Pokémon Bananza I

 

Ash wasn’t sure what was going on. She only knew that she and the others had come back to the jumbobus to find an extra edition. He was a handsome older man, who looked extremely nervous and out of place with the other guys on the bus. The Harem Club looked bemused, but since they’d allowed him to sit there and wait for her and the others, then that meant he had something he needed to say and that it was probably really important.

 

So she greeted him. “Hi, I’m Ash!”

 

He blinked at her before hesitantly smiling. “H-hello. Um...my name is Norman Maple. I’m, uh, a gym leader from Hoenn.”

 

She smiled encouragingly, though she inwardly wondered why he would come all the way out here for.

 

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “You see...my daughter May is a huge fan of yours. She saw a video of you online –”

 

“There’s a video of Ash online?” Misty interrupted in alarm.

 

Norman looked surprised that they didn't know. He continued on more carefully, becoming more unsure of himself and his being there.

 

“Yes. Of the, uh, contest from Aopulco?” he ventured. They looked at him like he was crazy, but he elaborated anyway. “There are a ton of videos online about her. She’s actually a huge favorite of people, especially Coordinators over at Hoenn. She’s gained quite a following. I’m surprised that you all hadn’t known about this...”

 

Ash looked stumped at this revelation. In the meantime, Misty started (slowly at first) to giggle, before full out laughing.

 

“It figures something like this would happen,” Lt. Surge said sarcastically.

 

“Well, Ash’s luck does tend to make the oddest things happen to her,” Oak sighed. “This really shouldn’t be a surprise.”

 

Ash swatted at his head, but frowned in thought and refocused on Norman. “Okay, but what does this have to do with you and your daughter?”

 

He looked extremely embarrassed. “Um, yeah. Like I said, she’s a huge fan of yours…so she decided to run away from home and head here to find you.”

 

There was a blanket of silence before Misty burst out in laughter again, while Ash stared at him in shock. The poor man flushed red. Ash shook herself out of her stupor and glanced at her female friend in exasperation. Everyone else looked speechless or confused as hell. Inwardly huffing at them, Ash strode forward and grabbed Norman’s hand, slipping past him and leading him to the second floor and led him passed the bunks and to the lounge area.

 

She smiled kindly at him after they sat down. “Okay, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

 

For Norman, this wasn’t exactly how he pictured things to go. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d expected but having faced an entire group of hers and being in this monstrous bus they apparently traveled in hadn’t entered the equation in his head. And then having to actually say what was happening and then the realization, despite already knowing, that the whole story was absurd and both he and his daughter would look crazy…

 

He also hadn’t expected Ash Ketchum to be so kind.

 

“I…,” Norman sighed and wiped a hand down his face, though he looked to see a reassuring look on hers. “My daughter and I have a strained relationship. We don’t…have anything in common. I love pokémon, but she has no interest in them. Sometimes she gets a little interested in the Pokémon Contests, but otherwise she really couldn’t care less. Damn it, I don’t even know why I started with this first…”

 

“Maybe because it’s really important to you and you’d really like to be closer to your daughter?” she unexpected said wisely.

 

Norman glanced at her in surprise, before wincing. “I do. I really, really do. In some ways, I was glad she stumbled across you. What little interests she has in Pokémon Contests led her to watch your performance in Aopulco, led her to maybe being a little more interested in pokémon and maybe a chance for us to get closer. And…I don’t know. I guess I was hoping stupidly that we could bond over you or something,” the more he talked, the more he felt like an idiot.

 

But looking at her, she didn’t look at him like he was crazy at all, or look at him in any way that seemed judging. Somehow her smile seemed a little sad for some reason…

 

“I think that’s really sweet that you want to become closer to her…but maybe, while it’s nice that maybe she might like pokémon a little more, you could try seeing things she likes and give them a try? I think she’d really appreciate it.”

 

Norman blinked, but realized maybe he should have been doing that. And well, any time spent with May was better than anything, since they don’t really bond at all. The fact was, before Max went off to his school here in Kanto, the two of them were a lot more closer since they had the same interests in pokémon and related stuff. Plus they were both guys…

 

“I don’t get why she would run away from home, all the way in Hoenn, to meet me though,” Ash said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. “And it’s not like I’m anything special or anything.”

