Well took a bit more than a week to update, but it's finally here. Looks like my span of updating chapters for this story will be around 1-2 weeks since I write a lot while still having other school stuff to do. Thanks to everyone for reviewing my previous chapter and I hope you review this one also :)


The Legend of 'Ash' - Chapter 2

"Would you like some tea, honey; along with the biscuits?" A feminine voice could be heard from the background as we shift to our scene. It was a very kind and soft voice.

"If it's not a problem, mom. Thanks." The voice of a young boy cracked as he tried to sound as sincere and caring as possible. He had gotten so used to seclusion that his voice became cold and without emotion. His mother didn't like his new 'persona' very much so he tried his best to sound nice for her.

Our scene soon shifts over as we see a very modern house with pale green wall paint. We see that after the door was a small shoe rack and beside it were a pair of red and black shoes with a white sole. Beside the pair of shoes was a heavy yellow backpack, stuffed with an amount of items. And next to that was a medium sized, wooden coat hanger; hanging downwards on it was a deep brown trench coat. Onwards there was a set of wooden stairs that extended to the second floor of the house. Beside the stairs was an entrance to what seemed like a kitchen, as many appliances and raw ingredients were displayed among the kitchen slab while varieties of different exquisite food were scattered across the dining table. Opposite to the stair was a small table with a vase full of yellow daises, red roses and blue violets with a mirror indented above the table and in the wall. Beside the mirror in the wall were mostly painting deciphered from legendary Pokemon to pictures of Pokemon and humans side by side; along with a window in between the paintings. In the center of the room was a nice low-top wooden glass table with another vase of flowers on top of it along with magazines and newspapers. Directly in front of the table was a black TV set. There were two windows behind the TV and beside each other, showing the lush and small grass of Pallet Town from the inside. Beside the table were nice green couches made from a wooden frame and cotton pads. There were two seats of one sofa on each side of the table and there was a single three-seated sofa behind the table. We see that there were two figures in the house, a young boy with a Pikachu, slumped down on the three-seated green couch and a woman in her mid-thirties, standing before the entrance to the kitchen.

The woman was wearing a pink half-sleeve blouse, and inside was a yellow undershirt that barely could be seen from the bottom of the neck and the stomach area, that was left open since the third red button from the blouse was left unbuttoned. She wore a lavender skirt that went up to her knees and pale yellow shoes. Her reddish-brown hair went half way down to her back and the middle was wrapped in a blue hair band. The end of her hair went down and at the tip, was spiked up while the front of her hair fell neatly down her forehead and temple. Her auburn eyes showed warmth, compassion and hospitality and he face was lit up with a very cheery smile.

"You're welcome honey." The female replied as she went towards the kitchen area, leaving the young boy alone with his Pikachu to ponder in his thoughts.

The kitchen wasn't much but wasn't less either. More of a modernized kitchen in fact. It was painted in a shade of light yellow hue as slabs and cabinets surrounded the corners of the kitchen. There was a big wooden dining table at the lower left side of the kitchen, seated for six only. Behind the table was a big fridge containing many food and treats inside, and especially ketchup (Wait, how am I supposed to know that?). From the lower right side to the upper right side and finally ending a bit before the upper left side of the kitchen; was the continued line of the black slab. Brown wooden cabinets were above the slabs, indented in the wall and only went from the lower right part to the upper right portion of the kitchen. There was a sink struck up in between the upper right and upper left side of the kitchen and on the slab, digging beneath it. Directly above the sink was a window. Below the slab were more cabinets, except that they were white this time and stuck beneath the slab. To the left of the fridge was an oven, consisting of the oven itself at the bottom and a four burner at the top of it. And to the right of the fridge was the doorframe, leading over to the living room. And as stated before, there were many foods atop the slabs; ranging over from raw meat, to vegetable and even cooked delicacies. There was also even a toaster and a microwave besides the food.

The woman entered the kitchen slowly from the doorway and walked over to one of the upper cabinets. She opened it by turning the golden handle and took out a packet of biscuits and a box containing teabags. She closed the cabinet and put down the things she got out before she walked slightly beside the cabinet she opened previously and met another cabinet. She opened it slowly and got out a cup this time and a small plate. She closed that cabinet and put down the things again down on the slab. She walked across the room and stopped before the sink to reach out a jar of warm water. She walked back to where she originally put out her food that she got out and put down the jar beside them. She peeked a glance at the window above the sink. 5 P.M. The sun outside was slowly going downwards as shades of orange and pink started to cover the blanket of blue above. She walked over in front of the silver fridge this time and got out a bottle filled with red liquid. She walked back again and put it down beside the rest of the stuff she gathered.

'He really has grown up a lot within these four years…' She thought in her head as she sighed deeply and began to make the tea while opening the packet of biscuit and pouring them downwards on top of the white plate.

"TV? Nah. They don't show anything interesting except replays of Pokemon Leagues and Contests. What else is there to do then?" The young boy pondered out aloud to his yellow mouse as his mind kept on thinking.

"Pikachu pi chupi!" The mouse, who was just beside the trainer, cried out to his trainer, who was thinking very hard for something to do in his own house.

"Huh?" The confused trainer shook his head to clear away his thoughts and searched for the source of the voice. He looked down to see a very comfortable and relaxing Pikachu cuddled up with his tail hanging down the sofa. "Oh yeah! Ok, I'll check out my old room. Do you want to come with me?" The trainer pointed out his objective for now as he asked his mouse.

The mouse only shook his head slightly in the form of an answer as he closed his eyes gently, eyelids feeling heavy.

The trainer looked down and smiled at the sight of his Pokemon, seeing it so relaxed is something it could rarely do, due to their extreme training schedule. He should just let it sleep and relax comfortable under the warmth of the house. He patted the mouse slightly on the head and scratched the back of its ear before he stood up and walked over to make his way over to the stairs in his white socks. He gently walked up the stairs with his foot, making silent thumped noises as he did so and reached over to the second story of the house.

The second floor had a long hallway, covered in a wooden floor, before it was split into four rooms by the doors. There were two doors beside each other on the right while there was another door at the left of the hallway and across the two doors on the right. At the end of the hallway and across the entrance from the stairs, was another wooden door to a room, slightly ajar and opened. In between the two doors on the right and beside the door on the left were another two paintings deciphered from ancient Pokemon. The hallway was quite dark, but there was a light switch beside the entrance from the stairs.

The young boy turned on the light switch and went across the hallway and to the room at the end. He turned beside the door and saw a light switch. He flickered the switch to on and pushed aside the door as he walked in the room.

It was the door to a modern, but compacted bathroom. There was a white sink right after the entry from the door in the right with a mirror above it. The sink was dug into a marble slab, with white cabinets below it to be suited. Along with that, there was a white toilet seat along with a white toilet at the upper left side of the bathroom. There was also a small window above the toilet seat and two cabinets beside the window of the bathroom.

