May's Family

Ash, Tomo and May had just arrived in Petalburg City.

"What are we going to do here Ash?" Tomo asked.

"Well there is a gym here." Ash said. "But it says in the guidebook that the gym leader here is very strong and my Pokemon aren't ready for this yet."

"But what about Latias?" May asked.

Ash had informed her about his Latias and Latios.

"It's true Latias is strong." Ash said. "But it wouldn't be fair for my other Pokemon to not train them to be strong enough to battle the gym leader here."

"I see." May muttered.

She could see that Ash was a kind and understanding trainer.

May brought Ash and Tomo to the Petalburg Gym. The Petalburg Gym resembled a Japanese style house.

"Why did you bring us here May?" Ash asked.

"I know the gym leader here very well." May said. "So I will introduce you to him myself."

Ash and Tomo saw nothing wrong with that and agreed to May's offer.

Inside the gym resembled the interior of a Japanese style house.

"I take it the gym is both a house and a gym because the leader lives here right?" Ash asked.

"That's right." May answered. "And so does his family. Wait here and I'll get the gym leader."

Then she left.

"May is hiding something from us." Ash said.

"But what?" Tomo asked.

Before Ash could answer Tomo's question, a brown and cream colored raccoon-like Pokemon appeared.

"Hey, what's that Pokemon?" Tomo asked.

He looked at his Pokedex.

"Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon. Zigzagoon restlessly wanders everywhere at all times. This Pokemon does so because it is very curious. It becomes interested in anything that it happens to see."

"That's a cool Pokemon." Ash said.

Then a brown and cream colored weasel-like Pokemon showed up.

"What's that Pokemon?" Ash asked.

He looked at his Pokedex.

"Linoone, the Rushing Pokemon and the evolved form of Zigzagoon. Linoone always runs at full speed and only in straight lines. If facing an obstacle, it makes a right angle turn to evade it. This Pokemon is very challenged by gently curving roads."

"That's cool." Ash said. "I wonder who they belong to."

"They belong to me." A voice said.

The voice belonged to a boy who was around seven years old with blue-green hair and he was wearing glasses.

"I know you." The boy said. "You're Ash Ketchum. I saw you on TV when you participated in the Silver Conference. Your Lugia was awesome against Blaziken. It's a pity that you lost against Jon Dickson, but never mind."

"Thanks kid, but who are you?" Ash said.

"My name is Max." The boy said. "And I'm the leader of this gym."

Ash stared at Max; he was reading his mind.

"That's a lie." He said. "I can tell when someone is lying because the guidebook says a man named Norman is the gym leader. Besides a seven year old wouldn't be allowed to be a gym leader yet."

"Yeah." Tomo said.

It was then May came over to them.

"Quit bothering Ash and Tomo Max." She said.

"I was only talking to them sis." Max said.

"Sis?" Ash asked.

May informed them that Max was her little brother and she was really the gym leader's daughter. A man and woman entered the room and May introduced them as her dad Norman and her mom Caroline. Norman and Caroline greeted Ash and Tomo and invited them to lunch. Ash and Tomo accepted the offer.

"So Ash, May told us you and Tomo have been traveling for three years." Norman said.

"That's correct." Ash nodded. "I started my Pokemon journey when I was ten and Tomo was seven when he joined me."

Ash and Tomo explained to them how Tomo was raised by Ranger Jenny in the Pokemon preserve in Kanto after his parents died and then they added when Tomo was adopted by the Ketchum family.

"Wow, then you must be happy traveling with your brother right Tomo?" Caroline asked.

"Yes I am." Tomo smiled.

"Are you collecting gym badges too Tomo?" Max asked.

"No I'm not." Tomo replied. "I don't know what I want to be, so I'm going to travel with Ash and then find a answer."

"That's understandable." Norman said.

After lunch Norman showed Ash and Tomo the battle area in the gym.

"So Ash, do you wish to challenge me now?" Norman asked.

"Not right now." Ash admitted. "I wish to catch more Hoenn Pokemon and train them before I challenge you Norman."

