CHAPTER 460: TALK WITH BIRCH

Ash, May, and Brendan finally broke through the treeline, the heavy forest giving way to open grassland. The smell of saltwater drifted faintly from the south, and not far ahead stood a large white building with a red roof and a fenced-off field where several Pokémon were grazing.

"Finally," Brendan sighed in relief, stretching his arms. "Professor Birch’s lab, safe and sound."

"Safe sounds good right about now," May muttered, glancing over her shoulder just to make sure another Salamence wasn’t tailing them. Torchic, still in her arms, chirped happily, completely unbothered by the chaos from earlier.

Ash smiled. "See? Told you we’d make it."

Brendan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, after nearly getting roasted alive."

"Don’t worry about it, I told you I’ll protect y’all," Ash waved his hand dismissively, making Pikachu and Vee roll their eyes.

"Just don’t make a habit of that. You could at least not let my heart nearly fall out of my chest next time," May sighed.

Ash smirked, pretending to think. "Hmm... maybe next time I’ll send a postcard first. ’Dear May, please hold onto something, dramatic entrance incoming.’"

"Oh, shut up, you know what I mean," May said, looking embarrassed. "Just... you know what you did."

Ash tilted his head, tapping it. "Hmmmmmmm, nope, can’t tell. Enlighten me~" he said, knowing full well what he was doing.

"I—you—but—" May stuttered as she finally looked away. "I don’t need to explain myself to you."

"Wooowwwwww, save a girl from a Salamence and this is the thanks I get. I can’t believe it," Ash shook his head dramatically. "Well, I guess I have no choice. I have to never save you again. Nope, it’s the law. In the end, this is how things need to be."

"W-wait, I-I didn’t say all that," May stammered. Just as she was about to say something else, they saw the two-story lab building in the distance.

Brendan smiled in relief. "Finally, home sweet lab."

As they got closer, the sound of a loud crash echoed from inside.

May froze. "...Please tell me that wasn’t what I think it was."

Brendan groaned, rubbing his temples. "Yep. Dad probably got chased by something again."

Ash tilted his head. "Does this... happen often?"

"Define ’often,’" Brendan said flatly, as he walked up to the door and knocked, just as the door burst open and a man came tumbling out, yelping as a Poochyena ran out after him, barking.

"Poochyena! Stop! I told you the Pokéblock wasn’t for you!" Professor Birch yelled, running in circles.

Ash blinked. "...You weren’t kidding."

May tried not to laugh, covering her mouth with Torchic.

Brendan sighed. "Dad, seriously? Again?"

Professor Birch stopped mid-run, spotting Brendan, and then his eyes landed on the others. "Oh! Brendan!"

Just as he stopped, the Poochyena jumped up and bit down on his butt.

"Owww!!" Professor Birch yelped as he fell forward, tumbling onto the ground and crashing into a desk, scattering some paperwork.

Brendan sighed and walked up, grabbing a Poké Ball and pointing it at the Poochyena. "Return..." As he said that, the Poochyena went back into the ball.

Professor Birch groaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Brendan, what did I tell you about letting that Poochyena out without supervision?"

Brendan deadpanned. "Dad, you’re the one who let it out."

Birch blinked, then gave a sheepish laugh. "Oh, right. Heh. Occupational hazard."

Ash chuckled, helping the professor to his feet. "Still getting chased by wild Pokémon, huh, Professor?"

Birch looked up at the familiar voice, and his eyes lit up. "Ash? May? Well, I’ll be, look at you two! It’s been years!"

May smiled and waved, Torchic still in her arms. "It really has, Professor Birch! You still remember us?"

"Of course I do!" Birch said warmly, brushing off his coat. "I remember everyone I’ve visited. How’s Gary? Is he still denying being a professor?"

Ash waved his hand. "Oh, well, I beat him so hard he gave up his dream of being a trainer," Ash said jokingly. "But in the end, yeah, he’s off to Sinnoh to work with Professor Rowan."

"Ah, I see. Might need to call them sometime, see if he can help me with some stuff." Birch rubbed his chin and shrugged as he got up. "But sorry we had to meet like this."

He looked back at the desk and the scattered papers. Birch sighed. "And sorry for the mess, didn’t really expect to be chased around today." He scratched his cheek.

"Come in, come in! Let’s get you three settled before any more chaos breaks out. Brendan, check on the field monitors, would you? And May, I see you’ve already found one of our starters."

May looked down at the Torchic in her arms, who puffed up proudly. "Yeah... it’s... kinda a long story."

Birch smiled warmly. "She looks comfortable with you. I’d say she’s made her choice."

