Chapter 5: Conclusions
I don't have much to say, but if you vote for Pedro… all of your dreams will come true.
I don't own Pokémon.
Ash seemed nervous the next day, the day Mr. James would reveal whether or not he had passed. He and May wordlessly walked down the road towards the school, but May didn't enjoy the unpleasant silence.
"You're awfully quiet today," she said, breaking the silence. Ash shrugged, continuing to walk silently.
"It's really unnatural of you," May said.
"..." Ash remained silent.
"Are giving me the silent treatment or something?" May asked. Ash wordlessly shook his head.
"Sore throat?" May asked, continuing to probe, hoping to find Ash's problem.
"..." Ash wordlessly shook his head again.
May let out a frustrated sigh, "Then what's wrong? You just become the shy type?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. Ash again, shook his head without a peep, but May noticed an amused smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"Why you-!" May exclaimed, realizing Ash was messing with her. She lunged to the side and tackled him off the sidewalk, into the neighbor's grass. Ash burst into laughter, as May pinned him to the ground.
"You jerk! I was worried for a second!" May shouted in his face. Ash's laughter slowed, but he continued to softly chuckle as he wiped a tear from his eye.
"It was too easy," Ash said, earning a playful snarl from May.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood," May said, flicking his nose. She got off from on top of him. He stood up and brushed himself off.
"I hope that you didn't crush the stuff in my backpack," Ash said, taking his backpack off and unzipping it.
"Probably not, you're as thin as a toothpick," May said playfully.
Ash glared up at her "Hey!" he exclaimed, as if offended by her remark.
"Would you rather I call you fat?" May asked. Ash frowned, pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes, and quickly walked past May.
"A-Ash?" May stammered, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" but she didn't get to finish her sentence, she noticed another smirk on Ash's face as he softly chuckled.
"You little-!" May began, Ash began laughing again and broke into a run, dashing ahead and down the sidewalk, May hot of his heels.
Ash and May approached the school, slowing to a stop. May would have tackled Ash on the spot but was too tired from running, and didn't really want to make a scene in front of her classmates.
Ever since she had socked Gary in the cafeteria in front of everyone, nobody dared lay a finger on her, especially Gary. For once in her life she didn't feel so dependent on someone, she was capable if defending even herself.
*WAM!*
May leap backwards, startled as a blur ran into Ash, knocking them both on the ground.
"Oooooooh..." Ash groaned.
"Yowch... AHH! The ground! I'm touching the ground!"
May didn't need to look to see who it was. Barry quickly got to his feet.
"Barry..." Ash groaned, rubbing his head, "You seriously need to watch where you're going..."
May raised a brow, "Why were you in such a hurry anyways?" Barry suddenly panicked as May asked the question, and hid behind Ash as he heard someone shout.
"Barry! Come out and face your fate like a man!"
May spun around and saw Dawn angrily approaching them.
"Heh, I think fate wants me back here instead," Barry said from behind Ash. Dawn stormed in the direction of Ash, who didn't want to be run over by Dawn. Ash stepped to the side, leaving Barry open. Barry let out a loud gasp.
"You traito-" he began, but was cut off as Dawn tackled him to the ground, obviously not as worried as May was about making a scene.
"Ash! Tell my mom... I loved her!" Barry exclaimed. Ash rolled his eyes and shrugged to May. She smirked and giggled.
"I'll also tell her what really happened to her toaster," Ash said with smile.
"GAH!" Barry exclaimed, "Don't do that! She'll kill me!" May titled her and looked down at poor Barry, who was still pinned to the ground by Dawn.
"But won't you already be dead?" May asked. Barry blinked a few times.
"Oh yeah... WAIT!" Barry exclaimed.
"Barry!" Dawn shouted, "Shut up for a second."
"Yes, mother," Barry said, rolling his eyes.
Ash and May grabbed Dawn and pulled her back before she literally tried to strangle Barry, who stood up and backed off.
"Ten second head start, Barry," Ash said, "10 - 9 - 8 ..." Ash began to count, Barry nodded and dashed off, Ash reached zero and he and May let go of Dawn. She brushed herself off and dashed after Barry.
"Hopefully his long legs will save him," May said, Ash nodded in agreement.
