When I woke up I was greeted once more by the sight of May's sleeping face. Unlike yesterday though, I was unsurprised since we went to bed together last night.
Instead, I took a moment to study her sleeping expression as May continued dozing right in front of me. As I did so, I couldn't help but wonder, how lucky was I to have such a woman like her with me?
May smiled suddenly as that thought entered my head, almost as if she could hear them despite my lips staying closed.
It was with great reluctance that I slowly crawled out of bed, exposing myself to the morning chill while momentarily exposing May as well. I only got a brief glance at her naked breasts before they were covered once more with the blanket, before glancing around the tent.
As a cabin tent it was composed of one large room, though it seemed quite a bit bigger on the inside than it appeared from outside. Maybe my imagination...
Inside, I could see a wood stove with a small stack of wood nearby to burn in it, several rugs that covered the floor, the queen sized bed that May and I had been sleeping in, a dresser and wardrobe to hold her clothes. One corner even had a tub with a shower in it and a sink nearby, while there was a tv sitting on the dresser.
It was like no camping I had ever heard of, not that I would know.
"..."
I paused at the thought as I tried to recall if I had ever been camping before, but like everything else, I came up with nothing.
With May still sleeping soundly, I quickly pulled some fresh clothes out of my bag and dressed before heading outside. There I found the pokemon we had left out scattered around the campsite.
Charmander was curled up in the fire pit, snoozing among the last of the coals from last night. Caterpie and Oddish were both nearby, the latter looking as if she were planted in the ground, while the former was curled around her. Magikarp, Poliwag and Poliwhirl were all at the river though, all three splashing around in it happily.
I decided to leave them all be for the time being, and sat on one of the logs surrounding the fire pit while pulling my phone out to check out some of the apps May added to it last night some more.
I had been surprised when the order I put in for more pokeballs and the evolution stones came in so quickly, only a couple hours after I finished placing them via a Dragonite courier. According to May, they were able to track our phones to locate us while trainers were out in the wild, or we could also specify to have our deliveries taken directly to a certain Pokemon Center.
Though I did get some more money yesterday from catching all of my new pokemon, it wasn't enough for me to go on another shopping spree after buying all of those pokeballs and evolution stones. I could however look to see what was available, as well as how expensive it was so I would have a better idea when I did get around to buying what I needed.
The other thing I wanted to check out was Etrade, the app May downloaded to help me acquire more pokemon.
The app was separated between those making offers, those making requests, and those trading in money instead of other pokemon. And most of the requests were rather....ridiculous.
"Asking for a bagon in exchange for a Rattata? A Metagross for a Zubat? What is wrong with these people?" I muttered while shaking my head, though I did find a few genuine requests.
...
Bug Catcher Tommy
Asking for a bug type pokemon capable of Mega Evolving!
I am from the Unova region, and I LOVE bug type pokemon! Unfortunately, the only bug type pokemon capable of Mega Evolving here is Scolipede, and I want more to add to my roster. So, I am looking for either a Weedle, Pinsr, Heracross, Scizor, or Wimpod. In exchange, I am offering almost any one of the bug type pokemon that can be found in the Unova region! Sewaddle, Venipede, Dwebble, Karrablast, Joltik, Shelmet, or Durant. Unfortunately I do NOT have any extra Larvesta, but I do have plenty of the others to offer!
...
I cocked a brow at the offer, which wasn't too bad actually. Especially since I was already in Virdian forest.
Here, there was a pretty good chance of running into Pinsr, Scyther or especially Weedle, and in exchange I could get a pokemon all the way from Unova. After a moment of thought, I sent the guy a message that I was currently in Virdian forest, and might be able to get him a Weedle since I still needed to get one for msyelf anyways.
Only a moment after sending him the message, did my phone ring. Except it was professor Oak.
"Morning professor." I said while accepting the call, the phone hovering in front of me as usual for a video call.
"Good morning Noah. I just wanted to check in and see how your journey was going."
"I'd say its going good so far. I caught five more pokemon yesterday." I told him.
"I saw. You're making remarkable progress. I think what surprised me the most though was how serious Gary is taking things now. You really managed to light a fire under him."
"Really? Like that guy needed MORE motivation." I said while rolling my eyes, making the professor chuckle.