The trainer sighed as he walked in slowly to the bathroom and went over to the sink. He turned on the tap and moved it over to the sign for 'warm'. He turned his gaze down towards his hand. So dirty and filthy from the accident he recently took after tumbling down from his Charizard while flying but so cold and numb as well from the place he trained at for four entire years. He couldn't identify if his fingers had frostbites, but he was pretty much used to having them. He put his hands before the tap and felt cold water flowing from the tap and onto his hands. He didn't even move or flinch at the sudden temperature of the water. He was through much, much worse than this. It felt like normal water to him only. After a few seconds of cold water pouring down from the tap, it was quickly replaced by a very warm and enjoyable sensation.

The trainer standing before the sink felt a tinge of shivers as he washed his hands, the warm water now running through his cold and numb hands and fingers. He had forgotten that he put the tap's direction all the way to the max for warmth. But oddly enough, he wasn't jumping up and down, screaming "HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!"

He felt a wave of pleasure wash through his entire body, even though his hands were the only one being soaked in the water. It was so comfortable; he wanted to keep on feeling it all day. He was never even comfortable enough within the past four years, but this was making him sigh in pleasure and relaxation.

"This must be…how Pikachu is feeling…right now…" The boy sighed again in the comfort and joy that he is currently feeling after comparing his sense of enjoyment and relaxation to the ones of his mouse. His mouse was sleeping and relaxing only, he was living in the warmth. "Hehehehe…" A small smile crept across his face as his eyes turned into a sort of dreamy expression. His knees bent down slightly as his back hunched over, his face now atop the sink's edge. He was looking at the tap like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was like he was falling madly in love, with a tap! His mind slowly shifted to a world of fantasy as he was lost in his thoughts, but the only thing is that he wasn't having any thoughts. He was just looking at the tap with a dreamy expression in an absent-minded state. His mind was enjoying this almost as much as his body was. He couldn't get any thoughts to his head, even if he wanted to think about something.

But alas, all good things must end. The warm water that was flowing down gently was slowly turning more colder and colder by the second as the warmth silently faded away from the source of the water. His enjoyment was slowly fading away as he felt the cold water wash away with his hands again continuously, as if mocking him for the end of his 'trial' of the warm water period.

The trainer broke away from his thoughts after he could completely feel that his sense of comfort was fading away, along with the warmth inside the water. He sighed deeply, this time in disappointment as he got back from his dreamy expression and hunched body over to a thinking mind and a straightened posture.

"Why doesn't cold water run out while warm water does? And why can't good things ever last?" The boy asked deliriously to no one in particular as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

He sighed once again deeply as he saw the face of himself. His red hat now gone, gone along with the wind. Who knew where it is? Where it went along? Or who even has it right now? His messy black hair was decently brushed, although it was scattered and spiked in all directions from his head. His face turned into a slight frown, obviously from the interruption of his hypnotized, yet joyful state. But, he looked at his eyes in particular. Dull grey colored with a tinge of brown present in it. It felt cold and impassive to look at. He didn't get why people called him 'heartless' though. He loved all his Pokemon and his own mother with his entire heart. He also loved a few of his friends very much; including a certain girl. He would sacrifice himself just to save their lives. Because, they were his entire world. Nothing else really mattered to him.

Although sometimes, when he looks into a mirror, he gets into a state of disbelief by looking at how much he changed over the past few years. His mother at once, even kept on rambling about how much he had changed from a boy into a young man, making him hear about her terribly long speech. But he was nineteen now, he had to start taking care of himself. Fortunately, he already had a head start at that situation. He couldn't believe he was the same boy back in the past, because who he is now and who he was are like completely different people, alike only in minor ways other than the appearance.

He would sometimes flick the brim of his hat a bit above his head so one of his eyes were slightly visible to any trainer or coordinator that challenged him. Now he normally wouldn't like his eyes revealed to challengers and he knew that they would fear him if they looked into his eyes, but he just does that to intimidate his opponents a bit before the battle starts. Where and how did he learn to do this? Well, let's just say that a certain green haired boy helped him flick things with style, since that person was already quite an expert at that. But now his previous hat was gone… No more flicking with style to intimidate opponents… Hopefully, he'll still have a hat that actually fits him now.

He sighed once again at realizing he was so caught up in his trance that he forgot to wash his dirty hands with soap, and it was right beside the sink!

Then suddenly, realization hit him pretty hard. He remembered why he was at the second floor. Not to wash his hands and get into a daze. He had forgotten to visit his room.

After breaking his gaze from the reflection in his mirror, he walked outside to the hallway, closed the door to the bathroom and flicked the switch for the light to off. He gently walked a few more feet in the hallway until he reached the door at the left side of the hallway. He opened it and it revealed to be a room…

It was quite a big room in fact but didn't have much. The walls were painted in a sky blue color. The bed was located at the upper left of the room, a simple blue cover spread over it. Beside the bed was a small side table with a red and white alarm clock followed by a window with no curtains at all, intended to wake someone up early. In front of the bed was a small wooden desk with a chair. Above the table were many glass containers, and inside of them were Gym Badges obtained from defeating a Gym Leader. There were about four glass containers and eight in each, equaling to an amount of thirty two Gym Badges. Across the bed was a TV set on top of a wooden stand with glasses. Inside the glasses were many achievements and gifts, ranging from trophies and items to special items given by one of his friends. And finally, beside the TV were pictures of many people hung up in the wall. They were pictures from when he was younger, standing along with his friends.

The boy looked and moved his gaze around his old room, spotting everything that was there. He was surprised; his mom must have kept the room tidy the entire time. He walked over to the bed and slumped down on it gently with a soft thud, his head resting on the soft pillow that was enriching the quality of the trainer's rest.

"It's been so long…" He whispered to himself as his eyes looked up at the ceiling. "Yet, I can remember everything that happened…"

His mind became preoccupied with the memories that flooded directly in towards his mind. He could recall all of them very clearly, some even not having to think after. All these memories, he couldn't help but wonder how his mind managed to store them up for so long? How he never even forgot one important memory? How his mind would always be flooded with them when he was in somewhere very similar to him?

'Nah, I'm just going crazy. I need to rest a bit.' The boy thought as he tried to push them away from his thoughts, but didn't succeed at all.

He closed his eyes to focus and rely on his willpower to keep him from succumbing to slumber accidently; even though it was way early to go to bed, he was very tired from the long day he had. He didn't know if things were going to work out into plan, him being able to reach his destination by today. But of course, he wouldn't mind reaching there tomorrow since it doesn't start until the day after tomorrow.

His mind couldn't resist the thoughts and memories coming into his head anymore. He just let them flow gently throughout his brain as many pictures and videos popped-up. He slowly cleared out the ones that weren't the most important or joyful until there were a few scenes replaying in his head over and over again. He only sighed as he remembered those times; some were made of joy while some were made of sorrow.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered softly in a hush tone to the empty space around him.

