Forgotten

The streets were eerily quiet and deserted. The fluorescent glow of the street lamps only made being outside even scarier. Only three figures stood in a dark alley, chatting in hushed tones. It's not that those three were brave. It was that those three were the ones that normal people feared they would run into while passing through such a location on such a night.

A woman with long purple hair asked, still skeptical, "So if we get these Pig Pokemon, we can capture Pikachu?" Her voice sounded snobby like she thought she was better than everyone else. She shot a look over at the short purple-haired man beside her. He also looked like he wasn't sure of the idea.

"That's right," The cat-like creature said in an even higher pitched and nasally voice. The pokemon's confidence seemed to influence the other two members' doubts.

The man shared a look with the woman and smiled, "Then Boss will be happy?"

The woman met his eyes and chimed in with glee, "Then our pay will go up!"

The man continued, excitedly, "Then we'll be able to go on those special missions!"

The cat simply stood there, with his back stretched so he looked the tallest he could, and his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for the other two to make their decision. He didn't have a single doubt in his mind that they would say yes to his plan. Perhaps it was that confidence alone that led the others to do exactly what he planned on.

The benefits of the talking pokemon's plan began to outweigh her doubts that the plan would work. With a final look over at the man, the woman gave in. "Okay, then, let's hear more of this plan of yours."

.

Meanwhile, a girl in overalls and red hair thrown into a high side pony tail, stretched as she exited the contest dome. "The contest in Heartthome was even harder than people say it is." This girl, despite her young and tom-boyish demeanor, was the leader of her own Pokemon Gym. Although she loved using her water pokemon to defend her Gym's badge, the position proved to be a little stressful, so she went on trips to other towns to enter contests as a sort of vacation. She also knew that some of her old friends attend pokemon contests, so she was always secretly hoping for the chance to run into them.

Although she was more of a pokemon trainer than a coordinator, that doesn't mean she took contests lightly. In fact, she had just gotten fourth place in a huge contest. As competitive as she was, she took this to mean that she was the best of the worst. It tore her up inside that instead of being able to boast about how she was in the top three, she has to settle for saying she was in the top ten even though she was so close. She didn't even get a medal! She got a participation ribbon.

In her anger, she didn't pay extreme attention to her surroundings. A boy roughly the same age as her with unruly black hair bumped into her. Truth be told, there was a good chance that she actually bumped into him. Even so, she truly wasn't in the mood. "HEY! WATCH IT!" She was about to punch the guy in the face, when she recognized the boy as her old traveling partner, Ash. Before she could say anything, the boy muttered, "Oh, sorry. Good job on the contest though," and walked off, without a single look back.

She stood for a second, dazed. Her deep set anger had drifted off and replaced itself with confusion before she could even notice it. It seemed to her that he didn't recognize her, but no way that's possible. It's not like she had made any huge wardrobe changes, or changed her hairstyle. They had traveled together for so long... She told herself that she had nothing to worry about, shrugging it off as her new facial treatment doing it's job, and Ash being urgently expected somewhere.

"Misty?" It took a moment too long for the girl to recognize her own name being called.

"Hey, Misty?" A girl attempted to call out to her again. Noticing Misty's slow reaction, the she a little concerned. "You doing okay there?"

Misty looked up to see another old friend of hers, "May!" Misty embraced her friend immediately after it being so long since they last talked to each other. That was the worst part about being a Gym leader. One trainers get the badge, they don't really have a need to come back. Her friends being people who traveled to the newest contests, and gyms they haven't conquered yet, never really had time to visit her. She often found herself day-dreaming about the months she spent camping outside and traveling as a pokemon trainer.

Misty had to spend another minute to process the question May has asked before replying,"Yeah. Of course, I'm doing fine. Just... tired. That was a hard contest in there." She covered up her delusional thoughts about Ash. She motioned towards the contest dome before smiling back at her friend, "Good job in there by the way." She had seen May compete in her final contest, as their schedule conflicted through out most of the contest. Misty was simply glad she didn't have to compete with her friend before they could spend the time to catch up.

May smiled back, "You did well too."

"Yeah right," Misty rolled her eyes and scoffed. The place she earned in the contest was still very much a sore spot. "I'm not the one who got second, unlike SOMEBODY. It's almost offensive for YOU to say that I did well."

Misty saw her friend's eyes fill with alarm, as she began to spin her previous words to have a more positive tone to it, "I- I didn't mean to offend, May! I just meant that you had that really tough guy though. I mean, if I had went up against him, I'm pretty sure I would've lost too!"

Misty immediately felt guilty for making her friend feel the need to explain her harmless comment, but still couldn't drop the sarcastic tone in her voice, "Yeah, right." She took a deep breath and tried to recall the very last battle of the contest with May took a part in, but couldn't seem to remember the opponent very clearly, "Who did you lose to again?"