 

Norman sighed. “Well, we don’t have exactly the best family life.” Thinking about it, it was pretty strange. “My wife and I are separated, but we still live together. She’s more of an aunt to the kids, especially since she’s not motherly or feels comfortable being a mother to anyone. Neither May nor Max have really had a normal life because of this, or a real motherly presence. And I get busy with my gym leader position too, so that doesn’t help. And with May and I never really having anything in common and it being so hard to connect with her, that makes things harder with her.”

 

“I see,” she looked despondent and it didn’t look right. He wanted her to smile again, like she had before. But she suddenly looked curious. “Max?”

 

“Right! I have a son as well, named Max. He’s currently attending a school here, in Kanto.”

 

Ash’s eyes lit up and Norman wondered what caused that reaction. She started to grab something in her pocket, which turned out to be her phone. After a few clicks, she eagerly showed him her screen.

 

“Is this him?”

 

And Norman was caught off guard to see his son happily next to Ash in the picture, eyes bright and blushing slightly as Ash hugged the small boy to her and gave a peace sign.

 

“You met him?” he asked. He hadn’t expected this turn of events.

 

“Yeah,” Ash nodded happily. “It wasn’t really too long ago either. We all made a stop at the Institute and met Max there. Sweet kid. A bit lonely though…”

 

He was ecstatic that she’d gotten to meet Max, and who apparently became good friends with her. And looking at the picture, he was glad it seemed Max looked happy in there and that he seemed to like Ash. He only wished, if Ash was right, that Max wasn’t so lonely…

 

“I should probably call him and check in with him,” Norman muttered.

 

“That’s great! He probably really misses you. Hey, we’ll probably go out to eat dinner before we set off. Do you want to join us to eat?” Ash asked thoughtfully.

 

“I don’t know,” Norman was pretty sure the others with her were pretty wary about his presence. “I don’t want to intrude.”

 

“You won’t,” she was sure.

 

“Maybe next time,” he agreed. “I only really wanted to ask if it was alright if I stick around you guys awhile, and wait for May to catch up and I can catch her, and hopefully take her home.”

 

“Of course! I would love to meet your daughter, and I definitely want to help you out,” Ash looked at him rather imploringly, and he couldn’t help but feel touched by her sincerity.

 

 

When she left, he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him and he could breathe easier.

 

They had been heading towards a nearby restaurant when Ash remembered she’d forgotten her jacket and it was getting cold.

 

“I can get it for you,” Brock volunteered, but Ash shook her head.

 

“It’s okay! I was the one who forgot, so I should get it. But thanks, Brock!”

 

They reluctantly let her go and Ash ran back to the jumbobus, where she immediately found her jacket on the first floor and had just been putting it on, where she heard something.

 

“N-Norman? Are you there?” she asked hesitantly.

 

When there was no answer, she turned to leave. However, she shrieked upon coming face to face with a transparent man.

 

“Wait, wait! Don’t panic, please!” the transparent man decked in blue rushed to say, but Ash was already running up the stairs.

 

“Noooormaaaan! There’s a ghooooost!” she screeched, and as soon as she reached the second floor, she ran into Norman.

 

He was startled to see her and to hear her screaming. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

 

She practically jumped onto him, blubbering something about…a ghost?

 

“What’s wrong?” he asked again.

 

“There’s a ghost out there! It was going to get me!” Ash pulled back and had wide eyes as she pointed back out the entrance.

 

“Ghost?” Norman tried not to sound so skeptical.

 

“Yes, there was a –”

 

“Please don’t be alarmed,” the transparent man was there.

 

Both of them took one look at the man, before screaming and taking off.

 

Sir Aaron sweatdropped and wished he’d been able to have a chance to explain. Perhaps he should have accounted for the fact the young lady seemed horribly afraid of ghost-like beings…

 

So while he’d been left behind, Norman was rushing in the direction of the restaurant, holding on tight to Ash and not letting go. He didn’t want to drop her after all. He slowed down once he was closer to the diner the rest said they were going to be in, and walked in and located them immediately. As he walked closer though, he began to realize that he’d made a grave mistake.

