Advanced: A New Beginning

Chapter 3: Gary's Challenge

Out near the entrance to Route 1 at the path leading out to the route, two young six year olds were there waiting for Ash to show up. The first was a boy with auburn coloured hair that stuck up in spiked edges, black eyes and he was wearing a small black t-shirt along with light purple tracksuit pants and black runners while the other was a girl with long dark brown hair that hung down loosely, light brown eyes and she was wearing a light green sleeveless t-shirt, a short dark red skirt and light green socks with white sneakers that had a big red stripe along the middle; they were Gary Oak and Leaf Green respectively. Leaf was standing at the border between Pallet Town and Route 1, keeping an eye out for Ash while Gary was leaning against one of the trees with his arms crossed as he waited impatiently; he was tapping his foot against the ground as his patience was wearing thin. After a few seconds, Leaf could feel her own patience start to wear thin as she growled under her breath hearing Gary's foot rapidly hitting the ground before she turned to look at him with a glare. "Can you please stop doing that, Gary? I don't think that's helping us out very much." Leaf said firmly.

Gary turned his glance to see Leaf glaring at him and then he stood upright while keeping his arms crossed. "Well, sorry about that. But I'm starting to get impatient waiting for Ash to turn up. What could be taking him so long, anyway? He doesn't take this long to come here." Gary commented. Leaf just shook her head at Gary's response and turned her head back to the border so she could keep a look out for Ash. After about a few seconds, Leaf showed a bright smile as she could see someone coming closer into view.

"I think that's Ash! He's finally here!" Leaf happily cheered. Gary showed an expression of surprise hearing this and walked over so he could have a look for himself. Sure enough, there was Ash running over with May and Max beside him. Once the three arrived, they stopped to catch their breath while Ash looked up at the two with a smile. "Hey, Ash! You're here. We didn't think you were going to show up." Leaf said.

"Yeah, that took you long enough. What kept you held up?" Gary asked. Ash shot Gary a glare at this remark before he looked back over at Leaf and showed a bright smile.

"Yeah, sorry I took a while to get here. I was just visiting two new friends who had arrived today." Ash replied. He then looked over at May and Max who stepped forward to show themselves to the two. Gary and Leaf both stared at May and Max in surprise, wondering who they were before Ash stepped forward to do the introductions. "I'd like you both to meet May and Max. May, Max, these two are my friends, Leaf and Gary." Ash explained, looking over at May and Max and then looking back at Leaf and Gary.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you." May simply said, waving with a smile. "Well, it's really nice to meet you both too! I'm guessing that you and Max are siblings, right?" Leaf asked. May happily nodded in agreement; Max was indeed her little brother. "Wow, you're so lucky to have a little brother. And one that's as cute as Max! I've always wondered what it would be like for me if I had a sibling of my own." Leaf commented. She then darted her eyes over at Gary with a sneaky smile as she added "Then again, the closest I have to one right now is Gary."

That didn't seem to sit well with Gary because he showed a glare and crossed his arms, unamused with Leaf's snarky remark. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Well, you do have the tendency to really get on my nerves. Plus, you won't stop calling me a certain name that you know I don't like." Leaf replied. Gary stared in silence before he showed a big smile as he quickly figured out what name Leaf was talking about. "What, you mean Leafy?" he then asked.

Leaf then immediately frowned at the mention of that name and then she walked over to Gary with an expression of irritation. "What did I just tell you?! Don't call me that! You know I don't like it!" Leaf snapped. Gary took a few steps back listening to Leaf's outburst, but then he stood back upright as he retorted "Well, you are the one who brought it up in the first place, aren't you?" Leaf was silent for a few moments before she crossed her arms and looked down at the ground with a scowl, groaning to herself in dismay; she had a feeling that she walked right into that one.

Ash and May were both watching this little argument, and May was staring in surprise while Ash simply showed a nervous smile as this was nothing new for him. "What's up with Gary and Leaf?" May asked, as she and Ash both looked at each other. "Oh, don't worry, May. This is a normal thing for those two. They drive each other crazy, but they also really enjoy having fun together." Ash explained. May slowly nodded in understanding, but she couldn't help watching this scene in concern. Gary and Leaf then turned their glances back to the other three with their argument now settled with.

