Chapter 465: Trouble in Petalburg
The next morning, the warm smell of pancakes and berries filled the kitchen. Ash sat at the table, leaning back in his chair, phone in one hand, a lazy grin on his face as Pikachu and Vee munched happily on their breakfast beside him.
Across from him, May was brushing Torchic’s feathers, the little fire-type chirping contently while Max was trying, and failing, to act casually while sitting next to Ash. His "totally not staring" attempts were ruined every few seconds by the sparkle in his eyes.
"So, May," Ash said, not looking up from his phone, "I think we should head to the central square today. We’ll grab some supplies and get you some proper gear, because, knowing you, you don’t have a tent, do you?"
"Hey! ...Okay, fair," May sighed, flicking her brush gently against Torchic’s wing. "Well, you’re the experienced one."
"That I am," Ash said, scrolling a bit more. "Besides, tell me you remembered to pack more than one pair of clothes this time."
"Obviously!" May huffed, puffing her cheeks. "I have five outfits, my pajamas, a nice dress, and a sweater, and-"
"...And food?" Ash interrupted, finally looking up with a raised eyebrow.
May froze mid-sentence. "...I-I thought we’d just stop at a Pokémon Center every night."
Ash just gave her that look. "Not how that works, chief. We might be in the woods for days or weeks at a time. Foraging’s fine, but you’re not strong enough to fight a hungry wild Pokémon that’s got nothing to lose but its dinner."
May frowned. "Okay, fine, point taken..."
Ash chuckled. "Don’t worry, your mom already told me how hopeless you are with cooking, so, like I said, I’ll handle it."
"...She told you what?" May sputtered, glaring toward the kitchen.
Caroline only smiled from behind the counter, calmly washing dishes. "I just said the truth, dear."
"Uhhh, why is everyone ganging up on me?" May put her face in her hands.
"Maybe don’t burn instant noodles," Max teased.
"Oh, I know you’re not talking," May pointed at Max accusingly. "Remember when you nearly burned down the kitchen!"
"Hey, I stand by what I said, that pot was haunted," Max crossed his arms.
"I’ll show you haunted!" May said as she made a motion like she was rolling up her sleeve.
Caroline laughed softly as she dried her hands on a towel. "Now, now, you two. Let’s not pretend either of you ever help me in the kitchen."
Both May and Max froze mid-argument.
Caroline smiled sweetly, tilting her head. "Let’s see... May, the last time you tried to help me bake cookies, you used salt instead of sugar. The kitchen smelled like burnt rubber for three days."
May immediately flushed red. "T-that was one time!"
"And Max," Caroline continued, not missing a beat, "the last time I asked you to help chop vegetables, you tried to use a Pokémon move simulator to calculate ’optimal cutting angles.’"
Max opened his mouth, then closed it again, muttering, "It would’ve worked if you didn’t unplug it..."
Ash tried, and failed, to hold back his laugh, covering his mouth with his hand. Pikachu squeaked out a little snicker too, while Vee rolled over on his back, tail flicking with amusement.
Caroline turned back to Ash with a warm smile. "But you, Ash, were such a big help last night and this morning. If only May could pick up a few things from you."
Ash smiled. "Hey, what can I say? I wanted to help out my mom in her restaurant, so I learned how to cook. It’s not that hard if you actually try, especially since when it’s her birthday, I make her dinner."
Caroline smiled fondly. "Such a polite, well-raised young man. You’re welcome here anytime, dear."
May slowly sank lower in her chair, her face half-buried in her hands. "Oh my Arceus, I’m never hearing the end of this..."
"Not my fault I’m just too great and humble," Ash said, putting his hand on his forehead like it was a curse.
May sighed. "You’re lucky I like you, Ash."
"Yeah, I know," he said with a grin that made her puff her cheeks like a Jigglypuff.
Norman, meanwhile, finally came back into the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hands, looking tired, like he hadn’t slept much last night. Seeing Ash talking about their plans for the day, he finally spoke up.
"Ash, could I have a quick word before you head out?"
Ash blinked. "Uh, sure thing, Mr. Maple."
For a moment, Norman said nothing. He crossed his arms, trying to decide how to start. Ash stood there, completely casual, hands in his pockets, looking like he had no idea what was coming.
