Chapter 2: Shadows

There is some explaining to do with why I made Ash start his journey at 13 easy I hate the number 10 in the pokemon world, LOL. Oh this story will be lighter than most of my other ones as well.

Pokemon isn't mine and never will be.

(Hilda's POV)

I pulled out a photo of Ash and looked at it remembering the years we spent together before he moved to Kanto, he never contacted me and my family began to begrudge the Ketchum's after many years of quiet, "So Ash you really don't remember to much of your past?" I questioned the man standing walking in front of me, "Ash were you listening to my question?" I asked the trainer annoyed at the fact he wasn't listening.

"You were asking me something Hilda?" Ash asked with a facial expression showing he was deep in thought, "sorry Hilda I was thinking about something" Ash told me as we continued to walk through the tree lined route towards Accumala Town.

"Come on Ash we need a quick break" I suggested as we stopped walking and set up camp for the night. After setting we looked around for some fruit to eat, "Ash you know something you were going to start your journey here in Unova thirteen years ago" I told Ash before he looked me with a surprised look, "but before you could start you moved away to another region" I pointed out sadly.

"Hilda you just sit there and I will cook dinner alright" Ash told me as I sat down and looked at Ash cooking dinner, "So Hilda while the food is cooking want to have a quick battle with my Rufflet?" Ash asked me while taking his eye off the cooking food.

"How about we battle after dinner" I suggested not wanting to eat burnt food; I waited for Ash to finish the cooking. Ash served the food to me I looked at it 'seems fine to me' I thought to myself before grabbing a fork ready to eat the food.

"Well dig in Hilda" Ash said with a smile, "this is my favorite thing to cook" Ash confessed with a smile.

I took the fork from the plate and placed some of the food in my mouth, I waited for a second for it to register 'wow Ash is a great cook too bad this is a little spicy for my liking' I thought to myself.

"So Hilda do you like the curry I cooked?" Ash asked me nervously, "sadly that is the only thing I can cook well" Ash pointed out with great embarrassment, "I almost burnt down the kitchen at home trying to cook other things like cakes and pasta" Ash pointed out while scratching his head.

"So Ash who taught you how to cook?" I asked in wonderment while I chowed down on the food. We finished the dinner I looked at Ash who started to clean up the mess he made, "You know Ash we can battle now" I told Ash before he nodded.

"That can wait a moment a good cook will always clean his mess" Ash stated with a grin, Ash took a lot of time to clean the plates and utensils before he was ready for the battle.

"Ash please take it easy I haven't battled yet" I told Ash before he nodded his head in approval, "thanks Ash I really need the experience" I stated with a grin.

"Alright Rufflet time for battle" Ash said calling out his small eaglet pokemon ready for battle.

"Tepig let's show him what we are made of" I called out my small orange pig like pokemon, "Tepig let's start this off with Ember" I declared for the first attack, Tepig charged up for the fire attack before unleashing it at the small eaglet pokemon.

"Alright Rufflet dodge ember then use Air Cutter" Ash commanded calmly, his pokemon quickly dodged the attack and sent out his own sending blades of air towards my starter pokemon, Tepig moved slowly trying to dodge the attack but was hit by Rufflet's attack Ash just stood there calmly watching to see what my next move was going to be, "Hilda don't give up!" Ash demanded as he saw doubt in my eyes.

"Tepig watch out!" I yelled out before looking at Ash whose experience was starting to show in this battle, "he can bring the best out of any pokemon he catches" I remarked quietly as the battle continued on for a short time until it started to get dark and the food was almost ready for dinner.

"Not bad Hilda you definitely have potential" Ash remarked happily as he recalled his flying type pokemon, "but dinner is almost ready so I have to attend to it" Ash said as a pleasant smell start to drift through the area causing me to drool slightly, "wow Ash this food of yours smells amazing" I pointed out with a smile as I moved closer to the pot with an empty stomach growling, "Ash is the food almost ready?" I asked impatiently as Ash looked up and smiled, "come on Ash I am so hungry!" I yelled out wanting the start eating.

"Done time to serve out the food and begin eating" Ash said happily as he served out the food in the bowl, "and for the pokemon they need the best food" Ash said as he placed a bowl of pokemon food in front of the pokemon, Ash sat on his seat and started to eat his food at an amazing rate while I ate peacefully, I looked up to see Ash taking seconds and soon thirds.

