I am SO sorry I took so long (I think the last time I posted was April) but I was (and still am) going throught a hard time because my parents are divorcing. I am restarting my writing though, and am working on Bulma, Rocky Style; Past, Future, Destiny; and the rewrite of Silent Voices. They might be up in a couple of weeks or so, depending on which I start first. Ash...Gone? was my most popular though so I wanted to finish this first. I had SERIOUS writer's block for it but I managed to get it all done today.
Anyway, please don't strangle me ^_^;;
~*~
Ash stood proudly tall as Lance entered the arena. He had defeated all his other competitors, not easily, but with less difficulty than last year. A.J. had been tough. Ash had told bulbasaur to lift itself off the ground with its vines, so when Sandslash came out it wouldn't be able to reach it. When Sandslash stood there, confused, Bulbasaur finished it off. A.J. lost quickly after that, because he hadn't bothered to train his other pokemon as well as he had Sandslash.
"I guess it was a good thing to train all that time in Mount Moon," Ash thought to himself. He stood at the green end of the stadium, and Lance took his place at the red end. Ash looked determinedly at his opponent, and Lance did the same. They stood staring at each other as the referee walked to the center of the stadium. His voice cried out,
"This is the battle that determines if green trainer Ash Ketchum will be a Pokemon Master. At the red end is his opponent, the head of the Elite Four, Lance. Six pokemon, no time limit."
Ash waited quietly. He saw Misty in the corner of his eye, standing in the first row, staring at him. He shifted and then heard the ring that meant the battle was underway. He reached to his belt and lifted off a pokeball. He waited until Lance had sent out his pokemon, a Gyrados. Then Ash stood quietly, choosing the pokemon to be sent out. Pikachu and himself hadn't been getting along very well during the past two months, but Ash didn't have any other choice but to use it. He turned and looked at Pikachu, a pleading look in his eye.
"Please, Pikachu, help me.." Ash said. Pikachu saw the look on Ash's face, and stepped forward. It had a determined look, and Ash silently said thanks to the little electric rodent.
Pikachu knew Ash was going through a hard time, and it didn't mean to add to Ash's problems. It only stayed away from Ash because it knew that Ash needed to sort through his problems by himself, but Ash thought that Pikachu hated him. Pikachu looked at Ash sadly; it was too bad that he couldn't realize how much he really needed Misty.
Ash studied Lance's Gyrados, and called out to Pikachu, "Use Swift!" Pikachu nodded, and it sent out a flurry of tiny stars. Gyrados wasn't hurt very badly, but it broke its composure. "Agility!" Ash said. Pikachu started running quickly around its enemy, faster and faster. All of Ash's pokemon had increased their speed greatly. Misty and Brock, in fact, couldn't believe their eyes. This was the immature little kid who had been defeated the year before? The person in front of them was calm and very skilled at what he did. Gyrados was no threat anymore; Pikachu had already defeated it, pretty much. Gyrados finally collapsed to the ground before it could even use an attack. It was dizzy from trying to follow the blur that was Pikachu. Lance frowned in disapproval, and recalled it. He sent out his next pokemon, a Dragonair. Ash was surprised. He knew almost nothing about dragonairs, because of their rarity. He pulled out Dexter, and pointed it at the creature across from him.
"Dragonair," a fuzzy voice bleeped. "A rare dragon pokemon. Small colonies of this pokemon have been found in oceans, along with dratinis and dragonites. No other information." Ash groaned. Well, at least he knew it was a dragon type. That might be enough. Pikachu might not beat it, but on the other hand, maybe it could. It had gotten a lot stronger in the past couple of months. Ash stood up straighter and looked determinedly ahead at Lance. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Then his eyes flew open. He knew what he had to do.
"Pikachu! Thunder!" Ash called out, his voice echoing through the stadium. The entire stadium was silent, watching this young teenager with a quiet reverence.
~*~
Ash slumped to the ground in pain. Pikachu was being tossed around like salad. In all these months that he had started training alone, he and pikachu had become almost linked. Yes, they were linked. Is that why he felt this much pain? He didn't know that was what his pokemon had to go through when they battled. Pikachu had already defeated both dragonairs, fairly difficult to do, but he had done it without having to recall the small electric pokemon. Pikachu was now fighting Aerodactyl, Lance's last resort, and it was already exhausted. Ash looked up at Pikachu admiringly. If this was what it did, day in and day out, just for a human, then why did any pokemon even listen to human's orders? It just didn't make sense. Maybe it was because Ash had helped Pikachu when they had first met. But there were some trainers who beat their pokemon and still the pokemon listened to them. Like with Charmander. Damien hadn't exactly been a perfect trainer and still Charmander had been willing to sacrifice itself to keep a promise to Damien. Ash just didn't get it. *Authors note: But then he never got ANYTHING about love, right? ;) * Ash looked at Pikachu again. The little pokemon was crying out in pain, as it was slammed to the ground repeatedly. Ash bit his lip to keep from crying out as well. A pain shot through his limbs and he closed his eyes tightly. Funny, he just kept picturing Misty in his mind. He seemed to be able to gather strength from knowing that he still loved her… wait, what was that all about? He sighed and the truth slowly appeared before him. I... need her. . She had been as afraid as he was then. She fought with him because she couldn't admit it to herself… Ash groaned as he realized his mistake. The fury that had filled him all this time ebbed away, and he just hoped that Misty would forgive him. He knew what he had to do.
