Return of the defeated (on hold)

Part 17

"Right on the nose." Ash replied before giving her a gentle kiss.

May watched from a safe distance as Ash and his battle team went to the middle of the area and got ready. They closed their eyes and settled their minds waiting. May was a bit startled at how fast it began, Lucario using his natural speed began firing Aura Spheres at random while Krookodile used Stone Edge while using dig to pop up at random spots.

Venusaur being the biggest in the group would parry most the attacks with his vines or with Razor Leaf, occasionally he'd use his powerful short legs to jump high to dodge. Scrafty on the other hand being small and agile almost appeared to be break dancing to dodge the in coming attacks once in a while he'd punch the attacks away but he felt more comfortable dodging them. Tauros was surprisingly light on his hooves and could easily maneuver his body around the attacks but he had no issues with holding his ground and taking them head on pushing through them. Donphan would roll up and speed into the attacks and he'd unroll to launch himself in the air to avoid them occasionally. Sandslash was having a bit of harder time being so nee but was holding his ground well. Using Rapid Spin he would bounce attacks off of him and then bring his claws out to break up on coming attacks. Both May and Glaceon were wide eyed watching Pikachu, he would seemingly disappear when anything came close to him then suddenly an Iron Tail would shine brightly as it cut through the attack.

May had gotten nervous seeing Ash stand with his pokemon in onslaught of in coming attacks, but the feeling lessened seeing his actions. His aura could vaguely seen flickering on his hands and feet as he moved around the attacks and when he'd hit them away from himself. She knew he could handle himself but it still worried her that he could possibly get injured.

Ash called out to his pokemon with encouraging words or warnings to help their training go further. It had been close to thirty minutes since the began and everyone was beginning to show minor signs of fatigue. Seeing and feeling it Ash shouted out above the noise, "Ok everyone that's a wrap for today!"

The last of the attacks faded away and everyone came together in the clearing to go over their training, "Alright guys that was a great training everyone did an amazing job." Ash looked at the pokemon around him smiling, "Sandslash I am so proud of you and how far you've came in just a short amount of time. As for the rest of you, you all looked amazing as ever and I'm beyond proud of each and everyone of you."

May stood next to Ash listening to him speaking to his pokemon, while doing so she began to think of away to use this type of training to help in a contest setting especially the speed factor of the attacking pokemon. She had done that a bit since she and Ash had began traveling together, she utilized his training methods to boost her contest performances. May could feel that this was her and Ash's year to finally come out on top and show everyone what they're made of. Smiling happily she looked up at Ash after be finished speaking with his pokemon she asked, "Are you ready to go back, clean up and relax Ash?"

"You bet, a little rr is just what we need before this battle. This one is a big one for us, the last time we faced Surge it turned out a bit ugly. It made me question quite a lot, but in the end it taught me that evolution doesn't always mean power." Ash said kneeling down to scratch between Pikachu's ears.

"Chaaaa." Pikachu squeaked happily.

"Well then its like they say, you learn more from failure than from victory." May said wrapping her hand around Ash's. They turned and headed back to the pokemon center to rest Ash's pokemon and rest themselves as well. Once they got there Nurse Joy took his pokemon to give them a check up and May decided it was a good idea to have hers get a in depth one too.