"I wonder what got her so worked up," Ash said, May shrugged and the two walked into the school.
"Seems that you're feeling better Dawn," Ash said, "You're perkier."
Dawn smiled deviously and shrugged, "Yeah, I got all my anger out on this punching bag I found." Barry walked up to the table, plopping down; he didn't look the best, like he was going to fall over.
"A tall blonde punching bag named Barry," Dawn added, Ash looked at Barry.
"How on earth did you make her so angry?" Ash asked, Barry shrugged.
"He called me fat!" Dawn claimed.
"I did not!" Barry insisted, "I said you weighed a lot!"
"What's difference does that make?" Dawn asked loudly.
"Well you were climbing onto my back for a piggy back ride just to start!" Barry exclaimed. Dawn stood up, leaning over the table and into Barry's face, glaring at him menacingly.
"Don't worry Dawn," Ash said, "Barry isn't even strong enough to lift a baby."
"That's ri- HEY!" Barry exclaimed. Dawn laughed and sat back down.
"So did you get your grade from Mr. James?" Dawn asked Ash. Who shook his head and sighed.
"Not until after school today," Ash said.
"Ah! There's a hair in my food!" Barry exclaimed, pulling a hair off his plate and holding it up.
"It's black..." Barry said, glaring at Dawn.
"Oh, oops..." Dawn said innocently.
"I SHOULD FINE YOU!" Barry exclaimed, standing up from his seat.
"I should fine you!" Dawn said, also standing up and getting up in Barry's face.
"WHY? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING?" Barry shouted.
"For having such a big mouth!" Dawn stated.
"I DO NOT HAVE A BIG MOUTH!" Barry exclaimed. Dawn, Ash, and May sweat-dropped. "I SHOULD FINE YOU FOR-!" Barry began, but stopped short when Dawn slapped him on the face.
"OW!" Barry exclaimed, rubbing his cheek.
Dawn raised a brow, "You're not gonna fine me?" she asked.
"Nah, I deserved that..." Barry groaned, Ash and May exchanges glances, confused by Barry's sudden move change. He and Dawn sat back down and continued eating.
"Now I know how to fix you if you start messing up again," Dawn said with a chuckle, Barry sighed and rolled his eyes.
They sat there silently for a few minutes, eating their cafeteria food. Dawn was the one to break the silence.
"So guys..." Dawn began, they all looked up and over at her, she was looking at her plate of food, a small smile on her face, "Life doesn't suck anymore..."
Ash, May, and Barry exchanged glances. "That's good to hear," May said happily.
"Life is actually pretty awesome right now," Dawn said, now in her own world.
"That's great, Dawn," Ash said, putting some food in his mouth.
Barry looked at Dawn, as if inspecting her, "Then why are you still emo?" Dawn snapped out of her trance and looked at Barry, her smile widening.
"I'm not anymore... I don't think..." Dawn said, scratching her left arm.
Barry gestured to her clothes, "But you're still dressed like an emo person." Dawn looked down. Indeed, she was still wearing her normal "emo" clothes and makeup.
"Maybe that because I haven't gotten new clothes yet, moron!" Dawn said, giving Barry a light shove.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Barry said, beginning to eat his food again.
May was surprised, she had a hard time imagining Dawn wearing something like a regular girl for once. She had always known Dawn as the emo girl she was. But now with the friendship of Barry and Ash, she must have seen a new light, as May had.
May and Ash stood before the desk of Mr. James, there to receive Ash's test score, which they both hoped would at least be an A minus. Mr. James sat behind the desk, inspecting the paper over, giving it the final grade.
Ash exchanged glances with May, the suspense was killing them. Ash would wince every time Mr. James would sigh, grunt, or make any other sound. May laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder, hoping to help him calm down.
Mr. James pushed his light lavender hair from his face and looked up at the two children, and wordlessly tossed the test sheet on his desk for Ash and May to see.
They exchanged glances again before looking down at the paper. In red ink, circled and written down by the percentage was an-
"A-," Ash said, solemnly before suddenly perking up, "An A minus! I got an A minus!" Ash turned to May with a hand raised for a high-five. But May ignored the high five, she closed her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her lips against his, hugging him tightly. She kissed the surprised boy for a few second before Mr. James coughed to get their attention,
"This is a school, take your business elsewhere, before I suspend you," Mr. James insisted, hint of playfulness laced in his voice. May let go of Ash and stopped kissing him, blushing deep red. Without a word, she ran out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded Ash standing in the empty classroom, blinking stupidly.
