(A/N): Can't think of anything to say...

And for those of you who asked, I made Ash a five year old because it was the first thing that came to mind...I guess the idea came from that Teen Titans episode, but I didn't really see the connection until I actually saw the episode a few days later...

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon...(yawn)

A Whisper in the Wind

Chapter 9

The rain had stopped. It was bright and sunny, and quite cheerful. The green grass sparkled with raindrops, and the trees were rustling quietly in the gentle breeze. Pokemon twittered happily as they fluttered, romped, or ran about. Chattering and happy squeals could be heard far and wide. The sky was a bright blue, and puffy white clouds danced across it, revealing a bright golden sun. It was a peaceful place.

Or it would have been if it wasn't under siege by an ultra-powerful demon lord that had gained the body of one of the most powerful beings in existence.

Instead, the sky was a dreary gray, but no one would have seen it due to the pitch black storm clouds that raced across the field. Occasionally, the clouds would part, but only for the briefest second to reveal a blood red sun. They sparked with vicious red lightning that jumped from cloud to cloud, occasionally tripping and falling down to earth, blowing up some poor tree in the process. Of course, it wasn't like the trees were alive, they were scorched black and completely leafless, it was as if a forest fire had ravaged the land. The grass, if there was any, was shriveled and wispy, it crumbled at the slightest touch. All the Pokemon were hiding timidly behind bushes, that is, if you call a bunch of twigs sticking out of the ground bushes.

It was if that rainstorm served to spread more of Shingara's power. Ash's normal sparkle seemed to have faded as he gazed at his surroundings, his form seemed to wilt just like the plants around him. Misty felt the same way, this place was just too depressing.

"Misty, all the happiness is gone. What happened to it?" he asked as he kicked a rock.

"Shingara did this. He's made everything evil and heartless." Ash pondered this for a minute, then he looked up at her with smiling eyes.

"Now we're really gonna kick his butt."

Misty smiled back at the little boy, it was just too cute to stay upset. "He won't know what hit him."

Misty and the five-year-old Ash were heading towards the lake, where they had last seen their friends. They gazed on the dreary landscape, it just seemed to be more and more depressing the more they looked at it. To try and keep his spirits up, she told him stories about his journey, all the people he met and friends he made, and all the Pokemon he had caught. Ash listened attentively, and would sometimes look up at her whenever things got interesting. Misty would giggle at that, it was just too cute, especially when his eyes shimmered at the mention of one of his 'Poke-pals', as he called them.

As they reached a clearing, Misty heard some familiar voices and smiled.

"Ash, it's our friends." Ash looked up at her with a wide-eyed expression, filled with curiosity and a little bit of fear.

"You mean Brock and May and Max and the others that you told me about?"

"Yup." They both walked out of the clearing, and the others looked up at the sound of bushes rustling.

"Misty, you're back!" everybody cried in relief, some more so than others. Several injured Pokemon were also in the field, being treated for injuries.

"What happened?" asked Pikachu, who had been worried sick after he saw her get swallowed by the waves. "And…why do I sense someone else familiar?"

Misty's grin grew even wider. "You won't believe who I found!" She looked down, only to see no one next to her. She looked around and found Ash hiding behind her, looking up at her in worry. "Don't worry, you can come out, they're our best friends."

Ash peeked out from behind her and saw everyone gasp in shock, at a loss for words. Pikachu slowly crept closer, not believing his eyes.

"A-Ash?" he whispered in a voice that could barely be heard. Ash simply shrank away a little bit, before looking up at Misty.

"Ash, this is your Pikachu, he's your first Pokemon and best friend." After hearing that, he focused his attention on the golden rodent, before tentatively reaching out a hand to pet it. Pikachu didn't move at all, he just watched the small hand come closer and closer, twitching back occasionally, before resting it on his head and caressing it. Pikachu let out a small "chaa" to let Ash know he appreciated it, which made Ash relax a bit more and scoop up the rodent, hugging it tightly.

Everyone rejoiced at this, and they all gathered around the five-year-old Ash, who was now as happy as he could be.

"So…you're my mom," Ash said, pointing at Delia. "you used to be my rival before you became a researcher,"-he shifted his finger to point at Gary-"you were the second traveling friend I made and you wanted to be a breeder,"-Brock- "you were a coordinator," -May- "you just hung around since you weren't old enough to be a trainer,"- Max- "and you were one of the Gym Leaders I battled?"-his finger stopped at Rudy.

