Pokémon Bananza II

 

It was unholy and unfair, but they put it behind them as they focused on food. Ash released her newly caught pokémon and set up their food, with the help of the Harem guys.

 

And then everyone realized that all of her pokémon were out and were released from their pokéballs.

 

“Impossible,” Oak gaped. “Since her pokédex wouldn’t transfer her pokémon to the lab unless she went to a Pokécenter, or as Bill added that extra transfer feature on it, all of those pokémon should have stayed in their pokéballs as those end up locked.”

 

Ash looked up musingly, petting the Weedle by her feet as she kneeled by it.

 

“Must be that extra, special feature Bill mentioned he added and that I would find out about after I caught some more pokémon,” she grinned as she remembered.

 

“Oh, that guy is useful,” Brock bemoaned, even as he resented the remembrance of Bill.

 

“Is this legal?” Lt. Surge whispered to Oak as Ash and the Harem guys continued to feed the multitude of pokémon she just caught. “I mean…I don’t think you’re allowed to have more than 6 in your party, right?”

 

Giovanni wanted to know this too. He especially wanted to know this.

 

After all, if he had to, he needed to get ready to quickly set up Ash’s legal defense and be able to pin all the blame on Bill. He also wouldn’t mind finding out if he could use this to his own benefit…

 

“Well, technically, I don’t think so,” though Oak sounded dubious. “The technology’s never been done and Ash does have 6 pokémon in her party…She just has a whole bunch of other pokémon traveling with her. As long as she has a set pokémon party and doesn’t extend her party to include more, unless she trades one for the other –”

 

“Which was made so much more easier now that she has them practically within arm’s reach,” Giovanni watched the spectacle with amazement.

 

“I say we have a do-over with Bill and make nice,” Misty declared.

 

“Eat your food!” Brock glowered at them. “We have to hurry to Celadon City.” If he was annoyed, it was because Bill had smugly inserted himself into the atmosphere, creating trouble even when he wasn’t even there.

 

He couldn’t stand that man.

 

After a little while, they rested before they were to set off. Ash returned all but her normal party and the Mankey into their pokéballs. Currently, she was playing tag with it, trying to catch it and get her hat back, while Mankey enjoyed running away and wearing the cap. And then Team Rocket got involved.

 

Giovanni was quick to stay at the portable table, engaging a newspaper and hiding behind it. There was no way he wanted any part of this or acknowledge those three, who he could see firsthand were simply idiots. Loyal idiots, he knew, but still idiots.

 

After all, they’re the ones who had the gall to piss off the Mankey, who chased them all around before he finally evolved and then made them ‘blast off again.’

 

“Good boy,” Ash giggled and patted new Primeape’s head. “That’ll keep those silly trio away awhile. Hopefully.”

 

 

Everyone there doubted that.

 

Steven wanted to face palm at himself. As it turned out, Ash had ended up going to Lavender Town and he’d missed her. Thankfully, she was now heading to Celadon City and would be arriving soon. He’d already been in the city for like two days, and had finished up his press conference, his sales bid, and was now free to do whatever he wanted. Which, he hoped, included free time with Ash.

 

“Sir, the reservation at the restaurant has been made. Is there anything else you’d like for us to do?” one of his employees asked him.

 

“No, thank you,” Steven said cheerily. “You’re free to do as you will until it’s time to leave Celadon. Whenever that will be.”

 

The man nodded and left. By now, he and the others had caught on to the fact that their employer was determinedly pursuing a girl…romantically and physically. So, to city to city they were probably going to go, following after this girl as their boss attempted to woo her over.

 

It was probably going to be a very long Devon Corp. product tour.

 

Similarly, another person was having horrible luck. As Steven missed Ash in Lavender Town, May was lost and wasn’t sure where to go. The Jolteon by her side had kept her safe and protected, viciously keeping wild pokémon away, and making her wonder about his pokémon trainer. The gym leader must be scary…

 

She made it from Vermillion to Lavender Town, and had taken up temporary residence with a man named Mr. Fuji, who had been kind enough to allow her to stay with him and the abandoned pokémon under his care.