His mind thought back to the day where the adventure and action of his life began until the tragedy of his life. The reason for his turn and change of direction from his former objective and dream. Why he did it and what he had to do. His Pokemon only accompanied him during the switch of his phase of life.

'Be a man. You can't dwell in the past forever…' His mind kept on sending the message to his body yet his heart disagreed. The boy had no idea on who to root for in the battle of the heart and mind. Heck, he didn't even know if it was his mind or heart that was speaking from his true self inside. Confusion was left upon him often in a heavy daze as he went into a delirious state with the crazy, yet serious ideas and thoughts popping up in his mind. Sometimes the things that blinked in on his mind made him think incomprehensibly at the questions given. He really appreciated his Pokemon a lot; for helping him through his tough times and always sticking by his side. He considered them his companions for life even.

Compacting and arranging the thoughts in his head, a few of the hardest times of his life were playing on set in his mind. They vary from saving the world countless times, to facing some of the toughest opponents and making the hardest decisions in life. But the thoughts of his decision just wouldn't leave his mind alone; it never even did for the past four years.

The next thing he heard was a huge creaking sound coming from somewhere near him accompanied by gentle footsteps, that apparently snapped him out of his train of memories. He immediately jumped up and sat up straight in his bed to look up for where the noise came from and who or what was causing it on such a peaceful occasion. He could see that door starting to move slowly, making more creaking noises as it did so. The boy knew exactly who it was from the start. Who else would come in to his room? And Pikachu certainly couldn't reach up to the doorknob.

As the door slowly shifted and opened up, the silhouette of a figure was seen from the shadows of the hallway. The person outside slowly started to walk into the room until she went over to the bed, which was occupied by the trainer.

"Honey, tea's ready." The figure said as she stole glances from the trainer's room until her eyes finally rested upon the boy.

"Thanks mom." The boy said silently as he put his foot down on the floor after shifting to the other side of the bed as he started to stand up to face the woman before him.

"Are you ok dear?" The woman asked with concern filled in her voice as she eyed the boy before her. It was the same woman in the kitchen from before.

"Yeah mom, just thinking is all." The boy answered in a response as he looked behind over her shoulder and eyed the photos that were hung up in his wall.

The boy was a few inches taller than the woman, five or so. He had really grown tall in such a short time. But of course, he was her son.

The woman caught a glimpse of the boy, immediately understanding what he was looking at from her shoulder.

"I'll leave you alone for a while. But don't come down too late, or else the tea will get cold." The woman said as she turned her back and walked towards the direction of the door.

"Thanks mom. And tell Pikachu to save some ketchup for me and not take it all to himself greedily." The boy said out, followed by a light chuckle.

The woman giggled only in response as she walked out of the door. "It's ok; we have plenty of ketchup in the fridge." She said as she looked over her shoulder to see the boy.

"Yeah, but knowing Pikachu; he'll probably gorge it all down. Plus, it's a matter of health also, too much ketchup is bad." He said with another chuckle as he approached near the pictures hung in frames and nailed down on the wall.

"Don't worry honey; I'll save some for you and make sure he doesn't eat too much." She said as she slowly proceeded to close the door behind her, leaving the trainer all alone to himself.

"Thanks again mom." Could be heard from the boy's voice as he began to look and examine each of the pictures before him. The next thing after the sound of the door creaking was footsteps silently fading away slowly as it got smaller and smaller by each second. He looked at the door again for a brief second before returning his gaze towards his wall of photos.

"So many memories… I miss the old times…" He whispered to the empty space around him again as he let a single tear cascade slowly down his eyes, to his cheek and down to the floor with the noise of dripping water. He couldn't take it anymore; he was waiting for the perfect time to let out all his emotions, something he had done so very rarely within the few years. The walls he held up so strongly for the past few years were easily crushed down to pieces by the flowing memories that were spiraling throughout his mind.

That single tear soon turned into a few more droplets of tears as they kept on dripping down from the young trainer and hit the floor with a silent splash. He couldn't believe he was crying like this. He had thought he had trained his emotional mind to the best of control in the years of training in the mountain. But he couldn't help it when he looked at the memories of his past, powerless as they flooded back into his minds and remember him of the times he had back then. Good thing his mom had left him alone for a while and Pikachu was resting cozily on the couch. Maybe that was the reason why his mom had left him alone for some time to himself.

"I'm sorry…" The boy whispered the same thing again mournfully as more tears just kept on pouring down from his eyes. The blue carpet below was getting wet, but he didn't care at all. The more he looked at the pictures of himself and his friends together as they celebrated their achievements together in joy, the more pain it brought to his heart. There were not only pictures of celebrated achievements together, but partings and farewells of last pictures taken together until they meet again in the future.

Too bad that's almost impossible for him now, almost as much as he wants to, he can't. As the boy would say it, 'it's too late for doing that now…'

He took the emotional moment to step towards the pictures even more as he raised one of his hands up and began to trace the picture with his palm and fingers. He sighed deeply as he remembered every single one of those special moments captured, not even forgetting any detail in there. His mom had really done a good job keeping the room tidy, not a speck of dust even detectable in the room or on the pictures.

His hand stopped upon a certain picture as he looked at it with gleaming eyes of happiness but that was quickly turned to a somber frown of sorrow within a matter of seconds. He used the forearm of his other arm to wipe away his falling tears as he inspected the picture he gazed upon. It was still the same as when it was years ago. Even though the boy went through a lot in the face of reality, nothing had changed in the picture. He took one last trip down memory lane as he saw the picture in front of him. The frame wasn't that big, golden rims surrounding the photo as it was scaled to fit the size of the frame.

It was a very beautiful landscape along with the background as a boy with a red hat and a Pikachu were standing next to a girl in red clothes. They were both holding each other with both of their arms as the sunlight shun upon the two and the gentle breeze swept through their hair, creating a very peaceful yet playful scene.

The boy couldn't believe how long it was, and just how much happened within that span of time. It felt like centuries when it was only a few years. He sighed as he moved the hand that was on the picture away and wiped away the remaining of his tears, apparently which more came out during his reminisce.

"How long will this trauma last? How long will I last even? It's too late for that now…" The boy asked hypothetically to the world around him, except that he wouldn't get any form of an answer at all.

He just shook his head in confusion as he shrugged off the last of his memories from his mind, walking over to towards the door and catch up with his mother and Pikachu.

"I should forget about this for now…" He whispered and sighed once again as he faced the door and opened the golden doorknob, making the creaking door pull apart openly. But just before he was about to walk out of the doorframe and into the hallway, and inside force stopped him.

He didn't know what it was and what it wanted. And for some reason, he started to walk back towards his room and over to where he was a minute ago. The will inside of the boy just gave in as he looked at what he was planning to do.

"I'm taking you with me; you were always my good luck charm…" He whispered again as his hands reached out for one of the photos and grabbed it. They retracted to his body soon enough as he looked at the picture in his hands. He took a good look at his room one last time before walking over to the doorway and passing through it with no interruptions this time around and closing the door behind him.

