Disclaimers: 1) I do not own Pokemon. 2) I always state the disclaimer to avoid lawsuits. 3) Yes, I am old enough to be sent to jail.
LAKE CONCORD - CHAPTER 1
"Ok guys. Let's take five," Ash told his Pokemon. He knew that he worked his Pokemon to the bone that time.
Anyway, we find our hero and his Pokemon training together at Lake Concord, situated somewhere outside the boundaries of Twil Town. Ash and co are training for the Pokeathalon that will be held in a couple of days from now.
Squatting onto the grass, Ash rested his back against the bark of a tree. Feeling as exhausted as their trainer, Pikachu, Corphish, and Tauros followed suit. Tauros took his place on Ash's right. Taking care in keeping his horns from piercing his trainer's skin, Corphish leaned against Ash's left. Finally, Pikachu hopped onto Ash's lap and curled himself into a ball.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Ash took in the fresh forest air. He took in his surroundings. The lake was like a lucid gem. It sparkled under the light of the sun. The weather was neither too hot not too cold. The sky above had a balance of whites and blues. There was a breeze that brushed through his face and practically through everything else that it could touch. He heard the tree leaves rustle ever so softly as the light wind continuously blew against them. He could also hear the faint yet peaceful cries of the wild Pokemon that reside in the area.
Peaceful...
Tranquil...
Those were some of the words that one would use to describe a setting like this. At least, that was what came out of Ash's mind.
A setting like this. A setting like the one that our hero was in now. Tranquility like this could make one sit down and think...
It could make one doze off and dream...
Or make-believe...
Ash looked at his Pokemon. Pikachu, Corphish and Tauros have all dozed off. Who would blame them? Ash pushed them to the limit. You could even say that he portrayed a bit of Paul-ness back there. At least Ash had the heart to give his Pokemon a break every once in a while. They weren't just Pokemon to him. He saw them as friends.
Tauros...
Corphish...
Pikachu...
He looked at all three of his dozing Pokemon. Then, he looked at the lake in front of him.
Spending his time...
In this particular setting...
With these specific Pokemon...
It felt so familiar to him.
Very familiar...
A smile crept onto his face as he continued to gaze into the pool of water. He began to form two images into his mind. These were images of a couple who were playing in the water.
Splash.
"Ash! Stop splashing me!" A girl cried, although she knew that she was enjoying it.
"You started it!" Ash playfully cried.
"No I didn't! You did!" She playfully replied.
"No! You did!" Ash retorted as he splashed her again.
Suddenly, a tall, humanoid figure rose and stood behind the girl. It was glaring daggers at Ash. The girl herself had a somewhat mischievous look on her face. "Time to knock you off your feet, Ash Ketchum!"
Alakazam, Focus Punch.
"Kazam-Ala!" Alakazam aimed his fist into the water. He wanted to create a powerful yet harmless shockwave of water that would splash Ash off his feet.
At least, he tried to do so... The Alakazam's Focus Punch created a pillar of water...
But as the saying goes, "What goes up must come down," and with that in mind, the pillar of water went down, splashing the girl and her Alakazam with water in the process. Seriously. Imagine it.
Ash couldn't help but laugh. You would laugh if you saw it, too. "Anabel, you were supposed to knock me off my feet," Ash said, adding insult to injury.
"Oh, and you think you can do better?!" Anabel barked back.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I can!" Ash replied.
Anabel smirked. "Prove it."
"Don't mind if I do!" Ash cried. Next, he whispered his plan to his buddy who was floating right beside him. Pikachu nodded in affirmation.
"Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." Anabel saw Pikachu jump into the air. He formed many wacky, zany, and cool poses as he flew into the air. When he reached the highest point that he could physically reach, Pikachu readied himself for an Iron Tail Attack. "PIKA!!" he cried as he went back down. Pikachu planned to use his Iron Tail to create a wall of water that would hopefully splash Anabel and her Alakazam off their feet.
Unfortunately, Pikachu aimed his Iron Tail right at Ash; thus, it was Ash who got knocked off his feet...