The professor and I talked a bit more for a while as I waited for May to get up, until I heard her starting to move around in the tent.
"Alright professor, but I think its time to go." I told him, ending the call right as May came out completely dressed.
"Morning." She said while approaching me, giving me a kiss on my cheek in greeting.
"Good morning." I replied while standing to help as May got busy preparing breakfast.
"So I was thinking..." May began as the oatmeal started boiling in the pot. "The next camp site isn't too far away from here. If we hurry to get there, and set up camp, then we can spend the rest of the day exploring"
"The place is also near one of the Beedrill hives." I mentioned while looking at the map.
"Exactly. You would be able to go and get yourself a Weedle if we're lucky."
"Two, maybe. I found a guy in Unova looking for bug type pokemon that can Mega Evolve, and sent him a message that I might be able to get him a Weedle for one of his." I explained to her.
"See! I KNEW that app would come in handy for you!" May declared happily.
"Yeah. I just need to find a couple of Weedle now." I told her as we took the oatmeal off of the stove.
"Should be easy enough. As long as they aren't surrounded by a horde of Beedrill." May replied as we separated the oatmeal into two bowls.
"..."
"Ow!"
May yelped as I pinched her butt in reply to her remark.
"That's for jinxing us." I told her in a low voice, before taking my bowl and returning to the log to sit down.
"Jerk." May muttered, even as she sat beside me to eat.
Once breakfast was over we broke camp and prepared to leave, while I also swapped out some of my pokmeon so that I had Charmander, Rattata, Spearow, Pidgey, Mankey and Magikarp with me.
"You all ready to go?" I asked them, with Mankey, Rattata, Pidgey and Spearow gathered around me, getting a chorus of cries in affirmation.
"Gonna keep them out as we go?" May asked curiously, before I suddenly swept her up into my arms to carry her princess style.
"!!!"
"What are you doing?!" She squealed while wrapping her arms around my neck.
"You said you wanted to hurry." I replied with a smirk, before I started running down the path.
Even I was surprised by how long I was able to run at a nice jog with May in my arms, while both Pidgey and Spearow flew overhead, and Rattata ran beside me with Mankey swinging through the trees.
Surprisingly, I was able to run the entire way to the next campsite with May in my arms.
"You know, I think I may have discovered my new favorite way to travel." May said as she refused to let me go when we arrived.
"As compared to?"
"Flying around on Altaria. Almost nothing else beats being smothered in those fluffy cottony wings. Almost." May answered with a smirk, even as I set her down.
"Well, when Spearow evolves into Fearow, then we can start flying everywhere." I told her, earning me a mock look of despair at the promise.
Once May was done fooling around, the two of us quickly got the campsite set up before getting ready to head out once more. Surprisingly, May had a second, smaller, tent that she set up next to the main tent, which she apparently used as a studio where she would film and edit footage for May's Expeditions.
"Tada!" May declared as she emerged from the tent, dressed in khaki booty shorts with a matching vest, thick hiking boots, and bowl hat. It looked as if she were going on literal safari.
"You look cute." I told her honestly, my gaze lingering on her long legs, smooth and toned from all of the walking she regularly did.
"Ahh~! Thank you!" May exclaimed happily as she came and gave me a quick kiss.
"Now then, are you ready to go and investigate a Beedrill nest?!" She declared, as if we were going on some world changing adventure.
"Sure. But will it be alright to just leave camp like this?" I asked while glancing over to May's tents cautiously.
"I'm already on it!" May declared as she held up a pokeball. "Come on out, Camerupt!"
"RUUUUUUUPT!"
My eyes widened to the extreme as I suddenly found myself staring at a large camel-like pokemon that was taller than me, covered in orange fur with two large humps of stone on it's back.
"By the gods..." I uttered in awe of the beautiful creature, who lumbered over to the fire pit and laid down before going right to sleep.
"I know." May said smugly. "Camerupt usually guards my camps for me when I go out on an expedition. And no one, person or pokemon, has ever managed to mess with my stuff!"
I only paid a little bit of attention to her words as I approached the sleeping pokemon, putting my hands on it's side softly so as not to disturb it as I felt it's fur. It was incredibly warm, softer than it looked, and I could feel a low rumbling from within it's body. Possibly the magma inside that would erupt if it were angered.
Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from the Camerupt and joined May as we prepared to leave.
"Charmander, Blaziken, Camerupt... You seem to really like the fire type pokemon." May pointed out teasingly.
"I've always been a fan of them." I immediately stated while recalling other fire type pokemon that I wanted, Infernape, Arcanine, Magmar, Alolan Marowak, Houndoom, Ceruledge... There were simply too many good fire types to choose from to only have one on a team.
"Char char?" Charmander uttered questioningly from by my feet.
"None of them are better than you buddy." I assured him, and Charmander huffed proudly as if to say 'that's right!'
Together, we went off the path as we traveled to the smallest Beedrill hive in the forest, with May leading the way excitedly. I was surprised at her enthusiasm as May literally hacked her way through the dense forest foliage with a machete she pulled out of her bag, contrasting the slightly gluttonous fashionista she usually presented herself as.
After a couple hours of walking and hacking our way through the forest, as I took over for her occasionally, we finally got close to the hive as some pokemon began to appear in the brush.
"Weed?"
I paused on a downward slash as a Weedle poked it's head out of the brush, looking at me curiously.
"Charmander, use Ember!" I quickly ordered my starter, who promptly peppered the bug type with burning coals.
"Weedle!" It cried out in alarm, but I was already moving as I threw a pokeball at it before it could alert the rest of the hive. Soon, the ball clattered to the ground as it stopped moving.
~~~
Weedle- The Hairy Bug pokemon.
Weedle are often found in forests and grasslands, though always in greater numbers near established nests where Beedrill watch over them. Their heads are tipped by barbs that typically grow to two inches in length, and are very toxic. Immediate medical treatment is advised for anyone pricked by one.
~~~
I smirked victoriously as I read Weedle's information, before sending it to professor Oak's lab until later. Now I just needed one more to send to Tommy in Unova.
"Alright, this is as good a place as any." May said as I did my thing, drawing my attention back to her as she made her own preparations.
"Alright Rotom, come on out~!" May declared, calling out a pokemon that looked like lightbulb with two branches of lightning. Then May pulled an item out of her bag with several blades on it, which I recognized as a drone before the Rotom eagerly dove into it.
"Rotom~!" It declared happily as the drone came to life, and started to fly around on it's own around May.
"Everything ready? Then we're going live in Five. Four. Three..."
May mimed the last two words before pasting a smile on her face as she looked into the camera on the Rotom drone.
"Hello everybody! And welcome back to another exciting episode of May's Expeditions! I have a VERY special episode for eveyone today, starting with announcement. I got myself a boyfriend!"
I had started watching the livestream on my own phone, having already subscribed to May's page as well, and was surprised by the sudden stream of comments from her viewers since May already announced earlier that she was doig a video today. At first she was greeted by a stream of comments from people saying hello and how much they had been looking forward to her first official Kanto video. But then she announced our relationship.
~~~
Pokegal162839: NO WAY!
ImmaJynx: YOU GO GIRL!
GoonerforMay: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
~~~
I cocked a brow as the mixture of responses to May's declaration, with several people being supportive while several others were expressing their own disappointment from May no longer being available. Well too bad for them.
I may not know exactly what we were at the moment, but May was MINE.
I was dragged out of my momentary possessivness as May suddenly grabbed my arm, actually dragging me into the shot so the camera could broadcast the both of us.
"This is Noah! My totally awesome boyfriend~!" May declared while snuggling up to my side.
~~~
SteveetheEevee: HOLY SHIT!
Machampscamp: Isn't that the spaceman?
BombAssBombirdier: GET THAT MAN GIRL!
GoonerforMay: I could take that little bitch boy!
~~~
My eye twitched at the newest string of comments that I could see coming in on my phone as it hovered just out of sight of the camera. Again, they were torn between those who were rooting for May, and those who wanted to kick my ass for daring to try and date her.
"Now now everyone, be nice~! Noah is not only my boyfriend, but he's also being sponsored by THE professor Oak himself! And let me tell you, I'M the one chasing HIM after he singlehandedly saved me from being kidnapped by Team Rocket." May stated to the naysayers.
