Episode 5, Home Sweet Home
Already the fifth episode in my Fan Fiction series about the Pokémon journey of Ash and Angie. Updated version with improved layout, with speech now clearly separated from narrative parts. Involves some MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.
Tracey was walking on deck, looking for Ash. He had been out off bed by the time Tracey woke up, which the latter found very strange. Ash didn't usually get up that early, and most of the time had to be dragged out of bed by him and Angie. He finally spotted his friend close to the bow, looking at the large dark peak that rose up high in the distance.
"Cinnabar Island," Ash said dreamily.
"You're right," he suddenly heard Tracey say, startling Ash as he had not heard Tracey come closer.
"When the captain told us he was going to make a short stop there, I called my mum right away," Ash said.
He was silent for a short moment.
"It would be so nice to see her again," he continued.
"To see who again!?" he heard Angie yell in his ear.
She had heard only these last few words, and was pretty jealous now, with her eyes flaming.
"M...My mum, in Pallet Town." Ash stuttered.
"Oh, it's okay then," and Angie smiled again. "As long as I am the only girl in your life, you're safe, remember that, mister." she warned him.
"No, one girl is more than enough," Ash thought out loud.
"I beg your pardon?!" Angie inquired, as her eyes flashed.
"Would you like to see where I live?"Ash quickly changed the subject.
"Yes, of course," she said.
"Well, while the boat is taking in new supplies, we could visit my mother's house in Pallet Town." Ash proposed. "Count me in, perhaps I can even learn some juicy details about your childhood," she teased.
"Ehh, I don't think we'll have time for that," Ash said while his cheeks flushed red.
He already pictured Angie and his mother looking through old photo albums with "Ash going on the potty for the first time" or so. "Brrrrr, I must prevent that at all cost," he thought.
"Hey Ash, I thought Cinnabar Island was completely destroyed after the volcano erupted?" Tracey asked.
"It was, but they are rebuilding the town again." Ash explained.
He was right. As they came closer, some completed buildings could be seen, while others were still in various stages of construction. The boat was secured to the docks, and our three travelers went ashore.
"According to my mum, there should be a ferry to Pallet Town," Ash said as he looked around.
"Could that be it?" Angie said pointing at the only other boat in the harbor besides their cruise ship.
"It couldn't be," Ash thought, but as a Wingull came sitting on his shoulder, he knew it was true.
"Hi there, Mr. Briney!" Ash said as waved at the owner of the boat.
Ash felt something tapping on his cap.
"And hello to you too, Peeko, of course," Ash added.
"Ahoy Ash," Mr. Briney answered, "what brings you here?"
"I'm going to visit my mother in Pallet Town. And this is my friend Tracey and that pretty girl over there is Angie."
She blushed as Ash said this. "Better give her some extra compliments today," Ash thought, maybe she won't think about watching those photo albums any more," although he meant every word he had said about her.
"You two are...?" Mr. Briney asked.
"Yes, she is my girlfriend," Ash admitted, as now he was blushing. "Can you take us to Pallet Town, Mr. Briney?"
"Sure, we'll be there in a flash. Hop on board!" the friendly sailor answered.
Mr. Briney didn't exaggerate. His boat was even faster than the last time Ash had been on it and he soon saw the familiar silhouette of his hometown.
"I'll wait here for you, with Peeko," Mr. Briney said, "Now you go see your mum."
Ash came closer to his house, and he slowed down. "Where was his mum? And Mr. Mime?" he thought. It seemed quiet, like no one was home.
"Surprise! Mime, mime, mime!" Ash's mother and Mr. Mime shouted as the door burst open. "Welcome home my little Ashy!" his mother said as she embraced and kissed him.
"Mum... please..." Ash said, feeling very embarrassed.
His mother finally let go off Ash.
"And you must be Angie. You two look so cute together," Ash's mother remarked.
Now it was Angie's turn to feel embarrassed.
"Ehh.. yes, thank you, Mrs. Ketchum," was all she could say as she tried to prevent herself from blushing.
"And hello Tracey, also nice to see you again. You must be hungry right? I made you a little snack," Ash's mother said.
"Ohhh, thanks mum!" Ash yelled, as he stormed towards the dinner table.
"That boy never changes a bit," Delia Ketchum thought, although she had been surprised when Ash hesitatingly told her on the phone he had a girlfriend. "My little boy is growing up," she thought, as she entered the living room where Ash was already munching away the delicious things his mother had made.
"Behave yourself, Ash!" Angie reprimanded him.
But then she noticed how delicious the food all looked and smelled, and before she knew it, she was sitting next to Ash, eating almost as fast as him.