 

And then she was hearing how there had been a crazy bus in town not too long ago, as gossiped by the volunteers, and that a girl named Ash had been responsible for it. Hearing that, May groaned and traded looks with Jolteon.

 

 

She had a feeling that had been the Ash she was crazily chasing, and it sucked she’d just missed her.

 

It was beginning to get dark by the time they reached Celadon City, but they made it and Giovanni once again paid for their rooms. They were a large group anyway, and would take up all the space in the Pokémon Center. They might as well stay at an actual hotel

 

After settling in, those with pokémon headed to the Pokémon Center, though Ash’s ‘haul’ had to be distributed amongst them, since there were so many. Once inside the Pokémon Center though, Nurse Joy looked rather overwhelmed.

 

“Sorry, sorry!” Ash bowed several times, feeling bad about giving more work to the Celadon Nurse Joy.

 

“It’s alright,” the nurse smiled and held up her hands in a placating manner. “It’s my job after all.”

 

Still, Ash felt bad about having Celadon Joy do so much.

 

“Ash, don’t worry about it,” Lt. Surge grinned reassuringly. “Nurse Joy loves taking care of pokémon. She told you, after all, that –” the blond man was caught off guard as suddenly he was doused with water, and the Haunter haunting them appeared above his head, cackling loudly.

 

Lt. Surge twitched.

 

However, Ash started to giggle, even as she tried her best to keep it all in. But then Haunter floated over to her and started making strange faces. Ghastly and Gengar appeared next, and Gengar was bouncing Ghastly off of Haunter’s head. That was the last straw and Ash burst into laughter.

 

“See? Even those three clowns think you should lighten up,” Oak gave her a tongue-in-cheek look.

 

Norman smiled at her kindly, starting to feel like he was settling into the group a bit. “You should listen to everyone. Don’t worry too much.”

 

Feeling sheepish, Ash gave everyone an apologetic look as she rubbed the back of her head.

 

“Let’s go back to the hotel,” Misty suggested. “Ash, you should get ready for your next gym battle. I think the gym leader’s name is Erika?”

 

“Correct,” Oak affirmed. “She’s a grass-type trainer, so Ash, you’ll need to think which pokémon of yours can do battle against hers, or at least have a strategy prepared.”

 

Ash nodded determinedly, when Celadon Joy came back with her main party pokémon, though she looked extremely worried.

 

“Here you go, Ash!” Joy handed over the pokémon to her, while Pikachu happily climbed onto the trainer. Similar things happened for the others as they got their pokémon back, but Celadon Joy still looked worried and Ash couldn’t help but feel anxious as well.

“Is something wrong, Nurse Joy?” she blurted out, causing the others to notice as well.

 

Taken aback that Ash had noticed her state, Celadon Joy gave a small smile to the girl.

 

“We recently received a Charmander here, from one of the Pokémon Centers on the outskirt routes,” she started out. “He needed to be transferred to somewhere with more staff and better equipment to suit his needs, but he’s extremely weak and sick. Part of it is that he doesn’t want to get better and has no will or motivation, starting from how this all began –when his trainer abandoned him and left him on a rock, where he’d refused to leave and had waited for a long time for his trainer to come back. Eventually he got ill, and made worse when he got rained on. The poor Charmander’s been sick since.”

 

Abandoned. The word echoed in Ash’s head and she felt herself dip into a huge low of emotions. She barely said thanks and give a small smile back to the nurse, before she was being ushered out of the Pokécenter and heading back to the hotel. Her good cheer had disappeared already, and she began to feel listless. Though she hid it well (one of the subjects she was usually able to hide how she felt about), Oak had known her for a long time and could see that she wasn’t actually okay.

 

 

But Ash had already separated from them, claiming being tired, and escaped to her room once they’d gotten into the hotel.