Ash emerged from the water, only to see Anabel and Alakazam laughing at him. "Ash, do you know what went wrong? I do. Do you want me to tell you?"
"Fine. Tell me what wrong, Anabel," Ash replied.
"Fine. I'll tell you. You weren't in synch with Pikachu, and that's why your plan splashed you in the face," Anabel said, and to dish out more insult to injury, she added, "And that's also the reason why you lost to me back then."
"Hey! I got my revenge on you after that!" Ash retorted, referencing the rematch that he had with Anabel back then.
"But that only makes us even," Anabel said.
"Are you saying that you want to settle this right here and now?" Ash asked.
"Yes, I would like that," Anabel said, accepting Ash's challenge.
"Good." A mischievous smirk crept onto Ash's face.
Splash.
"Hey! No fair!" Anabel cried.
"Ya snooze, ya loose, Anabel!" a smug Ash cried.
"You're gonna regret it, Ash!" Anabel cried before sending out her Espeon.
Using his psychic powers, Espeon made a chunk of water levitate, separated the chunk into small pellets of water, and shot the pellets at Team Ash like shotgun bullets. Don't worry. Team Ash didn't get hurt. They only got wet.
Suddenly, Corphish came out, created a wave of water, and aimed it at Team Anabel, thus knocking Team Anabel into the water. Team Ash watched as Team Anabel rose back up from the water; however, they noticed that another figure appeared behind Team Anabel.
Anabel was smiling at them. To Ash, this wasn't good. Metagross, Meteor Mash.
Anabel's Metagross rammed its powered-up leg into the water, thus creating what Alakazam tried to create earlier...
Ash, Pikachu, and Corphish stared at the looming wall of water before them. There was only one thing that they could do...
"RUN!!"
Anabel laughed as she watched Team Ash run away like little babies. Then, she noticed that Espeon was trying to get her attention. She saw Espeon's tail pointing in the direction behind her. She didn't need to read her Pokemon's feelings of fear and panic to understand what he was trying to say to her. Metagross overdid it, didn't he? was the only thought that came into her mind.
Actually, Metagross didn't overdo it. Anabel was just in the way of the tidal wave's wrath, and feelings of fear and panic stopped Team Anabel from jumping away in time. Team Ash was as unfortunate as Team Anabel. Despite their head start, Team Ash also met their doom as the wall of water engulfed both teams in one, big splash.
The two teams washed up along the shore line. Anabel was the first to recover. Ash woke up beside her. Fearing for the safety of their Pokemon, the two trainers jolted up to look for them, only to find them lying on the ground behind them. Pikachu might have gotten water in its ears and Alakazam might have lost one of its spoons, but the two trainers' Pokemon were pretty much alright...
... Unless you count Tauros whose sleep was rudely interrupted by the two trainers' aquatic antics. Out of anger, Tauros charged at the two trainers and sent them flying back into the lake.
Ash was the first to emerge from the lake. Anabel appeared beside him. He looked at her, and she looked at him. After everything that had happened today, both of them knew that there was only one more thing that they could do...
Laugh...
When Ash finished laughing, he found himself right back where he had started from. He was back at Lake Concord. He was still lying against the same tree. His Pokemon were still sleeping in their proper places.
He looked back at the story which he wrote in his mind. A slice of life that had him play in the lake with Anabel and the Pokemon.
We used to have so much fun... Ash thought as he remembered how he and Anabel used to play in Tohjo Lake back then.
Hehe... We kept getting our clothes wet... I had to get a new set of clothes back at her cottage...
And then, something befell our hero. He remembered the story that he pictured in his mind earlier.
He felt the urge to continue it.
A/N: (Author's Nook)
KnightSoul: Did you know that this story used to be called Lake Lucid? I changed it to Lake Concord because there was already a Lake Lucid in the anime.
I wanted to post the entire thing as a oneshot, but I realized how long it was, so I decided to divide it into three parts. I've finished all three parts. I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. I'm tired...
Anyway, read, review, and stay tuned for the next installment of Lake Concord!