"Pfffff, that was good, right Angie?" Ash said, full with all that delicious food.
"Yeah, you're a great cook, Mrs. Ketchum. I'm so stuffed, I really couldn't eat another bite," Angie replied.
"So you don't want your desert then?" Ash's mother asked teasingly.
"Desert!?" Angie and Ash both yelled.
And they dug in again like they were starving, so soon the desert had also disappeared. Ash sighed, as he dropped down on the couch, Angie dropping down next to him.
"Too bad you can't keep eating forever," he said.
"Maybe you should have been a Munchlax then," Angie teased him.
"Well, you almost ate more than me," Ash said, "so that means you would also make a very nice Munchlax."
"Oh yeah?" Angie said.
"Here we go again", Tracey thought. But Angie didn't have the energy to fight with Ash, and neither did he. They fell asleep on the couch, their heads leaning against each other. Meanwhile his mother checked out the sketches Tracey had made during his journey. Suddenly all this peace and quiet was disturbed.
"Ash Ketchum, I know you're in there!" someone shouted outside.
Angie woke up first. She knew that voice somehow.
"Wake up, Ash, there is someone for you. I believe it is Paul," she said as she was shaking Ash.
"Paul? Where?" Ash said as he opened his eyes in a flash.
He had been rather nervous to face Paul after he had lost some battles to him in the past, and had been glad he didn't have to fight him in the Sinnoh League. Paul had gotten into trouble with one of the referees, and as a penalty had lost that fight, leaving him one point short of a place in the semi-finals. Ash ran to the window and opened it.
"Ah, there you are, finally," Paul said in his usual disdainful voice. "Sorry if I woke you up," but it really didn't sound like he meant a word of that.
"What do you want, Paul?" Ash asked.
"Quite simple," he stated in his dry voice, "a battle!"
"Did you come here just for that?" Ash said with disbelief written all over his face. "Can't we do this some other time? I am home for the first time in months. I'd like to spend some time with my family before we continue our journey," Ash explained.
"Ah, I just knew you would chicken out," Paul said, "some Sinnoh Champion. You know what? You spend too many times with that girl of yours. You are getting soft! Not that you were much of a trainer to begin with," Paul continued his insults.
Even though Ash had grown more gentle, especially since he was with Angie, remarks like this could still really get his goat.
"You leave Angie out of this, Paul! But if you want a battle, you'll get one!" he yelled and raced outside. "Tracey, do you want to be the referee for this one?"
Tracey nodded and stepped forward.
"Each trainer will use three Pokémon. The first trainer who is out of usable Pokémon loses. The challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon. Play fair and may the best trainer win!" he listed the rules.
"Pikachu, would you like to fight, buddy?"Ash asked his little yellow friend.
Pikachu nodded and looked menacingly in Paul's direction.
"How predictable," Paul sneered and took out his first Poké Ball, and a Poliwhirl appeared.
"How about some Thunder to begin with?" Ash asked his little buddy.
"Pikachuuuu!" was heard, as a powerful electric charge struck Paul's Poliwhirl, but when Pikachu stopped, Paul's Poliwhirl seemed hardly affected.
"Huh?" Ash said in disbelief.
"Some trainers do actually train between battles, you know," Paul stated at his usual annoying voice. "While you were relaxing with your girlfriend, I made my Pokémon gain some levels."
Ash shivered for a second, but regained his overconfident self again.
"Nice, but it won't help you," Ash said, "Pikachu, do Volt Tackle!"
"Stay where you are..." Paul commanded his Pokémon, as a strange smile formed on his face.
"Isn't he even going to dodge or counter that Volt Tackle?" Angie wondered, "but why...?" and then it hit her.
"Ash, look out! Paul is trying to get Pikachu close enough to ..." Angie tried to warn Ash, but it was too late.
"Poliwhirl, do Mud Bomb!" Paul shouted.
Pikachu was too close to dodge the attack, and was hurled up in the air, then crashed on the ground.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled concerned.
The little Pokémon tried to get up, but then fell down again. Ash rushed towards it.
"Pikachu can no longer continue," Tracey exclaimed.
"You were great, now get some rest, little buddy," Ash said as he picked up Pikachu and gave it to Angie.
"One down, two to go," Paul said, "maybe you should let her fight your battles for you," shortly looking at Angie. "At least she has some understanding of tactics."
"We're just getting warmed up," Ash countered this remark, but meanwhile he clenched his fists about losing while he did have a clear type advantage in the battle he just lost.
"I'll show that Paul something!" he thought and he also wanted to look good since Angie and his mother were watching.
