CHAPTER 25 – ESPEONAGE

Ash stood in front of the door to Anabel's hotel room as the clock outside struck three thirty, and he was dreading the reaction that was no doubt waiting for him on the other side.

Okay, Ash, before you do anything, let's think this through, he thought. Well, she's upset because you yelled at her, was the obvious thing that came to mind. But why did she get upset? I mean, I got angry at Dawn, and she was fine with it when I woke up at the hospital just now… So what's different between Dawn and Anabel?

Who says that the problem lies with you? asked the Paul-Ash.

It's good to see you're finally thinking things through before you rush headlong into them, said Cyrus-Ash.

This isn't helping! Focus, Ash, focus! Okay, so Dawn was fine with my outburst, but Anabel wasn't. Then again, Dawn's been travelling with me for about two years, and I only met Anabel for a little while, so she wouldn't know me as well as Dawn does. That might be why Anabel took it so badly, because she doesn't know that I get like that when I'm hurt… all defensive… and I know I came across the wrong way. I just wanted them all to let me get on with the battle, and Anabel thought I was… I dunno, rejecting her or something… then I had to raise my voice at her… that was a smart move, he thought sarcastically.

Again, the problem might be in Anabel, said Paul-Ash.

Okay, let's just entertain that notion for a second, huh? What could Anabel's problem be, if you're so adamant about it?

I would think it's pretty obvious, said Cyrus-Ash.

So the real me, the proper Ash, I'm the only one who doesn't see it? Well, lesser parts of my head, please enlighten me! Ash thought bitterly.

Love, said a new voice in Ash's head.

Oh great, now there's a part of me that thinks like Misty?! God, please kill me now… So Anabel loves me, does she?

Well, yeah! She dropped you all those not-so-subtle hints, like that kiss at your first match, that little thing the two of you had in the doorway, her actual confession where she said 'I love you' to you; yeah I'd say she loves you by this stage.

You know what? Screw this. There's a reason that you're just opinions and not the real me. So I'm not going to take note of anything you three just said, and I'm going to do it Ash Ketchum style, not Paul style, not Cyrus style, not Misty style.

You know Ash, there's no point trying to keep your mind closed from us, Paul-Ash said. We are parts of your mind, after all. So just admit it.

I'll admit it to Anabel before I admit it to you three, fired Ash.

Once Ash convinced himself that what he was about to do was the right thing, he raised his arm and rapped on the door three times with his knuckles. He took a deep breath and waited for an answer, his ear close to the door in case he heard something. He waited ten seconds, and after hearing nothing, he decided to try again.

"Anabel?" he asked, knocking on the door again, louder this time. "Are you there?" No reply.

"Anabel?!" he shouted, his hand reaching for the doorknob. His fingers came within an inch of the polished metal when he heard a sniffing sound, barely audible from behind the door.

Way to go Ash, you've gotten her crying, said Misty-Ash.

"Anabel, look, I know you're in there. I need to talk to you. I have to explain myself," he said desperately, praying for her to speak to him. After a few seconds he shut his eyes in relief as he heard her voice, muffled by the door.

"It's unlocked."

Well, at least it's something, he thought, closing his hand around the doorknob.

Ash quietly opened the door and stuck his head through the gap. He saw the inside of the hotel room, which in all fairness was exactly the same as his and Ari's rooms. If you want to be consistent, he mused to himself. But as he looked around he saw that Anabel wasn't in the lounge room, the dining room or the kitchen. She must be in one of the bedrooms, he deduced, sliding through the gap between door and frame and closing the door just as quietly behind him.

Okay, so now you've walked into the lions' den, Ash. You'd better know what you're doing, or else you might lose your head in more ways than one, he joked.

Plus you'll end up hurting Anabel's feelings even more, chimed Misty-Ash.

Duly noted.

He made his way down the room's hallway, thanking the hotels' designers that they'd structured all the rooms identically. As he glanced around at all the rooms, he noticed that the bedroom at the far end of the hall was closed. Must be where Anabel is. I'm surprised I could hear that sniff since she's so far from the door.

"Anabel?" he said softly, reaching the bedroom door. "Can I come in?" He tried the doorknob and, like the hotel door, it was unlocked, so he slowly opened it, wincing at the creaking noise it made as it swung open.