 

By the glares and especially the darkening eyes of Giovanni Rocketto (wasn’t he surprised the hugely renowned businessman had been there with the group, when Norman first saw everyone), Norman realized he’d carried Ash in and was still holding her tightly. Coughing awkwardly, he gently set her down, but she grabbed his hand and led him to the table.

 

Ash stared at everyone wide-eyed. “Guys, even our bus is haunted!”

 

“What?” Giovanni looked at her in confusion.

 

“There was a ghost! In the bus! But Norman saved me and brought me here,” she nodded surely, and though it put him in a good light, for some reason he thought it’d just made things worse for him.

 

“I’m glad he did,” the tall blond practically deadpanned.

 

“We haven’t introduced ourselves, have we?” the red head and only other female in the group mused aloud. “Ash did and so did Norman. Well hello, Norman. I’m Misty of the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City, also a gym leader trainee under my sisters.”

 

Unknown to the others, Giovanni and Lt. Surge had helped Misty understand her current position in the gym, so she wouldn’t end up fumbling about it when someone asked and end up embarrassing herself. She was rather grateful about it…

 

“I’m Brock!” the youngest male there greeted him. “I was the gym leader of the Pewter City Gym before I left and let my father take over my duties.”

 

“I’m Samuel Oakenshield,” a man who looked extremely familiar, said simply and with no other introduction.

 

“I’m Lucien,” the blond said next. “Gym leader of the Vermillion Gym. Current occupation: bodyguard,” he said meaningfully, glaring at Norman over the top of his sunglasses.

 

Norman shifted uncomfortably. Oh he got the other’s meaning alright…

 

Giovanni cleared his throat then, directing attention to himself. “I am Giovanni Rocketto, gym leader of the Viridian Gym, CEO and founder of Gio Corp., and Ash’s sugar daddy.” There was a decidedly very Sharpedo-like grin on his face.

 

His declaration caused a chain of reactions that resulted explosively. Misty spit out her club soda she’d just taken a sip of, Lt. Surge face palmed, Brock froze up and was almost ironically stone-like, and the Harem guys just stared in shock at the businessman. As Norman gaped idiotically at the businessman, Ash blinked and looked at Giovanni curiously.

 

“What’s a sugar daddy?” she asked, making everyone look at her in alarm.

 

However, Giovanni grinned more widely. “It’s a slang term for a man who supports a younger companion financially and materially, usually getting favors in return. You know, like that time in Lavender Town or in Aopulco…”

 

Ash nodded in understanding. “Ah, I see. Well, I guess that does make you my sugar daddy.”

 

Norman glanced at her and Giovanni with eyes wide, back to being unsure as to what he’d stumbled onto.

 

“In any case, I’m going to go up to the front and order, so I don’t have to wait. Norman, you want to come with me?” Ash asked, just as her stomach started growling loudly, causing her to laugh sheepishly.

 

“Sure,” Norman said before he could stop himself. He felt the glares at his back, but when he looked there was a normal, smiling group (although Giovanni’s smile looked extremely threateningly for some reason, and Lt. Surge’s looked feral).

 

He nervously headed away with Ash, leaving the group.

 

“You’re horrible,” Misty said at once, when the two others had left. She gave Giovanni the stink eye. “I can’t believe you did that. Ugh, really? ‘Sugar daddy?’”

 

“Never mind just that,” Oak pinched the bridge of his nose. “Labeling yourself that on your own, fine. I deducted your motive quickly. But involving Ash? You know how she is. She’s really going to think you’re her sugar daddy.”

 

Giovanni raised an eyebrow. “Better corroboration.”

 

“Despite the fact she didn’t know and still doesn’t really know what a sugar daddy really is?” Oak rolled his eyes sarcastically. “You know she’s going to be spouting that out to everyone, when they ask about you?”

 

Giovanni waved him off. “Makes it an easier sell. And I wasn’t exactly lying –I do support her financially and materially, and there were clear examples of that in Lavender Town and in Aopulco.”