"Don't mind Leaf. She doesn't have any idea what she's talking about." Gary said pointing to Leaf standing beside him. That didn't sit well with Leaf because she looked over at Gary with a frown and snapped "Hey!" while Gary simply showed a smug smile. May and Max both stared in silence while Ash let out a small sigh and slowly shook his head; what was he going to do about them?

After that was over with, Leaf turned her glance back to Ash, May and Max and a smile returned to her face. "So then, guys. What game would you like to play first? I'm going to choose my personal favourite, Hide and Seek." Leaf said. Gary was listening to this and looked down to think scratching his chin for a few moments. He then looked over at May who was happily agreeing with Leaf.

"That sounds like a great idea! I love playing Hide and Seek! Which one of us should look for the others while they hide?" May asked. Just then, a sneaky smile came to Gary's face as he had an idea; an idea for something that he would like to try with May. He figured that if she and Max were the newcomers, they would need some kind of...initiation. And he had a few ideas of what to include in it. So with this, before Leaf could speak up, Gary stepped forward to have his own say in the matter.

"It's funny you should mention that, Leaf, because I just suddenly realised something that I didn't remember until now." Gary said. Leaf turned her glance to Gary and Ash, May and Max all looked over at him wondering what he was talking about. "You see, everyone, since May and Max had just arrived here today, I figured that they might need some kind of proper welcome into Kanto." Gary explained.

Leaf rolled her eyes while Gary was talking; she had a feeling that she knew what he was getting at this. "Oh, great... Is this another one of your 'brilliant' ideas, Gary?" she asked, lifting up air finger quotes at the word 'brilliant' so he knew what she really thought of this. Gary didn't seem to be finished with his explanation as he nodded in agreement with Leaf's question, seemingly not noticing the sarcasm in her voice, before continuing.

"So this is the idea I have: for each game we play, either May or Max need to be the ones who win. And the first game will be Hide and Seek. We'll all hide and May needs to be the one to find us." Gary explained. Silence passed for a few seconds as Ash and Leaf both stared at him in surprise while May and Max looked at each other in puzzlement; did that...actually sound like a sensible idea? Coming from Gary, no less? After about a few moments, Leaf spoke up.

"Gary...of all the ideas you've had so far, that actually doesn't sound like a bad one." Leaf commented. Gary simply showed a smug smile at this comment; he still had a few ideas up his sleeve for this test, but decided to play it safe for the time being. With this, Leaf turned to May with a smile. "Well, I guess Gary's figured it out for us. We'll hide and you need to try and find us, May. How does that sound?" she asked.

May showed a bright smile and nodded in approval. "That sounds good to me." she simply replied. With this, she turned around to face a tree and covered her eyes to start counting. Once May's back was turned, the others started to head off in different directions to hide. "One, two, three..." May started to count; she wanted to make sure that she gave the others enough time to find good hiding places.

While May was busy counting, the other four had headed out into the forest to hide; Ash and Leaf were both hiding behind different trees, Max poked his head out from under a bush and as for Gary, he started to climb up one of the trees that he had found. Hearing shaking from nearby, Ash and Leaf looked up to see Gary climbing up onto one of the tree branches above their heads. "That's your hiding spot?" Ash asked as he and Leaf stared up at Gary.

"Yep, it is. May will never be able to find me from up here." Gary replied, waving from his hiding place. Leaf showed a frown as she placed her arms on her hips. "You know, Gary, I don't think you're making this fair on May. If you're going to hide in a place like that, she's never going to spot you." she explained. Gary didn't seem to be too bothered by this as he simply showed a smile and shrugged.