"Pikachu! Cloudstrike!" Ash called out the new attack they had invented. It was by far the most powerful that he knew about, but it was dangerous because Pikachu couldn't fully control it yet. It was an electric and a psychic move, and took as much energy from him as it did from Pikachu. A cloud surrounded pikachu, and electricity flowed around the cloud. The electricity swirled faster and faster, and then suddenly drained into Pikachu's tail. The cloud dissipated, and Aerodactyl relaxed its defenses, thinking it was over. At that moment the bolt of electricity shot out of Pikachu's tail and felled the opponent. Aerodactyl just lay on the ground, and the referee ran over and proclaimed Ash the winner. He smiled weakly, and then he collapsed to the ground.
"Are you all right?" the worried referee asked, standing over him. "Just… great…" Ash said, then jumped up and started dancing around. "Yahoo!! I'm the winner! I'm the winner!!" With that, everyone in the stadium facefaulted.
~*~
After accepting his trophy and skipping out of the congratulation party, Ash went looking for Misty. He looked everywhere for her, but couldn't find her anywhere. "Misty! MISTY!!" he called.
"I'm over here, now quiet before you embarrass yourself," her familiar voice said with annoyance. Ash turned around and located her sitting under "their" weeping willow. He cringed as he remembered what he had said. He walked over reluctantly, (afraid of her mallet) and sat down beside her.
"So.. I hear you won. Congratulations," she told him without much enthusiasm. Ash nodded. He folded his arms and looked away.
"Misty, I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I know I hurt you too and I didn't mean what I said.. I still love you." A deafening silence ensued. The minutes that followed seemed an eternity. He gulped and looked at his hands. I guess she won't forgive me, he thought. He was just about to get up and walk dejectedly away when she placed her hand on his. His eyes widened in shock and he looked upwards at her. She was smiling, with tears in her eyes.
"I forgive you," she said quietly. "If you'll forgive me."
Ash nodded. "A fresh start?" Misty smiled again and threw her arms around him. (Ash did that nervous-laughter-with-arm-behind-head thing we all adore so much.) Suddenly his eyes bugged out. "The party! I forgot. I don't have a date! WAAAA!!!" Misty glared at him and yelled, "WELL WHAT AM I, CHOPPED LIVER?" Ash quieted down and sweatdropped.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," he said sheepishly.
"Well, let's go, Casanova," Misty said exasperatedly and dragged him towards the party.
Anyway, please don't strangle me ^_^;;
~*~
Ash stood proudly tall as Lance entered the arena. He had defeated all his other competitors, not easily, but with less difficulty than last year. A.J. had been tough. Ash had told bulbasaur to lift itself off the ground with its vines, so when Sandslash came out it wouldn't be able to reach it. When Sandslash stood there, confused, Bulbasaur finished it off. A.J. lost quickly after that, because he hadn't bothered to train his other pokemon as well as he had Sandslash.
"I guess it was a good thing to train all that time in Mount Moon," Ash thought to himself. He stood at the green end of the stadium, and Lance took his place at the red end. Ash looked determinedly at his opponent, and Lance did the same. They stood staring at each other as the referee walked to the center of the stadium. His voice cried out,
"This is the battle that determines if green trainer Ash Ketchum will be a Pokemon Master. At the red end is his opponent, the head of the Elite Four, Lance. Six pokemon, no time limit."
Ash waited quietly. He saw Misty in the corner of his eye, standing in the first row, staring at him. He shifted and then heard the ring that meant the battle was underway. He reached to his belt and lifted off a pokeball. He waited until Lance had sent out his pokemon, a Gyrados. Then Ash stood quietly, choosing the pokemon to be sent out. Pikachu and himself hadn't been getting along very well during the past two months, but Ash didn't have any other choice but to use it. He turned and looked at Pikachu, a pleading look in his eye.
"Please, Pikachu, help me.." Ash said. Pikachu saw the look on Ash's face, and stepped forward. It had a determined look, and Ash silently said thanks to the little electric rodent.
Pikachu knew Ash was going through a hard time, and it didn't mean to add to Ash's problems. It only stayed away from Ash because it knew that Ash needed to sort through his problems by himself, but Ash thought that Pikachu hated him. Pikachu looked at Ash sadly; it was too bad that he couldn't realize how much he really needed Misty.