May nodded and smiled faintly. "Guess so."

"Then I’ll make it official," Birch said, walking over to the computer terminal. "Let’s get her registered as yours."

As he typed, the machine hummed, scanning Torchic’s Poké Ball and updating the registry. "There we are, Torchic, registered to May Maple."

The little chick hopped in May’s arms and chirped loudly, happy as could be.

Ash smiled as he leaned closer to the little chick and rubbed its head with his finger. "Kinda reminds me of you back when we were little."

May huffed. "Are you calling me a chicken?"

"Maybe a little," Ash teased.

Torchic puffed up indignantly, letting out an offended chirp that made everyone laugh.

Ash pulled back. "Well then, Professor, I heard you had something for me. Should we talk here, or would you prefer to talk in private?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Sure, I have to give you something, so I don’t see why not. Follow me, if you don’t mind," Birch said. Before leaving, he looked over to Brendan. "Brendan, would you mind giving May the package for Wally?"

Brendan gave a thumbs-up from the computer he was monitoring. "Got it."

Ash nodded and waved at May as he was led to another room by Birch. As he did, he finally got a good look at May and Brendan. Ash noted a few things: first off, they weren’t wearing their Ruby and Sapphire outfits, that was more apparent with May, since she actually showed up in the anime. Instead, they were wearing their Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire clothes.

But their eye color was what was more interesting. Brendan had red eyes like him, but they were a bit more ruby red, while Ash’s were more crimson. May had sapphire-blue eyes. This was important, because that meant they were closer to their manga counterparts, but obviously with a few differences.

You see, in the manga, when Brendan and May, or rather Ruby and Sapphire, met as little kids, they were attacked by, ironically enough, a Salamence. In that story, Ruby managed to drive it away, but he was left with a scar. That’s why he wears that weird hat he does.

In the end, because of that, Sapphire broke down crying because she thought he only got hurt because of her. Ruby, meanwhile, thought he was too fierce and scared her, so he decided to give up battling and instead chose to focus on making his Pokémon beautiful and appealing to others.

Meanwhile, in reality, the reason Sapphire cried was because she thought she was too weak. So, she gave up the "cute" stuff and, instead of becoming a Coordinator, chose to become a Pokémon Trainer...and a pretty wild one too

But in this world, because Professor Oak recommended May to go to Pallet, Brendan and May never met, so there was no trauma to be had. That meant May still liked cute things, and Brendan still liked Pokémon battles.

Also, some of you might wonder about the timeline of things. Well... it’s weird. So, this is how it went: back when Ash met May for the first time, she was in Hoenn. Later, Norman moved the family to Johto, ironically enough, to Olivine City. Then, about a year ago, Norman was offered the Gym in Petalburg, and that’s what all the weird moving was about.

As for why Norman left in the first place, well, Ash doesn’t actually know. May doesn’t even know.

It’s weird, and there are still questions he has. Because, believe it or not, Hoenn has three Champion-ranked Trainers. There’s Steven and Wallace, obviously, but the third is Norman. So why would a Champion-ranked Trainer (even if he’s never officially been Champion) leave Hoenn?

Well, Ash technically has an answer, since he read the manga, but there’s no guarantee that’s still the case here.

Either way, he had to talk to Birch about some stuff. That could wait for later.

Inside Birch’s private study, the smell of coffee and old parchment filled the air. The room was cluttered, a mix of research papers, Poké Balls, and half-finished field reports stacked everywhere. Ash followed Birch in, hands in his pockets, scanning the organized chaos with an amused smirk.

"Still the same as ever, huh, Professor?" Ash said. "Looks like a Tauros stampede came through here."

Birch chuckled as he brushed off his chair. "I like to call it ’creative organization.’" He motioned for Ash to sit. "So... I take it you’re not just here for a friendly visit?"

"Well, yes and no," Ash said, sitting down as he reached into his bag. "Professor Oak wanted me to give you this since I was on my way," he said, handing him a box and a few notes.

"Oh, thank you," Birch said as he took them and set them on his desk. He would "organize" them later, and by that, he meant not anytime soon.

"You can look through them later," Ash said as he rested his head on his arm. "Anyway, there’s something else. There was a Salamence that attacked May and Brendan. We need to talk about that."

-

Outside with May and Brendan, Brendan was finishing up the check-up, especially since he hadn’t had a chance to tell his dad about the Salamence. But Ash would probably bring it up, and if he didn’t, then he’d tell him.

Meanwhile, May was still holding Torchic, trying to calm down after how this day had gone, a Salamence, Ash, and now she had her Pokémon. Not exactly how she’d imagined her first day as a Trainer to be.