"Look, Anabel, I—" he started, but he was struck silent halfway through his sentence. He tried talking, but he couldn't move his mouth; in fact, he couldn't move at all. He'd been paralysed by something, and as his eyes probed the room, he found the source.

"Thanks, Espeon," Anabel said to her Pokémon, patting her on the head. Espeon mewed contentedly as Anabel got up from off her bed. "But you can at least let him talk," she added calmly, and Ash felt Espeon's psychic hold loosen on him from the neck up. But he kept silent for the time being, in case he said something wrong and was immobilised again.

"I didn't say you could come in," Anabel said coolly, crossing her arms as she stood a foot in front of him.

"I was worried about you," Ash said, trying vainly to move an arm. And it looks like I was right to worry, he added, because her saw that her eyes were blurred and rimmed with red, her face was lined, and her nose made her look like she had a cold.

"Well why would you be worried about me? What would you know?" she said, her puffy eyes narrowed, and Ash flinched as though she'd just slapped him in the face. He sighed and hung his head in shame, but he didn't slump to the floor, only because Espeon still had him in the effects of her Psychic attack.

"Look…" Ash mumbled, still looking at the ground. "I'm sorry for saying that to you at the match yesterday. I regretted it the moment I'd said it, but I wasn't thinking straight. Heck, I passed out about a minute later from shock and blood loss," he said, smiling weakly as he tried to raise his hand. "Hey Espeon, could you loosen the grip on my arm? The pain's really killing me over here," he mentioned to the feline Pokémon. Anabel nodded at her, and Ash felt the bonds around his arm disappear, so he tried to raise his hand again, and this time it obeyed him. "See?"

"I didn't realise it was so bad…" Anabel admitted, looking pityingly at the bandages.

"Yeah well, it's still no excuse for what I did," said Ash sourly, dropping his hand back to his side. "Nothing excuses it. You were concerned about me, and I got angry at you, I pushed you away. It's bad enough when I do that with anyone, but especially…" he trailed off, frightened that he might have said too much.

"Especially what?" asked Anabel quietly, inching closer to him. She gave a discreet gesture to Espeon, who slowly let down her Psychic, and although Ash didn't see it, he could feel the control of his limbs returning.

"Especially when it's you," he said, looking her in the eye.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Anabel asked, trying to sound sceptical, although she was starting to shake at his words.

"It means…" Ash said hoarsely.

Admit it, Ash, chorused four voices in his head. Ash cleared his throat. "It means that, well…" But his voice failed as Anabel drew closer to him.

Oh boy, this is familiar, he thought, swallowing. Well, I suppose the only differences are that this is Anabel's room not mine, and my hand is even more busted up than before!

"Yes…?" she whispered.

"That you're different from all my other friends," he blurted. "I don't know what it is, but there's always this different feeling I have for you that I don't have for the rest of them. They're all really good friends, but, I dunno, you just stand out from them."

"Plus," he went on, worried that if he stopped he wouldn't be able to start up again. He took another deep breath and rushed on. "I just seem to turn into Brock whenever you're around. I get all… well, in his terms, love-stoned. The last time we were like this," he said, meaning the last time they were this close to each other. "You must have seen that I just went blank, right?"

"I noticed," giggled Anabel, blushing.

"Yeah well, I don't know what happens, but I just end up like a bunch of putty," he said, grimacing at his choice of words.

Anabel laughed again, and Ash's stomach did a little flip. "Nice choice of words," she said, mirroring his thoughts. "Well, why do you think that happens to you?" she asked teasingly, moving a little closer.

"For the same reason you look like you've been standing in front of the air conditioning," Ash observed cheekily, indicating the goosebumps on Anabel's skin.

"Huh? Oh, right!" she said, flustered. "Well, what can I say? It's nearly four in the morning, so I guess it is a bit cold…" She turned away, arms crossed, hiding the blush on her face.

"Well why didn't you say so earlier?" he asked. Anabel felt a warm touch on her head, and she jumped slightly before she realised that Ash had taken off his jacket and was trying to put it on her to warm her up.

"Ash, you don't have to—" she began, but her voice was muffled as he brought the jacket over her face. Ash, why do you have to be so difficult? When a girl… ugh, never mind.

"Anabel, could you try and help me out a bit here?" Ash muttered in her ear. "You're not gonna be able to move your arms if they're stuck in my jacket."

"Doesn't that hurt your hand?!" she asked, her voice still being quietened by the fabric.