"YES!" everyone cried back in exasperation and relief, it had taken little Ash nearly an hour to set all the roles straight. For some reason, Misty's role was the only one he got right.

"Er…okay…so, um…what kind of Gym do you have, um…" Ash stared at Rudy, trying to remember his name. "Um…Gary?"

Rudy fell over in exasperation. "It's Rudy…" he whined. Everybody else sighed.

"This is getting us nowhere," groaned May. "And I thought Ash was dense before…"

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Misty, snapping her fingers. "The carvings! Ash made carvings of every single person he met on his journey, right?"

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did, and they were some of the best I've ever seen!" replied Brock.

"Really, um…Max?"

Brock groaned.

"Here we are, dears," Delia said, opening the closet door. Little Ash walked through the corridor, looking at all the statues of people and Pokemon, before picking one up.

"Hey…isn't this…Macey? Didn't I battle her in the Johto League Championships?" asked Ash, fingering the statue.

"Yep," replied Brock, who noticed Misty clenching a fist rather tightly…

"Yeah, I remember now! She was creepy." Ash shuddered before putting back the statue. "And…hey! Isn't that…"

It went on like that for a while, Ash had gone through almost all of the statues. Picking up a statue of a woman in a lab coat, he stared at it for a few seconds.

"Isn't she…"

"No! Don't say it!" screamed Brock.

"…Professor Ivy?"

"Agh, no, not that name…" Brock mumbled as he curled up on the floor.

"What's up with him?" Ash asked confusedly.

"Eh, we never really found out," replied Misty. "What I would like to know is how these statues restored your memory…"

"Misty, Ash put his heart and soul into making those statues, because these memories were precious to him. There's a little bit of him in all of these pieces of wood," answered Delia.

"So…I'm in all these statues, Mom?" questioned little Ash.

"Something like that, dearie."

"Guys, we still need to kick that Shingara guy's butt!" yelled little Ash, who, along with Pikachu, was a good distance away from the rest of them. Everybody else was tired, they couldn't keep up with the energetic five-year-old.

"Come ooooonnnn!" whined the boy, who was jumping up and down on the spot trying to get their attention. Pikachu, who was sitting on his shoulder, was starting to turn green, he could feel his stomach turning over. Damn, riding on this kid's shoulder is like getting on a rollercoaster.

"Don't pant worry, Ash, (gasp) we'll be (wheeze) right there!" replied Misty. The more time I hang out with him, the less he seems like a cute little kid, and more like his bratty old self…

"You mean like the Ash you used to love?" A cheeky voice rang through her head, it sounded oddly familiar…

"…Shut up, Pikachu."

Pikachu grinned slyly, he just loved messing with their heads.

"How can (gasp) one kid have (wheeze) so much energy?" coughed Rudy.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," replied Delia, who, surprisingly, wasn't as tired as the rest, she was standing upright, unlike the others, and was able to speak without wheezing. "Just wait until he gets excited. I haven't had a good chase like this since he left on his journey." Everybody sweatdropped, and sighed in exasperation.

This was going to be a long run.

Everybody had arrived at the lake(after much whining by Ash), and they were appalled at what it had become. The once crystal-clear blue water was now a searing red, bubbling and frothing silently among the scorched land. The water Pokemon that were unable to escape it's wrath were constantly crying in fear as they all huddled together for comfort. Little Ash crept closer to the lake, his face full of shock and fright, he never thought that Shingara guy could do all this. He saw something black and shriveled in the water, when he brought his face closer to it, he saw that it was a lotus, once a pure white, now decayed and robbed of its beauty. He reached out a hand to touch it, as soon as his small fingers brushed against the black petals, it crumbled before his very eyes. Tears began to well up in the young child's brown eyes, and he clutched the person next to him and began to sob into their legs, who just happened to be Misty. She knelt down and took the saddened child into her arms and let him cry into her shoulder while looking around at the changed landscape. Everyone else looked on in sorrow and pity before looking around as well.

"M-Misty, I-I just w-want it t-to stop…" the little child whimpered, his voice was choked up. Misty just hugged him tighter as she let a tear escape her aquamarine eyes.

"You know, you people are really starting to become a nuisance," a dark voice rang out through the clearing. Everybody looked up to see a winged figure up in the dark clouds.