After a moment, Brendan finally pulled back, stretching his arms. "Alright, everything looks good, and it doesn’t look like there’s any Salamence around here."

"That’s good..." May let out a sigh of relief. "Why was one even around here? Did it belong to someone?"

"I dunno," Brendan shrugged as he got up. "I guess that’s for later. But I’ve got to give you the stuff for Wally, huh?"

Brendan stood up and walked into the lab again, pulling up a bag and an email on the computer.

"Oh yeah, my dad asked me to grab Wally’s things... since, well... I guess his uncle doesn’t want Wally to travel through the route without a Pokémon, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Brendan said as he put in a few items, then went to the Poké Balls he had and grabbed one with a green symbol, putting it inside the bag. "Apparently, my dad and Wally’s uncle are old friends, so that’s why he can even ask us to do this."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," May said softly, running her thumb over Torchic’s head feathers as the little chick cooed contentedly. "Wally’s... well, he’s Wally. Even if he’s not all that well."

Brendan nodded. "Yeah. He’s... not exactly in great health, but he’s determined. Even if I’m pretty sure there are better ways than going off on an adventure when he needs a machine to breathe properly while he sleeps." He closed the bag and handed it to May.

May took it. "Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll get this to him. I hope he’s safe though. We’ve been friends for a bit, I’d hate for anything bad to happen to him."

"I get that," Brendan shrugged. "But what are ya gonna do? If that’s what he wants to do, it’s not our place to tell him no."

May sighed. "Yeah, good point. Anyway, while we’re waiting out here, what about you? What do you do?"

Brendan blinked. "Oh yeah, guess you wouldn’t know." He chuckled as he looked at May, then went over to a desk, pulling out a badge case with six badges already inside. "Well, I’m actually also a Trainer, to some extent. I started last year, started with my Mudkip, and now he’s a Swampert," he said proudly.

"Huh, neat. So you’re gonna be in the Ever Grande Conference?" May asked.

Brendan thought about it. "Oh yeah, guess I could do that. I was mainly doing Gyms because they were on the way. I was just kinda helping my dad, so I didn’t really think about it, but I could."

"Oh, well then, good luck, I guess," May said, looking slightly to the side. Because knowing Ash, he probably also wanted to participate in the Conference. And let’s just say... if she had to pick between Ash and Brendan, she knew who she was picking.

As they were about to keep making small talk, Ash and Birch walked out of the study, with Ash spinning a Poké Ball on his finger.

"Yo! Hey guys, we’re back. Hope you didn’t miss us too much."

"Don’t flatter yourself," May huffed. "So, what did you guys talk about? Was it about that Salamence?"

"Yes, Ash told me about it," Birch sighed, rubbing his chin. "It’s strange. Most wild Salamence live in the mountains, so I don’t know why one would be here on Route 101."

"Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too," Brendan sighed, leaning back in his chair. "It doesn’t make sense why a wild Salamence would come down here. I checked the areas we have permission to monitor with the cameras, and there’s nothing there."

As they were thinking, May spoke up. "It could belong to someone, right?"

That made Birch and Brendan freeze, like that thought hadn’t even occurred to them. Ash raised an eyebrow. "Wait, did that seriously not cross your minds even once? Like, Brendan, you were there, that thing was at least as strong as a Gym Leader’s main Pokémon. Normal ones don’t get that strong unless they’re Alphas."

"Wait, that was a Gym Leader–rank Pokémon?" May blinked, looking at Ash. "Why was it so... you know..."

"Weak?" Ash said smugly. "Just ’cause I’m built different. A weakling like that can’t possibly beat my Dragonite. I’ll take your praise now," he said, totally humbly.

May facepalmed. "Oh, please. Your ego’s bigger than a Wailord."

Ash chuckled and stuck out his tongue. "Don’t hear you denying it, though~"

That made May look away from him.

Birch shook his head with an amused sigh. "Well, ego aside, Ash is right about one thing. A Salamence that strong shouldn’t be anywhere near here. If it was trained, then someone either lost control of it, or sent it for a reason."

That made the room go quiet.

Brendan frowned. "You think someone sent it after us?"

Ash cut in. "No. No offense, but you guys aren’t that important."

Brendan winced. "Oof, you could’ve said that more gently or something."

"Yeah, well, sorry, but just being Professor Birch’s son isn’t enough in this situation. Now, if it were after Birch, I’d believe that. But Brendan, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, you two are nobodies."

May frowned, crossing her arms. "Wow, thanks, Ash. Real confidence booster there."

Ash shrugged with a half-grin. "Just saying what we’re all thinking. Besides, shouldn’t you be happy? You don’t have a giant dragon coming after you."