"Since when did Hide and Seek have to be fair, Leafy?" Gary asked. Leaf then clenched her fists and started to growl in frustration; Gary clearly knew how much she hated that name, and she had told him so many times, yet he continued to do it anyway. It was like he enjoyed taunting her like that. Gary couldn't help sniggering to himself seeing Leaf's angry expression. "You look so funny when you're mad, you know that?" he asked. Leaf didn't respond; instead she crossed her arms and turned her glance away from Gary while he simply showed a smile of amusement and Ash stared blankly at them.

Back with May, she was busy still counting. "Eight, nine, ten! Okay, here I come!" May called as she turned away from the tree she was counting against, and she noticed that the others were nowhere to be seen. Once she noticed this, May started to look around with her fingers pressed against her chin. "I wonder where they could have hidden off to." May said to herself. She then turned to the trees behind her and started to walk towards them heading into the forest; she had a feeling that was where they had decided to hide.

As May headed into the forest, Max poked his head out from the bush he was hiding in to spot her looking around, trying to see if she could figure out where everyone else was hiding. Max then silently giggled to himself before poking his head back into the bush. "She'll never find me in here." Max commented, trying to make sure he kept his voice down so May wouldn't hear him.

As with May, she was still having a look around wondering where she'd be able to find where the others were hiding. Just then, she could hear the sound of a bush shaking behind her and she slowly made her way over to see who was there. When she got to the bush, she pulled it back to reveal that Max was there, sitting and keeping his head down to avoid getting noticed. Max then lifted his head up, realising that the bush wasn't there anymore to keep him covered, and he looked up to see May staring down at him with a big smile. "May! How did you find me here?" Max asked, showing an expression of surprise at the fact that May spotted him despite the fact that he kept his mouth shut.

"I just noticed that something was shaking and I had a feeling that someone would be hiding here. And wouldn't you know it, it was you. Funny how that works out, isn't it?" May cheekily asked. Max simply stared at her with an expression of annoyance and he had his arms crossed listening to her amused comment. He then stood up from behind his hiding spot, since he knew his cover was now blown. "Come on, we can both look for Ash, Leaf and Gary together." May then said. Max showed a smile at this and nodded in agreement, and with that the two siblings started to head off together to see where they could find the others.

Meanwhile with Ash, Leaf and Gary, they were all hiding trying not to be spotted. Ash poked his head out from behind the tree he was hiding at to see May and Max coming towards their general area, looking around for them. "Do you see anyone coming, Ash?" Gary called from the tree branch he had climbed up. After noticing May and Max, Ash pulled his head back and looked up at Gary, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, May and Max are coming towards where we are." Ash replied. Leaf decided to have a look to be the safe side and sure enough, she could see that Ash was right: May and Max were heading towards where they were hiding, trying to find them. Once she noticed this, she looked up at Gary in annoyance.

"They're going to find all three of us at the same time! Explain to me why you thought it would be a good idea for us to hide within the same general area, Gary?" Leaf asked. Sure enough, once one had a closer look at where the three had decided to hide, they were all in the same area where they could see each other: Ash and Leaf were both hiding behind trees, but they could still see each other, while Gary had climbed up a tree where he could see everyone.

"Hey, don't point the blame on me, Leafy! You're the one who chose to hide where you wanted to." Gary retorted, finding it unfair that Leaf was putting the blame on him: he wasn't the one who had decided where they should hide. Ash was watching and simply shook his head: he had no idea what he was going to do about Gary and Leaf. It always seemed like they were getting at each others' throats every chance they got. His thoughts were interrupted when he looked back at the two and saw that Leaf was starting to climb up the tree Gary was hiding in so she could teach him a lesson.

"Guys, keep it down! You're going to make this too easy for May and Max." Ash called, deciding to take action himself since it seemed like Leaf and Gary weren't going to do it themselves. The two then turned to Ash in surprise hearing this and, after a few seconds, they nodded in agreement knowing he was right. So Leaf climbed back down the tree and then she ran back to her original hiding spot.

Back with May and Max, they arrived in the area the other three were hiding, but as they looked around they could see that no one was there. "Can you see anyone, Max?" May asked.