He took a few steps and walked through the dark hallway safely as he reached the stairs and began to walk down, making more thumping and creaking noises coming out as he descended down the stairs. The room below was filled with light as the sun was soon beginning to set behind the hills of Pallet Town, which were visible in from the nice given window. He rubbed his eyes with his hands rather roughly, making sure there was no evidence of his emotional breakdown.

And when he completely walked down the stairs, he could see the woman from before sitting down on the two seated couch in the right while Pikachu was sitting down on the right of the same three seated couch in the back, hogging down on a red liquid substance.

"Honey, your tea's getting cold." Was the first thing he heard after entering the first floor again, other than the noisy sucking noises of delight made from the yellow mouse while gorging down on the food.

"It's fine mom." The boy reassured her as he walked over to the couches to take a seat and flopped down right beside Pikachu. He took the time to place the picture beside him on the left of the couch, face down so that no one could see what he had with him and that Pikachu couldn't reach for it from the opposite side. A few seconds later, he straightened up and reached out his arms for the teacup on the table. It was quite a long distance away from the sofas, but the boy managed to bend over a bit and reach for it, all in the while making sure it wasn't spilt on the expensive carpet of fur above the ground. He also managed to make a grab for one of the biscuits on the plate beside the teacup as he retracted both of his arms.

He gobbled the biscuit up in one bite and grabbed for another one all in the while as he looked at the woman beside her, drinking her tea as well as flashing a smile to the boy upon her notice. He just smiled back and chomped the second one up as well before he turned his gaze towards the greedy little mouse.

"Give me a little?" He asked in a pleading tone which made the mouse break out from his delicate savoring and look up at the boy.

The mouse acted reluctantly at first; not wanting to hand over his prized delicacy, but just complied afterwards and handed the bottle over to his trainer with a slight smile on his face.

The trainer took the bottle from the mouse with his hand and opened his mouth up wide. He faced up towards the ceiling and made his arm move over until his hand was on top of his face, positioning the bottle so that some of the liquid could come out. He chugged down the back of the bottle hard with his other hand, forcing the liquid to come out closer. And soon enough, red liquid came oozing out slowly from the bottle of the cap and into the waiting mouth of the boy.

The mouse just looked at his trainer with wide eyes, disappointed that a little bit of his delicious treat was going into the boy's mouth and then the stomach. But he just shrugged it off; it's just ketchup, there's plenty more in the fridge. Just like the boy, the mouse had managed to share more often as well as develop more manners.

Apparently, some of the ketchup had fallen on the lips of the trainer, but he just licked it off with his tongue. He positioned the bottle back to the proper way as one his arms went down towards his lap while the other one was heading over to the electric rodent.

"Thanks buddy." He said as he handed over the bottle and patted the mouse on the head for his generosity and heart.

"Pika!" The mouse replied as he happily took his possession back and began sucking down on it slowly just like before.

He took the teacup that was beside him on the sofa into his hands and began sipping it gently as he looked out the window and into the outdoors.

The sun had already set down as the orange and pink colors across the sky were fading into a darker shade of blue. Many little white lights appeared in the sky as they stretched all over the endless amount of blue space taken up, shining just like diamonds as they did so. In the center was a crescent moon, emitting off the moonlight as well as giving off a bright and shining view.

"What a perfect night…" He whispered over to make sure his mother had just heard about what he said as his eyes were in awe from the sight before him.

"I know, beautiful isn't it?" She answered back as she too was mesmerized by the view.

"Never seen such a sight like this ever…" He whispered back to his mother as he swore he just saw a few familiar faces pop up upon the blanket of dark blue.

"I know, me too." She sighed as she looked away from the sight and at the boy. She let out a short giggle at the way her son was looking at the beauty before them. "And we're only watching this from indoors, why don't you head out later on this night? You may never get a chance to see something like this ever again." She said as she smiled slightly.

"Definitely." He said as he nodded his head in reply and broke out from his trance to turn his eyes to his mother.

"So Red, I'm assuming you're going to enter the upcoming tournament?" She said as she looked at the boy, but by the look on the face of his expression, she could see that she had just made a mistake.

"Mom, we're in the comfort of our privacy in our home; you don't need to call me Red now." The boy said as he let out a short chuckle at the mistake of his mother. Pikachu was too busy with the ketchup that it didn't really care about the conversation going on. (Yes he's the mysterious Red from the first chapter -_- Took you long enough!)

"Right, sorry about that honey." She said as she let out a giggle at her own mistake. "So, are you going to enter?" She asked once again, but she pretty much knew the answer by reading the boy's face.

"Definitely. I'm gonna prove my strength and kick some ass out there!" The legendary trainer said as he made a fist pump in the air with the hand that was not occupied with holding the tea.

"Young man, mind your language!" The woman said as she reached over to put down the teacup on the table and after retracting her arms, she waggled her forefinger in a scolding manner.

"Right, sorry mom. Hehehehe…" Red apologized as his fist pump fell down and he scratched the back of his messy black hair in embarrassment. The mouse again, was too busy to notice his trainer's behavior or words.

'Same old boy, always excited for a challenge.' She thought as she smiled at the nervous trainer in front of her. She had noticed that he had been acting differently lately, more like his former self. Maybe he was really excited for the tournament. Excitement, nervousness and embarrassment? Those were something's she rarely saw from the rather impassive boy within the past few years. But nonetheless, she was as glad as ever to know that he still had some of his old personalities, qualities and traits buried within him. Maybe he really was turning back to his old self slowly…

The young trainer took another sip of the tea from the cup and then began to pet the mouse on the head again on the head. Only now did the woman realize that there was something on the left of the boy. Curiosity filled her body as she needed to know what that was. She moved her head a bit to see it was some kind of rusty old frame. But the real question was which picture was displayed in there?

"Honey, why are you hanging around with a photo frame? And does that have a photo inside of it?" She inquired the young trainer as she looked into his eyes.

The boy just sighed deeply after raising his hand and taking another sip of tea. He knew when his mother was engulfed with curiosity like this; there would be no stopping her until she gets the real answer, especially if it was coming from her own son.

"Yes there's a photo inside of here. And I'm taking this to the tournament with me." The boy replied, slightly nervous and embarrassed at his mother's inquiry.

The woman immediately picked up the tone of the boy's voice. Very light and soft, but definitely hiding something in there. A sudden thought sprung up in her head as she already had a good idea to what picture it really was. But she decided to push it a bit, to see if her hunch was correct on the money here.

"Why?" She cocked her head as she looked for an answer to her son's weird behavior. She may have a good chance on what the picture displays and deciphers, but she had no idea as to why her son was taking the picture with him.

"It's for good luck…" Red slightly whispered, but loud enough for his mother to hear his plans as a sad small smile was plastered across his face just like that at the mention.