"Um, I lost to..." May scanned the crowd of people exiting the contest dome. Most contestants were still standing around in the shade, finally getting the chance to talk to other coordinators without feeling the stress of competing with them all. "Oh, that girl, Dawn!" May finally pointed out a girl wearing a white hat on top of the two gold clips in her medium-length black hair. Misty couldn't help but notice how small of a miniskirt the girl was wearing either. May looked back at Misty with a determined look in her eyes. "But, next time I'm going to win for sure."

Misty looked over to where May pointed out Dawn and noticed someone... Ash was standing with her? "Do you see Ash hanging over there with Dawn?" Then the weirdest thing happened, Ash met eyes with Misty. Or she thought he did, but it appeared that he simply looked over her. Misty was sure that if they did, he would smile and wave like a crazy person and immediately rush over to her and May.

In those next few moments, the clouds parted from in front of the sun. The girls were both blinded. May put a hand on her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. "No... I don't see much of anything right now..." After a moment of scanning the area where she saw Dawn, but it seemed she and Ash had moved from where they had been. Suddenly, May exclaimed, "DREW!?"

The green haired man was walking towards the two of them and smiled from the surprise in May's voice, "Yeah. I caught a flight to see the contest." He paused to think of the way to phrase his next words, "You know, you should've won to that other girl who got first."

Misty couldn't say anything. Something was... off. Drew hadn't competed in the contest, and... he had never talked to May like that before.

Meanwhile May fumbled strangely with her hands. She kept looking between Misty and Drew until even more suddenly than he original sighting of Drew, she shouted, "LEAVE ME ALONE, DREW!"

Drew was slightly taken aback and stopped in his tracks, "What?" There was a look of total shock on his face. That's when he noticed Misty clearly for the first time and comprehended the situation, "Oh, really, May? Are you REALLY not going to tell her?"

Misty didn't even have time to ponder what May wasn't telling him before Drew continued talking, obviously not waiting for an actual response to his question.

"I mean, honestly," Drew started walking towards the two girls again, and then pulled out a red rose that he cupped into May's right hand, "what kind of BOYFRIEND would I be if I didn't see your first contest since we got together?"

Misty felt the sudden need to clean out her ears, "Boyfriend?" She thought for a few seconds that he was actually making some kind of bad joke, but then her eyes noticed May's skin which was now beat red, and how tight her lips were shut, not saying anything to the contrary of Drew's statement.

May could barely manage a whisper to come out to Misty, "Yeah..." Then she turned to glare daggers at Drew, who was still grinning from his own comment, and her yell found a volume even higher than her previous shouts, "IT'S KINDA ON THE DOWN-LOW THOUGH!"

Drew chuckled a little, "Only to you."

Misty still couldn't truly believe what she was seeing, despite May confessing it herself. "Boyfriend...? HE is!?" Misty couldn't get over the fact that the last time she saw them together, they couldn't stop fighting over the smallest things, and how it got to the point where they wouldn't even hang out with Misty if they knew that the other one was invited as well. They HATED each other.

"Yeah, okay?" May was done blushing and averting the topic, and her usual snarkiness found its way back, "Is it THAT unbelievable?"

"YES." Misty couldn't get over the surprise.

Drew began to burst out laughing and he couldn't stop. He found Misty's reaction to be the funniest thing ever. May continued the conversation over her boyfriend's laughter, "Really? Okay well, you better get used to it."

May didn't mean to give off a rude impression, but there was enough sass in her comment, that anyone other than Misty might've been shut down. However, this was Misty. "That MIGHT take a while."

Misty's comment was so perfect for the situation, it sent Drew into a whole new fit of laughter. May finally had enough of it and shouted, "Shut up, Drew!" He didn't stop. Or more like, it seemed like he couldn't stop. He rubbed tears out of his eyes and had to catch his breath. Then May sighed and tried another tactic. She whispered something inaudible into Drew's ear, and it worked. He shut up immediately.

Misty was impressed, but with the humor gone, she recalled her paranoid thoughts about Ash not recognizing her. She looked over in the direction she saw him with Dawn but they had moved since then. "Um, have either of you talked Ash during the contest?" Both Drew and May shook their heads. "Oh..."

Drew looked over at May and mouthed, "What's going on with her?" May returned his glance with a shrug and mouthed, "I don't know either."

"Um," May, "Maybe we can go look around for him? He should be around here somewhere."

Misty muttered something indiscernible, and May had to ask for Misty to repeat herself. "I think Ash has forgotten me..." The other two could barely make out her words.

Now it was time for the couple to be shocked at Misty's words. May spoke first, "I can't believe that! That doesn't make any sense. You guys were friends way longer than even Ash and I have been."

"Yeah, well, earlier he walked passed by me like didn't recognize me. Then when we met eyes earlier, he didn't wave or smile or anything..." Misty looked at May, "I know it doesn't make any sense, but if Ash met eyes with me, he would've called me over, I know he would have. He's that kind of guy. Unless, he didn't know me."

May silently looked at her friend. Her lack of a response told her friend that she agreed yet couldn't believe it, the same as Misty. Drew rolled his eyes, "You guys are being such girls. If Ash would've waved if he saw you, he just didn't see you. It wasn't THAT long ago that either of you all traveled along side him, right?"