Max looked up at May and shook his head. "No, not yet, sis. I'll let you know if I spot them." Max replied. May nodded in agreement with that idea and the two started to walk again side by side, so that they wouldn't end up separated from each other and they looked around wondering if they would be able to spot Ash, Leaf or Gary. As Max having a look around, he noticed something up in a tree branch and quickly tugged on May's dress sleeve to get her attention. "May! I think I found someone." Max said, pointing up at where he was looking.

May turned to Max wondering what was up and when she saw that he was pointing upwards, she lifted her head and looked up to see Gary sitting up on top of a tree branch. The two siblings immediately smiled upon realising that they had found someone. "We found you, Gary! That wasn't a very good place to hide, now was it?" May asked, showing a mischievous smile at her remark. Hearing that voice from where he was, Gary looked down from the branch he was hiding on to see May and Max both staring up at him and he showed an expression of annoyance: he wasn't expecting to be found so quick.

"Wha...How did you two find me so fast?! It usually takes Ash and Leaf the whole day to find me whenever we play Hide and Seek. I don't know how you did that, but I'll bet you must have cheated in some way." Gary said as he jumped down from the tree branch and landed on the ground safely, still finding it hard to understand how May and Max spotted him first when he was usually the one to be found last.

"Oh, don't be a sore loser. I just had a good eye looking out with me." May replied, to which she looked over at Max with a big smile who then looked up at Gary with a confident smile and winked. Gary simply stared at the two in silence before he smiled and nodded in acceptance.

"Well, I guess you have a point there. Besides, I was just trying to make things a bit more fun for you." Gary commented. May and Max both looked at each other and brightly smiled hearing this; they had to agree that they were having a lot of fun playing this game. "Now you both just need to find Ash and Leaf. Sounds simple, right?" he asked. May and Max looked over at him and nodded in agreement. "That's great. I'll leave you both to it." Gary commented seeing this simple response. With this, he turned and lay back against the tree he had hiding in while May and Max both looked at each other.

"Come on, Max. Let's see if we can work together to find Ash and Leaf." May said. Max showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement, so with that, the two turned and started to walk off to see if they could spot where the other two were. As May was looking around, she noticed a familiar figure with raven coloured hair poking its head out from behind a tree and then a big smile crossed her face as she recognized who it was. "We found you, Ash!" May happily called as she ran over with Max following right behind her. Ash poked his head out from behind the tree and showed a big smile as May and Max stopped in their tracks.

Max then turned his head to see someone hiding behind a tree that wasn't too far from Ash and ran over to see who it was, and he noticed that it was Leaf. Leaf poked her head out to see Max smiling at her and then she brightly smiled back. "You found all of us, May! Great job!" Leaf cheered as she, Ash and Gary walked over to her and Max.

"I have to admit, Leaf's right. I think you two will fit into our group very well." Gary commented. May and Max both showed bright smiles at this comment; they had a feeling this meant they were going to be officially welcomed into Kanto by Ash and his friends.

"So, what game are we going to play next?" May asked. In response, Gary started to climb up the tree he had been hiding in a few minutes earlier before he made up onto the tree branch he had been on and sat down looking down at the other four who were glancing up at him, wondering what he was up to.

"This next game is called Tree Hopping. The idea is that we all jump from tree to tree and the last person who's left standing is the winner. And like the last game, either May or Max need to win." Gary explained. The four stared up in silence for a few moments before May spoke up.

"I think we'll leave Max out of this one; he's only little compared to the rest of us and I don't want him to end up hurting himself." May said. Max looked up at his older sister with a big smile; he felt really happy to hear that May was thinking about his welfare. May turned her glance to Max seeing his smile and she couldn't help smiling back. "Well, it's true, Max. I don't think Mum would be too happy if she found out I let you get hurt, would she?" May asked. Max shook his head in response; he didn't want to think about that either.

"I'll stay down here and keep an eye on Max; someone needs to make sure that he doesn't wander off on his own either." Leaf said. May nodded in agreement; that sounded like a good idea. With that in mind, Ash and May started to climb up the tree while Max and Leaf watched them, sitting on the grass. Once Ash and May made it up to the branch Gary was on, the three stood up ready to start.