 

Laying unhappily on her bed, her pokémon had gathered around her. Krabby, like was usual with the water pokémon, was gurgling and clamping onto her hair, excitedly just handling it with his claws. Pikachu had snuggled up to her chest, letting her hold him while she messed around with her phone. The others milled about in the room, exploring, and Ash tried not to let her thoughts wander as well.

 

She sent a text to Colress, inquiring about him and his latest project, before debating about texting Steven as well. He had asked her, while she’d been on the road, how long until she made it to Celadon City, and she had told him she wouldn’t be long. Maybe she should text him that she was there already? She decided that it would be okay, and sent a quick text. She was surprised by his fast response, as it was only a few moments later that he sent back a reply.

 

Great! Where are you staying at?

 

Furrowing her eyebrows, she text him the hotel only to stare blankly at his next reply.

 

Be by soon then~ Wear a dress!

 

She stared at it some more before she jumped off the bed and screeched, rushing to her backpack. She didn’t have a dress! Except for the fancy one Sabrina had got for her. And what did he mean ‘be by soon’? Well, of course she knew he meant he was coming over, but why! What for?

 

And why a dress?!

 

In a panic, she rushed to get ready, taking a rapid shower and then tossing on the red dress from Sabrina. Even though she’d already worn it before (and in front of Steven at that), she didn’t really have anything else.

 

Wait, what was she getting ready for? Why was she getting ready?

 

She kind of just panicked and started getting ready, once she’d processed his text. But she didn’t really have to, right? She didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything if she didn’t want to. Then again…Steven had gone to all this trouble, and she kind of wanted to go out and do something to forget the mood she was in.

 

Sighing to herself, she started to hurriedly brush her hair, before there was knocking on her door. Panicking at the thought that Steven had already reached her, she ran to the door and threw it open. She was relieved to see it was only Oak.

 

“Sam! Is there something wrong?” she asked, opening the door wider. She finished with her hair and tossed her brush to the side, not even paying attention to where it landed.

 

He gave her a grim smile. “I noticed you weren’t feeling too happy earlier, and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

 

She gave him a soft smile and stepped forward, hugging him tightly. He’d always been considerate of her, and it had always made her feel warm and happy.

 

“I’m okay,” she mumbled against him, though she wasn’t sure if that was all true. “At least I think so. For now.”

 

Oak wrapped his own arms around her and squeezed gently. “You know you’re always welcome to come to me and talk about it, alright? Now enough seriousness! Why on earth are you all dressed up?”

 

She took a step back and blushed, chuckling lightly. “Ah, well, apparently I have a dinner date,” she explained, not meaning to imply it was an actual date. She wasn’t even thinking of it like that. It was a simple dinner date.

 

Even if Steven had meant for it to be as a ‘date’ (not that she knew or understood his meaning).

 

Oak made an odd face for a second, before smiling at her. It was a little off, but she didn’t question it.

 

“Steven?”

 

“You know, the Steven I told you about,” Ash shrugged. “The one from Saffron, and who I met back at Giovanni’s theme park.”

 

Oak knew who she was talking about, but it was starting to get too coincidental that he was showing up everywhere she was going to. And the fact he kept looking for and finding Ash, and was now currently taking her out to dinner…

 

“Oh, I think I should leave now and wait for him downstairs,” Ash said anxiously, catching sight of the time.

 

“I’ll escort you down,” Oak said, pushing aside his misgivings and agitation.

 

Ash gave a little cheer and grabbed onto Oak’s hand, pulling him behind her as she led the way to the lobby. On the way there, Ash received a text from Steven saying he was there and she started to move along a little faster. Oak frowned, but said nothing about it.

 

They were quick to find the young man she was meeting, but Oak hadn’t known or thought that it would be Steven Stone, of all people, that she had meant as the Steven she’d been talking to all this time.

 

“Ash, over here!” he called out, and Ash was dragging him over to the other.

 

Steven’s grin faltered at his appearance, but came back in full force.