"Wow Ash you sure eat a lot" I remarked with a nervous smile, Ash looked at me with a small bit of pasta hanging out of his mouth, "Ash before you say anything please swallow your food" I requested as a frown crossed my face.

"So Hilda what do you think of my cooking?" Ash asked nervously while I continued to eat his food.

"Ash you're an amazing cook" I professed while feeling impressed by the quality of the food that I was given by the trainer, I finished my food and we cleaned up before setting up the sleeping bags, "So Ash what are your goals in this region?" I asked Ash as he sat on the log with his Pikachu ignoring my question, 'why does he always ignore my questions?' I asked myself feeling a little frustration creep in as Ash continued to ignore me.


(Ash's POV)

"You know buddy something about that dream was strange" I told my starter pokemon while watching the sunset, as I was watching the sunset I heard Hilda walk up behind me, "Oh hi Hilda the sunset is amazing" I said with a smile but Hilda wasn't smiling, "Hilda what's the matter?" I asked the young woman as she just glared at me.

"Ash for some reason every time I ask you a question you ignore me" she responded as she sat next to me to watch the sunset with me, "now that we are sitting here there should be no reason to ignore what I have to say" Hilda declared as I looked at her for a moment.

"I will listen this time" I promised happily, "but first can we watch the sunset it's really peaceful" I said with a calm smile as I continued to watch with great intent.

"Yeah it's really peaceful" Hilda said with slight disappointment, the sun continued to disappear over the horizon until it was completely gone and during the entire time the sky had was a fiery red color, "so now Ash can we talk for a moment?" Hilda asked me with slight frustration.

"I am all ears" I responded quietly while looking into her eyes, "Oh and my goals for this region is to compete in the Unova League and become champion same as every other region" I professed with a smile which caused Hilda to look at me in shock.

"Ash I thought you were ignoring me" Hilda said with a slight smile as we started to watch the sky light up with stars, "you know Ash I have one major dream in life" Hilda said with a confident smile.

"Yeah what is that?" I asked quietly while looking at the pokemon falling asleep.

"I won't tell you Ash" Hilda winked at me with a grin, "by the way Ash when did you start your pokemon travels?" Hilda asked me trying to get my history.

"It started ten years ago about three years after going to the Kanto region, sadly during that three years I was involved in an accident" I confessed which caused Hilda to worry slightly, "that accident put the start of my journey on hold and the worst part of it is I can't remember anything prior to that incident" I told Hilda who looked at me blankly, "but that photo you showed me got me thinking, that I would love to learn what happened prior to me moving to the Kanto region" I pointed out with a smile, "so Hilda will you help me with that while we travel together?" I asked the brunette who was in shock with my story.

"So why do you remember my brother?" Hilda asked me with a serious look on her face, "and if it meant bringing the old you back then you have my full support" Hilda promised with a smile, "but first you need to tell your mother that you are travelling in the Unova region" Hilda instructed me, "we can do that in the next town" she said as she walked away.

"That won't be necessary, my mom moved to another region while I was in the Hoenn region and I haven't been able to contact her for the last five years" I pointed out as I stood up and walked to my sleeping bag, "I travel all over the place and this is the first time in a long time since I have been here" I said with a frown before laying down on the ground, I took a quick look at Hilda who was just about to fall asleep, "damn she is beautiful" I said quietly not wanting Hilda to listen.

"Ash did you say something?" Hilda asked me with a smile before turning on her back to fall asleep.

I looked up to the night sky looking at the many stars that filled up the night sky, before turning back to look at Hilda before turning my gaze back to the night sky again, "there is something about her" I told myself calmly as my thoughts started to drift towards Hilda, "something familiar" I said thinking to myself as started to fall asleep.

I woke up after a while but started to feel cold, 'what is this?' I asked myself as I looked around to find Hilda sleeping next to me, until Ice came in our general direction, "what no way, this is crazy" I said trying to move but I couldn't something was keeping me from moving from that same spot, but luckily a flurry of flames stopped the ice from taking us out, "that was close" I said with a sigh of relief.