Finally, Norman began, his tone serious. "Ash, I know you and May plan to travel together. And, well... I wanted to ask you a favor."
Ash tilted his head. "Sure, what’s up?"
Norman hesitated. He could just ask him directly... but that felt too simple. He needed to make this sound professional. Logical. Safe. So instead, he straightened his tie, even though he wasn’t wearing one, and continued carefully.
Norman stood with his best ’serious Gym Leader’ expression. "I was thinking that perhaps you could... take Max with you for a while."
The entire table froze.
May’s fork clattered. "...Wait, what?"
Max’s eyes widened. "Wha...seriously?!"
Ash blinked. "You want me to... take Max?"
"Yes," Norman said, nodding solemnly as though delivering a sacred decree. "He’s very bright, but he could use some real-world experience. You’re clearly a capable mentor, and I trust you."
Caroline looked amused. "That’s a wonderful idea, dear, but maybe you should ask if Ash even wants to?"
"What about me?!" May protested. "He’ll slow us down!"
"I will not!" Max said, already looking excited that he was going to get to travel with Ash, quickly adjusting his plans that had suddenly become easier.
Ash scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I mean, I guess, but-"
Norman kept going, steamrolling through. "And of course, I wouldn’t expect you to take on that kind of responsibility for nothing. I know how valuable your time is! So naturally, I’m prepared to offer something in return."
Ash blinked, clearly lost. "Huh?"
"Yes," Norman said quickly, thinking this was the right approach. "I can provide compensation, financial, if needed. Say, a monthly allowance for travel expenses-"
"No, I don’t really need money. I have plenty of that," Ash said blankly. He really didn’t, even without all the money he’d taken back from Team Rocket, he had a few million just from winning the League. Between that, his investments, and his businesses, he was basically a billionaire. Of course, he didn’t tell them that.
"Ah, I see. If money doesn’t interest you, perhaps access to some of the Gym’s facilities? A private training room, perhaps? I could even-"
"I like doing my own training, sorry," Ash said again. It’s not like facilities could help him; he could train his Pokémon better than most Gym trainers could anyway.
"I see... then maybe a rare Pokémon? I’ve got a contact in the League’s Hoenn breeding program; I could pull some strings."
"I... like catching my own Pokémon too," Ash said, not a lie, but honestly, there was nothing he couldn’t just get himself if he really wanted to.
"Oh, okay, then something rarer! A Frontier Pass? Special access to the Gym Leader archives?"
"Not... really interested in the Battle Frontier," Ash said, scratching his cheek.
Norman froze, clearly not expecting to run out of bargaining chips this fast. He rubbed his chin, thinking hard, his expression shifting like a man negotiating with a dragon.
"Alright..." he said slowly, "if not money, or Pokémon, or training facilities... then what about, ah! A League-endorsed sponsorship? I could get you priority entry into any Gym in Hoenn, maybe even a reserved slot in the Hoenn League tournament itself! You’d skip the waiting period entirely!"
Ash blinked. "They have a waiting period?"
Norman blinked back. "...Yes?"
"Huh. Neat," Ash said, completely uninterested.
Norman was starting to sweat a little. He wasn’t used to this, most people would be begging for half of these offers. He crossed his arms, muttering to himself before snapping his fingers. "Alright. How about this, you ever wanted an official Gym co-op endorsement? I could sign off on you as an honorary co-leader in Petalburg! You’d even get your own badge design! We could call it the...uh...Ash Badge?"
Ash tilted his head. "Sounds like a lot of paperwork."
Norman’s composure cracked slightly. "Then what do you want, Ash?" he asked, his voice almost pleading now. "There has to be something I can offer, equipment, League connections, a rare evolution stone, anything! Just name it!"
Ash blinked at him, genuinely confused. "Wait, what are you trying to do again?"
Norman nearly tripped over his own frustration. "I’m asking you to take Max with you on your journey! To look after him! Surely that’s a big ask, and you deserve something in return!"
Ash just stared at him for a second, like Norman had grown a second head. Then he shrugged, smiling that simple, easy smile. "You could’ve just asked," Ash said with a laugh. "I was gonna say yes anyway."