"To make it easier for you, I'll choose my next Pokémon first, so you can choose a Pokémon that has a slimmer chance of losing," Paul proposed.
"We can win even with a type disadvantage," Ash answered, "I'll make my choice first. Grotle, it's your turn!"
"Can't say I didn't warn you," was Paul's answer. "Staraptor, come out and do Aerial Ace!" He commanded.
"Withdraw, Grotle!" was Ash's reaction.
He thought it would be best to have Grotle's defenses raised and while that also meant taking some hits, it would enable Grotle to use it's Overgrow ability, raising it's attack significantly when it's HP was getting lower. Grotle withstood the first attack, but Paul ordered his Staraptor to do another Aerial Ace.
"Grotle, use Withdraw again!" Ash reacted.
Angie got a little worried about where this fight was going.
"Be careful Ash, that Staraptor looks very strong," she warned him.
Ash nodded. "Just a little longer," he thought, "we're almost there, as Grotle prepared to withstand yet another of Staraptor's attacks.
"Now, do Wing Attack on Grotle's side!" Paul yelled.
"This was an unexpected change in moves," Ash thought, but before he could respond to it, Staraptor had turned Grotle on it's back with that Wing Attack.
"Oh... Grotle..," Ash stuttered.
"Now one more Aerial Ace!" Paul commanded.
This time Grotle's vulnerable belly was exposed to Paul's charging Pokémon, and in a flash it fainted, after Paul's Staraptor hit it again.
"Grotle is no longer able to battle" Tracey exclaimed.
"And that is two! Just one more to go, Ash!" Paul sneered.
Ash was getting more angry with Paul but also with himself. "What is happening? Are we really that weak?" kept going through his mind.
"Well, are you going to send in your third Pokémon, or will you forfeit now already? Not that it makes much of a difference for the outcome, of course," Paul said at his most annoying voice.
"We've been in tougher situations," Ash said.
"Maybe you need to put off those pink glassed of your's," Paul said while pointing at Angie, "you seem to see things even less clear than you usually do."
"I told you to leave her out of this!" Ash yelled.
"Shall we let the Pokémon do the battling, guys?" Tracey intervened.
"Char!" Ash heard.
"Chimchar, do you want to fight? Great! Okay, go on!" Ash said.
"I expected that. Nice to see you again, Chimchar," Paul said, although it was clear he didn't mean it.
"Staraptor, do Brave Bird!" Paul shouted.
"Dig!" was Ash's reaction.
Chimchar disappeared in the soil as Staraptor flew past.
"Hiding will not save you, Ash!" Paul shouted.
"Chimchar, come out and use Flame Wheel!" Ash commanded.
"Brave Bird again!" Paul called his next move.
Both Pokémon collided in midair, and as the dust settled, Staraptor was lying on the ground, fainted, while Chimchar was still standing. "Chimchar isn't looking so healthy any more. It almost seems like Paul was sacrificing his Staraptor to do as much damage as possible, to wear down Chimchar." Angie thought.
"Go Ash!" she cheered, but deep inside she was getting even more worried about the outcome of the battle.
"I'll finish this with Poliwhirl," Paul said as he sent out that Pokémon again. "Do Whirlpool!"
"Quick, try to avoid that, Chimchar!" Ash yelled, but Chimchar was too tired to do so and got trapped in the vortex.
"Now, Poliwhirl, jump in the Whirlpool and finish it with Double Slap!" Paul shouted.
Trapped in the whirlpool Chimchar could not escape, and took a severe beating. The final slap of Poliwhirl's attack sent Chimchar flying out off the whirlpool, and it crashed down at the feet of Ash.
"Chimchar! Oh No!"Ash yelled, as he picked up his battered Pokémon friend.
"And that is number three," Paul said. "Some champion! I already thought it was just luck that you won in Sinnoh, but I never imagined it would be this easy."
Pikachu had regained enough strength to stand on it's feet again, so Ash gave Chimchar to Angie. Then he clenched his fists, while trying to fight the tears over the humiliation he had just been exposed to.
"We will beat you next time, Paul! That's a promise!"Ash yelled, as Paul had already turned his back to him, and was about to walk away.
"Yeah, sure. Who are you kidding?" Paul said, and to the others, "be seeing you. Thanks for being the referee, Tracey," and he walked off.
Ash wanted to shout something to Paul, but nothing came out of his mouth.
"Can you hold Chimchar for me for a moment, Tracey?" Angie asked.
"Sure," Tracey said, cause he saw Ash was pretty shaken up and could use her comfort.