"You will face three great enemies in the Unova region as your destiny unravels before your eyes, you will make a choice that will decide your own fate" a mysterious voice told me as a large white pokemon started to fight with a gray colored pokemon.

"Who are you?" I asked the large pokemon as it flew towards the pokemon, "and I don't believe in the shit you just told me!" I yelled out to the voice telling me all this stuff.

"You will find out soon enough" the voice said calmly.

I woke up yelling which startled Hilda slightly, I turned around to see Hilda who looked at me with concern, "don't worry too much Hilda it was just a dream" I said with a fake smile which caused her to look more concerned, "One of my friends always said there is no need to worry" I said reciting Dawn's line.

"And I was always taught to say, that's when I worry the most" Hilda said in response to Dawn's remark, "Ash you were yelling all night can you tell me what's going on?" Hilda enquired as I packed my sleeping bag.

"I am not certain of what I was dreaming about" I remarked with concern, "but there is one thing for certain it reveals that I might have to fight something later on" I said as Hilda looked at me with great concern again, "but whatever challenges arise I will meet them" I declared with a confident grin, Hilda looked at me with a feint grin knowing that I was hiding something from her.

"Ash please don't do anything crazy that would make me worry alright?" Hilda requested in a concerned tone.

"Like I said Hilda there is nothing to worry about I will be fine" I told Hilda as she breathed a sigh of relief, "but I get the feeling that this is going to be a strange journey" I told Hilda with a smile as she looked away trying to ignore my comment, "come on Hilda I just don't want you to get hurt" I pointed out with a concerned tone.

"Right Ash you were gone for thirteen years and now you don't want me to get hurt!" Hilda started berating me, "do you realize how much I missed you Ash? I only had my eyes set on one guy!" Hilda said angrily before leaving me to ponder on what I would do next.

"Has she loved me all this time?" I asked as a chill went down my back, "why didn't she say so before?" I asked while watching Hilda walk to the next town, "Hilda wait up I will go with you" I declared but Hilda just ignored me but I ran up to her.

"Ash why are you following me? I thought you didn't want to hurt me" Hilda enquired quietly as we walked through the tree lined route ignoring each other.

We made it to the next town as the antagonizing silence between us continued as we walked through the town and towards the Pokemon Center, we gave our pokemon to Nurse Joy and went our separate ways while waiting for our pokemon to finish their checkup, a fair bit of guilt started to creep over me like a shadow, "What was I thinking?" I asked myself as I looked around town, "I need to buy supplies but when are the shops open?" I asked myself as I looked around the empty stalls in the town, "besides this place is very quiet" I told myself as I walked back to the Pokemon Center.

I made it back to the Pokemon Center which was now quieter, "Ash there seems to be something going on here" Hilda stated worried about what was happening in the town, "Ash what if this has anything to do with Team Plasma?" Hilda asked me as a police officer walked up to us.

"No that's not true Team Plasma were beaten three years ago" the officer pointed out with a confident smile.

"Yeah and what would happen if they make a comeback?" I asked calmly as the officer looked outside in concern, "if they make a comeback here won't there be a chance that Team Rocket will make their war against this organization?" I asked calmly knowing that Unova was on the brink of an all-out battle between two organizations.

"Ash what are you saying?" Hilda asked me with an angry expression on her face.

"Did you forget what Juniper an Oak were talking about Hilda?" I asked the young woman calmly while walking outside to find a stage had been set up, "this is getting more interesting by the minute" I said with anticipation, "so the fears of Juniper and Oak have been realized" I said as I looked at the people standing near the stage while banners with a stylized 'P' surrounded the stage.

"No way I thought my brother defeated Team Plasma three years ago" Hilda said in shock as the crowd started make some noise, meanwhile a man with a white shirt, green hair, black hat and blue jeans walked up to us, "N what are you doing here?" Hilda asked the mysterious man.

"I am here on my own venture, but to hear of rumors about Team Plasma's resurgence was most disturbing" N said calmly as he watched the lights surrounding the stage turn off until a central light, "so I am here to investigate these rumors" N stated with a calm look on his face, "unfortunately those rumors seem to prove true" N said while we looked at the stage to see a charismatic man take center stage.

"So he is the leader of Team Plasma" I questioned as a group of men wearing what seemed like a knights outfit, "and damn they have a stupid dress code" I pointed out laughing at them.

