Summary: When Ash was seven, his father walked out on him and his mother. Now, seven years later, they meet again. But this time, who will walk away?
A/N- This is not a songfic! The song is just in here. And I'm sorry to anybody who likes my Pokemon fics. I'm working on a huge one that's about 50 pages now and that's the only Pokemon fic I've been working on lately. Well, the only one that is getting anywhere. I do, however, have a bunch of Harry Potter fics now. O yes, this is Ash's POV.
No, this is not a Giovanni is his father fic.
Dedication- This is dedicated to everyone is has divorced parents, is divorced, or is going through one right now. Especially my friend, who shall remain nameless.
And no, there will not be a sequel. The end is for you to think about.
Walking Away
By PikaCheeka
"One more day! One more day!" I said happily to Pikachu. Tomorrow, I would be defeating the Pokemon Master. If I won, then, well....I can't think about it now. It's what I've been waiting for all my life. The one problem was I didn't know who I would be fighting. I couldn't know until I stepped into the stadium.
"Speaking of which..." my Mother. "You'd better hurry on back to the stadium. The ferry leaves in twenty minutes!"
"Seriously?" I cried, jumping up. I was visiting my home in Pallete to get some last minute supplies. Then I would be off back to the stadium.
"I can give you a ride if you can be ready in a minute." She shouted from the kitchen.
I ran over to my closet and grabbed a box. I was looking for my stuffed animal. I know it's stupid. But I wanted luck tonight. The box ripped open, spilling it's contents all over the floor. Sure enough, little old Dragonite was down at the bottom.
"Aha!" I said triumphantly as I grabbed her up. A long time ago, I had named her 'Puff', Puff the magic dragon. It's stupid now...
Something below where she had lay caught my eye. It was the back of a photo, a framed one. I leaned over and picked it up. I studied the back for a moment, wondering what it was. My mother hated photos and didn't even have a camera. Unless...
I immediately flipped it over. It was just what I though. All three of us, when I was seven. My mother, my father, and I.
"Are you coming Ash?" my mother called.
"Yes!" I shouted. I shoved the picture in my pocket. I'd look at it later. "C'mon Pikachu!" I scooped up Pikachu and ran out the door. For some reason, the future battle had been shoved over in my mind. It was no longer in the spotlight, no longer that important. What was important now was the photo. Why did I have it? Who was my father? Why couldn't I remember him? I was seven when he left. So why couldn't I remember?
"Hi Ash!" Misty smiled and yawned. "You've kept me up all night, waiting for you!" She stood up, trying to look angry. "Now I'm going to bed!" she turned on her heel and stalked off, her red ponytail slightly bobbing. She's liked me for four years now. She thinks I don't know. It's just that it's not that important to me. I prefer friends.
I wondered briefly how old she was. Fourteen? Fifteen? Maybe even sixteen?
"Well, Pikachu...let's go to bed. I'm tired."
Pikachu sighed. I laughed. "Hey, I like the beds here! You get the whole top bunk!"
He laughed, then ran off into our rented room. The stadium here is great, everyone gets there own room. For only ten bucks a night, two bucks a day.
I jumped into bed, not bothering to change into my pajamas. I was too tired. I rolled over onto my stomach and propped my head up on my hands. Until something poked me. "Hey!" I cried. "Stop it Pikachu!"
Pikachu snorted in his sleep.
I sat up and pulled off my jacket. The pocket, the right one. I emptied it out on my bed. Candy, money, trading cards, my walkman, a photo. That's what I wanted. I picked up the photo and examined it again.
My energy suddenly returned. I couldn't sleep now. I had to go do something. Not just laze around. I put the photo back into my pocket, picked up the walkman, and put my jacket back on. I slid out of bed and tied my shoes while putting the headphones over my ears.
"I'm going for a walk..." I whispered. "See you later!" I doubted if anybody heard me. But too bad.
It was cool outside. Nice, actually. I like how the league has the tournament in the fall. The weather is perfect. I pulled out the picture again and examined it. The song on the radio rang through my head.
I close my eyes when I get too sad
I think thoughts that I know are bad
Close my eyes and I count to ten
Hope it's over when I open them
Suddenly, something rushed into my mind. Something I never knew before.
I ran into my room, slamming the door. I could still hear the voices yelling behind it. I wanted to scream at them, tell them to shut up. Tell them to stop. But I didn't dare. It would make my father mad, my mother cry. I did it once before.
I jumped onto my bed and buried under the covers. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think. "Puff?" I whispered. "Why is this happening? Why can't they be happy again?"
But Puff wasn't magic. She didn't answer.
Puff still wasn't magic. He couldn't bring my father back. I guess that was before the break up. I was intrigued now. Where was my father? And why were they fighting? Why could I remember it all again?
I want the things that I had before
Like a Star Wars poster on my bedroom door
I wish I could count to ten
Make everything be wonderful again
I ran up to the door to my room. I had turned seven a few weeks ago. But I had gotten nothing for my birthday. Gary had given me a video of last years Pokemon Olympics. I turned it on.
Gary and his sister May were so nice to me. His mother worked full time at some mall somewhere, so she wasn't home much. His father had died a few years back in a fire. He had been a fireman. So he knows what it's like to have just one parent. He's nice to me. So is May, May is twelve.
I go over to their house when it gets really bad. Like throwing things and swearing. I hate this all. I want it all to end.
I never knew that his father died saving somebody in a fire. How odd.