"Oh…" The woman replied, knowing of her son's sudden drop in attitude. She knew it would be best not to push the subject any farther and cause more pressure on the boy, for now that is. "Anyways, I invited Professor Oak over here. He should be here any minute now." She said as she was relieved at her brilliant idea for a change of the main topic.

"Professor Oak? That's great! Now I don't have to walk around 2 kilometers to reach his laboratory!" He said with delight in his voice as he flashed a smile this time. But her mother knew very clearly it was not from the sudden unexpected change of plan, but from the pressure released from his back for the due moment, preventing memories from breaking into the barrier into his mind once more.

"Well, I invited him over for some tea but he said he had work to do in the lab, although luckily he managed to have a clear duty for a short period of time when I asked him to come over. Something concerning the matter of 'registration'. I wonder what that means?" She asked herself and to the boy as she began to wonder off into her mind.

"Mom, it's the registration for the upcoming tournament. All professional authorities get employed with this job to handle and accept registrations from trainers around the world. Quite stressful is you ask me." The boy sighed at her mother's lack of knowledge as he explained the term to his mother as she broke off from her thoughts.

"Oh, so that's what he's been doing for the past few weeks. No wonder he's loaded and stashed with work every time." The mother said as she put her finger on her chin and began thinking. Another sudden thought popped up in her mind as she began to form the words for an inquiry. "Wait a minute. Don't you need to register also?" She asked again to the relaxed boy drinking his tea.

Pikachu had finished eating out all the ketchup a while ago while our focus was on our main characters for this scene, and was now relaxing comfortably and soothingly by lying down in the couch in a curled up position.

"Well if I go by whom I am now, Red; then I probably don't need to register manually at all. They can get me into the tournament if I want to, before registration closes in all regions. But, I'm thinking of going incognito for some while so I can hopefully register when the Professor comes over here." He announced his complex plan to his mother as he took one last sip from the tea and put it down on the table. He moved over his mouse to the rodent and picked him up gently so he can relax on top of his lap. He began to pet the back of the mouse while slumping deeply into the couch.

"And why exactly would you do that?" She asked with a glint of curiosity in her brownish-red eyes. She relaxed also by relaxing down on the couch as well.

"Many reasons. One of the most obvious ones are screaming and crazy fan girls." He said with a deep sigh at the many thoughts of reactions from his many 'fans'.

She let out a quick giggle at the reply from the boy. What the young man just said was far more than true. Oh, the things he had gotten into with them were the hardest to get out of. "Oh, I guess that's very reasonable for you to hide your identity. Although I think you may be exaggerating a bit unless you have some other good reasons as well. Anyways, do you still remember about the-"

"Mom!" The boy yelled out as he interrupted his mother swiftly and saved an old memory from entering his mind as a shiver of fear ran down his spine and he shuddered a bit while thinking of one of the tightest situations he was in, related with the subject they were mentioning earlier. However, he just tried his best to diminish of it quickly and stuff it into the back of his mind. "Please not that! That's just too horrible to remember…" He quickly added in a very shaky voice and tried his to prevent his mother from speaking up furthermore on the topic.

"Sorry about that honey." The mother said as she added in a quick and cheeky smile to her son, however bright enough to make the current subject dissolve quite easily on its own. "I just can't believe you've grown up into a man. You're so popular and known and almost all the ladies want you…" She acted in a proud voice as she put up a sigh at the remembrance of the old memories. Some were greatly wonderful, some were plainly horrible while some where just freaky. But whatever he went through, he still managed to stay on top of the world.

"Well I can't have all of them. But, sometimes I would not believe the lengths they would go to just in order to impress me, or in other cases, creep me out considerably." He added in as he chuckled a bit at what he just said, knowing it was well over true.

"Yeah I know about that part very well. But I would want the perfect girl for my little boy!" She screamed in excitement and delight over the prediction of her son's possible future.

"Please not this again…" The boy let out a quick grumble, signifying his annoyance and disappointment at and over his mother's antics.

"Too bad most of the girls left in the world only want you for your fame and fortune. They never want to look deeper into the person." She quickly added in after hearing her son groan in complaint, hoping to somehow get him involved in the subject properly.

"If they knew about my person, they would simply run away." He added in with a slightly chuckle at the joke he had just made up, possibly good enough to be true for the most part.

"If only you two were together, she would have been the perfect one." The woman sighed at her own words as she hung her head down, memories from the past invading her mind continuously, but not before took a look over slightly and caught a glimpse of the boy with the corner of her eyes to search for an expression on his face.

The moment he heard what his mother had just said, his chuckling immediately disappeared as a serious expression ghosted across his face in a matter of seconds. He knew exactly who his mother was trying to refer to and he had to plainly counter that, for it was not true at all, well for him at least. "Wait a minute! Mom please, enough about the past here." He said calmly as he tried his best to form proper and firm words in his mind for an appropriate sentence without releasing too much rage inside of it and to his mother. "And you cannot be serious about pairing me up with her! Why would I ever want to be together and in love with a witch?" He yelled out slightly to the poor woman, who just kept on listening to his outburst, shocked in the heart by every word. "Love is for suckers anyways…" He mumbled the last part quietly to himself, but the mother's ears were sensitive enough to pick up on what the boy had just said to himself.

The woman's head immediately sprung up as she quickly came over to the one's defense to who she was referring to before and who her son just insulted. Her face hardened and her voice raised a bit as she began to start her own outburst and all together, create an argument between the two. "Young man, she is not a witch! She's a beautiful, young, caring, sweet and very talented girl. How can you call her a witch just like that when she's obviously not? And love is the most beautiful thing on the planet! It's what enriches our lives with great eternal happiness, all due to a single, but very special person." She quickly retorted to the boy's previous words, anger enthralling within her body and soul. She didn't like it when people badmouthed about other people, and she especially didn't like it when her son was doing that to a certain girl.

"You just look at her from the outside; you don't even know how she acts on the inside. And love is for people who just want to die and rot away from the insides." He quickly responded as he lowered his voice and tried to sound as soft as possible while staying calm and not let the rage flow through within his body. He didn't want to target and unleash all his anger and annoyance upon his mother just like that.

"You never even gave her the chance! And you're just talking like that because you were jealous!" She yelled at her son for his wild explanations again. She was truly getting annoyed now at the boy's words. To her, he wasn't even talking properly. Every word he said and joined together to make a sentence, didn't make sense at all. She didn't like the way he was talking at all and needed to counter for what was right.

"Mom, is three years a chance, or an opportunity? That's how long I waited and no response at all. It wasn't until later that I found out who she really was inside. And so what if I'm jealous? I don't care. True to the word that I miss them, including her, a lot; doesn't mean I'm not going to forgive her, even nor is she going to forgive me. I don't even want her to forgive me. The argument was set just like that." He explained as tinges of anger started to drip in his voice and his face became outlined with one of a more annoyed expression. Still, he was trying to keep his mind calm and cool like always and not start an whole argument involving harsh words over a simple subject, but to them, it seemed like the fate of the world.