He explained that he left all his Pokemon except Latias, Latios and the egg at Prof. Oak's lab because he wanted to start his journey with a new batch of Pokemon

"I see." Norman said. "Then come back here to challenge me when you've earned four badges."

"It's a deal." Ash replied.

After hearing that Ash had a Latias and Latios, Max asked him if he could see them. Ash released Latias, Latios, Mudkip and Poochyena from their Poke Balls, and then took his Pokemon egg out of his backpack. Max flipped when he saw Latias and Latios. Norman and Caroline were surprised too and thought Ash was very lucky to have legendary Pokemon. Tomo released his Treecko, Poochyena and Wynaut and May released her Torchic and Azurill.

"I got Torchic from Prof. Birch, like Ash got Mudkip and Tomo got Treecko from Prof. Birch and Ash helped me catch Azurill." May explained.

"Well you three have great Pokemon on you." Norman said. "And since May told us she was going to travel with you Ash and Tomo, I can't leave my daughter in better hands."

"Don't worry." Ash said. "We will help May any way we can."

"Yes." Tomo replied.

Suddenly Ash's egg began to glow.

"It's going to hatch." Tomo said.

Ash took the glass lid off the incubator and everyone watched as the egg continued to glow. Then the egg hatched into a small white and green Pokemon with two red horns on it's head.

"That's a Ralts, a psychic type Pokemon." Max said.

May looked Ralts up on the Pokedex.

"Ralts, the Feeling Pokemon. Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horns on it's head. This Pokemon rarely appears before people. But when it does, it draws closer if it senses that the person has a positive disposition."

Ash picked Ralts up.

"Hi Ralts." He said. "I'm your trainer."

Ralts sensed Ash's joyful emotions and hugged him.

"You have quite a way with baby Pokemon Ash." Caroline smiled.

"Well to tell you the truth, I'm a poke-parent of some of my Pokemon back home, as well as being my Latios' adopted dad." Ash said.

Norman could tell right away that Ash was a good kid.

Suddenly something crashed through the wall. It was Team Rocket; Jessie, James and Meowth had arrived in the Hoenn Region.

"You three again." Ash groaned.

He told Norman and his family that Team Rocket was a criminal organization that stole Pokemon from people. Norman removed a Poke Ball from his pocket.

"You three won't be taking any of my Pokemon anywhere." He said and he released a white, red and brown Pokemon resembling a sloth from the Poke Ball.

Ash looked it up on the Pokedex.

"Vigoroth, the Wild Monkey Pokemon. Vigoroth is always itching and agitated to go on a wild rampage. It simply can't tolerate sitting still for even a minute. This Pokemon's stress level rises constantly if it can't be moving constantly."

Jessie and James released Arbok and Weezing to battle.

"Vigoroth use Scratch on Weezing." Norman said.

Vigoroth scratched Weezing with all it's might. Ash saw that Vigoroth was really strong. Ash ordered Latias to attack Arbok with Psychic and this knocked Arbok out. Jessie and James were about to send out another Pokemon, but Latias sent them flying with Dragon Pulse.

Later that day Ash, Tomo and May prepared to leave. Norman told Ash that he could obtain his first gym badge in Rustboro City, so it was the group's first destination. Norman also gave Ash a grey case for his gym badges. Then Max announced he was going to join the group on their journey.

"As Max wishes to become a Pokemon trainer and take over my gym one day, we decided to let him join you." Norman said. "That way he will learn more things from real life experience rather than text books."

Ash and Tomo welcomed Max into the group. Max had his Zigzagoon and Linoone on him in their Poke Balls; they were really his Pokemon. Norman also gave Max a Pokenav of his own.

"You take care of yourselves May and Max." Caroline said. "And enjoy your journey."

"We will." May and Max replied.

Ash, Tomo, May and Max said goodbye to Norman and Caroline and proceeded to leave Petalburg City for Rustboro City. Now the journey for Ash and Tomo as well as their new friends May and Max had truly begun.