Once again the comments exploded, prompting May to tell them the story of how she had been kidnapped by Team Rocket, and they were about to get away with her before I singlehandedly stopped the helicopter long enough for the other trainers to arrive. Then she told them how I galantly leapt up into the helicopter itself and fought the Rocket thugs with my bare hands before pulling her, Misty AND all of the stolen pokeballs from within.
By the time May had finished retelling the tale, even the chat was quiet as they seemingly digested what she told them.
"Uh May, aren't we here for something?" I asked her, trying to get us back on track.
"Right! Now that I've caught you all up, its time for the purpose of my expedition today, exploring a Beedrill hive!"
May and I then led the drone the rest of the way to the hive, pausing only once when I found a second Weedle exploring, which I promptly caught and sent back to professor Oak like I had the first. Now I had the two Weedle that I had set out for.
Soon, the two of us crouched down and quietly snuck the rest of the way to the ledge, from which we could see the hive below us while the drone filmed it all.
The hive was a collection of logs that had been piled up around a singular alpha Beedrill, a queen by the looks of it. From within the logs and the area surrounding them, I could see an uncountable number of Weedle as they ate and otherwise rested, while Kakuna hung from the trees around them. Aside from all of them were the Beedrill, who hovered around the area as they each performed their own respective duties such as guard duty, collecting food for the Weedle and Kakuna, or directly serving their queen.
Aside from the queen, I was more than a little surprised to see a couple more alpha Beedrill amongst those tending to her. From what I could see though, they were basically acting as their personal guards.
"Have any of you ever seen so many alphas in one place?" May asked her viewers, and I had to say I hadn't. But seeing the number of Weedle down there, I had to admit that it wasn't too strange that a single hive could produce several alphas. Especially if each one was ruled by an alpha queen.
I alternated between studying the hive and watching May as she quietly did her bit for May's Expeditions, telling her viewers about the hive from her own perspective as the daughter of world renowned pokemon professor. I had no doubt this was a large part of why May was so popular with her viewers. She wasn't just hot, but she actually knew what it was she was talking about as she told them about the pokemon she was showing them.
She was in the middle of explaining the structure of the hive itself when it happened. All of the hair on my body stood on end yet again, and a sense of foreboding filled me.
"Look out!" I yelled in warning as I threw myself at May, wrapping my arms around her while rolling to the side right as something hit the spot she had been laying in. And when we stopped rolling, with May on top of me, I saw what it was that attacked us.
"DRIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLL!"
The culprit, one of the Beedrill, Screeched as it hovered over us, one of it's stingers buried in the ground right where May had been laying seconds earlier. And naturally, it alerted the rest of the hive to our presence from the Screech.
"Times up!" May declared as she hurriedly lept up off of me. "I choose you, Blaziken and Altaria!"
"BLAZE!"
"ALTARIA!"
Flames flared to life on Blaziken's wrists while Altaria trilled beautifully as they both appeared, just in time to combat an entire swarm of angry Beedrill.
"Help them out, Charmander! Spearow! Pidgey!" I yelled while throwing three pokeballs of my own out.
"Char!"
"Gee!"
"ROW!"
Spearow wasted no time fighting back against the Beedrill as he began attacking them with Peck and Gust attacks, aided by Pidgey as the two of them began to work together to cover each other's backs. Charmander meanwhile began peppering the Beedrill with Ember attacks, spraying as many of them with hot coals as he could as they started to swarm us.
"Incoming!" I warned May after a moment of fighting, when I noticed that one of the alpha guards of the queen was coming towards us.
"On it! Let's go, Blaziken!" May yelled while pulling a multicolored pendant from her jacket pocket, which began to shine with a blinding light.
"BLAAAAAAZE!"
Blaziken roared as it was encased in a brilliant sphere of multicolored light, which then shattered to reveal it's new form with tendrils of flame extending from it's wrists.
"Blaziken, use Flame Charge!" May yelled out, and even I flinched from the intense heat radiating from Blaziken as it surged forward while cloaked in flame, and slammed into the approaching Beedrill to turn both of them into a raging fireball.
"Chaaaaar..." Charmander uttered in awe of Blaziken's prowess, before his eyes turned serious.
