Ash begins his servant initiation the next day. He does some work in the Battle Tower and hangs out with Anabel afterwards. They will be having some mild fun together, just so you know.
So now, please enjoy…
"It is 7:00 am, Ash," Anabel said cheerfully. "Wakey, wakey, future Pokémon Master!"
"Five more minutes, Anabel," Ash yawned. "Do I have to start so early?" Anabel looked at him skeptically.
"You are really lucky you're cute," Anabel groaned. "But once your five minutes are up, you have to get to work at the Battle Tower! Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," Ash said lazily. Ash's stomach made a sudden loud growl. "Oh, boy…" Anabel giggled softly after hearing Ash's hungry belly.
"Don't worry about that," Anabel assured him. "I've already made breakfast. I also made some food for Pikachu and the other Pokémon. They're already eating downstairs. I'll wait for you downstairs, Ash." Anabel winked at Ash while he went back to sleep. Anabel left the room, allowing Ash to get his extra five minutes of sleep. Anabel walked downstairs while thinking about last night. The events were still fresh in her mind.
Silly Ash, Anabel thought. He finally realizes his feelings for me after reading the feelings in my heart. I guess they were left dormant in his heart after all this time, secretly becoming stronger as Ash became a stronger Trainer. That was just the trigger while my confession was the fuel for his desires. Last night sure was a unique way for becoming a couple. But I'm now determined to make Ash's love for me as stronger as my love for him. Anabel blushed a little bit and made a grin similar to one of Ash's own grins.
Anabel went to the kitchen to see her and Ash's Pokémon eating special Pokémon food from their bowls. She sat down near the table where the breakfast she made breakfast for herself and Ash, waiting for the latter to bring his person down to the kitchen. She enjoyed watching the Pokémon peacefully eating away their food. Most of them had finished within a minute or two after Anabel entered and went outside to play, leaving her alone. Anabel then heard Ash coming downstairs, already dressed in his Sinnoh attire. However, his hat was off because he was inside a building, more specifically Anabel's home.
"So I'm guessing the Pokémon are having fun now, huh?" Ash asked, noticing the Pokémon's absence from the empty food bowls.
"That's right," Anabel nodded. "So are you ready to eat now?" Ash's stomach growled again, louder than before.
"You bet!" Ash exclaimed. On the table were a fresh stack of buttered pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup. There was also a large pitcher full of fresh-squeezed orange juice. "Wow! You've outdone yourself, Anabel!" Anabel did not say anything but just smiled. Ash was already stuffing his face full of syrup-covered pancakes.
"What an appetite," Anabel remarked. She decided to join in the meal before Ash finishes the entire stack. After taking a few bites out of her pancake, she desired to start some light conversation with Ash.
"Hey, Ash?" Anabel asked, trying to get his attention. Ash heard her and swallowed what was left of his pancakes down his throat.
"What's up, Anabel?" he responded. Ash filled his glass with some orange juice and started to gulp it all down.
"Do you remember last night?" Anabel said softly. Upon hearing this, Ash nearly choked on his orange juice and coughed it out. Anabel got up and ran to his side. "Are you okay?!" Ash was slowly panting from his little mishap. Anabel went back to her seat after Ash had stopped coughing.
"Why bring that up?" Ash asked, still coughing a little. "I thought everything was cleared up. I thought that you wanted me to be able to read your heart and know your feelings."
"Well, that's just it," Anabel said, sounding not as satisfied as presumed. "Even though you learned how to read my heart from your journey in Sinnoh, you still don't understand what these kinds of feelings truly mean to me. You even have them yourself, but have no way of understanding in how to react to them."
"Anabel, I told you already that I'm new to this kind of love," Ash said calmly. "I have love for my Pokémon and for the friends that helped me throughout my journey. But your kind of love just threw me off guard, even getting me to say some words I did not even feel for like 'I lo—.'"