Ash studied Lance's Gyrados, and called out to Pikachu, "Use Swift!" Pikachu nodded, and it sent out a flurry of tiny stars. Gyrados wasn't hurt very badly, but it broke its composure. "Agility!" Ash said. Pikachu started running quickly around its enemy, faster and faster. All of Ash's pokemon had increased their speed greatly. Misty and Brock, in fact, couldn't believe their eyes. This was the immature little kid who had been defeated the year before? The person in front of them was calm and very skilled at what he did. Gyrados was no threat anymore; Pikachu had already defeated it, pretty much. Gyrados finally collapsed to the ground before it could even use an attack. It was dizzy from trying to follow the blur that was Pikachu. Lance frowned in disapproval, and recalled it. He sent out his next pokemon, a Dragonair. Ash was surprised. He knew almost nothing about dragonairs, because of their rarity. He pulled out Dexter, and pointed it at the creature across from him.
"Dragonair," a fuzzy voice bleeped. "A rare dragon pokemon. Small colonies of this pokemon have been found in oceans, along with dratinis and dragonites. No other information." Ash groaned. Well, at least he knew it was a dragon type. That might be enough. Pikachu might not beat it, but on the other hand, maybe it could. It had gotten a lot stronger in the past couple of months. Ash stood up straighter and looked determinedly ahead at Lance. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Then his eyes flew open. He knew what he had to do.
"Pikachu! Thunder!" Ash called out, his voice echoing through the stadium. The entire stadium was silent, watching this young teenager with a quiet reverence.
~*~
Ash slumped to the ground in pain. Pikachu was being tossed around like salad. In all these months that he had started training alone, he and pikachu had become almost linked. Yes, they were linked. Is that why he felt this much pain? He didn't know that was what his pokemon had to go through when they battled. Pikachu had already defeated both dragonairs, fairly difficult to do, but he had done it without having to recall the small electric pokemon. Pikachu was now fighting Aerodactyl, Lance's last resort, and it was already exhausted. Ash looked up at Pikachu admiringly. If this was what it did, day in and day out, just for a human, then why did any pokemon even listen to human's orders? It just didn't make sense. Maybe it was because Ash had helped Pikachu when they had first met. But there were some trainers who beat their pokemon and still the pokemon listened to them. Like with Charmander. Damien hadn't exactly been a perfect trainer and still Charmander had been willing to sacrifice itself to keep a promise to Damien. Ash just didn't get it. *Authors note: But then he never got ANYTHING about love, right? ;) * Ash looked at Pikachu again. The little pokemon was crying out in pain, as it was slammed to the ground repeatedly. Ash bit his lip to keep from crying out as well. A pain shot through his limbs and he closed his eyes tightly. Funny, he just kept picturing Misty in his mind. He seemed to be able to gather strength from knowing that he still loved her… wait, what was that all about? He sighed and the truth slowly appeared before him. I... need her. . She had been as afraid as he was then. She fought with him because she couldn't admit it to herself… Ash groaned as he realized his mistake. The fury that had filled him all this time ebbed away, and he just hoped that Misty would forgive him. He knew what he had to do.
"Pikachu! Cloudstrike!" Ash called out the new attack they had invented. It was by far the most powerful that he knew about, but it was dangerous because Pikachu couldn't fully control it yet. It was an electric and a psychic move, and took as much energy from him as it did from Pikachu. A cloud surrounded pikachu, and electricity flowed around the cloud. The electricity swirled faster and faster, and then suddenly drained into Pikachu's tail. The cloud dissipated, and Aerodactyl relaxed its defenses, thinking it was over. At that moment the bolt of electricity shot out of Pikachu's tail and felled the opponent. Aerodactyl just lay on the ground, and the referee ran over and proclaimed Ash the winner. He smiled weakly, and then he collapsed to the ground.
"Are you all right?" the worried referee asked, standing over him. "Just… great…" Ash said, then jumped up and started dancing around. "Yahoo!! I'm the winner! I'm the winner!!" With that, everyone in the stadium facefaulted.
~*~
After accepting his trophy and skipping out of the congratulation party, Ash went looking for Misty. He looked everywhere for her, but couldn't find her anywhere. "Misty! MISTY!!" he called.
"I'm over here, now quiet before you embarrass yourself," her familiar voice said with annoyance. Ash turned around and located her sitting under "their" weeping willow. He cringed as he remembered what he had said. He walked over reluctantly, (afraid of her mallet) and sat down beside her.
"So.. I hear you won. Congratulations," she told him without much enthusiasm. Ash nodded. He folded his arms and looked away.
"Misty, I'm sorry," he blurted out. "I know I hurt you too and I didn't mean what I said.. I still love you." A deafening silence ensued. The minutes that followed seemed an eternity. He gulped and looked at his hands. I guess she won't forgive me, he thought. He was just about to get up and walk dejectedly away when she placed her hand on his. His eyes widened in shock and he looked upwards at her. She was smiling, with tears in her eyes.
"I forgive you," she said quietly. "If you'll forgive me."
Ash nodded. "A fresh start?" Misty smiled again and threw her arms around him. (Ash did that nervous-laughter-with-arm-behind-head thing we all adore so much.) Suddenly his eyes bugged out. "The party! I forgot. I don't have a date! WAAAA!!!" Misty glared at him and yelled, "WELL WHAT AM I, CHOPPED LIVER?" Ash quieted down and sweatdropped.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," he said sheepishly.
"Well, let's go, Casanova," Misty said exasperatedly and dragged him towards the party.