"Charmander?" I asked him warily, even as my starter took in a deep breath.
"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
Charmander roared, and I mean ROARED, as he expelled a powerful torrent of flames at the attacking Beedrill.
"You did it!" I exclaimed excitedly as, after SEVERAL failed attempts for the last several days, Charmander finally got Flamethrower down as he bathed the bug types in the flames.
"Way to go Charmander!" May declared from where she was battling with Blaziken and Altaria.
"Pidgey, Spearow, fan the flames!" I ordered the two birds as Charmander continued blasting the Beedrill with fire.
"Gee!"
"Spear!"
I heard both birds cry in affirmation as they focused their Gust attacks on the flames, fanning them even more to keep the remaining Beedril from approaching us. At first.
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"
A roar, an actual roar, made the entire forest around us vibrate as two massive figures shot at us from the nest, one being the other alpha Beedrill, the second being the queen herself, larger even than the other two alphas.
"ALTARIAAAAAAAAA!"
I suddenly heard May's fluffy dragon release a melodic cry, preempting a powerful blast of wind that converged on the two alpha Beedrill in what was their own personal Hurricane.
"DRIIIIIIILL!"
With another shrill cry, the queen tore through the Hurricane like the violent winds were merely a wall of wet paper that surrounded her. Then, I felt a chill run through my body as she passed her gaze over us, before finally settling on Altaria.
"!!!"
Moving faster than I could follow, the queen Beedrill shot at Altaria and jabbed her with one of it's massive stingers. I could only watch as said stinger seemed to pulse, injecting Altaria with what was obviously potent poison.
"Altaria!" I heard May exclaim, as the dragon fell to the ground.
"BLAAAAAAAZE!"
Blaziken however surged forward in a furious ball of flame, still riding on the power of Mega Evolution as it tried to combat against all three of the alpha Beedrill.
"Charmander, help it out with Flamethrower!" I ordered my starter, leaving the other Beedrill to Pidgey and Spearow.
"CHAAAAAAAR!"
Charmander roared once more as he bathed the three alphas in fire, which was barely a drop in the bucket compared to the output Blaziken was producing, but he was still able to help the other fire starter by producing more flames.
"CHAR! CHAAAR! CHAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
Over and over again, Charmander bathed the three Beedril in flames while Blaziken fought them. Thankfully it's ability after Mega Evolving was Speed Boost, so it's movement speed was increasing the more it delivered flaming kicks and punches to it's opponents.
On the other side, Spearow was leading the charge against the remaining Beedrill with his own alpha strength, with Pidgey doing everything he could to try and keep up with my other bird. Until...
"CHAR!"
"PIDGEY!"
Both Charmander and Pidgey suddenly began to glow, their figures growing larger as the former grew lankier with more pronounced claws, while the latter had larger wings with a plume growing from his head.
"CHARMELEON!"
"PIDGEOTTO!"
"HELL YEAH!" I yelled from excitement at two of my pokemon evolving, after which Charmeleon produced flames that were hotter and more intense than before, while Pidgeotto shot through the trees like a feathery bullet as he attacked, his wings glowing with the power of Wing Attack.
"BEEDRILL!"
My elation was short lived though, as one of the alpha Beedrill apparently decided that Charmeleon was now enough of a threat to have to deal with itself.
"Shit! get out of there Charmeleon!" I yelled to my starter, even as my feet tensed up as I prepared to intervene personally. Only, I couldn't move.
"!!!"
My feet felt as if they were anchored to the ground as I fell forward, catching myself with my hands.
"The fuck?!" I swore in irritation while looking down at my feet, only to see several roots wrapped around them.
"Noah!"
I heard May cry to me in alarm, prompting me to look up to see more roots wrapping around her as well. The same thing was happening to Charmeleon and Blaziken, while both Pidgeotto and Spearow managed to escape the entrapment as they flew upwards, along with the Beedrill.
The Beedrill though, were now hesitating to move as the entire forest around us seemed to start trembling. Eventually, all of them, even the two alphas and the queen, lowered themselves to the ground as if in reverence as something appeared. Something powerful that positioned itself atop my head like I was a throne.
"Cebibi, Celebi!" It decreed, and I knew this battle was over.