 

“Hey! It’s great to see you again, Ash,” though he glanced at Oak questioningly.

 

“Sam Oakenshield,” Oak held out his hand, smiling politely. “I’m Ash’s friend. You’re Steven Stone, right?”

 

“Correct!” Steven answered, taking Oak’s hand and shaking it. “I’m currently heading a product tour around Kanto, so I’m traveling city to city, town to town. I met Ash at a demo.”

 

Ash tilted her head to the side, looking clueless. Oak inwardly sighed.

 

“Ash, sweetie, this is Steven Stone –Hoenn Champion and heir to Devon Corporation,” he explained patiently, and Ash looked at him while her mouth slowly formed an ‘o.’

 

She grimaced and looked at Steven apologetically. “Geez, I’m sorry. I really had no idea who you were.”

 

Steven shook his head, lightly smiling. “No, it’s quite alright. I hadn’t minded and actually enjoyed that you hadn’t recognized me. But I suppose it’s better you find out now rather than later. Anonymity is quite rare for me though, so I should actually thank you for not recognizing me.”

 

Ash laughed lightly, while Oak scrutinized the other. Even with the reveal of just who this Steven was, it still hadn’t deterred his agitated feelings. Honestly, he wasn’t quite sure what to make or do with the upset feelings he was having, in regards to Ash going out with someone. Especially a male someone…

 

“We should get going,” Steven said suddenly, directing towards Ash.

 

“Oh, yeah, okay!” Ash nodded enthusiastically. She turned to Oak. “I’ll be gone for a bit! Tell the others for me please! I don’t want them to get upset and think I went missing. Bye, Sam!”

 

 

Oak mustered up a small smile for her benefit, dropping it when the two was out of sight.

 

Ash glanced at Steven as they were seated at a table in the nice restaurant he’d brought her to. She felt bad for not recognizing him, but at least it had made him glad for some reason.

 

“Char! Char Charmander,” she heard, and she looked to the side and saw a trainer with auburn hair talking to a waitress before leaving.

 

“Come on, Zippo!” she heard him say.

 

Her heart ached as she remembered the Charmander stuck in the Pokémon Center, and her morose mood from earlier came back. Steven was quick to notice and reached out across the table to hold her hand.

 

“Is something the matter?” he asked softly.

 

She gave him a quivering smile, because she couldn’t help but feel like she wanted to cry.

 

“Ash?” he looked concerned.

 

“Daddy, please take me with you!”

 

One after the other, tears leaked down her face and Ash started crying. She buried her hands in her face and felt embarrassed and ashamed, and couldn’t believe she just erupted into tears out of nowhere, in front of Steven like this.

 

 

But she felt lean arms come around her, and in front of everyone in that restaurant, Ash cried her heart out and Steven comforted her.

 

Steven had taken her out of the restaurant and they were now walking in the cold streets. She shivered, but she hadn’t remembered to bring a jacket as she rushed out of her hotel room.

 

“You’re cold,” Steven noted. “I should have noticed. I apologize,” he said as he took off his own jacket and placed it around her.

 

She blushed. “No, it’s alright. Thanks for the jacket though.”

 

He nodded before glancing at her hesitantly. “If you don’t mind me asking…is there something bothering you? I hope I didn’t do anything to upset you.”

 

Ash shook her head, and started to remember the past again, before forcibly thinking about Steven and what was going on now.

 

“I was just thinking of sad things,” she said honestly, if completely vague.

 

He smiled understandingly at her and didn’t push. Instead, he grabbed her hand and ran down the sidewalk.

                                                                                                                  

“Come on! We still have to eat!”

 

And he managed to drag her all the way down the street to a hotdog stand, where he bought two of them before he was dragging her away again. This time, they ended up at the park and sat on the bench.

 

Well…they were sitting at the top of the bench rather than the seats. Still, she was amazed at how Steven managed to sit there comfortably, especially in a cross-legged position.