Norman blinked. "You, what?"
Ash tilted his head, smiling casually. "Yeah, sure, I’ll take him. No problem."
Norman froze, completely thrown off balance. "Just... like that?"
"Yeah," Ash said simply, as if he were agreeing to grab milk from the store. "I mean, why not? And he might keep May from doing something stupid. Between you and me, I feel like something might go wrong with that girl," Ash said, half-joking.
"Hey!" May yelled, suddenly, she could hear very well when it involved her.
Ash smirked, calling back, "See what I mean?"
Norman’s jaw opened slightly, still trying to process that all his scheming, bargaining, and panicked brainstorming was useless, he could’ve just asked. "You’re serious?"
"Yeah. I don’t know why people keep thinking I need to be bought off with, like, half a soul. I would’ve done it for a crisp handshake and a five-piece chicken nugget meal."
As he was saying this, May was groaning into her hand, and Max, meanwhile, was already running around gathering his stuff. "Oh man, this is so awesome! I’m gonna learn so much!"
"Uhhh... whyyy," May sighed, slumping in her chair. "I thought this journey was just gonna be us having fun... not having to babysit Max."
Caroline smiled, watching Max dart up the stairs with boundless energy. "Well, you’ll just have to make it fun for both of you," she said with a soft chuckle.
May groaned, slumping forward onto the table. "You’re all plotting against me..."
Ash smirked, leaning back with his hands behind his head. "Hey, I didn’t plan this. But if the universe drops a tag-along in our lap, might as well make the best of it."
May gave him a deadpan look. "You’re way too calm about this."
"Experience," Ash said simply. "Besides, you’re acting like I haven’t had to deal with kids before. I’ve gone around with Molly, and it was great."
"But Molly is way better than Max! She actually listens to you, and you spoil her," May protested.
"Molly?" Caroline tilted her head.
"His sister," May explained.
"Adopted," Ash finished.
Caroline blinked, a little surprised, but she smiled warmly right after. "Oh, that’s very sweet of you, taking care of your little sister even if she’s adopted."
Ash shrugged. "She makes it easy. I mean, she’s only five, but she knows about Pokémon, she’s smart, and she’s adorable. Besides, we’ve never had an argument. The worst thing we ever disagreed on was whether to use red or green sprinkles on some cookies we made for Christmas... we used both."
"Okay, that’s an adorable visual, but that’s not the point," May protested one more time. "Molly is Molly, and Max is... him. They’re nothing alike."
Norman raised a finger, then stopped and thought about it, remembering all of Max’s tendencies compared to how Ash described Molly. "No, no, she has a point."
"Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?" Max protested. "Besides, Ash already said yes, no take-backsies!"
Everyone just looked at him, as he perfectly proved May’s point. Norman sighed. "Well, as long as you’re willing to take care of Max, and May too, thank you. If you need anything, you can call, and I’ll do what I can."
"No problem, really," Ash said. "Besides, it’s not the first time I’ve had to take care of people. It can be fun, especially if it means I get extra reasons to bully May." Ash rubbed his chin like he was in deep thought.
"Hey! What was that about bullying me?" May protested.
"I said what I said," Ash doubled down with a smirk. "Not my fault you make it easy."
May sighed dramatically, leaning on the counter. "I can already feel my back hurting just from existing between you two."
Ash looked at her with mock seriousness. "You sure it’s not guilt from trying to abandon your brother in the woods?"
"I wasn’t going to abandon him!" May protested, crossing her arms. "I just thought maybe he could...uh...stay home and do... school stuff."
Caroline laughed softly. "Oh, May, you used the same tone I did when I tried to convince your father to let me skip the League formal dinner."
Ash looked between them, then at Norman. "Did it work?"
"Not even a little," Norman said, sipping his coffee.
May groaned. "Figures."
Caroline chuckled as she looked at Ash. "Thank you again for doing this, Ash. And the offer always stands, you’re always welcome here." Then she gave a little smile somewhere between a grin and a smirk. "Oh, and please keep these two fed and hydrated. May tends to forget when she’s excited, and Max tends to forget when he’s talking."
"Hey!" both siblings shouted in unison.