Brendan sighed. "He has a point, even if he could’ve at least sugarcoated it."

"I’ve never been one for doing that. Besides, do you really want to be known as the guys a Salamence is hunting?"

May opened her mouth, then closed it, then sighed. "I hate it when you’re right."

Birch cleared his throat, steering them back on topic. "Anyway, if this Salamence wasn’t wild, that’s... troubling. It means someone strong was involved. So who? And if it wasn’t targeting May and Brendan, why did it attack them?"

Brendan glanced toward the window, out to the open fields. "Maybe it came from Meteor Falls? That’s the closest place where strong Dragon-types live, right?"

Birch nodded slowly. "It’s a possibility. I’ll send a team to investigate. I can tell the League, and..." he grimaced, "the Pokémon Association." He said it like just saying the words made him want to throw up.

You see, here’s the thing, the Pokémon League and the Pokémon Association are not the same thing. Every region has its own Association, and their relationship with the League can range from good, to neutral, to downright hostile.

Now, the League is more like a government body, making laws, keeping order, and serving as the public face of the region. Meanwhile, in most cases, the Association are the ones actually paying Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, researchers, and even the Champion their salaries. They also have the final say in the enforcement of laws.

For example, ever wonder why Triple Battles are only used in official battles in Unova? It’s because the Unova Association copyrighted the format, so no official battles outside the region can use Triple Battle rules.

They’re also the ones who set the original limit: trainers without special permission can only have six Pokémon, because that’s the maximum a new Trainer can reasonably take care of. Of course, there are exceptions... like Ash.

But the point is, Kanto and Johto’s Associations are chill with their Leagues and work together a lot. Hoenn’s, though? Oh boy. The League and several Gym Leaders hate the Hoenn Association, because they’ve been demanding that Gym Leaders work directly for them, or else they’ll cut off all funding to their Gyms.

And for what reason, you might ask? Good question, they don’t tell anyone. The League doesn’t even know why they need all the data they’re collecting. The only ones who do are the Gym Leaders forced to work with them, and they’re required to sign non-disclosure agreements so they can’t say a word.

So, needless to say, a lot of people don’t like Hoenn’s Pokémon Association. That’s why Birch grimaced.

Anyway, enough of that.

Back to Ash. He shook his head and clasped his hand around the Poké Ball he was holding. "Alright, well, good luck with that. I’ve taken up enough of your time."

"Oh hey, Ash, by the way, what’s in that?" May asked, pointing at the Poké Ball.

Ash smirked. "Well, considering I’m starting over, it seems only fair I get a fresh start too~"

May blinked. "Wait, you mean—"

Ash opened the ball, and in his hands, his own little Torchic appeared. It stretched its feathers, shook itself off, and looked up at May and her Torchic, tilting its head curiously.

Torchic blinked at the other Torchic, both of them chirping at each other. May’s Torchic tilted her head, letting out a proud "Chic!" while Ash’s answered with a more casual, slightly deeper "Tor!" before fluffing his feathers and hopping onto Ash’s arm.

Ash chuckled, scratching his Torchic under the chin. "Yeah, figured I’d start things fair. Kinda poetic, huh?"

May blinked, still processing. "Wait, Professor Birch gave you a Torchic too? How?"

"...I asked," Ash said flatly.

"He did ask," Birch added, crossing his arms and nodding like that was a perfectly good reason.

"Fine, but did you have to pick a Torchic? I mean, I’m the one with it! Couldn’t you have picked one of the other two?" May huffed.

Ash smirked, holding his Torchic up so the little chick was eye level with May’s. "Hey, what can I say? Great minds think alike. Besides—" he grinned, "—you wouldn’t want me to fall behind, right?"

May blinked. "Fall behind? You’ve been a Trainer for years!"

"Only two years," Ash shrugged, his Torchic hopping onto his shoulder. "Yeah, but I’m starting fresh. New region, new team, no Pikachu, well, okay, Pikachu’s still around, but you get the point."

Pikachu, who had been lounging on the counter, perked up with a "Pika?!" and crossed his arms.

Ash snorted. "Hey, no grumpiness now. If you get grumpy, I’ll call Yellow and tell Chuchu you’ve been cheating... on your diet!"

Pikachu’s face turned into one of betrayal as he looked at Ash. "Pika... [You wouldn’t...]"

"Try me," Ash smirked back at him.

"Um... am I supposed to know who Chuchu is?" May whispered.

"Oh, right. Well, remember Yellow? Yeah, she’s got a Pikachu, and mine and hers are dating, they even had eggs! So yeah," Ash said, waving his hand. "Not important."