"All right, are you two ready? Let's go!" Gary said, before he started to rush off jumping on the branches in front of him with Ash and May quickly following behind him. As Gary was jumping from the branches, he turned his head to see Ash and May on either side of him. "Man, you two are both good at this." Gary commented.

"I might be new to this game, but don't think I'm going to make it easy for you, Gary!" May called. "Neither will I!" Ash agreed. The two both looked at each other with bright smiles and nodded in agreement, knowing they were going to do whatever they could to beat Gary at this time.

"I'm not going to go easy on you two either; I've played this game quite a few times, so you'll be in for a tough time." Gary commented. As the three continued hopping across the tree branches, Leaf and Max were running alongside them with Leaf holding Max's hand so he could keep up with her.

"Look at them go! I have a feeling that Ash and May are going to give Gary a hard time if they keep up that pace." Leaf cheerfully said as she and Max looked up at the trees watching the three jump. "I hope May's the one who beats him." Max added.

May turned her glance down to Max in surprise upon hearing this and then a bright smile crossed her face; her little brother was rooting for her. Unfortunately, since May had her eyes facing the ground instead, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. As she went to jump, she landed on the branch, but her foot slipped and she dropped off the tree instead. Ash and Gary both stopped when they saw this and looked down in alarm.

"May!" Ash called. Without much hesitance on his part, Ash jumped down from the tree and ran over as May was falling and caught her in his arms. May opened her eyes to find that she hadn't hit the ground and then she turned her head to see Ash holding her. "Are you all right, May?" Ash asked, showing an expression of concern. May slowly started to smile and then she nodded.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, Ash." May replied. With that, Ash placed May down on the ground while Gary jumped down from the tree and Leaf and Max both ran over having witnessed everything that had happened.

"May! Are you okay?" Leaf asked. May turned to see the two standing behind her and nodded with a big smile. "I am now. Ash caught me just as I was about to hit the ground." May replied. Leaf let out a sigh of relief hearing this and then Max ran over and hugged May tightly; he was relieved to see that his big sister wasn't hurt. After a few seconds, Max let go and then the three turned to see Gary walk over; he had seen everything that had happened.

"Are you all right, May?" Gary asked. May nodded in agreement with a big smile; if it wasn't for Ash catching her, she wouldn't have liked to think about what could have happened to her. "That's great to hear." Gary replied, with a smile of relief crossing his face.

With that little mishap over with, Ash turned to the others. "Come on, guys. I think we should be heading back at Pallet Town for now; Mum will probably have lunch ready." Ash explained. The others turned to Ash and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I think you might be right. We'll meet back out here after lunch; I have one more thing I'd like May and Max to do." Gary agreed. "And what might that be?" Leaf asked, with a smile of intrigue on her face.

"You'll find out when we get back here." Gary replied. With that, the group of five started to make their way back to Pallet Town.

At the Maples' new house, Ash, May and Max were sitting at the table with Delia and Caroline; they were having sandwiches while May was happily telling Caroline about what they had doing. "And when we got there, Gary let me and Max join in with their games. I got to find where everyone was hiding when we played Hide and Seek, and Max helped me too!" May explained, with a smile of excitement all the while. Max nodded in agreement to say that was true.

"Well, it sounds like you two were really enjoying yourselves out there." Caroline said, showing a bright smile while listening to May's story; she was happy to hear that the two were having a fun time joining in with Ash, Leaf and Gary's games. "That's right. And Gary said that he has one more game he'd like us to join in with." May agreed.

"Isn't that nice to hear? I think May and Max are having a fun time playing with you, Leaf and Gary. Don't you think, Ash?" Delia asked, turning to Ash who had his mouth full from a whole sandwich he was eating. Delia stared in surprised silence for a few moments before she smiled. "Ash, be careful of how much you eat at a time. You don't want to give yourself a tummy ache, do you?" Delia asked. Ash looked up at her and swallowed what he had in his mouth before he spoke.

