In front of Ash, and surrounded by his pokemon stood two boys: the boy to the left stood just slightly taller than Ash, with dark green hair that spiked up, matching dark green eyes and small zig-zag like features under his eyes: His outfit consisted of a black/red short-sleeved t-shirt with a red turned up collar, dark blue shorts, red trainers and a black karate belt around his waist - on his back was a black and red bag-pack, but the most noticeable thing about the boy was the long whip in his right hand. In front of him stood a dark and sandy brown coloured pokemon with quills sticking out its back: A Sandslash!
Stood next to the whip wielding boy stood another boy, this one closer to Ash's height - though he was shorter by a few centimetres - with medium length spikey brown hair covered by with a dark blue and turquoise coloured hat: his outfit consisted of a turquoise open jacket that revealed a plain dark blue shirt, dark blue jeans and turquoise/ white sneakers - like the boy next to him, a pokemon stood in front of him, one Ash was all to familiar with: A Pikachu - although the Pikachu looked different to Ash's, having a tuff of its fur sticking out of its head.
"A.J? Richie?"
At the sound of the names, the two boys looked away from the pokemon surrounding them, looking to Ash, looks of surprise and happiness on their faces, "Ash?!" They ask simultaneously, the two pokemon in front of the boys stopping to look at their masters before following their gazes to Ash, both now sporting similar looks as the boys.
Looking at his pokemon, who were growling at the boys, Ash gave a short whistle to get their attention, "Stand down guys, these two aren't threats...yet?" Ash told them, looking to A.J and Richie pointedly, nodding to his pokemon as they held their hands up to show him they meant know harm: Pikachu and Sandslash following suit, changing from their fighting position and stepping back.
Ash's pokemon relaxed slightly as the two new humans, and their pokemon stepped back, dispersing back to their previous activities - making sure to not wonder to far away, as they were still wary of the two strangers, but trusted Ash's judgment.
As the two sighed in relief, they looked to Ash as he asked them, "Why are you here?"
- 10 Minutes later -
The three boys were all sat by the small pond of water: Ash looked from A.J to Richie, waiting for one of them to start talking. Coughing slightly, making Ash look at him, Richie smiled slightly and began to explain, "Me and AJ were just passing through the area, when Sparky stopped and ran off. I got worried when he didn't come back, so I ran after him, and A.J followed. We found him sniffing a bush on the side of the path, so I move it out the way to see if their was anything underneath it - and their was - a slop of some kind..." Richie stopped, indicating to the slop behind the group. Ash nodded slowly in understanding, moving to look at A.J who decided to continue the story, "We got curious, so I sent Sandslash, and Richie sent Pikachu down to investigate the area" A.J explained, gesturing to the two mentioned pokemon who were sat next to them, "It was quiet at first but then we heard a loud cry - like the sound a group of angry pokemon make - so we quickly followed down the slope to find a punch of pokemon surrounding Sandslash and Pikachu"
Resting a hand on Sandslash's head and rubbing it gently, A.j continued, "We got ready to fight them, then you appeared and calmed them all down...and now, here we are..." Ash listened carefully to the boys, watching their eyes and body language carefully for any hint of lies: but found none. A.J and Richie fidgeted nervously under Ash's gaze, growing worried when Ash stayed quiet after their explanation.
Looking down at his lap, where Pikachu was sat, listening to the explanation in a similar way to Ash - The two shared a look, nodding before looking up at the nervous duo, "Okay, I believe you, now please leave" Ash's cold reply made the two boys look at him, shock on their faces.
Ignoring their looks, Ash watched as Pikachu jumped off his lap and walked back over to the other pokemon who were still training: Standing up, Ash turned from the boys, starting to make his way back over to Steelix who had been watching closely the entire time.
Whilst Richie stared at Ah's retreating form in disbelief and shock, A.J shot to his feet, following Ash quickly and grabbing his arm to stop him, an angry look on his face, "Leave?! What the hell Ash?! We haven't see you in years, and this is how you-...Uh...Ash?" A.J started, growing concerned when Ash's body went stiff, his anger being replaced with fear as Ash turned and grabbed his hand, a cold look in his face, "Do. Not. Touch. Me" Ash warned, throwing A.J's hand of him.
Richie snapped out of his shock at Ash's words, scrambling to his feet and running to A.J side, "Were not like the others! We didn't betray you!" Richie shouted, making Ash' gaze warm up a little, but still held a small amount of coldness.
"Why should I believe you?" Ash asked warily, unsure whether to trust their words,"Because we weren't their when they turned on you!" The two replied in desperation, making Ash stop and think.
"They weren't their? That is true, they weren't...hmmm...maybe their being honest..." Ash thought to himself, looking at the duo in front of him, noticing the desperate, but honest looks on their faces.