Misty nodded, and noticed Drew's voice of reason smoothed over her crazier thoughts. She took deep breaths and began to think rationally again. "Right, of course," she thought. "He must not have seen me. Duh. I can be such an idiot sometimes."

May had spotted Dawn and Ash at a bench right outside the contest center, while Misty calmed herself. May courageously walked over, "Hey, Ash."

Ash was in the middle of gulping down a water, so he had to wipe his mouth with his hand before he could reply."Um, hey..." He looked surprised to see them walk up to him, but not in the old-friend-that-he-didn't-expect-to-see way. Instead, he looked like he didn't understand why they were talking to him in the first place.

"So you're travelling with Dawn now? That's pretty cool." It was obvious that May was trying to create a normal conversation, but it was even more apparent that there was an unusual mood in the air. Misty's doubts crept back out of their lair.

Ash spoke like he had to force even a single word out, "Yeah..." He was giving off the impression that he didn't want to talk to them. Misty was so stunned, she couldn't even think properly. Ash loved his friends. Even when he was in a fight with a friend, he wouldn't stop talking to them for any reason. He would try to nonchalantly change the subject and discuss the problem later. Yet here he was, right in front of them, his friends, and he wasn't speaking.

No one knew what to say, so a strange silence overcame the group giving Ash the chance to step up to bat, "You guys are people from the contest, right...?" Then he looked over at Drew, "Wait, I don't believe that guy was there."

"What do you mean?" May asked, after following Ash's eyes to Drew.

There was a pause and then Ash said, "I don't think he was in the contest."

May blinked and slowly said, "...Well, yeah. He wasn't, but he's DREW." When no look of recognition came over Ash's face, she added, "You KNOW Drew."

Still Ash's face didn't change. If anything, he only seemed more confused. Drew jumped in now, motivated by disbelief. "You don't remember me, Ash?"

"Remember you from where?" Ash asked. Neither May or Drew could find words to reply to that question. There were so many times he should've known Drew from. Ash was acting like he had never met any of the three before.

Misty, who hadn't been able to talk the entire time, finally had to release all of the scrambled thoughts she had, losing her composure, "DON'T YOU REMEMBER ME, ASH!? Remember you stole my bike to save Pikachu...!?"

Now Ash's eyes showed the innocent alarm that May had on her face previously, "Oh, I'm sorry... Do I owe you a bike...?"

"...No... not anymore."

"I started my journey walking with Pikachu." Ash tried to recall his first day with Pikachu, "Of course we didn't get along the greatest at first and then... and then..."

Dawn, who also hadn't been able to follow any of the conversation became concerned by Ash's face. He was pale, "Ash, are you okay?" Dawn tried to recall the last time Ash seemed even remotely sick like he did right now. He was always so spunky and energetic like her very own Pachirisu.

May noticed Ash was trying hard to think, so she ignored Dawn, "Does that mean... that you don't remember me either? Or my brother, Max?" Ash shouldn't need to think. They had traveled together for months. Just because it was in the past, doesn't mean he can just forget about everything like tout of the blue.

"What about Brock or maybe Tracy?" Misty tried. The girls couldn't believe all of that time was somehow lost to Ash. They couldn't forget any of the precious memories they had gained from their travels.

Finally Ash exploded just like Misty had. His face was both red from anger and a pale white from noticing himself that he couldn't seem to remember. "WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? MAX? BROCK? WHO EVEN ARE YOU PEOPLE!?"

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore!" A few tears from Misty's eyes fell without consent. She immediately raised to her hands to her face to cover them.

May, leaned tiredly on Drew. She couldn't think of any other ways to force Ash to remember them. Dawn hesitantly said, "Um, guys, I don't understand what's going on..."

Drew sighed and and hugged May into his chest, "I don't think we do anymore either..."

Ash, who was still angry, thought that these strangers were crazy, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he too, thought that they felt nostalgic. His mind swirled, and he only knew that he needed some time to be alone and sort himself out. He spat at them, "Why don't you guys just LEAVE?"

So they did. Misty, May, and Drew left in silence. All of their thoughts were busy with thoughts of their conversation with Ash. Ash really HAD forgotten them. What exactly had happened to him?

Dawn didn't know how to help the unenthusiastic Ash that she now sat beside, but she rubbed his back, and told him that everything would be okay. Even though, she wasn't sure if anything would be okay... Her contest victory that happened only a couple of hours ago, seemed like they took place ages ago and its grand importance now seemed small and mediocre.

Well, I already have 5 chapters, at the very least, of this story written down, only it's in script form. I planned on posting the original thing on the website but soon found out that scripts aren't allowed on this website. Which is fine, it just means that I have to take the time to flesh every scene out.

Please keep in mind that if you take the time to write a well-thought through review, I gain the motivation needed to continue this story, and smooth out the bumps of each and every chapter. Thank you. If you enjoyed, perhaps I can suggest follow this story to see what happens next?