Her mood taking a complete 180˚ slip, the woman's face immediately softened as she heard what her son had just spoke out. The words she recently said came into her mind as she was regretting her sudden outburst to start an argument with her son. She knew that he was partially right about some parts of it, and she couldn't do anything about it. Although she was still angry for some of the words the boy said, she still felt sad for the young trainer on the couch, who was relaxing and letting his mind vent off the steam in a passive way by just letting him sulk. Her voice softened considerably as she chose to speak her next words wisely and avoid causing another argument with the legendary trainer. "Honey, you can't possibly stay mad at her forever…" She said as she tried to change the boy's direction and take him out from this.

His face softened as well after hearing his mother's voice soften drastically and her face turn sympathetic. "Yes I can, and she can too. It's made like that and it cannot be changed at all." He whispered around slightly with tones of sorrow in his voice. "She's probably married by now anyways. And I'm better off alone, living a life without countless worries and overwhelming pressure." He countered her opinion in a passive way without releasing off another argument.

The mother felt intently sympathetic for her son, knowing what he had been through in his life. She was starting to feel sorrow envelop her body and replace the rage and anger within her. She could feel his pain. But she knew it was the right thing to do for she had to come to that person's defense as well.

But before either of them could press further onto the subject, a large knock issued on the door. The woman immediately sprang up from the couch and went over quietly towards the door. She sighed, no peephole. When will she have the time and be able to plant one in there? She opened the door without hesitation or an interrogation and looked at who was standing before her, not expecting to see who she is seeing now right before her. She thought it would be Professor Oak, but…

"Mime!" A voice called out from behind the door as the figure of the voice raised its hand slightly to wave it to the woman.

The woman snapped out of her surprise and began gestured the figure within the house with her hand while sidestepping to the doorframe. "Mimey, back from vacation so soon? How was it?" She said as she saw the figure enter with the house after being allowed grant and space.

"Mister mime mime Mister Mister mime." The figure said as it took a deep breath to inhale to air before stepping inside and passing by the woman leaning by the doorframe.

Red peeked over to the side and tried to catch a glimpse at who exactly was entering the house. Pikachu was obviously deep in slumber by now and relaxing delicately, tired from his reign on hogging down on the red liquid he so deliciously ate with all his might.

After the figure took its first step into the house and stepped on the wooden floor, Red could immediately decipher and recognize it with ease. His face flashed a smile as he saw who it was.

The figure was about four feet tall. It had a 'clowny' appearance to it as well. It had a pale pink tone painted on its skin and its body was fully rounded and white, with a pink circle coming from the middle and more pink circles attached to its arm and leg joints. Its legs were slender and thin and had a sort of white kneecap on the knees accompanied by a midnight blue sandals wore on the feet with a jester type of look upon it. Its arms were slender and thin also with the pale pink tone in the skin and its hands were covered in, what seemed like white gloves with pink circles on the tip of each finger. It had a round head with pink circular patches on its cheek and two blue horns in the shape of a saw, poking out from both side of its temples. It wore a deep black sunglass that covered over its eyes. Its eyes could be seen marked and enrolled with happiness, even if a sunglass was wore and covered its eyes, and it had a very playful and cheery look on its face as it was plastered across with a bright smile.

"Mime!" The Pokemon shouted immediately as it turned to look at the couches and who exactly was eying her with a smile on their face.

The boy immediately broke off when he saw the Pokemon shudder out a scream. "Wha? Oh, good to see you again Mimey." He said as his everlasting smile was still flashed upon his face and to the barrier Pokemon.

"Mime mime!" The Pokemon said as she took another good look at the boy, sitting before her on the couch comfortably. She caught a quick glimpse of his figure and marked him into one she couldn't recognize at all, although she had some suspicion. Now, her white hands were surrounded with a glow of pink as she lifted one of her arms up and pointed her hand towards the boy.

The young trainer knew immediately what was going on. He needed to desperately get out of this without hurting the Pokemon, or else he would receive quite a beating. "Mimey, it's me!" Red called out frantically as he tried to shake some sense into the clown Pokemon from being mistaken badly for an intruder or unwanted guest.

The Pokemon refused and shook her head, having no idea at all to who it really was that she couldn't identify. The pink aura on her hands started to glow more intensely as it got more brighter and was prepared to launch an attack.

The boy just sighed. It wasn't going to work. Hopefully, he'll still be in good condition to participate for the tournament. Soon, he could feel his body getting lighter as he was being lifted up from the couch and into the air and shaken rather roughly while not applying the rules of gravitational force.

The Pokemon began to mercilessly, shake his so called 'intruder' back and forth while using its Psychic powers. But she didn't bother to notice there was an electric yellow mouse from beside where the young boy was. She was going to wake the mouse up by applying the same kind of 'treatment' it was currently doing to the trainer by lifting her other hand up, until…

"Mimey, put him down!" Chimed in the voice of a woman as she quickly ran over from the doorframe and beside the couches to where the boy was roughly being shaken back and forth while floating on the air currently, forgetting to close the door even.

The Pokemon reluctantly put down the so called 'intruder' into the ground as the pink glow from her hands began to slowly disappear and she lowered her arms down to her side. And the next thing that could be heard was a loud thump on the ground as the legendary trainer fell on his back and onto the ground without much of a warning at first.

"OW!" The boy screamed out in pain as he could feel pain starting to envelop his backside completely. How come the Mr. Mime didn't attack Pikachu at all? Well, Red definitely wasn't one to complain, wine and nag about something seriously and easily so he just shook away his complaints and struggled to stand up properly using his hands. He pushed his hands down on the ground and used them for support to lift himself up and then his knees eventually came for more support. In a second, he was standing up, sagging over and using the sofa's handle as more support to stand straightly.

"Mime!" The Pokemon yelled out to the woman in front of her, surprised by her action for calling her Psychic attack off.

"Ow!" The boy let out a shriek of pain as he moved over to the sofa and flopped down on it. The sudden wave of the impact was enough to wake Pikachu up from his deep slumber.

"Pika!" The mouse jumped up in surprise as he looked to his right and left continuously.

'(Red, Red's mother, a Mr. Mime and the door is open... Wait, a Mr. Mime?)' The mouse thought out in surprise as he was about to start charging up the electric red sacs on his cheek and unleash one of his world class famous Thunderbolts on the barrier Pokemon, but that was before he realized who the Mr. Mime actually was. "Pika!" The mouse cried out as he waved his hand continuously in front of the Mr. Mime to make it acknowledge his presence and identity.

"Mime?" The barrier Pokemon said as he looked the yellow mouse. And only now did he realize who it actually was. "Mime mime!" She said as she dashed over quickly to the electric rodent.

"Pika chupi pikachu!" The mouse said as he pointed to the trainer beside him, who had his eyes closed and head spinning.

"Mr. Mime?" The clown asked in confusion to who the 'intruder' actually was.

"Mimey, don't you know who it is?" The woman said as she walked over to the couch she was previously sitting on and fell down on it.

