Yeah, so anyway, at the beginning of the week, I lost my Flash Drive, which has all current chapters (including this one) on it. So I diligently spent the last week looking for it, knowing that if it was gone forever like a lot of my crap, I would not attempt writing it again.

Well I found it. It was in my backpack. Strange, since that was the first place I checked and I didn't see it then...

So without further ado, here is chapter two!

Freak On A Leash

Ch. 2-You Wanna See The Light?

"Hey, kid."

Ash turned around the next morning. It was his caretakers, Jesse and James. In all of his life, they were the only family he could remember. Next to them stood their Meowth, an apologetic look on his face.

"We're sorry we let it slip that you taught Meowth how to speak," Jesse said, looming over James. "Aren't we?"

"I'm sorry! I was half drunk and everyone was showing off their Pokemon! I wanted to have some claim to fame!"

"We work in a circus, meathead!" she said, hitting him. "What honor comes from that?"

"Actually, I heard most circuses were pretty nice. This one is just an acceptation."

"Oh shut up," she said, hitting him again. As James cried over the two new lumps on his head, Jesse looked over her shoulder to hear a voice calling to Ash. "Ash! Hey!"

"Ooh, who's that?" she said, winking at Ash.

"I smell love in the air!" James cooed. "Just thinking about it is giving me goosepimples!"

"Keep them to yourself, Mr. Goosepimples," she said, shoving James out of the way. "We'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

"Wait!" Ash called back. "Jesse, James! What is…"

"Hi Ash!" Misty said, a bright bubbly smile on her face. Today, she had someone with her. But it wasn't Gary. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Misty, what is…"

"I want you to meet my boyfriend! His name is Brock!"

Ash looked up at the other person again. He was fairly tall, with bronzed skin and pointy, dark brown hair. He was carrying a plastic carton with him, and it appeared to be smoking. Brock wore oven mitts to protect his hands from the heat. "Hello, Ash."

"Oh, hi," he said. He curiously peered at the container Brock was holding.

"This is for you," he said, offering the container to Ash. "Misty told me how they don't really give you enough food…"

"Whoever said I was underfed?"

Misty giggled. "Don't hide it. You're as skinny as a stick, and when I went back to look for my compass, I saw you wolf down that chocolate bar."

"Oh," Ash said, blushing madly. He really didn't think he was underfed, but he had never compared how much food he had to that of a regular person. And by judging what Brock had in his hand, he had been missing out on a whole lot.

Ash took the container, wincing as it burned his hands. He nearly dropped it from the slight pain, but didn't risk putting it down until it was safely inside his cage, sitting atop a blanket Giovanni had used to keep the cage comfortable. He took off the cover and more steam came pouring out, making Ash cringe back in fear.

"It's okay," Brock said. "Go ahead and eat it."

He took the utensils from a box in the corner and pried at the food. He looked back up at the two, who were nodding crazily, begging him to eat it. He took one piece and inching it closer and closer to his mouth, he closed his eyes, expecting the worse.

When it was actually in his mouth, however, his opinion changed. Instantly, he was hit with a feeling he had never experienced before, as his eyes sparkled, almost with new life. He dug into his food wildly, gulping down a good portion of it. "Ow!" he screamed.

"You dummy!" Misty laughed. "Couldn't you tell it was hot?"

Ash's shrieked in pain as he stuck out his tongue, breathing in and out heavily to cool down his affliction. Never had he had this much heat in any part of his body, as he waved his arms around.

Though finding it funny, Brock put a bottle of water between the bars. "I thought you might need this; good thing I brought it along."

Ash grabbed at it and shoved the nozzle into his mouth, taking in as much water as he could fit down his throat. He gagged as it went down to fast, coughing and sputtering most of the liquid he had consumed out. The fire in his tongue had finally gone out, as he breathing returned to normal and he slumped down at the side of the cage.

"Are you alright, Ash?" Misty asked, worriedly. He nodded, still trying to regain his composure.

"Next time, I'll make you something a bit cooler," Brock said, putting his hand through the bar to retrieve the container of food. Ash saw it and leaped over and Brock's hand.

"No…please…I want to wait until it cools down."

Brock smiled kindly. "Alright. Make sure its finished so I can pick it up later than, okay?"

Ash smiled back at Brock. He was a really nice guy. "Okay."

"Brock, we've got to go! Our break is almost over!"

"Oh, right! It was nice meeting you, Ash."

"You too, Brock."

Misty turned back around, Brock following at her heels. She stopped to wave. "See you tomorrow, Ash!"

"Yeah," Ash grinned. He liked the idea of company visiting every day. And the words rolled off his tongue nicely. "See you tomorrow!"

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"Hey, Gary?" Ash asked. Gary had come again to talk that night, his back facing Ash as he leaned against the cage. Gary acknowledged his voice through the moonlit night. "Hmm?"

"Today, when I was talking to Jesse and James…"

"Who are they?" he interrupted.

"Oh, Jesse and James take care of me. They're really nice. They're the only…the only…" Ash paused, searching for the word.

"Family?"