"This seems like really important lore you’re just dropping!" May yelled, exasperated.

Ash laughed at her reaction, leaning against the counter with that same easy, teasing grin that always managed to get under her skin. "Hey, don’t look so shocked, it’s not that big a deal. You’d be surprised how much stuff happens when you’re traveling nonstop for two years."

May crossed her arms, pouting. "Still, that’s... a lot to just casually say. ’Oh, by the way, Pikachu has a girlfriend!’ You’re so weird sometimes, Ash."

"Sometimes?" he teased, raising a brow. "I think you mean charmingly mysterious."

She gave him a flat stare. "Yeah, that’s one word for it."

Brendan snickered from the desk. "You two always like this?"

"Pretty much," Ash said with a grin, earning a glare from May.

"Don’t encourage him!" she said, Torchic puffing up in agreement.

Birch chuckled as he organized a few stray papers. "You remind me of myself when I started with Norman and my wife, Lisa, well, minus the chaos. Actually, no, never mind, exactly like when I started."

Ash smirked, slipping his new Poké Ball back onto his belt. "Heh, maybe that’s just how it’s supposed to be." He looked out the window with a teasing smirk. "Guess it’s time I get moving again soon. There’s a lot of Hoenn to see, and I’ve got a team to build."

That made May’s stomach twist a little. "W-wait, you’re already leaving?" she asked, her voice catching, surprising even herself.

Ash looked back at her, knowing exactly what he was doing. "Well, yeah. You know me, I don’t sit still for long. Besides, it’s better this way. You’ve got your own journey to start, right? Don’t wanna slow you down."

May frowned, hugging Torchic a little tighter. "Slow me down? Please. You’d probably end up in a ditch if I wasn’t around to bail you out."

"Oh? Is that what you think?" Ash chuckled, taking a step closer, his smirk widening. "Last I checked, I’m the one who saved you from a Salamence, remember?"

"T-that was one time!" May’s face was turning pink now. "And besides, I was fine! I had it under control!"

"Sure you did," Ash said lightly. "Right up until you didn’t."

"I—ugh!" May turned away with a huff. "You’re impossible."

Ash laughed again, reaching out to pat her shoulder. "Hey, relax, I’m just messing with you. You did great today. Seriously. Not everyone handles a Salamence on their first day and still ends up with a new partner."

That softened her expression just a little. "...Thanks," she murmured.

Then May finally looked back up at him, her voice quieter this time. "But... are you really going? Just like that?"

"Yeah, that was the plan. Why?" Ash acted confused, even though he knew full well what he was doing.

She looked down, biting her lip. "It’s just, after everything that happened today, I don’t really... I mean, what if that Salamence comes back? Or, what if something else shows up? You’re really just gonna leave me here?"

Brendan awkwardly looked away, pretending to type something on the computer. Birch coughed and muttered something about "field reports" before shuffling off to another room, clearly giving them space.

Ash smiled, leaning close. "Are you asking me to go with you so you’re not lonely? Well, I suppose I can be persuaded, as long as you say it properly~"

May froze, Torchic chirping softly in her arms. "I—n-no, I mean, I just—ugh, that’s not what I—"

"Sounds like it to me," Ash teased. "You could just say it, you know. Save us both the guessing."

May’s breath hitched. She stared at him for a long second, then looked down, her voice barely above a whisper. "...I don’t want you to go."

May fidgeted, squeezing Torchic tighter. "I know I’m supposed to start my own journey and everything, but after what happened, I just... I don’t want to be alone right now, okay? I want to go with you, even before the Salamence stuff... I was kinda looking forward to it, okay?"

Ash’s grin softened into something gentler. "Heh. You sure about that? Traveling with me means early mornings, long hikes, and probably a few more near-death experiences. But in exchange, I do the cooking."

May lifted her head, meeting his eyes. "I don’t care. I can handle it. Just... don’t leave me behind."

Ash chuckled softly. "Well... when you put it like that, how could I say no?"

"So... you’re gonna stay with me?"

"Sure, someone’s gotta protect you," Ash said, poking her forehead.

May huffed. "Ok, fine, let’s go then. Since we need to get to Petalburg to drop off the stuff for Wally, I’ll lead the way."

Ash saluted playfully. "Aye aye, Captain May," he said as Pikachu and Vee copied and also tried to salute.

Brendan finally looked over. "So you two are going off. That’s good. It’s better to go with someone. Take care. Oh, and Ash, I guess I’ll see you around at the conference this year."

Ash gave a smirk back. "Alright, only if you’re not a sore loser~"