"This is no laughing matter Mr. Ketchum, these guys mean business" N stated with an angered tone, "and it seems like they aren't the only ones here to cause trouble" N said pointing over to a trio of familiar faces.

"Oh not those three" I said in disappointment.

"You know them Ash?" Hilda whispered into my ear.

"Yeah I know them, the one on the left with blue hair is James, the one on the right with red hair is Jessie and the one in the middle is Meowth their talking pokemon mascot" I said introducing the Team Rocket trio to Hilda and N, "Oh and one more thing N how do you know who I am?" I asked the man only to find he wasn't around, "Oh great he isn't here" I said in annoyance.


(Normal POV)

The people watched the stage with great intent as Hilda and Ash continued to keep an eye out for Team Rocket who were hiding amongst the people, "This could be fun" James said with a smile while holding out one of his pokeballs.

"James we can't expose our identities yet there are too many people around" Meowth said with a grin as the trio watched between the crowd calmly, "but when the time is right we will start our small attack on Team Plasma" Meowth stated with a smile.

"Yes we need to be patient otherwise the bosses plan will go up in smoke" Jessie pointed out knowing this situation will quickly deteriorate if they make a move too early.

Meanwhile up on the stage the large man riffled his pages and looked out on to the crowd and scanned them with an assuring smile, "my friends this is a glorious day Team Plasma is now back in operation and with a new intention" the man said with a calm look on his face, "my name is Ghetsis and we of Team Plasma want to help people connect with their pokemon" Ghetsis stated as the crowd of people started to think about why they returned.

"this is strange Ghetsis wanted to be the only man in the region with pokemon" Hilda started to question Ghetsis's motives, "there is no way this man changed in the last three years" Hilda pointed out with a concerned look on her face.

"He is lying he still wants to take over this region" Ash pointed out calmly, as the speech continued on as the trio from Team Rocket got closer to the stage, "shit they are getting ready to attack" Ash said gritting his teeth as Jessie and James pulled out their pokeballs ready to do whatever it took to defeat their rivals, "this could get nasty" Ash pointed out as some of the people started to leave the area.

"We hope we can help the people connect with their pokemon" Ghetsis said with fake hope, just as they were about to leave two pokemon attacked the stage, "so Team Rocket is here to interfere with my plans" Ghetsis inquired with a smile, as two plasma grunts pulled out their pokemon to battle the Rocket trio.

"Go Sandile" the plasma grunt called out a small crocodile like pokemon colored mostly brown.

"Go Venipede" the second plasma grunt called out their purple pokemon ready for battle, they glared at Team Rocket for a moment and prepared for their attacks.

"So you plan to lie to the people" James said with a grin, "Yamask use Shadow Ball" James commanded calmly as the shadowy ball of energy flew towards the opposing pokemon.

"Woobat use Air Cutter" Jessie instructed her flying type pokemon, Woobat flapped its wings and sent blades of air towards the opposing pokemon, meanwhile Ghetsis had mad his escape and Team Rocket was battling the two plasma grunts.

"Great the boss has escaped" Meowth pointed out in frustration.

N looked around to watch the battle take place in front of the people and saw his father running away from the battle, "you won't escape this time dad!" N called out to his father before giving chase, "great what do you want?" N asked two plasma executives as they pulled out their pokemon to battle N, "so you want to battle?" N enquired calmly before smirking at the foes for a moment, "I wouldn't recommend it" N said confidently before bringing out his Zekrom.

"What the he still has Zekrom?" the Plasma Grunt enquired as the large black pokemon growled ready for battle. "Go Krokorok" the first executive called out ground type pokemon ready to battle the large dragon type pokemon.

"Seismitoad time to battle" the other plasma executive called out a mostly blue pokemon to battle N, "we have the type advantage" the Plasma executive declared confidently, N stood there calmly and glared at the duo before getting ready to unleash an attack on the duos pokemon. "you are too confident for your own good" the plasma executive pointed out, "Seismitoad use Hydro Pump" the executive called out for the first attack.

"Krokorok use Crunch" the executive instructed his ground type pokemon.