He opened his mouth to say something to Mr. James, but couldn't seem to get it out, and just muttered a couple of random noises.
Mr. James smirked, "She caught you off guard, did she not?"
Ash nodded, looking at the door May had hurried out of. "Maybe you should stop standing there like a retarded Watchog and go find her," Mr. James said with a chuckle, grabbing the test sheet with Ash's grade and stuffing it into his desk. He stood up and grabbed his keys, walking to the door to the classroom.
Ash didn't move, and just watched Mr. James open the classroom door...
... Like a retarded Watchog...
James looked at him and opened the door, "Unless you'd like some extra homework, I'd like to go home, now get out."
The second Ash heard "homework" he dashed out of the room as if he were being chased by an angry Gengar. Mr. James chuckled and stepped out, locking the door shut.
Ash walked out of the school, and found Barry and Dawn standing there waiting for him.
"Did you pass the test?" Dawn asked, Ash nodded, still unable to speak. "What happened to May? We saw her run out of the school, completely ignore our presence, and run down the road.
"Which way?" Ash asked, suddenly able to speak properly. Barry pointed down the road, south.
Oh, I know where she is... Ash thought to himself.
May sat on a picnic table under a tree. The place she had first tried ice cream, the place she and her friends had hung out. Every time she came she always had a good time.
Except for this time... She sat at the bench and sighed, recalling the previous events that had recently occurred.
I can't believe I did that, she thought to herself, I wasn't thinking, it was such a spur of the moment thing.
May picked at the faded paint that was peeling off the picnic table she was at. She sighed again and put her chin in her hands and rested her elbows on the table.
I lost control of my emotions, she continued thinking, it was stupid, and now I have to face-
"I thought I would find you here."
May twisted around to see who was there. "Ash..." she said quietly, before turning back around so her back was facing the boy. She heard leaves crunch as Ash approached the table. He walked around and sat down across from her as she gazed at the table.
"Cone?"
May looked up at the boy she refused to look in the eyes, and saw two cones in his hands, extending out the green one to her.
"It's mint flavored, it's pretty good," Ash said, May smiled and quietly thanked him as she took the ice cream cone from his hands.
"But I lost the deal," May said before licking her ice cream, "You don't owe me any ice cream."
Ash shrugged, licking his own ice cream, "Eh, I figured it would a... Um... 'celebration' ice cream, in honor of my passing of the test."
May smiled and let out a soft giggle, but still refused to look Ash in the eye. She sighed and licked her ice cream a few times, determining it was her new favorite.
"So..." Ash began, seeming to become uneasy.
Oh man, here it comes,May thought, bracing herself.
"What is the secret you owe me?" Ash asked. May's sweat-dropped and she finally looked him in the eye.
"The kiss was the secret, you retarded Watchog!" May exclaimed, pushing Ash, who almost dropped his ice cream.
"It was?" Ash asked, May sighed and nodded, she could not believe Ash's denseness. "What does it mean?" Ash asked.
May face palmed and let out a frustrated growl, "What do you think a kiss means?" she asked.
"It could mean many things," Ash said, "people kiss in movies, and sometimes they love the person their kissing and sometimes they don't. It's kinda messed up"
May looked at him with surprise, he actually had a bit of a point. "Which type of kiss do want it to be?" she asked.
Ash blinked a few times and licked his cone, "Uh, I would rather it be legit..." he said with a shrug.
May smiled, and licked her cone before looking back over at Ash. "Want to try it again?" she asked.
"Man those guys are late," Barry complained. He was sitting in front of Ash's house as Dawn walked about. "And they promised me a rematch at Clue!" Barry exclaimed, crossing his arms "If they don't hurry up I'm gonna have to fine them."
"Not only are you a germaphoc, but you have no patience either," Dawn grumbled.
"We've been out here waiting for like... Five whole flipping minutes!" Barry said as he checked his watch.