"Sorry about that, Mum. It's just that I'm feeling really hungry after today so far." Ash replied. Delia happily giggled to herself at this reply; she knew that Ash had a big appetite even at his age, and that it wasn't very easy to fill. Sure enough, it didn't take Ash to finish what was in his plate and he jumped out of his chair, having finished his lunch completely. "Well, I'm ready to go meet back up with Leaf and Gary. What about you, May? Are you and Max ready to go too?" Ash asked.

May turned her head to him from her seat and nodded. "We will be after we finish here, so can you please wait for us?" May asked in response. Ash nodded in agreement, so he climbed back up into his seat to wait for May and Max to finish their lunch; they were all going to go back together.

After they were done, Ash, May and Max met up with Leaf and Gary back on Route 1. "So, Gary. What's the last thing you'd like May and Max to do?" Leaf asked; she had been waiting since she was the first one to hear Gary say it, so she had been wondering what idea Gary had in mind. Gary showed a smile before he spoke up.

"Okay, I'll go through this slowly so they understand." Gary replied, before he turned to face the route leading forward and pointing in that direction for the rest to see. "May and Max both have to head down Route 1 until they get to Viridian City and then come back again. That sounds easy for you two, doesn't it?" Gary explained, turning back to May and Max to see whether or not they got that. There was silence from the other four for a few moments as they thought that over, before Leaf slowly walked over to Gary.

"Uh, Gary? I don't want to be the person who ruins the fun, but..." Leaf paused before she quickly raised her voice. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" The others barely had time to react the change of volume in Leaf's voice as they immediately covered their ears, while her voice was loud enough to scare away a few Pidgey there were in the trees around them. After a few seconds, the group of four unblocked their ears and turned their glances to Leaf, who had a frown on her face. "May and Max can't do that! We aren't even allowed outside of Pallet Town; it's not safe!" Leaf explained.

Gary crossed his arms and looked down to think for a few seconds before he nodded. "You're right." he simply replied. Leaf showed a bright smile at this reply, glad to hear that Gary had some common sense. "Ash and Leaf, you can both go with them." Gary then added. Leaf's smile was quickly replaced with an expression of annoyance and she quickly shook her head in reply.

"Oh no, I don't think so. I don't consider that an option, Gary. And no matter what you do, you cannot talk us into this."

"I can't believe he talked us into this!" Leaf complained. Before she even knew what had happened, here she was alongside Ash, May and Max; the four were now on their way to Viridian City. Ash and May were both walking side by side while Leaf was holding Max's hand to make sure he wouldn't wander off by mistake. "Honestly, Gary is going to get in a lot of trouble for this when we get back!" Leaf snapped; she was still unamused by the fact that Gary was getting away with getting them to do this. Ash turned his glance to Leaf listening to her complaints and simply showed a soft smile.

"It's all right, Leaf. It'll just be very simple: we'll head to Viridian City and then go back the way we came. We'll be back before our parents even notice where we went." Ash explained. Leaf turned to Ash hearing this and she showed a small smile and nodded in agreement; that didn't sound too hard once Ash put it that way.

With May, she was looking around Route 1 with a smile of awe; the trees were about ten times her height and she could see various Pokemon running in the grass alongside the path they were on. "Wow...I don't even know what to say..." May whispered in awe. Ash turned to her with a smile, seeing how enthralled she was by the surroundings around her.

"I know. This route really looks great, doesn't it?" Ash asked. May turned to him and happily nodded in agreement. "It shouldn't take us too long to get to Viridian City. If I'm right, we should be able to make it back by sunset." Ash explained.

"That's just as long as we stick to the path, that is. It might take us longer if one of us ends up lost or missing. And I know how much your mum can worry at times." Leaf added; she didn't even want to think about what would happen if something happened to any of them. They would probably end up in a lot of trouble, and that would be no thanks to Gary's doing.