 

“You know…the stars are shining tonight,” he said suddenly and she focused in on him, taking a huge bite out of her hotdog. He turned to face her, giving her a wide grin. “I think they’re trying to tell you something.”

 

“What’s that?” she asked curiously, polishing off her hotdog. Geez, she hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been.

 

Steven laughed a bit, his eyes twinkling. “That you should smile. You’re not shining as much as them, like you usually do. So get that twinkle back, Pokémon Master-to-be! We’ve got some shopping to do!”

 

“S-shopping?” Ash gaped unashamedly at him, confused where that had come from.

 

“You’re wearing the same dress the last time I met you, so I’m just guessing, but you don’t have any other dresses, right? Let’s go!” his own hotdog was finished off, and then he had her in hand again.

 

 

Ash didn’t protest, and for at least then, the memories of the past seemed far away.

 

She entered her room, feeling much better than she had earlier. Only, as soon as she stepped through, she was tripped and then she felt a cold slithering body wrap around her, the door shutting ominously behind her. She saw her pokémon gathered around, glaring at her.

 

“Pika! Pika Pika Pikachu!” Pikachu stomped up to her and bopped her head, giving her an irritated look.

 

Quickly getting it, Ash gave them all a nervous laugh.

 

“Ah, come on, guys. I’m sorry?”

 

Apparently they were all agitated that she’d left suddenly and for so long.

 

“You’re right, I’m horrible,” she pouted. “But I was distracted. And I’m spacey when I get distracted by something.” That really did happen way too much for her liking. She’d have to find some way to get over that.

 

“Pika Pi,” Pikachu wagged a finger at her, giving her one last glare, before signaling for Seviper to let her up.

 

Ash smiled and shook her head, sitting up and opening her arms wide in invitation. Her pokémon practically jumped onto her, nearly causing her to fall back. She managed to steady herself at last minute, hugging them all.

 

“I really am sorry, guys,” she murmured. “But you guys are the best.”

 

She wished she could care for that poor Charmander, like she cared for her pokémon and they cared for her. She understood abandonment.

 

 

Ash never wanted anyone to feel like that.

 

“So, has anyone seen Ash? I haven’t seen her since yester –Woah! You guys look horrible,” Misty stared at the group of men that were sitting and trying to have breakfast in the hotel’s banquet hall.

 

Lt. Surge glared at her. “No, we haven’t seen her since yesterday either. Since she left to have dinner with that Steven Stone.” The blond then briefly glowered at Oak, before viciously stabbing a sausage with his fork and tearing a bite out of it.

 

Oak, himself, looked irritable, shoveling cereal into his mouth. She also managed to catch Giovanni’s mutter of “I can’t believe it’s been that Steven all this time…”

 

“Wait, what’s this about Steven Stone?” Misty asked, though hesitantly (not wanting to set them off), feeling lost.

 

Brock was the one who volunteered the information, though he too seemed agitated. Misty was caught up with the situation, and felt a headache coming on. If she had known, she would have forcibly tagged along with those two…

 

“Why’s everyone looking upset?” Norman’s voice cut in, and the group turned to face him, seeing him just approach them and looking like he’d just come from the hotel’s gym, a towel hanging around his neck.

 

“Ash went on a dinner date last night, so they’re being idiots,” Misty told him dryly, earning more glares from the others. “And apparently she’s not been seen this morning.”

 

“It wasn’t a date,” Oak said sharply. “Even if she called it that…” he muttered.

 

Ignoring the whole date part, even if it made him uneasy as well, Norman spoke up about the latter part.

 

“Actually, I saw Ash this morning before I went to the gym. She said she was going to go to the Pokémon Center and probably stick around. She’s probably still there now.”

 

That made everyone hurry to finish their foods, before they got to go back to their rooms and hurry to get ready. Once they’d all left, Misty sighed and sat down with her plate of pancakes, joined by a bemused Norman who got himself some waffles.

 

“I swear, the whole lot of you are like a pack of animals,” Misty griped.