"I think I got it," Anabel interrupted, not wanting to hear that phrase until he truly meant it. In due time, she believed that he will come to terms. "If you truly meant what you said before, then I'll be there to help you. After all, I love you with my whole heart and soul and I promised myself that I'd stay by your side forever when I meet up you again."
"Thanks, Anabel," Ash said kindly. After they finished breakfast, Anabel washed the plates and Ash volunteered to place them in the cabinets for her. With all their morning business done, Ash went to the Battle Tower for his work. Anabel decided to take a walk in the forest. Their Pokémon were in the forest playing with other wild Pokémon, though Ash's Infernape made sure that it wouldn't start a forest fire.
"Let's see, Anabel wanted me to do some stuff in the Battle Tower," Ash muttered, placing his hand under his chin. "But what was it?" As Ash was trying to remember the tasks Anabel told him to do, the Battle Tower came into view. "Whoa! The Battle Tower in its glory; what a sight to see! Man, I still remember the time I battled Anabel for the Ability Symbol. This thing is almost as tall as a skyscraper."
The majestic Battle Tower was as tall and opposing as ever, reaching up to the sky with its height. Ash went inside. The main floor of the Battle Tower was a simple lobby, just as he remembered. There were flat cushy chairs and stools, a counter, a janitor sweeping the floor, and a lady behind the counter.
"Oh yeah, the Battle Tower did require a staff of people to operate it," Ash said, recalling his previous trip to the Tower with May, Max, and Brock.
"How may I help you today, young man?" the lady behind the counter asked; a friendly smile on her face was present.
"See, I was supposed to serve Anabel for my initiation," Ash explained.
"Right, so you must be Ash Ketchum," the lady said. "Miss Anabel called us this morning that she would be sending someone over for some work. Here's the list she wanted you to do, just in case you forgot." The lady handed Ash a computer-printed paper that said "Things for Ash to do!" as the bolded and italicized title.
"So are you ready to fulfill your duties for the day, Mr. Ketchum?" the lady asked. Ash nodded. "Miss Anabel's told us many great things about you. I wish you luck in your work! The elevator and floor director are over there." She pointed to her right, indicating the silver elevator currently on their level. "Oh, and just so you know, the staff here, including me, also happen to be Pokémon Trainers and Coordinators so the Battle Tower is never without any action, even at its dullest moment."
"Thanks," Ash said politely. He walked over to the elevator and floor directory. One good look at the directory was a big shock for the Pallet Town Trainer. "One hundred floors?! Man, I don't know where to start! Let's see here…" Ash read the floor directory.
"The Battle Tower Floor Directory!
"Main 1st Floor: Lobby
"2nd Floor: Challenge for the Ability Symbol
"Floors 3 - 20: Pokémon Training Fields (One for each type)
"Floors 21 - 30: Pokémon Single Battlefields
"Floors 31 - 40: Pokémon Double Battlefields
"Floors 41 - 50: Pokémon Tag Battlefields
"Floors 51 - 60: Pokémon Contest Battlefields
"Floor 61: Cafeteria for both Humans and Pokémon
"Floors 62 - 70: Pokémon Resting Floors
"Floors 71 - 75: Pokémon Trainer Gatherings
"Floors 76 - 80: Pokémon Coordinator Gatherings
"Floors 81 - 98: Pokémon Playrooms (One for each type)
"Floor 99: Board of Directors' Office
"100th Floor: Salon Maiden Anabel's Office
"Whoa," Ash gasped. "The Battle Tower sure is something else. I had no idea so many Trainers and Coordinators visit this place. Anabel even has her own floor near the top of the Battle Tower. I gotta check this out!"
Ash pressed the Up Arrow button and the elevator door opened. He went inside and pressed the 100th Floor button to have the elevator take him up. The elevator music being played was a soft melody of "Lugia's Song" from Shamouti Island. Ash hummed along with the tune and momentarily thought about his journey in the Orange Islands with Misty, a red-haired, tomboyish girl he knew since the beginning of his journey, and Tracey Sketchit, a Pokémon Watcher currently working for Professor Oak. Along the way, some staff workers came to his elevator and went off at their upcoming floor.