"Well I'm sorry your highness, but you're going to be waiting," Dawn said, sitting down by Barry.
"You have some nerve! I should fi-"
*Slap*
Barry rubbed his cheek, now marked by a red handprint, "Sorry," he muttered. Dawn sighed laid down on her back, noting that Barry didn't do the same.
"Do you have any other fears, you know, aside from germs?" Dawn asked, now gazing at the sky.
Barry sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Yeah, but you would laugh if I told you."
Dawn looked at him, "Come on, what could be funnier than germs?"
Barry scowled at her and looked up the sky, "I don't want to talk about it..."
"Please?"
"No."
"But now I have to know."
"You shouldn't have asked."
"I'll tell you my fear if you say yours."
Barry grunted, it was tempting, he looked down at the girl lying beside him, waiting for his answer, "Fine," he groaned, "but you have to promise two things..."
Dawn cocked her head, "What are they?" she asked.
Barry twisted around and looked her in the eye, "First, not to laugh, and second, not to tell anyone."
Dawn shrugged, sounded easy enough, "Okay, promise." she said.
Barry stuck out his pinky finger, "Pinky promise?" Dawn smiled and stuck out her pinky, hooking hers with Barry's.
"Pinky promise," Dawn assured him. Barry sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.
"Alright..." he said hesitantly, "Since I was a little boy... I've always been afraid of..."
"..."
"Miltanks."
...
"Pfffffffff-" Dawn trying to hold back but burst into laughter and began rolling around. Barry sweat-dropped.
"Promise one: already broken..." Barry said.
"You're afraid of Miltanks?" Dawn asked as she struggled to try to stop laughing.
"Have you ever looked those demons in the eye?" Barry exclaimed "I swear they can eat our souls!" Dawn wiped away a tear, still giggling.
"Hmph, some friend you are," Barry grumbled, turned his back to Dawn. He jumped a tiny bit, startled when she hugged him from behind.
"I'm sorry," Dawn said innocently, as she hugged Barry "I won't tell anyone."
Barry sighed and crossed his arms, "Good, or I'll have to fine you." he awkwardly wrapped his arms around Dawn, trying to reach from behind.
They let go of each other and Barry turned around, now facing Dawn, "So what's your fear?" he asked Dawn.
Dawn shivered and goosebumps appeared on her arms, "Ariados," Dawn muttered, "I hate Ariados... Creepy crawly bug things..." She leaned against Barry and shivered again, Barry was surprised with how much it affected her.
Barry looked down at Dawn as she looked up at him, their forehead and noses touching, looking into each other's eyes. To Barry, the moment felt weird, but right.
"Ahem."
Barry and Dawn looked and saw Ash and May standing a few yards away. They quickly let go of each other and back away, lightly blushing.
"What took you two so long?" Barry blurted, tapping his foot, "If you can't give me a good explanation I'm gonna have go fine you!"
"Chill, Barry," Ash said, walking past them and unlocking the front door to his house, "We just went and got some ice cream."
Dawn huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You had ice cream without us?" She pouted playfully. Ash chuckled and shook his head, unlocked the door, pushing it open.
"I want a rematch in Clue now!" Barry exclaimed, dashing into the house. "You're going down, May!" he said.
May laughed and cracked her knuckles, "We'll see about that!"
"You kissed him?" Dawn exclaimed, "Is that why you ran out of the school?"
"I kissed him twice." May replied.
"When was the second time?" Dawn asked.
May smiled, she felt a warm feeling inside just thinking about it, "At the ice cream parlor."
The two girls were walking down the road to their houses. May had won at Clue again, much to Barry's dismay. But it was getting late and they all had school the next day, so they had to say goodbye and go their separate ways.
"I came this close to kissing Barry today," Dawn said, holding her hand up and putting the tips of her index finger and thumb centimeters apart. Dawn suddenly put her hand down and slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing what she had just said aloud.
May smirked and giggled, "Looks like the cats out of the bag now." she said with a smile.
Dawn grabbed her arm and looked her in the eye, "Don't tell anyone I said that." Dawn said desperately.
May giggled again and nodded, "I won't tell..." Dawn sighed with relief and let go of May's arm.
They walked in silence for a few minutes until May spoke up, "So you do like him?"