"Don't worry, Leaf. I'm sure that we'll all stick close by." Ash said. With this, he took May's hand in his to make sure she would stay with them. May looked down in surprise seeing this and then she looked up at Ash to see him brightly smiling at her and she couldn't help herself smiling back.

Back at Pallet Town, Delia and Caroline were at the Maples' house and they were sitting at the kitchen table happily sharing a conversation. "Well, I'm glad to hear that May and Max are happy living here in Kanto." Delia commented.

"I know. The two of them were very objective when I first told them we were moving here, but now look at them. It feels like they've been here all their lives, and this is only the first day we've been here. I think Ash is really helping them feel at home with him and the others." Caroline agreed. Delia simply showed a bright smile hearing this and she nodded in agreement.

"Ash has always been like that since he was born. He has such a kind heart, and he'll stop at nothing to help others if they need it. I tend to worry about him at times, but I know that's just how he is by nature." Delia said.

"Well, I think he'll be a wonderful man when he grows up. And I have a feeling it's because you're setting him the best example he can follow." Caroline commented. Delia couldn't help showing a bright smile at this comment. "Thanks, Caroline. I really think so too." she agreed.

Just then, the two women heard the door burst open and they turned their heads to see Gary standing at the doorway with an expression of immense worry. "Mrs Ketchum! Mrs Maple! I'm so glad I found you two!" Gary gasped as he ran into the kitchen in near panic.

"Gary? What's wrong?" Delia asked as she and Caroline showed matching expressions of worry seeing him like this. After getting a few seconds to catch his breath, Gary looked up at the two.

"It's Ash, May, Max and Leaf..." Gary panted. As soon as Delia and Caroline heard this, their expression of concern quickly changed to worry. "What happened? Are May and Max all right?" Caroline asked. "And what about Ash?" Delia added.

"They're heading off to Viridian City..." Gary simply replied. Delia and Caroline both looked at each other in worry hearing this. "I warned them that it wouldn't be safe to head off this late, but they wouldn't listen. And I don't know where they'd be by now." Gary continued. He then watched as Delia and Caroline quickly headed out of the house.

"We've got to hurry and find them! There's no way of knowing what could happen to them that far out." Caroline worriedly said. Delia nodded in agreement; she knew that they had to hurry and find where their children were, otherwise she didn't want to think about what could happen to them.

Back with Ash, May, Max and Leaf, the four of them were arriving up at the hill overlooking Viridian City. "There it is, guys. We made it to Viridian City." Ash said. Sure enough, up ahead, they could see several buildings from the top of the hill. As the group were looking at the city, they turned their glance up to the sky to see that the sun was slowly starting to set and the sky was turning into a colour combination of orange and bright purple.

"Guys, maybe we should start to head back to Pallet Town. I think Mum might start to worry about where me and Max are." May said, showing an expression of worry. Before the others could say anything, Max showed a big smile and started to rush off down the hill since Leaf wasn't paying any attention. The others quickly turned their heads to see this and May quickly started to give pursuit. "Max, slow down! You could trip and fall over!" May called as she ran after her little brother; she didn't want Max to hurt himself.

"May, Max, wait up!" Leaf called before she and Ash started to run after them. Soon, the group arrived at the bottom of the hill just nearing entrance of Viridian City. May ran over to Max, who was sitting on the ground from his rush down the hill.

"Are you all right, Max? Did you hurt yourself?" May asked, showing an expression of concern. Max looked up at his sister and shook his head, to which May showed a smile of relief. She then bent down to help Max back up on his feet and then the two looked up at the large city in front of them. "Look how big this place is...I wonder how many buildings there are here." May quietly commented.

"Since we're here, I guess there's no harm in having a quick look around before we head back to Pallet Town. After all, I don't want this trip here to go to waste." Leaf said. With this, the four started to head off into the city. As they were looking around, they noticed an oval shaped building with the top half having the colours of a police hat: dark blue, white, a gold circle in the middle and a black half circle near the bottom.