Can Scott and Anabel even pay all these people? Ash thought, amazed from seeing so many workers pop in and out of the elevator. After five minutes had passed in the elevator, Ash arrived at the one hundredth floor.
"Took you long enough," Ash groaned at the elevator. He looked around the room he was. Anabel's office was huge. The office was decorated with violet-colored knickknacks; the walls were lavender-shaded and even the carpeting was purple. "Man, this girl is way into the color purple. I guess if I ever decide to get a gift for her, it should be purple and wrapped in purple wrapping paper." There was another janitor with a cleaning cart wiping Anabel's big desk. He looked pretty old and gruff.
"Hello, sir," Ash greeted. The janitor merely glanced at him, grunting while resuming his work.
"Oh my, even a young man visits this floor more than Miss Anabel herself," the old janitor muttered. Ash overheard his comment.
"Why?" Ash asked. "Why does Anabel visit this floor less than me?" The janitor glanced at Ash again before responding.
"You see, young man, Anabel is not one who would want to work in a corporate office, much less an office in the Battle Tower," the janitor explained. "After all, she is still a kid. However, Miss Anabel does come up here sometimes to do some stuff when she's not playing in the forest, fighting a challenger of the Battle Frontier, or hanging out in her house."
"That sounds like Anabel all right," Ash concluded.
"What are you doing up here anyway, young man?" the janitor asked suspiciously.
"I just want to look around Anabel's office if it's alright, sir," Ash said nervously. The janitor breathed heavily; he was still wary of the boy's motives for coming all this way up to the hundredth floor of the Battle Tower.
"Fine," he said calmly. "But don't break anything!"
"Got it," Ash said quickly. The janitor nodded then pushed his cleaning cart into the elevator and went down once the elevator doors had closed. Ash wanted to start exploring at Anabel's big desk. The top part of the desk was violet, but the bottom section was a swirling mixture of black and white.
"Pidgeo! Pidgeo!" the shrill cries of a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto echoed outside. Ash briefly saw the passing flock from the large glass window that separated him from the outside.
I wonder what kinds of things that Anabel would store in her big desk, Ash thought. Curiosity got the better of him as it had always done before in his entire life. Ash opened the first drawer he saw on the right side.
He found in the drawer a magazine picture of himself with the League Champion and Mr. Goodshow at the Sinnoh League award ceremony, having won second place in the final victory tournament. There was also a side note about Paul having won third place, but he did not show up. Ash noticed a red kiss mark on top of Ash in the picture. Judging the small size of the kiss mark, Ash instantly figured whose lips touched his figure in the picture with Slugma Red #2 semi-gloss lipstick. Ash's mouth was agape at the thought of who had done it.
"… Anabel, you amaze me yet again," he whispered.
Ash was once again left speechless by Anabel's admiration for him. Ash was then more determined than ever to return Anabel's love, how ever the cost may be. He made sure, though, that it would not involve him renouncing his Pokémon Trainer career. He placed the kissed picture of himself back into the drawer from where he found it and started his work.
The majority of the tasks of the list consisted of helping several workers improve their skills in Pokémon battling, both in regular and in Contest battles. Ash found no problems in helping workers with their battling styles in different battlefields. As for helping the Coordinators, Ash used his many experiences of watching May, Dawn, Drew, Zoey, Kenny, Solidad, Nando, and even Harley and Jessilina, who he never really knew was Jessie of Team Rocket in a not-so-clever disguise, competing in contests. He also added input of his own of Contest appeals and battles, having competed in the Terracotta Contest, Jubilife Contest, and the Wallace Cup. Ash managed to finish all of his assigned tasks before lunchtime. He decided to try out the food in the Cafeteria on sixty-first floor. As always, he ate to his heart's content.