"Just a little, but I can handle it. Besides, your health is more important than mine," he said, pulling the jacket lower.

Anabel grudgingly slipped her arms through the sleeves, thankful that he couldn't see her rolling her eyes at his cheesy comment. Ash gently pulled the jacket as low as he could, bringing it down towards her hips. A hot shiver ran down her spine as she felt his hands moving slowly down her sides. Finally, the jacket went low enough that she could finally stick her head through the top, and she shoved her head through the gap.

"Okay, now let me get a look at you," Ash said. He put his hands on her hips and slowly swung her around. "Come on, I know it's a bit warmer, but you shouldn't be turning red," he chuckled, and Anabel blushed even deeper.

"Stop messing round," she said, smiling. She realised that Ash's hands were still on her hips, so she deliberately looked at a point over Ash's shoulder to avoid looking at his eyes. "Ash, you don't have to keep your hands there," she mumbled shyly.

"I know, but I can't move them," Ash said, a slight note of confusion in his voice. Why can't I move my hands? I mean, this feels… good, but they won't budge!

Anabel's eyes widened. You can't move them, or you don't want to? Maybe… maybe he really does love me back… and to think, I was so angry at him an hour ago! Her arms unwillingly moved upwards and fastened themselves around Ash's neck. She let herself gaze into Ash's dark eyes, and her face clouded when she saw fear in them.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Seriously, Anabel, I can't move my hands," Ash said shakily. "Look." He leaned backwards as far as he could, to the point where he'd normally lose balance and fall over, but his hands were anchored to Anabel, seemingly super-glued to her hips.

"How are you doing that?!" Anabel gasped. An idea clicked into her head, and she turned her head slowly to look at Espeon, who blinked back innocently.

"Espeon, what are you doing?" she sighed.

I'm just assisting with the process, Ana, sniggered Espeon. All three of us can see where this should be going, so I thought that a little nudge in the right direction wouldn't be a bad idea. So quit complaining and go along with it.

"What's Espeon doing?" Ash asked blankly.

"Espeon says that she's… not doing anything…" murmured Anabel slowly, turning back round to face Ash. She flashed a mischievous smile. "She says that you must have excellent balance."

"Does she now?" Ash said, smirking as he pulled himself back to Anabel. "And I thought you said you weren't a mind reader."

"I get the general idea, Ash," she replied, her arms back around his neck. "I sense emotions, and I take a calculated guess."

"Okay then, what emotions do I have at the moment?" he asked arrogantly. "Bear in mind that I've been told many times that my skull is too thick for anyone to get through."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now let's see…" grinned Anabel, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused.

"You know, you look cute when you do that," Ash said softly. Anabel blinked and shook her head slightly.

"Thanks, you just put me off," she pouted, but she was smiling wider than ever. "And I just realised something…"

"What's that?" Ash asked hesitantly.

"That I don't really need to see in your mind to know what you're thinking about."

"And what am I thinking about?"

"How much you want to kiss me," Anabel said, with a wink. Ash looked around for a moment and turned back to her, his face expressionless. But Anabel could see the small spark in his eyes.

"Told you you're a mind reader," he whispered, his mouth curving into a smile as he leaned his head forwards.

Is he serious?! W-Wow… I-I-I… oh boy… Anabel tried to think of something, but all she could think of was Ash drawing closer to her.

Okay, Ash, this is it. Don't screw it up, he thought. He put his head against hers and kissed her quickly on her lips. They both pulled away suddenly, and Ash quickly looked away as Anabel turned to face Espeon.

See, Anabel? Nothing to it.

I-I-I-I…

Anabel, alright, I get it, I was a bit devious, but you can thank me now.

W-Wow…

Anabel?

"Anabel…" Ash said, moving his hands away at last.

"Ash?" she said dreamily. He shifted around on his feet and wrung his hands, like he was wrestling with something in his head.

"I—uh—I—" he stammered. Anabel put a finger over his mouth, and he fell quiet immediately.

"You don't have to say it," she smiled. "I can see it in your eyes."

Ash grabbed her hand and moved it away from his face. "If I don't say it now, I probably never will," he warned, throwing his arm around her waist and pulling her body against his.

"Well in that case, by all means go ahead," giggled Anabel, biting her lip expectantly. Ash took a deep breath and locked his eyes onto hers.

"I think I love you, Anabel."

Quiz:

*What is Espeon's lowest base stat, and what value does it have?