Sighing, Ash closed his eyes, taking his hat off and running a hand through his hair, "Alright I believe you...Sorry about how I was, just...its hard to trust people anymore..." Ash apologised, sighing again and placing his hat back on his head.
The two sighed in relief, watching as Ash walked forwards, stopping in front of Richie first and holding his hand up for a bro hug, to which Richie eagerly returned, the two patting each other on their backs, "Its alright Ash, its good to see you again" Richie told the boy, pulling back and smiling as Ash gave A.J the same bro hug.
- Later that evening -
Richie and A.J looked at Ash as the three sat around a small fire: Deciding to break the silence, A.J coughed, making Ash look away from the small flames and to him, "So Ash...What happened that day?" the green haired boy asked hesitantly, biting his lip hen he sore Ash tense up at his question, "Y-you don't have to tell us if you don't wan-"
"I was on my home" Ash interrupted, casting his gaze back to the fire, gently stroking Pikachu's back, who had fallen asleep in his lap, "I'd just finished the league in Unova, I managed to get to the Top 8, not my best but not terrible, I was happy with how I had done," Ash started, a half smile on his face as he though back to the league, which quickly faded as he continued talking, A.J and Richie leaning forwards, listening intently, Everything seemed normal at first: I got off the ship, raced Pikachu home...and lost..." his last remark made the duo in front of him chuckle lightly, even bring a small smile to Ash's face, "When we got home, mom greeted me with a big hug, but something seemed off: she didn't ask me about Unova, and she didn't mention how I had done in the league...I didn't think much off it, but that all changed when she took me to the living room"
"Their sat everyone I had travelled with: Brock, Misty, Tracy, May and Max, Dawn...even Cilan and Iris, who I though were back in Unova" Ash continued, his voice growing colder and colder as he listed off the names, "But not just them, some of my old rivals were their...Trip and Paul...even Gary was their: I thought they were all their to congratulate me on my placement, maybe tell me about the next region I could explore"
"I was wrong. So dam wrong. They all started shouting at me, telling me I was a failure of a trainer, that I would never be a pokemon master because I was a stupid kid who didn't train his pokemon properly...one of them, Iris, told me my pokemon didn't believe in me either"
Shaking his head in anger, Ash continued, explaining how he went to see if it was true, only to find that most of his pokemon had sided with the others, "Luckily, some of my pokemon stood by me...so I took them all and left to train"
As Ash finished his story, A.J and Richie sat back, a rush of different emotions running through the two: Disbelief, Anger, Disappointment, Sympathy. As the two opened their mouths to comfort their friend, a rustling caused Ash's head to shoot up, his eyes flashing as he moved Pikachu off his lap, standing with a poke'ball in his hand, "Show yourself" Ash commanded calmly, watching as the rustling continued.
A few seconds passed before a girl appeared: she was young - 12 at the most - with long brown hair. "Who are you?" Ash asked, watching as the girl slowly stepped out of the bushes, "She's shaking...maybe she's cold..." Ash though, watching as the girl shook, her jeans and t-shirt clearly not providing the girl with any warmth.
"I don't know who you are or how you got here...but your going to freeze if you don't get warm soon, come sit by the fire" Ash spoke gently to the girl, making A.J and Richie look at each other in confusion at the change in Ash's attitude. The unnamed girl shook as Ash invited her to the fire, her eyes darting between Ash, A.J and Richie.
With hesitation, she slowly walked towards Ash, stopping a few steps away from him, a look of hesitation and distrust on her face. Ash frowned a little, sensing the girls distrust and apprehensive feelings toward him and the others: thinking, Ash pulled his jumper off, revealing his tight long-sleeved shirt and held the shirt out to the girl "Take it. I can tell you don't trust us, I respect that. But I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try and help someone freezing"
Ash made a mental note to try and talk to the girl as she looked at his outstretched jumper, taking it slowly and pulling it on. Nodding, Ash looked back at Ritchie and A.J who had watched the whole exchange with curiosity, "You guys get some sleep" The two opened their mouths to argue but quickly closed them when Ash gave them a pointed look, just nodding and reaching into their respective bags and pulling out their sleeping bags.
Looking back at the girl, Ash noticed she didn't have a bag with her. Deciding not to ask, Ash shifted his bag off his shoulders and reached inside, making the girl step back in fear, "Don't be scared, I noticed you don't have a bag on you, so I'm getting my old sleeping bag to sleep in, I don't use it anymore" Ash reassured her, pulling out said item and handing it to her, watching as he face changed from fear to surprise once again.
Turning slightly, Ash looked around before walking over to a large boulder, sitting down and leanring against it: tilting his hat down and stretching his legs out, Ash began drifting to sleep - As he fell asleep he could have swore he heard a female voice talk to him, "My name is Madison..."
The character of Madison belongs to emikat1234, Thanks for the awesome OC!
