A/N: I'm baaaack! Here is the rebooted version of A Legend of Ability, now split into three Acts and with plot revised, thought out, and pruned. Remember that silly gems thing? Yeah, don't. If you're wondering what happened to my other epic stories that never got updated, I've removed them for now. I may or may not bring them back at a later time, depending on inspiration, time, and motivation.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of importance other than my own mind.
Back Again
Act One in a Tale by readerADV
Chapter One: A Long-expected Reunion
The wild man's blue jacket and long black hair tamed only by a golden bandana waved in the breeze as he ran down the mountain, his black shirt blown tight over powerful muscles and strong legs flashing through the holes in his jeans as he agilely darted around trees and over fallen branches, stepping incredibly lightly for someone wearing combat boots, racing a yellow mouse as he rushed to see an old friend again, one he hadn't seen in almost a decade.
A Rhyhorn noticed them coming and roared his challenge as he stood in their way, but the wild man just leapt, flipped, landed in a hand-stand on the beast's back, and spring-boarded off feet-first to the other side, forming twin blue-white orbs in his hands before pushing them at the beast where they exploded as the mouse front-flipped over it.
Swinging around a small lake, they came across a lavender-haired woman of graceful proportions dressed in a white collared button-down shirt with gold trim and buttons and a severe v-neck and simple jeans the same color as her hair. She looked up at them in surprise as first the mouse and then the wild man skidded to a stop five feet from her.
"No fair! You cheated!" the wild man said, looking at the mouse with a half-indignant, half-injured expression on his face. The mouse responded by sticking his tongue out at his partner.
The woman's giggle reminded them of her presence, and the wild man grinned at her. "Well, I'm glad it was easier to find you this time than it was ten years ago, Anabel."
"Huh?" Anabel looked at the man again, searching her memory until she recognized the mouse, the birthmarks on the man's cheeks shaped like the mouse's tail, and the cheerful expression in the wild man's eyes. "...Ash? Ash Ketchum?"
The wild man's grin widened. "Yup. Long time no see, Anabel."
"What's up?"
"I thought I'd take another shot at reading your heart like you asked me to back when I was training for our rematch."
Anabel blushed, but nodded. "Think you can do it this time?"
Ash leaned back and looked up at the sky. "Let's see… You're happy to see me again, you're curious about whether I can actually do this, and you're blushing because you've been in love with me ever since Tauros pushed us into this lake ten years ago." He looked back at her with a smirk. "Am I right?"
The Salon Maiden blushed redder and nodded again. "How-" She cut off as they heard the loud screech of a car's brakes, followed by the sound of a car slamming into a tree and the buzzing of angry Beedrill.