"But am I wrong~?" Caroline teased her kids, and they could only blush and look away.
Norman chuckled, finishing his coffee. "I’ll walk you out. I need to leave Petalburg City to talk to the League about some... renovations," Norman said, clearly lying, but they didn’t need to know that.
May sighed and grabbed her bandana, tying it around her hair in her signature style. "Alright, guess we’re really doing this."
"Yep," Ash said. "Just gonna do some shopping, then we can head off into the forest."
They’d barely stepped off the porch when May turned to Ash, still grumbling. "I just hope you know what you’re doing, dragging us through the wild."
"Hey, I take offense to that! I’ll have you know I am a natural survivalist," Ash said with mock offense.
"Well, no offense, but you do look a little too clean-cut," Caroline added.
Ash blinked, then smirked faintly. "Clean-cut, huh? Guess they don’t usually hand out medical degrees to people who look rugged, huh?"
May froze mid-step. "...What?"
Even Norman, Caroline, and Max looked at him in confusion.
Ash looked at them casually. "Oh, yeah, I forgot I never told you, May. Oh well, last year over in Johto I got my license, so I’m a licensed surgeon. I’ve got it right here." Ash went into his bag and pulled out his official license to show them.
The silence that followed was almost comical.
May’s jaw dropped. "Wait, you’re a doctor?!"
"Surgeon," Ash corrected. "But yeah."
Norman blinked. "You’re telling me the Indigo and Silver Champion is a licensed Pokémon doctor?"
Ash gave a half-smile. "I mean, yeah... why not?"
May stared at him. "I always thought when you said you were trying to be a doctor, you were joking! How did you even get that? That’s not normal!"
"I just worked real hard. Get on my level," Ash said like it wasn’t a big deal.
May just stared at him like he’d sprouted another head. "Get on your, Ash, you’re, like, what, twelve?!"
"I got it when I was eleven," Ash corrected casually, tucking the license back into his bag.
"That doesn’t make it better!" May said, throwing her arms up. "Normal people don’t just wake up and decide, ’Oh yeah, I think I’ll become a surgeon between Gym battles!’"
"So?" Ash asked. "There’s no law against it."
"Probably because no one ever thought a twelve-year-old would be one!" May practically steamed, but Ash reached over and rubbed her face with his hand.
"Eleven," Ash crowed again, as if that were the most important part.
Norman let out a low whistle, crossing his arms. "Well... I can safely say I’ve never met a traveling trainer-slash-surgeon-slash champion before."
Ash chuckled softly. "I try to keep busy."
Max, of course, was practically vibrating beside him. "That’s amazing! Ash, can you show me how to do field surgery?!"
Ash looked at Max, put a hand on his shoulder, and with a straight face said, "No." And left it at that.
Caroline smiled softly. "Well, that’s certainly... impressive, Ash. You’re full of surprises."
"What can I say? I work really hard if I feel like it, it’s just that most of the time it’s more fun to goof off," Ash shrugged. Pikachu and Vee sighed like they were used to it by now.
May took another deep breath. "Okay, can we please stop talking about this? It’s stupid enough that this happened. Can we move on?"
"Fine by me," Ash said, adjusting his backpack and stepping off the porch. "Come on, doctor’s orders. Fresh air and sunshine cure everything."
May rolled her eyes, following after him. "You can’t just say ’doctor’s orders’ to justify every dumb thing you do."
"Sure I can," Ash said easily. "I’ve got a license."
Caroline and Norman chuckled, smiling as they watched Ash walk backwards while May followed him. Meanwhile Max ran out of the house. "Wait for me!"
Norman sighed and looked at Caroline. "Well, I’ll be back in two days."
Caroline gave a little mischievous smile. "Well, we’ll have the house to ourselves. What are you planning~?"
Norman blinked, realizing Caroline had completely misunderstood his intent. But what was he supposed to do? Tell her that some people might be after his life, and after May and Max, so he’d essentially made Ash their bodyguard? He may be a Champion-ranked trainer, but you know what they say: you’re only the second-strongest in your own house.
Norman cleared his throat. "I can think of a few things," he said, though he actually had no idea what to do.