 

Lt. Surge snickered. “Yeah, just manipulate the explanation to exclude the exact connotations of a sugar daddy and what type of favors are usually implied. That was well done manipulation –misconstrue things so that Ash will agree with you because it sounded true enough.”

 

“Why did you introduce yourself completely? I thought we were going with the semi-anonymous route,” Giovanni directed towards Lt. Surge, causing the others to wonder what they were talking.

 

“Looks like he’s sticking around awhile, so it’ll probably get out on who I am anyway,” Lt. Surge shrugged. “Might as well get it out now and introduce myself like the others. What’s with your long title?”

 

“Intimidation factor.”

 

They all sighed in exasperation at him, when they heard hurried footsteps and saw Ash coming towards them, with Norman in tow.

 

“Guys, guys, they have blueberry pie!” Ash said excitedly. “I wonder if Colress would have liked some.”

 

“Who is this Colress she keeps mentioning?” Misty muttered, while Giovanni’s lips twitched into a frown briefly.

 

“I’m sure he would,” Giovanni said neutrally, while patting the seat next to him. “Come along, Ash. Why don’t you sit here?”

 

She did sit next to him, but Norman unfortunately sat next to her. He was going to ignore that, when her stupid pokédex started to talk.

 

“Giovanni Rocketto, class Sugar Daddy, equipped with a silver tongue, loads of cash, and expensive taste. Tends to stalk after little girls named Ash. Level 65,” Mustang said snarkily.

 

Giovanni was ready to steal that thing and toss it into the ocean, hopefully never to be seen again. Meanwhile, Brock yanked at his short hair in annoyance.

 

“Really? Giovanni, that thing’s classified you at least three times and you always get a high level too! You’re either a level 56 ephebophiliac, a level 68 Mafioso, and now a level 65 Sugar Daddy!”
 

That just caused their newest member to look at Giovanni even more strangely.

 

“That’s not nice, Roy,” Ash looked at her pokédex with a frown. “Just because Giovanni’s half-Italian, doesn’t mean you can stereotype him as a Mafioso.”

 

The group sweatdropped, though they were glad she didn’t ask what an ephebophiliac meant again, except they certainly were exasperated at her accepting the whole ‘sugar daddy’ thing.

 

“How come Mustang hasn’t insulted Norman yet, or Lucien even?” Oak asked with a frown.

 

“Or for that matter, you,” Misty pointed, glaring at him as she remembered her own ‘classification.’

 

“Samuel ‘Oakenshield’, class Dwarf. Suffers from a certain type of gold sickness revolving around a certain girl. Level 51,” Mustang said succinctly, causing the others to glance at Oak and wonder about implications, while Oak scowled outright and regretted programming the damn thing to be equipped with a sort of AI function. “Norman Maple, class Normal,” that made everyone glare at him, because he got something so ‘normal’ and okay. But then Mustang continued. “Known to be usually boring and awkward, borderline pathetically so. Extreme normalness may hide extreme freaky fetishes however. Level 43.”

 

At everyone’s suspicious glares and straight after the pokédex’s insulting categorizing, Norman’s jaw dropped and he looked nervously at the others, holding up his hands.

 

“N-no! Definitely not true at all!” What kind of pokédex was that thing?

 

“You’re still missing,” Misty accused Lt. Surge, who smirked slightly.

 

“The night Ash slept over my house, I found her pokédex and programmed my number. Let’s just say it attempted to insult me then,” Lt. Surge was definitely smirking then.

 

“What did it say?” Brock was curious now, seeing as everyone else had been insulted and were known what Mustang had to say about them.

 

“I stopped it from saying anything,” Lt. Surge said smugly.

 

“How’d you do that?” Misty inwardly seethed.

 

“I threatened to spill my water all over it,” the blond was ready to lord it over the others.

 

“It’s waterproofed,” Oak deadpanned, informing them all.

 

…

 

“Lieutenant Lucien Surge, class Rambo Wannabe. Well-versed in the art of Meathead no Jutsu. Level 57.”

 

“Son of a –!” Lt. Surge twitched and reached over to grab the pokédex from Ash, but she moved her wrist away quickly.