"Oh, Ash. I'm so sorry for you..." Angie said as she walked towards him.
"Stay away!" Ash yelled, as he pulled his cap over his eyes and started running.
"But Ash... wait!" Angie shouted, but she hesitated to follow him.
"Maybe I should leave him alone with his thoughts for a minute," she convinced herself. Besides, Chimchar needed her medical expertise. She grabbed a Hyper Potion from her backpack, and applied it to the hurt Pokémon. Grotle was also quite shook up, but mostly emotionally. It still was not quite used to being to much bigger when it evolved from a Turtwig to it's current form. Angie gave it a hug, and that seemed to help.
"Ash needs to be alone now, but I am sure he will come back to tell you how great you all performed. Don't think it's your fault he lost, okay?" she said to cheer up Ash's Pokémon.
A few hours passed but still no sign of Ash. "He's been alone long enough, now I must go find him," Angie thought.
"Tracey, Mrs. Ketchum! I'm off to find Ash!" she shouted.
"I hope you find him real soon," Ash's mother said, "I've never seen him look so disappointed before."
Angie became more worried at these words.
"I'll run like the wind!" she said, and so she did.
"Ash, where are you?" she yelled, while running in the direction she saw him disappear in.
"He could be everywhere," she thought. She slowed down. "And what if he doesn't want to be found, not even by me...?" She shivered at the thought of possibly losing her only just recently found happiness with "her" Ash. "Wait a second! Didn't he tell me that night we watched the sunset together on the boat, that there was this place he would go to if things seemed to go all wrong for him? He did." She started running again. The place Ash told her about wasn't too far away from her. "Follow the path to the north, then there's a large tree on the left. Walk for about half a mile in that direction, past a little stream, and follow that stream. Where it reaches the ocean, you'll find a big rock. From it you can see the ocean so clearly. I always find solace there." Angie remembered the words Ash had spoken to her to describe that place. "That must be the stream!" she thought as she almost stepped into the water in her stride. "It won't be long now." A few minutes later, she saw the large boulder, "It must have been a rock to Ash when he was younger," she thought, and noticed her friend sitting on top of it, still clearly in tears.
"Ash, I'm here," she whispered.
"Go away, I don't want to see you!" was his bold reply.
Angie's first reaction was to let him have it, since she had come all the way for him because she had been so worried, but she was able to control herself. "He is really hurting," she thought.
"Ash, I won't let you go that easily. We made a promise, remember? I'm coming up there, and when you can say in all sincerity that you really don't want me to be here, I'll leave, okay?" she said as she climbed on top of the large boulder.
Ash looked into her eyes as she came sitting next to him. He stopped crying for a moment, and they sat there, silently staring at each other. Then he fell into Angie's arms, and started crying again, louder than before
.
"What did I do wrong?" he sobbed. "Paul's right. I'm just a lousy trainer, who doesn't know what he is doing. It was just luck that I managed to beat Cynthia."
"Now you listen to me, Ash Ketchum!" Angie said, as she was getting angry because of all this negativity.
That got his attention.
"Either you stop that ridiculous self pity, or I'll give you something to be sorry about!" she yelled.
For a moment Ash was speechless. He had seen Angie enraged at more occasions, but this was different. She noticed he was listening, and continued.
"You are a great trainer, and a nice person," she said. "And I don't just say that because I happen to like you a lot. The only thing that went wrong today is that you let guys like Paul get to you so easily, and you forget to think about your moves. And then it is possible to lose like just happened."
Ash's tears had stopped. "What she said makes sense," he thought. Angie saw that he was getting her point.
"You could never have come this far if you weren't such a good trainer, who loves his Pokémon and wants to make them shine," she added. "Luck has nothing to do with it! Do you believe this? You've got to. You do believe in me, right?"
"You're absolutely right, Ange," Ash said, as he nodded. "I'm so glad you came after me and helped me see it this way."
Angie wiped the last tear from his face.
"How about going back now?" she asked. "Your mum and Tracey must be worried what is keeping us so long. And I think your Pokémon would also be glad to see you again.
"Yeah, you're right again," he said.
"And you know what?" she continued.
Ash looked at her with a questioning look.
"This is for good luck, in case you do need it in the future," Angie said as she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.
Before Ash had time to recover, Angie had already jumped of the boulder, clearly amused at the astonished look on Ash's face.
"Hey, mister Slowpoke, are you coming or what?" she said.
Ash put up his cap again, and also jumped down.
"You just wait, missy. I'll get you for that!" he replied.
"You have to catch me first then," Angie said as she ran away, with Ash trying to catch up.
My eighth fan-fiction story. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.