"Shingara…" Misty muttered in anger and disgust. When he heard that name, Ash followed Misty's gaze and saw the figure, causing him to shudder in fright. It looked a lot bigger and meaner than what Misty had said about it.

"Ash, you stay back there, behind those bushes," Misty murmured to the child, who was still shaking in her arms.

"W-what? Why?"

"Ash, we don't want Shingara to find out about you yet. We need to weaken him down a bit first, before we can try to find a way to get the rest of you out of him."

"But, but-"

"No buts! Get behind there!" Ash whimpered silently and listened to her, still feeling a bit unsure about what he was doing.

Ash was still hiding behind the bushes, heck, he wouldn't even call them bushes if he had a say in things. He wanted desperately to help his friends, but he was still frightened of the demon, and anyways, he couldn't do anything to help, he was just a little boy. Looking around the field, he saw the deep gorges and blasted vegetation, making the whole field look like a wasteland. It hurt him a lot to see all this.

And it hurt him even more to see all the people and Pokemon that were scared and injured. They all felt so hopeless, and yet, they kept on fighting, because it was all they could do.

And he couldn't do anything to help them…

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he saw Misty get thrown to the ground painfully by an attack…and she didn't get up.

"Misty!" he screeched as he ran out onto the battleground. He ran out as fast as he could, several attacks just barely missing him, grazing his sides. When he got close to her, an explosion from a nearby attack threw him to the ground. He got up on all fours and crawled to her body, still unmoving. As soon as he reached her, he shook her shoulder, crying at her to wake up. An aquamarine eye fluttered open, quickly focusing itself on him.

"Ash? Quick, you have to leave, before Shingara sees you!"

"No way! I can't leave you here! You're my friend, Misty."

"Ash, stop being stubborn and leave!"

"No!"

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a sinister voice chuckled as a clawed hand picked up Ash by the front of his shirt. Ash quickly grabbed on to the demon's wrist, trying to pry himself free from it's clutches, but Shingara simply sneered at the boy's futile attempts to get free. "Another body for the brat? You think he would have made something a little stronger," he droned as he flicked at Ash's nose. "But no, apparently all he could do was summon the body of a five-year-old. Pathetic," he continued, before throwing the boy to the ground, making him land painfully next to where Misty lay. Ash stood up weakly, glaring at the demon, who looked down with amusement on his face.

"You, are really becoming a real thorn in my side," he said, as a black sphere sparkling with red electricity charged up in his palm. "Say your goodbyes, brat." The sphere turned into a beam of powerful energy, flying straight at Ash and Misty. The little child stood in front of Misty, his arms flung out wide in a futile attempt to protect her.

"Ash, get away!" screamed out Misty, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"No…" a quiet voice whispered somewhere out of the depths of Shingara's mind.

"No! I won't let you die, Misty!" retorted the five-year-old, still standing in front of her.

"I can't let it end this way…" the voice murmured, getting slightly louder.

"Ash…you are so stubborn," muttered Misty, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"I won't…"

"I know." A smirk crossed the little boy's face.

"I won't…"

The beam was too close to dodge now. Ash and Misty closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable collision…

"I WON'T!"

An inch away from Ash's face, the beam suddenly died away, and everybody looked up in shock at Shingara.

He was writhing in pain, clutching his head as a harsh cry escaped from his lips. Golden sparks were electrocuting his body as his eyes were clenched shut in agony. "I won't let you escape!"

"You don't have a choice!" screamed out a second voice in his head, who was now pushing its way out. Everyone gasped in surprise as a golden ghostly figure began to pull itself out of Shingara's body, also screaming in pain. Both of them thrashed away at each other, before the golden figure managed to work itself free, before turning itself into a beam of golden energy, flying straight at Ash. It collided with him, enveloping him in a flurry of golden flames. Everybody cried out his name, before seeing his figure grow taller and sprout wings…

When the flames died down, Ash was back to his old self, dressed back in his dark outfit, with Ho-oh's bright crimson and gold wings springing out of his dark cape. Everybody smiled in delight when they realized what had happened.

Ash looked back over his shoulder at Misty, who was now struggling to get up. When she finally rose up, her eyes met his, and they locked for a moment before he smiled at her.

"Misty," he whispered to her. "…Thank you."

Misty smiled back at him. "Go kick his butt."

end of chapter 9

Well, Ash's real body is back, let's see what happens now...

As of chapter 10, it will take a little longer to come out, seeing as it's not done yet...