 

“Haha, come on, guys! I’m sure Roy’s…just teasing,” Ash said weakly, though she wasn’t so sure her pokédex was. “Er, Roy, are you insulting me when you call me a ‘jailbait?’” she couldn’t help asking.

 

The group broke out into a clamor, however Giovanni merely reached out and grabbed her wrist gently, easily removing the pokédex and then pressing a few buttons. Everyone blinked at him.

 

“I, painstakingly I might add, asked that friend of yours –Bill –how to mute this thing. It’s fine, Ash, don’t worry about it. Let’s just enjoy the dinner that’s about to be served,” he said smoothly and everyone gave a sigh of relief.

 

“Smooth operator, this guy,” Misty muttered under her breath, though she acknowledged how useful that was.

 

“I still don’t get why no one will tell me what a jailbait is,” Ash was being stubborn.

 

Giovanni quickly cut in before everyone could start to panic again. “It means you’re the type of person anyone would be willing to go to jail for.”

 

 

Oh yeah, this guy was real smooth…

 

They headed back to their jumbobus, in which Ash refused to go in until they’d checked it was safe and ghost-free. When they gave the okay, Ash reluctantly came in and they started their ride and started to drive off.

 

“Looks like we ditched those three ghost pokémon too,” Misty noted, looking around and seeing no sign of the Gengar, Haunter, or Ghastly trio that had been following them for a bit.

 

Lt. Surge, Giovanni, and Oak held up their pants, just as three invisible beings attempted to pull their pants down. They had annoyed looks on their faces that said it all.

 

“Nope,” Misty took it back, realizing she’d spoken too early. “Looks like they’re still here. Will they quit that?”

 

“I don’t think so,” Brock said. “I think it’s their favorite prank.”

 

Ash, having covered her eyes, peeked through her fingers. “Is it safe?”

 

“We’re still decent,” Lt. Surge grumbled, and she let her hands fall from her eyes, while Ghastly, Gengar, and Haunter laughed it up and floated upwards, going through the ceiling and probably gone to hang around the top deck.

 

“I’d like to interject,” the ‘ghost’ from before appeared amongst the group. “But please don’t panic!” he hurried to say as he saw everyone start to freak out, especially Ash.

 

“What is with this place?” Brock didn’t get all the supernatural stuff or why they were stuck with facing it all. Their luck must be screwed up or something.

 

“We’re getting out of here! Don’t worry! We’ll speed up!” the Harem driver yelled from the front.

 

The transparent man cleared his throat. “Hello, I am Sir Aaron,” he introduced himself. “I don’t know how I’m here or why, but I do know that –due to her,” he pointed to Ash, “I was drawn from my resting place in Lavender Town, where I had been for a while because of the rise of spiritual energy in the area, and then drawn to her. Most probably because of the Aura I can feel from her, which is not only very strong, but also like my own.”

 

And just like that, forgetting he was ‘ghost-like’, Ash became curious. “Oh, you have Aura too?”

 

She then drew him into a discussion about it, making the others become exasperated at her one-tracked and very easily distracted mind. Then again, Aura wasn’t a usual thing, so to have someone not only knowledgeable about it but also capable of using it, they could see how that made one preoccupied.

 

“So where are we heading?” Norman asked them, starting to get a little used to what was apparently a common thing in this group, attracting all sorts of strangeness.

 

“Celadon City,” Giovanni answered him. “Ash would probably want to try for her next badge.”

 

“You know, it’s been awhile since Ash has really caught any pokémon,” Oak mused, thinking about Ash’s journey now. “A lot of things have been getting in the way, and I’m sure traveling like this doesn’t help.”

 

All of a sudden, the atmosphere of the place seemed to become heavy and oppressive and they looked at Ash, who was in a corner with her head hanging and her hunched over herself, dismally tracing shapes on the floor. Poor Sir Aaron looked worried and befuddled, hanging around the suddenly miserable girl.

 

“It’s a fact, Ash,” Oak said with amusement. “No need to get depressed.”

 

“I love this bus, but I hate this bus,” Ash said in a miserable tone. “It’s great travel. But I can’t catch pokémon all the time!”