Mimey was about to open her mouth and ask the same question again; Who is he? But realization hit her Pokemon brain like lightning as she found a suspicion immediately. She turned her gaze towards the trainer and took a good long look at him again while taking her sunglasses off and into her hands. But after the pieces came together, from the Pikachu to his clothing and why the woman was trying to protect him, she found a direct answer.

"Mime?" The Pokemon asked the sunken boy in hope for an answer that will clear her suspicion.

"Great to see you Mimey. Looks like your Psychic attack packs quite a punch." The boy said as he opened his eyes to look at Mimey before him and let out a slight chuckle along with a faint grin.

"Mime Mr. mime mister mister mime…" The Pokemon said with embarrassment and shame as she looked down at the ground and avoided the boy's gaze.

"Nah it's ok; I'd be pretty suspicious of a person who I don't even know, being right inside my house. Well, at least I'll still be able to compete… I think." Red reassured the barrier Pokemon as he chuckled out again at his last sentence.

"Don't worry honey, you'll be fine!" The woman chimed in and flashed a bright smile at the boy and the two Pokemon, who just sweat dropped at the mother's cheery attitude.

"Mime Mr. mime mime." Mimey announced as she walked over to the kitchen and went inside it a few seconds later while waving its hand.

"Ok, you can go get settled down there." The female called out from behind as she watched the Pokemon get comfortable in the kitchen. After she saw the Pokemon fully adopted with its surroundings in the kitchen, she turned her gaze back to the trainer on the couch. "So, what was I going to say again?" She asked as she put her chin on top of her finger and began thinking.

The boy knew immediately what she was referring to and he knew he had to prevent that subject being brought up again. He sat up straight quickly and grabbed Pikachu to put him on his lap with one of his hands while he took hold of the old photo frame with his other hand. "Nothing mom. You weren't going to say anything at all." He said frantically while laughing nervously as he tried his best to flash a convincing smile.

Pikachu looked up at his trainer and just sweat dropped and sighed at his trainer's impression. In the trainer's other hand, the mouse could see there was some sort of rusty old picture frame with a picture inside of it. He tried to make a grab for it but that only resulted in the young boy pulling it back with his hand and out of reach from the rodent's current position. This caused the mouse to pout in frustration and annoyance at his failed attempt and his trainer's weird behavior for being so nervous.

An imaginary light bulb clicked and flashed on top of the woman's head as she remembered about the topic she was going to discuss further with the boy. The woman flashed a very faint, evil like grin as she was about to speak up. However, the boy was able to notice this and drops of sweat started to pour down his face at a rapid pace. The mouse could only sigh deeply even more at the different expressions of the two humans.

"Yes, I was about to continue speaking on you-know-who." She said as she flashed another very evil grin at the boy and her eyes grew smaller, like if she was preparing something big in store that may as well leave the boy paralyzed.

The young trainer was starting to get really nervous and therefore, very uncomfortable at his mother's currently weird behavior. He didn't like where this was going, be it another serious argument with him about 'you-know-who' or just tease him about love with 'you-know-who'. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and relaxed his mind. He was prepared for any question his mother might throw at him and he was ready to try and counter those questions efficiently. He opened his eyes to see that his mother still had that evil grin on her face. Long discussion or teasing? Well, probably from her current look, it looked like she was going to tease the young trainer in an attempt to make him blush furiously rather than start a whole new argument, which would cause her look to become serious from before. Well, at least he won't get barraged with questions and inquires which would cause him to feel the pressure by looking back at his past.

"I know you like her." The woman whispered as the room suddenly went into a queer and eerie atmosphere, well for the boy that is, but his mother was just trying to be manipulative and make him spill the wrong beans.

"I don't." The boy calmly replied, trying his best not to crack under the heat of the moment and show the nervousness in his tone of voice. The second he stutters a bit at speech or even a tinge of red appears on his cheeks, he is going to be doomed.

"You liked her at least." She whispered again, not wanting to drop the subject. That huge evil grin never leaving her face, not even fading away a bit; in fact, it was probably growing bigger. She knew the boy wasn't very comfortable when he was forced to reminisce the past, but she was just having fun now. Besides, it wasn't like they were starting another major argument or something like that.

"Liked is a past tense." He stated out to rectify the sentence to his mother. The young trainer knew that at least one secret would be spilled out, and he's deciding to put the conversation on route to the only secret he probably has.

"So you're admitting you liked her?" She asked as her grin broadened even more. This was where she had caught him up and surrounded him in a corner, no escape and no way to change the topic. The next answer has definitely got to be in some sort of form of the truth.

"Well, there's nothing to hide actually. Yes I used to like her, well before I found out about her 'evil' side. But do you think I actually still like her now?" He asked rhetorically as he put up a slight smirk, surprising the woman at the process of it happening and making her evil grin drop.

It took a few seconds to recover the thought on why the boy was smirking like that, but she came up with an even bigger statement that is sure to be sent to her son's heart and definitely cause him to crack under the pressure and heat of the situation. It was time for her to turn the tables against the boy and make him give out some answers, and she knew exactly how to do it. Then and there, her mischievous grin had returned once again. Now it was the young trainer's turn to be surprised.

"You know, first love never dies…" She said as the grin on her face broadened up a bit again and she found her answer. Of course, why didn't she think up of this before? She needed to force the boy into revelation and make him try and confide his 'assumed' secrets, well assumed to her at least.

And as predicted, the boy's smirk was quickly replaced with an expression of surprise quite quickly. The words had clearly entered his mind as he struggled to find a counter to that statement he so desperately denies "Ok mom, it was may be just a crush, but love? Seriously? Come on! And no, I don't have any of those feelings now." He exclaimed rather proudly and haughtily as his tense lightened as well, hoping his mother would finally stop the interrogation.

"I know you still love her." The woman kept on teasing him yet again. What an ambitious and persistent attitude, a bit too much exactly.

"Uhhh… Mom, you're seriously another Dawn. And no, I don't like her in any sort of way now." He stated yet again, denying the mother's continuous statements. He was hoping by that now, that some way; anyway, he could get out of this situation. Well, looks like he won't be reaching over to the tournament base by nightfall. His plans just got messed up, but he had to wait for the famous professor who was going to pay a visit to his house soon enough. But come on, he needs a miracle right now!

Annoyance was flowing through her veins again. Just admit it already! Mother's intuition is always right, well maybe... Her face was starting to get red with anger boiling inside of her. Even the trainer could feel the abnormal rise in temperature all of a sudden and he could assume the source was coming from somewhere near him. Her skin was blistering as she clenched her fingers shut and tried to release off the steam inside of her without causing too much of a verbal commotion that may as well attract all the nice and lovely neighbors down the street or somewhere close to the house.

"Yes you-!" She was about to say out again to the boy… Well that was before she was interrupted, yet again. And her mind was quick into thinking on how she would be gentle enough to ask for and provide a death-wish to the person who just interrupted their long, but intriguing and fascinating conversation.