 

 

Norman gave her a confused glance, pouring syrup onto his waffles. The group continued to be as strange as when he first met them.

 

Giovanni led the group over to the Pokémon Center, hoping to get there quickly and that Ash was still there in the first place. When they entered the Pokémon Center, Celadon Joy was quick to catch sight of them, which wasn’t too hard given their large group. She raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

 

“Is Ash here?” Giovanni smiled smoothly, striding forward. In truth though, he was feeling impatient and wanted to just demand answers.

 

“She’s in the back,” Celadon Joy informed them. “She’s been helping out, though she’s been mostly tending to that injured Charmander, which is helping me to focus on the other pokémon here and coming in.”

 

At that right moment, Ash happily walked into the Center’s main lobby, grinning in good cheer.

 

“Celly! I managed to get Charmander to willingly eat something! Should I get his medicine ready now?”

 

The men in the group gaped at her, while Misty snickered and sneakily took out her new camera, wanting to take a picture of Ash for remembrance, as well as one of the guys for blackmail for their stupid faces.

 

Giovanni couldn’t help it if his mind shut down at the sight of Ash, similarly to the time at Aopulco. She was wearing a Nurse Joy outfit, the uniform reaching a little above mid-thigh and showing a lot of her legs. And complete with a nurse’s hat, she looked completely adorable.

 

The other men were having similar thoughts, and all of them just looked plain silly standing there and staring.

 

“Oh! Hey, guys!” Ash finally noticed them. “What are you guys doing here?”

 

Giovanni gave her a strained smile, finally managing to gain back some control of the situation.

 

“We were looking for you. We hadn’t seen you since last night, so we wanted to make sure you weren’t in trouble.”

 

Ash shook her head. “I’m okay. I just wanted to help Nurse Joy a bit, especially with Charmander. I was thinking that I could put off focusing on the badge for a bit…I just really want Charmander to get better.”

 

He gave her a fond smile and nodded. They could all find things to busy themselves with in the city. He could probably drop by and see how the Game Corner business was doing as well…

 

“Whatever you want, dolcezza,” he reassured her.

 

She gave him a bright smile, and he certainly felt much better than he had when he’d found out about last night.

 

Soon enough, they let Ash be and she returned back to Charmander’s side. The fire-type gave her a disinterested glance, but she could tell he was warming up to her. She tenderly pet his head, and Pikachu climbed onto her, so he could talk to (well, more like ‘at’) Charmander about whatever it was he was saying.

 

“It’s time for your medicine, Charmander,” Ash murmured.

 

Though Charmander tensed, he didn’t run away and stared her down. She approached him and gently tilted his head up by placing her fingers under his chin.

 

“You’re a brave pokémon, you know that? Your owner should have cherished and loved you properly.”

 

Ash blinked back tears as she quickly gave Charmander his medicine, and he quietly scooted closer to her on his bed and nudged his head against her stomach. She slowly took him into her arms and buried her face against him, crying.

 

Turn back and look at me, please.

 

“Don’t go,” she said brokenly.

 

Why did he just go and leave her? Why did her father leave and not even turn back and look at her?

 

Why wasn’t he –

 

Her thoughts cut off as she felt a hand settle heavily onto her head. She sniffled and turned her head to face the person, looking up to see Norman smiling sadly at her.

 

For him, he hadn’t expected to see her looking so sad and crying in the back when he’d gone there to check on her, despite feeling something inside that said that she wasn’t feeling as cheery as she’d looked out there.

 

But he really hadn’t expected this.

 

“I wish someone would come fix me, so that whatever it was that was broken and made him leave would be fine and he’d come back,” she said miserably, looking up at him with teary eyes.

 

He shook his head slightly, smiling a little more as he pulled her into a hug.

 

“You don’t need any fixing, Ash Ketchum. You’re fine just the way you are.”

 

They stayed that way for a while, with Charmander silently in between them, Pikachu clutching onto his mistress’ head, and Ash breaking out into quiet sobs into his chest.