Ash's eyes went wide at the word. His mind turned completely blank, fading into nothing, and then something hit him.

He saw a woman. A really nice woman, with a kind smile and an open heart. She had long brown hair that went down her back, and it was put into a nice pony-tail with a blue ribbon. She smiled kindly at him. "Ash," she called softly. "Ash…Ash…"

"Ash!"

He snapped back. He blinked, and it was all gone. The woman with the blue ribbon had disappeared into the fog of his mind, as Gary stuck his hand through the bars and shook him.

"What happened? Good geeze, I thought you were having a heart attack!"

"Oh…it was…I saw someone…she was really pretty…and kind…"

"You saw her?"

"Yeah…it was all white, and then…I saw her. She was calling my name."

Gary thought for a moment. "You said it was all white, right? And that you don't remember a thing from the day they found you in the forest to right now?"

"No, I don't."

"Well," he paused, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "Maybe your memory is returning."

Ash paused for a moment. He had other memories? Well, then that ruled out that he was born from the ashes, or that he had fallen from the sky.

"So who are Jesse and James?"

"Oh," Ash said, once again returning from the depths of his thoughts. "They're the people who take care of me. My family, as you said. And they were talking to me today and then Misty came along…"

"Oh yeah; she asked me who those people were talking to you before she got there." He laughed. "He also told me how you burnt your tongue on Brock's cooking."

"Gary," Ash looked at him sincerely. This was a really serious matter to him. "What is love?"

Gary froze. "Geeze…is this kid stupid, or has he really been locked up and deprived for all these years?"

"Well…love is…" Gary started, stopping again. How could he possibly word this? "Love is…this…feeling you get…when you really care for someone…"

"You mean like the feelings I have for Jesse and James?"

"Well, that is one kind of love…a more familiar kind."

"So there are two?" he asked.

"Love is…a feeling between two people who want to be together forever because they appreciate the other's company and find a sense of…" he struggled with the next word, "self-worth and comfort in the other being there. Its like…you know…a more affectionate way of saying you like something."

"Like a light in darkness…" Ash muttered softly. Gary perked his head at the remark. There was no such thing as a perfect life, but as far as he concerned, Ash's was about as miserable as it gets. He stuck his hand through the bars.

"You…" Gary asked, "you wanna see the light?"

Ash sprang to life, looking deep into Gary's eyes. He saw the sincerity in them, and held on for as long as he could to the precious moment. He reached out to Gary's hand, slowly as he arched forward from his sitting position. His fingertips cautiously drifted across the air, and as he grew closer to Gary's hand, he could feel the tension in the air. His fingers gently touched the brunette's hand, tracing the lines on the palms. A shiver went down Gary's spine.

"What is that noise? Who's talking?"

Gary's hand snapped back from the cage. Ash looked at Gary with horror in his eyes. "It's Giovanni. You need to go now."

"Ash…" he said back, as he snapped his head in the direction the voice had come from, watching the shadow come closer and closer. He turned back to Ash and nodded. "Right. See you tomorrow."

"Bye," Ash whispered into the darkness, as Gary ran off in the other direction. Giovanni's shadow enveloped Ash just as he saw Gary duck into the bushes.

"Who were you talking to?"

"No one."

"You're lying. Who were you talking to."

"Check for yourself. There is no one here."

Giovanni turned his head around, looking at his surroundings. He was tired, and was not happy that he had woken up because Ash was talking to a squirrel or something.

"You be quiet, you hear. Some of us are trying to sleep."

He spun around angrily, heading back to his trailer. Ash's breath, which he had held when he dared Giovanni to take a look around left him, as he swept away the sweat from his brow. He turned back to the bush were Gary had been, only to see his backside as he ran toward home.

"Love," he whispered, as he looked at the parts of his fingertips that had ghosted over Gary's palm. He thought about the days events; Misty and Brock coming to visit, the memory of the woman he had seen, and the brunette who had left not too long ago.

"I think…I think I'm in love with Gary."

TBC

Chapter 3 Sneak Peak

"Don't mess with me, Ash," Giovanni scowled. "I heard you clattering at your bars. The whole fucking staff heard it."

"I was having a dream and my chains clinked against the bars. It was nothing."

Giovanni reached through the cage and pulled at Ash's hair, dragging him again to face a person he didn't really want to see or deal with. "You better be right," he reached at his belt with the Pokeballs on them, "or I'll beat the information out of you."

"It was nothing!"

"You better hope so for your friend's sake. Because if I find out otherwise, you'll both get a beating." He threw Ash to the cage and wiped his hands on his pants, as if he were disgusted by merely touching the boy. "Get back to sleep."

Well, there is the preview of the next chapter, which is already written. But in order to post it, I need to get writing chapter four. Chapter three is where the language gets a bit worse...there is also some violence in it, but I really don't think its that bad if I were to compare it to something like today's movies that are rated R soley for violence, like Sweeney Todd or The Passion of the Christ. Then again, The Passion was religious, and I'm pretty sure writing this goes AGAINST my religion.

Sigh I'm going to hell for you guys. Be happy. Well, read and review, over and out! -Nibzo