"Delia? I heard a loud noise while I was walking over to your house. Is everything fine here?" An old and creaky voice could be heard from the houses as a very old man burst in to the house through the doorframe, since the door was blatantly left open just like that.

"Huh?" The boy and the mother asked in unison as they stood up in surprise from the sofa's, the boy dropping the photo frame and the yellow rodent on the couch again, and looked over to the side to see a very old man, panting and gasping heavily for air with a worried expression on his face, his body slouched down and his head bent over, drops of sweats dripping every now and then from his face.

The man could be seen with a rather chubby figure of his own. He was wearing a plain red Polo T-shirt that was neatly tucked in by a brown belt with a silver buckle, which held up his brownish-saffron trousers. He was a white full-sleeved lab coat as an overall which reached a little bit past his knees and right above his brown loafer shoes. His hair was hued in a light grayish-brown color that matched along with his orange skin tone. His eye brows were kind of widened up and colored in a deeper shade of gray this time around. Above his ears and at the side of his head, he had small vertical lines that went along in his air. And below his eyes were wrinkles spotted around, signifying his old age. His eyes were full of worry and concern and his lungs were struggling for air as he breathed in and out with his mouth and nostrils.

"Everything's fine professor. There was just a 'little accident' involved." She assured the exhausted old man, applying completely intended sarcasm in the last few words by emphasizing its point a bit. She had completely forgotten to close the door during the time she was teasing her son to bits and tried her very best to make him confide.

"Well… That's good… to hear…" The man said whilst panting to regain air back into his lungs as he wiped the sweat from his wrinkled brow with his forearm and stood up on his two feet to straighten his posture and look at the surroundings in the house.

"So professor, why were you exhausted and sweating considerably? You look like you ran a marathon or something like that!" She exclaimed as she let out stifled giggles in front of the old man, doing it in a rather impolite, but non-offensive way.

The man just sweat dropped at the mother's attitude. But it wasn't identifiable if he really produced a dash of water due to the woman's naivety or just because he was still exhausted and sweating. "Well, I ran here as fast as my legs could carry me after hearing a large noise coming straight from your house. You could even hear it from a few blocks away." The professor explained as he looked at the woman in front of her and gave her a smile. The corner of his eyes moved onto the kitchen as he could see the entrance a few feet away from him. "So has Mimey come back from vacation yet?" He asked, trying to lighten up his exhaustion and force a change from the woman's straight-forward way of thinking, however even he had to admit that sometimes she can be a bit manipulative and deceiving to get what she wants, from a person especially.

"Yes, in fact she came back a while ago. She was kinda the one who caused the accident." She answered as she beamed a warm, but nervous smile right back at the man and replied to his inquiry.

"So early? I guess that's just her behavior." He said as he let out a chuckle in response to the clown's recent short-coming. The woman joined in as well and they both hoped that the barrier Pokemon wouldn't hear about them passing on jokes about her, or she would flip and get offended by the insult. Luckily, the Mr. Mime was still in the kitchen, doing who knows what?

The boy however, just stood silent as he watched the scene unfold before him. He wanted to make his presence know to the old man so he interrupted their chuckle and giggles by clearing his throat and looked at the professor straight in the eyes. He could see that the man cringed back a bit upon noticing the trainer before him.

"So professor?" He called out to make himself more known to the man before him. However, he must really thank him dearly for getting him out of that tight situation of a crazy interrogation his mother was trialing him to. "It's nice to see you again after so long. How've you been doing?" He said as he took in every detail of the man, from his gray hair down to his brown shoes. Hasn't changed much at all, well except for growing more older at age.

When the man saw him, he took in a quick look at his clothing and somehow they seemed…familiar. However, he could analyze it as unidentifiable, for now at least. He also tried to steal a glance at his face and noticed his expression, causing him to cringe again upon looking at his dull grey eyes. But the man couldn't recognize him at all, although he had a very strong suspicion after eyeing the Pikachu on the couch and the messy black hair sticking out from his head, looking at the professor intently with a bright smile on his face, however containing the same dull grey eyes.

"And who might this young gentleman be?" He asked professionally and formally as it was his turn to clear his throat, but just because of his old age. He now started deep into the eyes of the young trainer before him bravely and tried his best to take out his identity and see who this stranger really was without asking, just relying on plain guesses. But of course, he came up with no answer, just a strong suspicion. He however didn't want to humiliate himself by clearing out that suspicion in front of the boy and leave him in a daze. He could also notice from the corner of his eyes that the woman she was talking to before, now took a seat on one of the couches and beamed a smile as she watched the conversation unfold.

The boy grew out that smirk on his face again as he flashed it to the old man, leaving him confused and in a daze. A few words brightened out in his mind as he was thinking on how to give out a mischievous statement that will confuse the professor even further by composing a sentence in his head. "A few words… I love my Pikachu dearly." He said out in form of a type of poetry as he walked over to the couch he was sitting in before and slouched down on it to hold the photo frame and Pikachu once again. Poetry. Was it really even necessary to confuse them by using poetry?

"Pika!" He called out as he waved his chubby little paws back and forth to greet the professor he so knew for a very long time.

But just at that little sentence, the professor's mouth went wide along with his eyes opening up broadly as realization hit him hard in the head. Just by that single sentence, or imperfect form of poetry, mentioning the name of the species of the yellow electric mouse with a lightning bolt tail and how he loved his one so much, did he understand it all and broke the secret to who he really was. He was so dazed that he couldn't even notice the mouse waving frantically to try and get his attention.

"No, it can't be…" The professor stuttered in utter shock over finding out who the boy really is. But how is he here? And what is he even here to begin with? Wasn't he supposed to be living a life of complete training in seclusion? Most imporantly, wasn't he supposed to be dead?

"Yes it can professor, yet it can…" The boy whispered slightly, amused at seeing the old man's complete shock in his identity and how he even managed to decipher the sentence and find the hidden code within. To say the truth, he was also a bit surprised at the mind of the old man but then again, he's one of the most famous Pokemon authorities. Stealing a peek, he could see his mother still smiling, finding the scene fascinating to her entertainment and complete amusement at the professor's sudden reaction and change of expression every now and then. His smirk never faded away or even lightened up a bit to the least, it was still very wide and full of complete slyness as he simply watched on, waiting for what's next.

To be continued...


Well that's the end of this chapter and the next chapter will be commencing soon enough. Note: Pikachu is a male and is a female, simple enough unless you didn't get it before. You saw in this chapter that I haven't made Ash turn into a complete jerk and made him show some forms of feelings and emotions, although he rarely shows his emotional side. Feel free to leave out your reviews, ideas, feedback's, opinions, criticism or whatever. Please don't leave flames against the shipping, unless you're brave enough to be hated by the AdvanceShipping community ;p Well, thanks for reading and hope you leave a review if you got the time :)

Drink syrup! :)