"Ah, that was good," Ash said, patting his full belly. "I wonder how Anabel's doing right now." At first, Ash wanted to stay in the Battle Tower and train, but remembered that all his Pokémon, including Pikachu, were playing in the forest. He went to the main floor and left the Battle Tower for the day.
Ash walked to Anabel's house, watching more flocks of Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Sinnoh's Chatot flying in different directions. When Anabel's house came into sight, he saw all his Pokémon taking a nap in front of the house. Pikachu was asleep on top of Grotle, Staraptor was perched on the roof, and Infernape and Floatzel were hugging each other in their sleep. Ash quietly laughed at the sight of this, making sure they wouldn't wake up. Ash slowly opened the front door without waking any of his Pokémon.
"Anabel, you home?" Ash asked, peaking his head inside.
Inside the house, Ash saw Anabel taking her black dress shoes and long white socks off, her cute size six feet. Ash noticed that her toenails were painted a light shade of violet.
"Hi, Ash," Anabel said, seeing Ash come in. "How was first day of work?"
"Nothing that I can't handle," Ash said proudly. "It was kinda fun actually. Who knew there were so many Trainers and Coordinators in need of help?"
"I know what you mean," Anabel said. "Almost everyday, my workers would ask me on how to raise their Pokémon and stuff." Anabel lied down on a nearby couch and propped her feet up on an arm.
"Having to help other Trainers and Coordinators everyday, huh?" Ash repeated. "I guess that's one thing a Frontier Brain has to handle. Scott's right about making this my initiation. Hmm… Anabel, did you have to do the same initiation when you joined the Frontier Brains?"
"Yes, I did," Anabel said. "I chose to be with Greta, who was a year older than me in both age and membership. Boy, did I have the time of my life. Greta wanted to teach me martial arts because she thought I was frail and weak despite my having powerful Psychic-type Pokémon having the advantage over her Fighting-types. After one session of martial arts training with her, I couldn't feel or move my body for three weeks!"
"That must have been a lot of fun," Ash said. Anabel laughed from the remark. She looked up at the ceiling. She wanted to bond with Ash some more, hopefully to help him express their small love better.
"Hey, Ash! Can you do me a big favor?" she asked.
"Sure," Ash said, sounding eager. "What's the favor?" A playful smile formed on Anabel's face, thinking that Ash might be willing to do this task of hers.
"Can you please massage my feet?" Anabel pleaded. There was a long pause in the room as Ash looked at Anabel with a bewildered look on his face.
"What kind of weird favor is that?!" Ash exclaimed.
"Come on, Ash," Anabel begged again. "My feet are really sore from walking in the forest this morning. I don't think I can walk another step without my feet aching in every step! Won't you please massage them?" Anabel made her violet eyes shimmer as innocently as possible and clasped her hands together. For some reason, Ash just could not say "no" to her face. It was strangely too cute and annoying for him to resist.
"Okay! Fine…," Ash groaned grudgingly. He knew that this was something he would normally never do, but Anabel's happiness did mean a lot to him. So Ash pulled up a chair near Anabel's feet and sat down in front of them. He started massaging her right foot.
"Oh Ash, that feels so nice," Anabel moaned. "Don't forget to go in between the toes!" Ash growled quietly while he continued to massage her feet. He noticed how soft and silky Anabel's feet were. Her feet were small and dainty. The violet nail polish brought out more beauty for her feet.
"They're so soft and cute," Ash commented. He was actually starting to enjoy massaging Anabel's soft, creamy feet, enjoying the soft sensation on his hands. He then heard light snoring coming from somewhere. It was not the Pokémon outside since their snores cannot be heard from inside the house. It was coming from Anabel.
"Wow, the massage must've been really effective on her since she just fell asleep without warning," Ash commented. "I guess she really needed this." Ash decided to stay massaging her feet for the heck of it. However, without a moment's notice, Ash's curiosity got control of him again. It had always caused him trouble in the past, but Ash didn't really care as long as he got a kick out of it.