"What's this place?" May asked. Just then, the door opened and out stepped a young woman with dark green hair, bright red eyes and she was wearing a dark blue dress-like outfit with a light blue pattern in the middle, a black and gold belt near the bottom, dark red sleeves, pad shapes on the shoulders, a matching cap that had a gold badge symbol in the middle, white gloves and black heels. She looked down in surprise to see the four children and showed a bright smile.

"Well, hello there, young ones. What are you doing out here this late?" she asked. The group of four were silent for a few moments before May spoke up. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Officer Jenny. I'm the police officer here in Viridian City and I help keep an eye out for any bad people who might be in hiding and catch them." The young woman replied. May showed a smile and simply waved, happy to meet the police officer here.

A little later, the four were in the building sitting at the seats inside while Officer Jenny was with them. "So, do you four know where your parents live?" she asked.

"Yes, we do, ma'am. They live in Pallet Town." May replied. "Well, you four can wait here until your parents come to pick you up. I'll let them know that you were here with me." Officer Jenny said.

"Excuse me, Officer Jenny?" May asked. Officer Jenny looked down at May with a smile, waiting to hear her question. "When you said that you catch bad people, what do you mean by that?" May asked.

"I catch people who might try to steal from others, like things they hold close to them or their Pokemon. The Pokemon stealing doesn't happen very often, but we still need to ready for anything." Officer Jenny explained. May let out a silent gasp and showed an expression of alarm.

"Why would people want to steal from others?" she asked. "I wish I knew the answer to that question. But that's why we have police officers here in Kanto; we make sure that these kinds of things don't happen very often." Officer Jenny replied. Just then, the door opened and the group turned to see Delia and Caroline, both of them with smiles of relief seeing the four children all right.

"Hi, Mum! How come you're here?" May asked. She and Max climbed out of their chairs and ran over to Caroline who hugged them tightly. "Gary told us that you were here and we came as quickly as we could. I'm so relieved that you and Max aren't hurt..." Caroline replied as she hugged May and Max; she didn't want to think about what she would do if something had happened to them.

"Officer Jenny, thank you so much for all your help." Delia said, looking up at Officer Jenny with a smile of gratitude.

"You're welcome. And feel free to visit with them again sometime; I have a feeling they were interested in learning about what we do." Officer Jenny replied. With this, the group started to make their way out of the building, with May looking back to wave goodbye.

"Bye, Officer Jenny! Thank you!" May called. "You're welcome! And please make sure to take good care of yourself!" Officer Jenny replied.

Sometime later, Delia and Caroline were on their way back to Pallet Town with the four children following beside them. "Well, that was really nice of Officer Jenny to let you four stay with her until we came to get you." Caroline commented. May and Max both nodded in agreement; they thought so too. After saying that, Caroline showed a disapproving frown. "What were you two thinking? You should know that it's not safe to be out of Pallet Town this late. What if something had happened to you?" she asked. May and Max both looked down with expressions of sadness.

"I'm sorry, Mum... We were just doing what Gary told us to." May sadly replied. Caroline showed an expression of surprise hearing this, and then Ash ran over to speak up.

"They're telling the truth, Mrs Maple. Gary said that as the last part of the challenge he set up for them, May and Max both had to go to Viridian City and back. Leaf tried to tell him that it wasn't safe, but he just said we could go with them as well." Ash explained. Leaf nodded in agreement; she knew that Ash was telling the truth about that.

"That happened while you were together?" Delia asked. Ash simply nodded, just to let his mum know that he wasn't lying. "I think we'll need to give Gary a good talking to when we get home, won't we?" Delia asked.

"But May and Max? Please stay where I can see you; I just want to make sure that you two are safe." Caroline said softly, looking down at the two. May and Max both brightly smiled and nodded in agreement.

"We will, Mum." May replied. With that, she and Max both gave Caroline a big hug which she happily returned. After a few seconds, the two let go and they continued their way back to Pallet Town.

"I don't know about what you guys think, but I could use a good dinner after today." Ash commented. May, Max and Leaf started happily laughing hearing this; they couldn't agree more with that.