Dawn sighed and shrugged, "He's an overly energetic spaz, a germaphoc, has an issue with fines, and Arceus knows what else..." Dawn grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, "but yeah, I do..." she mumbled quietly, May almost didn't hear her.
They reached May's house where she would go inside and Dawn would continue back home.
"You know we went through your neighborhood the other day?" May said, "It's pretty creepy."
Dawn rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and imagine how bad it is at night," she said, "I've almost been kidnapped before."
"You should move to a different neighborhood," May said, "Yours is just plain dangerous..."
Dawn nodded again, "Yeah, tell that to my Mom, she thinks I'm over reacting."
May, Ash, and Barry sat in front of the school the next day, waiting for Dawn to arrive.
"Hmph," Barry grunted, "I should-"
"No, Barry, you're not going to fine her," Ash said rolling his eyes.
"Fine - I mean- okay," Barry muttered.
A kid walked by a gave May a hard shove, knocking her to the ground.
"Hey!" Ash exclaimed angrily, the boy turned around, a familiar smug look on his face.
"Gary!" Barry exclaimed, they all stood up.
"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there," Gary said mockingly, watching with a smirk as the three's anger level began to rise.
"Gary! What is wrong with you?" Ash asked angrily, using all of his self control to not hit him. May on the other hand, was not as controlled, she stood up, lunging at Gary, who just sidestepped and pushed her away. May turned and tackled Gary to the ground, sitting on top of him to pin him down.
"Oh, so who's the bully now?" Gary asked, "You're no better than me now..."
May was about to object, but stopped short, he was right, what she was doing was just bringing herselfdown to his level. She quickly got off of him and backed off. Gary got up with a smirk, before shaking his head and walking into the school building.
"Let him go, May..." Ash said quietly. May just sighed, turning to Ash and hugging him.
"What did I miss?"
Everyone turned in the direction of the voice, and saw Dawn walking up, but something was different about her. She didn't wear her depressing black and pink clothes, the eye liner and weird bracelets. She was dressed... Like a normal girl.
Ash simply look surprised while May and Barry's jaws went slack, all these years and May had never known just what Dawn looked like under all her makeup. She wasn't wearing any of her emo clothes. Dawn had on a white beanie, a black sleeveless vest, a pink skirt and pink boots. What surprised May the most was Dawn's hair. May had always thought it was naturally black, but that was gone and her hair was now dark blue.
"Would you believe how much time and special soap it took me to get the black hair color from my hair?" Dawn asked, "I was up until one last night getting it out."
"..."
Dawn looked at her friends who were all still silent, Ash was the first to break the silence, as May and Barry had not moved, "You look great, Dawn, it better suits you."
Dawn smiled and twirled around, "You think so?" she asked.
"Wow," Barry finally said, grabbing his slack jaw with his hand and clamping his mouth shut, "You look amazing..."
Ash raised a brow and motioned to May to follow him, "Let's go, May." May nodded and followed him into the school winking at Dawn on the way in. Dawn sighed and walked up to Barry.
"Would you fine me if I kissed you right now?" Dawn asked. Barry blinked and shook his head, surprising Dawn and even himself. Dawn stood on her tip toes and kissed Barry on the lips.
...
"Well?" Dawn asked after they separated, looking up hopefully at the surprised Barry.
"You don't charge for those right?" Barry asked. Dawn made a confused face and shook her head.
"Okay, then I won't either," He said, leaning down and kissing her back. Dawn's face brightened as she and Barry embraced.
Meanwhile, Ash and May had been watching through the windows on the door from inside the building. Ash sort of ruined the moment for May though.
"Who on earth would charge for a kiss?" He asked, May sighed and face-palmed, not believing his denseness.
"And who on earth would pay for a kiss? It's not worth it," He asked, but May grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him forward and kissed him. She pulled back and looked at Ash, who sighed and scratched the back of his head, "Okay, on second thought, maybe it is worth it."
The End
I was happy with this fic when I first wrote it, now I'm not as much… Oh well, good learning experience in its own way, shows me where I have and haven't grown.
It had its corny moments but it was definitely an experience. I have to admit, Twinleafshipping has grown on me because of this fic.
The Shiny Gengar