend but due to standing in for Forrest a couple of times he needed to be there.

The four days before the League were rest days, all of their Pokémon had been working hard and needed to time to recover, any more training and it would've done more harm than good, another of Ash's friends from years ago sent him the three starter Pokémon from Galar and helped Ash make some trades for new Pokémon in exchange for some of his Tauros. During the month Ash made sure he gave time to each of this Pokémon and strengthened the bond he shared with them as well as forming connections with his new Pokémon.

Two days before the League started Ash was packed and ready to go, May was at his side along with Adam and Cynthia.

"Ready to fly?" Adam asked

"Nearly." Ash replied turning and giving Delia a hug. "Bye Mom, I'll see you soon."

"Good luck Ash." She said giving his one last squeeze before letting go.

"Good luck my boy." Professor Oak added as he shook Ash's hand. "I look forward to seeing you on the podium."

"That's where I'm aiming for." Ash turned back to his companions. "Now I'm ready. Charizard I choose you."

"Aether, let go." Adam called out. The two Pokémon appeared in flashes of white light, they looked at each other before nodding in respect. Adam jumped on to Aether's back and offered a hand to Cynthia to help her up while Charizard lowered himself to the ground so May could climb on before standing, grabbing Ash's collar in his jaws and threw him on to his back.

The two Pokémon launched into the air with a mighty flap of their wings and soon turned in the direction of Indigo Plateau. Delia and Professor Oak watched until they couldn't see the couples any more.

"He'll be fine Delia." Oak said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "With the strength of his Pokémon I have no doubt."

"I know Professor, I'm more concerned about what will happen between him and May." Delia replied. "May's feeling have been out in the open for a while now and Ash hasn't given her a proper answer. If he doesn't do that soon then he'll break her heart."

Until Next Time

Basic Trainer