Hope my mom and I hope my dad
Will figure out why they get so mad
Hear them scream, I hear them fight
Say bad words that make me wanna cry
One time, I listened to them.
I rubbed my head up against the door.
"You don't care about him! You just care about skill!" Mom shouted.
"I do not! I'm just saying he doesn't have the making of one in him!" That was my father.
Making of what?" I wanted to scream. Were they talking about me?
"Well, I can't stay much longer. We either send him away to a school or I leave." My father again.
I gritted my teeth. I was hating him more and more. Send me where? He must hate me.
Close my eyes when I go to bed
And I dream adventures that will make me smile
I feel better when I hear them say Everything will be wonderful someday
Promises mean everything when you're little
I would lie in bed for hours at a time. Just spacing out. Having dreams and daydreams where I became a Pokemon master. Where my trusty Pokemon and I had adventures together. I often had the same one. I liked it a lot.
Puff and I saved a lovely maiden from an evil Dragonite. Just like the fairy tales. Too bad fairy tales weren't true. Parents never hated each other in fairy tales.
I stopped. I was in the middle of the sidewalk. I remembered something else. The girl had red hair.
And the world's so big
I just don't understand how
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes
Tell me everything is wonderful now
My mother used to come in and talk to me. Just about how Gary and May were. How Puff was. Stupid things.
I used to say, "Why do you and daddy fight?"
She used to smile, her eyes teary. "Everything will be all right."
Then she used to hurry from the room. I knew she went off to cry.
I remembered that very well.
(Na na na na na na na) Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now
I go to school and I run and play
I tell the kids that it's all okay
I like to laugh so my friends won't know
When the bell rings I just don't wanna go home
I used to love school.
I used to do after school activities. Either that or go hang around at Day Care. When the bell rang to go home, everyone raced to the busses. Except me. I stayed behind.
My mother used to come looking or me.
She'd say "When do you want to go home?"
I'd answer, "When you can be happy again."
She wouldn't answer. She'd pick me up and carry me home. I lived across the street.
But when I got home, the fighting wasn't done.
That happened all that year.
Go to my room and I close my eyes
I make believe that I have a new life
I don't believe you when you say
Everything will be wonderful someday
I spent more and more time up in my room.
Ash Ketchum! Greatest pokemon Master! Able to run around outside, forever and ever.
But I couldn't get to be a master yet. I had to be ten.
Now I was fourteen. And I wasn't a master yet.
Promises mean everything when you're little
And the world is so big
I just don't understand how
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes
When you tell me everything is wonderful now
"Hey! Ash! Let's go outside now!" my father stuck his head in my room.
"Why?" I asked.
He shrugged.
I jumped up and ran outside. "What?" I asked.
He handed me a pokeball. "Here, battle me..."
I knew just what was in the pokeball.
I don't wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now
I don't wanna hear you say
That I will understand someday
No, no, no, no
I don't wanna hear you say???
No, no, no, no
"Ok, if you win...you can come with me!" he said.
"Come with you where?" I asked.
"I'm leaving to become a Pokemon Master." He sighed.
"And why would you take me?"
He ignored the question. "I'll go easy on you."
He didn't.
I don't wanna meet your friends
And I don't wanna start over again
I just wanna my life to be the same
Just like it used to be
I threw the pokeball up into the air. Out came a Gyarados. I gasped in surprise. My father was using a Psyduck.
"Now, there's no way you can't win..." he smiled, as if it were all a fun game.
If I lost, I'd live with mom.
If I won, I'd live with him.
Some choice.
"Gyarados!" Hyper beam!" I shouted.
"Disable now!" Psyduck disabled hyper beam. Now unfair. Now what?
I was remembering what I had tried so hard to forget so long ago.
Somedays I hate everything
I hate everything
Ever wanna live with me?
Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now
I don't wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now
"Now try the ice beam!" I shouted to Gyarados.
"That one doesn't know ice beam yet!"
I winced as Psyduck used Psychic.
And knocked Gyarados flat out.
And my life was never the same.
I glanced up and down the street, looking at all the people there. Is one of these men my father? Or did he die? Just like his name id? I used to be called something, Ash......Then it went back to Ash Ketchum, my mother's name.
I wanted to scream I wanted to throw my arms wide and shout, "Father! I'm right here father! And now I'm a great trainer! Won't you come back?"
Unable to hold it in any longer, I did it. I raised my arms and shouted. Nobody paid any attention except a pale man with silvery-blonde hair. I looked at him for a second. He had stopped walking and was starring at me oddly. Then I realized, this man was not my father. He looked evil. Something about him.
He started to laugh quietly and moved on. I couldn't help but notice the sharp teeth.
I sighed. Did I really want my father? Now that I think about it, it was my father who had been wrong. It wasn't me at all. My father was just as evil and scary as that man who just laughed at me. Life was bitter.
I turned and started to walk back to the inn. As I walked, I remembered the last battle. The last time I ever saw my father. I hated him now. Yes, I hated him. He had left me. And it was his entire fault. A single tear slipped off my face as I arrived at the door.
I collapsed in my bed, the last scene still playing in my mind. I fell asleep on it.
The next day, I woke early. I had dreamed about my father, except, now something new was there. What was it?
Ah yes. His name.
Lance Knighte.
That was his name.
I smiled and ran down to the stadium. My opponent was already there.
That's when I froze.
The man smiled at me, slightly. A smile familiar to me.
The last battle flashed again.
That day my father walked out of my life.
Today he walked back in.
But something is barring the door, me.
This time...
This time, I will defeat him.