I wonder what Anabel's feet smell like, Ash thought; his curiosity urged him to go on. He knew that he would never even think of doing such a bizarre action, but something within him prodded him to move on forward. He slowly placed his nose on her heels and started sniffing as he went up her arches, soles, and even between her toes. He then reeled his nose away as quickly as possible without waking Anabel. Whoa… Her feet smell a lot like lavender and a little hint of sweat. No doubt from her walk in the forest. But man, she is definitely overusing every violet-related product. She even uses lavender-scented lotion, which is purple by nature! What's next?! She has got to control her obsession of purple-related stuff.
Anabel slowly woke up after a few minutes after Ash stopped massaging her feet, wiggling her toes along the way. Ash was still feeling wound up about Anabel's obsession over anything related to purple, and seeing her purple toenails wiggle in front of him did not exactly calm his mind. Anabel saw an annoyed look on Ash's face.
"Ash, what's wrong?" Anabel asked, concerned about Ash's irritated look. "Was massaging my feet really that bad?"
"What's wrong is that you are totally overusing anything purple," Ash said. Anabel had a confused look on her face. "I mean look at this!" Ash held her right foot in the air as an example. "Purple polish and lavender lotion?!"
"Violet's my favorite color," Anabel answered, sounding scared. "And lavender lotion prevents my cute feet form becoming dry. But how did you know I use lavender lotion on my feet?"
"The smell just went up my nose," Ash lied. Anabel was convinced. "But that's not important right now. The point is that you got to ease up on purple!"
"What are you going to do about it?" Anabel questioned timidly. Ash did not want to resort to anything extreme with her, still not entirely familiar with the way she worked/
"Well, you're now going to have a purple-colored face," Ash said, stating the first thought that came out of his head. Ash restrained both of Anabel's legs in his arm. He started to tickle her soft and ticklish feet.
"Wait, Ash, DON'T— Ahahahaha!" Anabel laughed, unable to reason with Ash. Ash dragged his fingers up and down and everywhere on Anabel's soles. Anabel was thrashing wildly, her short violet hair becoming messed up. She had a difficult time breathing as her laughter echoed throughout the house. Lucky for Ash, the walls of Anabel's house were soundproof. Otherwise, the Pokémon outside would have barged in with all the commotion.
With soft feet like Anabel's, no wonder she immediately lost all control of her senses, Ash thought, still tickling her feet. I think she's suffered enough. Her face is even actually turning purple from lack of air. I didn't mean for this to happen.
Feeling merciful, Ash stopped his tickling onslaught on Anabel's feet and allowed her to breathe. Anabel was slowly catching her breath. As soon as she recovered from the tickle attack, she sat up and flicked Ash on the forehead.
"Ow! What was that for?" Ash asked, rubbing his flicked forehead.
"That was a warning for the next time you try thinking about scolding me about my favorite color and tickling my feet," Anabel said, strangely with a smile on her face. "But the tickling was actually refreshing. So, I'll let you off the hook this time. I am your superior." She got up and putted on her socks and shoes.
"That's it, huh?" Ash asked, thinking that she would have done more about the sudden tickling. He still wondered why she had brushed it off as nothing serious. He learned that she did not like being tickled, especially on her feet. Why did she make this exception for him?
"I'll be outside if you need me," Anabel said kindly. She went outside to tend to Ash's Pokémon.
"I am going to have two whole months of fun with Anabel," Ash said to himself, thinking about his first day as a servant. "I hope all of this labor will bring me to stardom!"
Probably didn't expect that kind of fun, huh? Anyway, there will be more stuff between Ash and Anabel in the next few chapters, which will hopefully not as disturbing as this chapter. And stuff mentioned in previous chapters will eventually be elaborated on.
If you will please review, it will much be appreciated. I want to know what your thoughts concerning this chapter are.
Ciao!