—
Over with Ash, May, and Max, they stopped by the main square of Petalburg again, the one right next to the exit toward Route 104. As he said, Ash was going to buy more supplies now that Max was joining them, so he went off to the Poké Mart to get ingredients and other supplies, triple-checking that both May and Max had what they needed (spoiler: they said yes, but they didn’t).
May sat on the edge of the fountain, tapping her foot while Torchic chirped lazily beside her. Max sat across from her, his bag open as he rearranged his notebooks for the tenth time.
"I’m telling you, Max, if you don’t stop fiddling with that thing, I’m throwing it into the fountain," May muttered.
"I’m optimizing my storage system," Max replied without looking up. "If we’re going to be on the road, I need my data sorted. Pokémon habitats, encounter rates, Gym statistics-"
"-zero social skills," May interrupted.
Max glared. "Hey, I’m preparing for success. Unlike someone who packed five dresses for camping."
"Excuse me for having a sense of style!" May shot back, crossing her arms. "Not all of us want to look like we rolled out of a bush like you do."
As they were about to start another argument, a tall man in a gray vest strolled into the plaza, humming lightly to himself. He was older, with gray hair, and a small Castform floated happily beside him as they walked near the fountain.
"Well now, isn’t Petalburg City as charming as ever?" the man mused aloud, glancing at the square. "Isn’t that right, Castform?"
"Casst~!" the little weather Pokémon sang cheerfully, bobbing up and down beside him.
Castform twirled once in the air, sparkling in the sunlight as Mr. Stone chuckled. "Careful now, Castform, don’t get too close to the fountain’s edge. The current can be stronger than it looks."
"Cast~!" Castform chirped, bobbing happily.
May glanced up from where she was sitting. "Hey, isn’t that the Devon Corp. president? I think Dad mentioned him once."
Max looked up too, his eyes lighting up behind his glasses. "That’s Mr. Stone! He’s, like, one of the most important researchers in Hoenn! His company developed the PokéNav, portable energy cores, Pokéball upgrades, oh man, I have so many questions!"
"Max, don’t bother him," May warned quickly. "He’s probably busy."
Max adjusted his glasses, ignoring her. "Busy taking a walk? This is my chance!"
Before May could grab him, Max was already halfway across the plaza, waving. "Mr. Stone! Hello, sir!"
Mr. Stone turned, pleasantly surprised. "Oh? Why, hello there, young man. Always nice to see an eager face."
Max practically sparkled. "Sir, I just wanted to say I’m a huge fan of your research! Especially your paper on sustainable PokéNav energy-"
But his words were cut off by a sharp splash.
Everyone turned toward the fountain, just in time to see Castform vanish beneath the surface.
"Cast?!" Mr. Stone’s voice cracked. He lunged toward the water, searching the surface. "Castform!"
May shot up instantly. "What the, where’d it go?!"
The water rippled for a moment... then stilled. No sign of the tiny weather Pokémon.
Panic spread quickly. A few people gasped, stepping back as bubbles rose from the center. Someone shouted, "It’s stuck in the drain!" Another added, "Shut off the water, quick!"
But no one moved. The control valve was locked behind the fountain’s maintenance panel, and for some reason it was blocked off, like someone had shut it and locked it.
May ran up beside Mr. Stone, Torchic hopping at her feet. "Hold on, did it get sucked in?"
"Yes!" Mr. Stone said, his calm demeanor cracking as he peered into the drain. "The intake valve’s powerful enough to pull small Pokémon through, but this doesn’t make sense. If it fell into the intake valve, it should have gone through the pipe and out the top!"
"Someone call the water works department!" someone called out as people started frantically grabbing their phones.
Meanwhile, in an alleyway, three figures were smirking, two men and one woman.
"We got him, he fell for our trap," the smaller of the two men said into a communicator.
"Perfect. Now let’s wait a moment, we can’t let them know we were waiting," the woman said as she smoothed her stolen utility shirt; she and the others were wearing water works department uniforms they’d taken.
"Right, it’ll make things easier," the largest man said with a grin.
"Good," a rough voice crackled back over the communicator. "If all is going well, then Mr. Stone will be kidnapped today. Succeed, and you three will be promoted to admin positions."