 

“We’ll stop off somewhere and camp for the day and night, and let you go crazy, alright?” the professor laughed at her. “You’re as dramatic as ever. You’ll be dramatic even when you’re 80 years old, I bet.”

 

She gave him a sheepish grin. “Probably?”

 

“In any case, we can have a picnic then,” Brock suggested. “I’ll get things ready!”

 

He began to order around the rest of the Harem guys and then headed for the kitchenette.

 

“Well, we know who’s the matriarch of this dysfunctional family,” Lt. Surge smirked.

 

“Who’s the patriarch then?” Norman couldn’t help sarcastically tacking on.

 

The blond made an obvious glance at Giovanni, who noticed and gave a terrifying glare.

 

 

Honestly, Norman had to reiterate (in his head, of course –he’d like to live a little longer) that he really had no idea what he’d gotten himself into.

 

“What in the world is she doing?”

 

Oak glanced over to where Giovanni was looking in dumbfounded incredulity. Ash, holding a basket filled with onigiri she helped make, was carefully placing it around the clearing she was in. It instantly clicked to what she was doing, since she’d done a similar thing when she was younger…in his lab.

 

“Ash, you have pokémon now,” Oak withheld in a sigh. “You don’t need to bribe pokémon to come to you.”

 

On second thought…

 

“It’s helpful, I suppose. Having bait,” Oak thought about it. “But where’s your pokémon so you can battle the ones you want to catch?”

 

Ash, from all the way from where she was at, pointed to where Oak was, and he looked around. Pikachu was lounging lazily by the sun in a cozy chair that seemed made for him, Espeon was taking a “cat” nap next to him with Cubone curiously poking at her, and Milotic and Seviper were both conversing with the excitable Eevee and Krabby about something.

 

“It’s okay,” Ash reassured him with a cheesy grin and thumbs up. “They’re resting! I got this handled.”

 

“What do you mean handled?!” Giovanni stepped in. “You have to have pokémon to fight off the wild ones and catch them!”

 

Ash just hummed happily and sat down, seeming to look like she was now going to wait for the bait to work. Skeptical, Giovanni was going to go over and make sure she was alright, or at least bully her pokémon into helping her and not currently be on a vacation, when pokémon did indeed start coming and had gone on to nibble happily on the onigiri that were laid out. And Ash, without battling and using reflexes that still amazed him (really, that chopstick thing from before at the school still brought him off-kilter), began rapidly throwing out pokéballs at an amazing speed.

 

“If you want more food, stay in your pokéballs~” she sing-songed, though he could swear there was a hint of derangeness.

 

It might be just his imagination, but as much as Giovanni was fond of Ash…he had to admit she was a rather strange girl.

 

“Are you pouting, Giovanni?” Lt. Surge asked, and he looked to see everyone around staring at him.

 

He glowered at them, though he hadn’t realized he had been pouting in the first place. He gave them one last glare before he started to inwardly pout instead, sulking about it all. If only Ash was a Team Rocket agent…Watching her catch the pokémon the way she was doing so, he would have a higher success rate. Not that Team Rocket was doing badly, despite some individuals’ incompetence.

 

He had a good business going on already, even with certain failures costing him, but if Ash joined him…

 

“This isn’t fair,” he muttered, watching what (or rather who) could be a gateway for his team’s absolute success in the world. And she was just within reach of his fingertips.

 

“Ash, take a break and come eat,” Brock called out, wearing a satisfied look after all his hard work.

 

“Okay!”

 

But just as she sat with the others, a Mankey came up to her and sniffed at the onigiri she held and was about to eat. Ash blinked and then held it out, and the Mankey grabbed it from her.

 

“You can have some more if you stay with me,” she held out another onigiri, smiling slyly.

 

The Mankey tilted its head and then finished off what was left of the one it had, before holding its hands out for the second one. Ash tossed it at the Mankey and then tapped its head gently with a pokéball after it had caught the snack.

 

“This is not fair!”

 

And for a moment, Giovanni thought he had actually blurted that out. But then he looked over and saw Oak face palming, and was relieved that he hadn’t acted out.

 

But it truly wasn’t fair and he was debating on creating a side-project that explored the crazy mess that was Ash Ketchum.