"Zekrom use Dragon Claw" N commanded calmly, Zekrom charged at the two pokemon attacking it and knocked them both out with one hit, "I thought Team Plasma would have improved in my absence well I guess I was disappointed" N stated as he recalled his legendary pokemon and started to give chase to Ghetsis, "You two stay here my father is a dangerous man" N instructed Ash and Hilda as he started to chase down his father.

"What should we do Ash?" Hilda asked nervously as two more plasma grunts ran up to them, "Ash this could be trouble if they battle us" Hilda pointed out as two purloins ready to battle Ash and Hilda.

"I see you were helping N" the two grunts said in unison, "time for you two to pay the penalty" the grunt on the left declared with a smile.

"Hilda this will be our first battle together I will back you up" Ash said as he smiled at Hilda, "Pikachu time to battle" Ash called for his partner pokemon confidently, "Hilda since you only have Tepig you will need to careful" Ash said with concern.

"Tepig lets battle" Hilda called out her started pokemon, "Tepig use Ember" Hilda called out for the first attack, the small pig like pokemon sent a small burst of flames at the two cat like pokemon.

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt" I instructed Pikachu to attack but before the attacks could land the two cat like pokemon used their great agility to dodge the attack easily, "what that's fast" Ash said in frustration as he watched the two pokemon land their Night Slash attacks on their pokemon.

"You can't beat us our pokemon are better trained since the early days" the plasma grunt stated with a smile, "Purrloin use Night Slash again" the plasma grunt ordered for another attack.

"Hilda try another attack" Ash instructed her but Hilda was weary of trying any other move, "Pikachu use Volt Tackle" I commanded my Pikachu.

"Tepig use Flame Charge" Hilda ordered nervously, Tepig charged at the one of the cat like pokemon with a fiery aura while the Purrloin charged with a darkened claw, meanwhile Pikachu charged as an electrical aura surrounded him, Tepig and Pikachu collided into the Purrloins causing significant damage to the cat like pokemon.

"Nicely done buddy" Ash said in celebration as the two cat like pokemon were laying on the ground knocked out of the battle, "time to give N some back up" Ash said as he and Hilda ran in the direction N went as he was chasing his father.

"Ash we were told to stay here" Hilda told Ash as she looked ahead with concern, "besides we will only get in the way" Hilda pointed out as I sighed in frustration, "also in the short battle we took some damage from the two Night Slashes" Hilda told Ash as they looked at the two pokemon panting from the short battle.

"Okay I will let N deal with this but after seeing what these guys are capable of I will need to get stronger" Ash said panning out his resolve and wanting to defeat Team Plasma and Team Rocket, they watched the battle between the Rocket Trio and Team Plasma which was fought out to a draw, "damn this could be trouble if now that I am facing Team Rocket and Team Plasma at the same time" Ash said angrily while Hilda walked next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "but those bastards are going to get away we need to stop them" Ash said in anger trying to run towards the enemy.

"Ash please we can't be involved in this battle" Hilda stated as she wrapped her arms around Ash, "Ash I've always loved you" Hilda confessed causing Ash to freeze on the spot knowing that he was right about Hilda's love for him, "it would hurt me if anything were to happen to you" Hilda said quietly as the enemies from the respective teams ran away from the battle.

Ash just stood there on the spot as another of his memories came flooding back into his mind, a small memory of their childhood this time a portion focusing on Ash and Hilbert again, "So Ash what are going to get for my sister?" Hilbert asked with a smile, "come on Ash I know you like her the truth is you're the only one I want for my sister to go out with" Hilbert declared his approval of Ash.

"I don't know Hilbert, you know I am moving to another region soon" the younger Ash said with a smile before the memory faded causing Ash to look at the ground for a moment.

"Hilda let's rest up for a while" Ash said as he felt Hilda's head rest on his back, Ash just smiled and looked on towards the horizon.

Somewhere in the distance the Rocket Trio looked on and smiled, "the boss will love the information we are about to give him soon the shadows of war will fill this region" James said as they walked away from Accumala Town.

Now the feelings of Ash and Hilda have surfaced, how will this affect their journey through the Unova region? What will happen as the two main factions continue their battle for supremacy?

Next time chapter 3: Stronger

Sorry this one took a little longer, but I still hope you enjoyed it, please read and review this story, there will be some important stuff coming up in the next few chapters so please look out for that.