I want to thank everyone who took the time to review so far. I really appreciate it.
I am sorry for the long wait guys, my grandmother passed away recently so I have been dealing with that.
Some people have questioned me about the language and aggressiveness in Mew, Celebi and Jirachi's dialogue in the last chapter. My response is that they only speak like that when it is about the traitors or anyone evil. Most of the time they are kind and playful.
This chapter has not had a lot of modification, it is mainly adding a few sentences, reorganising parts so they make sense and trying to fix any errors.
In addition, if you are going to ask questions in a review can you make sure that you allow private messaging so I can reply to them.
Here is chapter 3 I hope you enjoy.
In conversations:
'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can understand it due to his Aura.
"- Human speech
"- Telepathy/Aura
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, if I did then Ash would have won a league by now.
Ash walked into the Pokémon Centre and saw Scott and Greta sat in the corner, which made him raise an eyebrow as he had assumed it would just be him and Scott discussing Anabel. He shook the thought away and focussed on getting Butterfree healed, he went up to Nurse Joy who was looking bored behind the desk and handed Butterfree's Pokéball to her. Nurse Joy took Butterfree's Pokéball and placed it in the healing machine. Ash knew that it could take a few minutes to heal Butterfree so he walked over to Scott and Greta and sat down at the table.
"Hey Scott, I thought it was going to just be the two of us so what's Greta doing here?"
"Well she has some important information you need to know Takeo."
Ash looked to Greta wondering what she could know that is so crucial that her presence was needed however Scott said Greta has important information about Anabel so he wasn't going to question him.
"Okay, well once Butterfree's healed we can go."
The trio sat in silence while as they waited for Nurse Joy to return with Butterfree's Pokéball. After a few minutes the silence started to bother Scott and Greta, they exchanged a glance and then stared at their hooded companion. To Greta and Scott's relief Nurse Joy reappeared with a Pokéball in her hand.
"Mr Hayashi your Butterfree is fully healed." Nurse Joy announced.
Ash got up and walked up to the desk; he smiled at Nurse Joy and took Butterfree's Pokéball from her, placing it in his pocket.
"Thank you for healing Butterfree." Ash said gratefully.
"I'm happy to help your Pokémon." Nurse Joy replied.
"By the way when can I expect my schedule for the next round?"
"Well due to the large number of contestants in the tournament Round one takes two days. So come back in a couple of days and your next opponent will have been chosen."
"Okay, thank you Nurse Joy."
Nurse Joy smiled and gave Ash a quick nod, which Ash returned, he then turned around and walked over to Scott and Greta who were waiting by the door for him. Scott then led the Ash and Greta out of the Pokémon centre. Once outside Ash stopped and looked at Meowth.
"Hey Meowth can you take everyone to the others so they can relax." Ash asked.
Meowth almost replied to Ash however, he remembered that Greta was here so he held his tongue and simply nodded. Ash took out all of his Pokéballs except for Charizard's and handed them to Meowth. He considered sending Charizard with him but he knew he might need to use the dragon as transportation. Meowth then walked away from the Pokémon Centre and headed to the treeline, when Meowth faded from view Ash turned his attention back to Scott and Greta.
"So where are we going to talk about Anabel." Ash asked.
"Well Takeo I suggest that we talk in my hotel room. That way we won't have to worry about anyone overhearing us and we won't be interrupted." Scott replied.
Ash saw the sense in Scott's idea so he nodded and followed Scott and Greta as they started walking towards their hotel.
The journey to the hotel was awkward to say the least, no words were said between the trio, which had made all three of them feel quite uncomfortable. To everyone's relief the hotel came into sight a few minutes later, they entered the building and took the lift to the top floor. Once at the top they stepped out of the elevator and walked down the corridor until they came to Scott's room. He opened the door and they all took a seat in the chairs scattered around the room. Ash looked expectantly at Scott and Greta and could tell by the looks in their eyes that whatever had happened in the past seven years must be bad.
"So Scott please can you tell me everything that's happened in the past seven years from the very beginning? And please don't leave anything out."
"Okay Takeo, it all started on the day of Ash Ketchum's disappearance. Anabel had come to me that morning asking if she could close the Battle Tower for a few days. When I asked why she said that she wanted to go to Pallet Town to see Ash. I had a hunch that she was intending to tell Ash how she felt about him so I gladly let her close the Battle Tower."
Ash looked down guiltily as he felt overwhelming feelings of guilt and regret gnawing at him.
"She thanked me repeatedly for about ten minutes and left with a huge smile plastered across her face. That is the last time I saw that smile on her face. She came back a few hours' later in tears and told me what had happened in Pallet. I could see how heartbroken she was so I decided to shut down the Battle Tower and I escorted her home. I just couldn't leave her on her own in the state she was in; I don't know how long I sat there trying to comfort her until she eventually cried herself to sleep." Ash could see Scott was finding it hard speaking about this.
Scott exhaled. He didn't think it would be this hard for him to tell Ash about this. However, it was proving to be by far the hardest thing he had ever done. He glanced at Greta and wondered how on Earth Greta would cope with telling her part. Scott cleared his thoughts and carried on.
"When she woke up the next morning she said she was going to try and find Ash. She sent out her Alakazam and before I had a chance to stop her she was gone. She ended up spending a week searching every inch of Kanto for him before she came home."
Ash couldn't believe it; he had only stayed in Vermillion City for a couple of days to pick up Squirtle and Primeape before going back to Sinnoh. He started wondering how different things would have been if he had just stayed a few days longer.
"Reluctantly she agreed to stop looking in Kanto after me and the other Brains begged her to stop searching Kanto. However, she was determined to go to the other regions and not stop until she found him; this worried me, as she knew next to nothing about the other regions so there was no telling what could happen to her. Luckily, I was able to convince her not to be rash and tear through the regions looking for Ash by promising her that I would call in several favours from people throughout the six regions and see if they could find him. "
"But they couldn't." Ash said solemnly.
"No, they searched for months trying to track him down but no trace of him could be found despite our best efforts."
Ash remembered how much effort he had put into covering his tracks shortly after the incident. During that time he didn't want to be found by anyone, he was in a very bad place due to the soul crushing betrayal. All he wanted some solitude as he tried to deal with his problems, he had known that some people had tried to follow him but he had always managed to evade them.
"After that Anabel started blocking everyone out and she started acting less and less like herself. It started off with minor things like missing meetings every once in a while, then she was turning down invites to go out with all the other Brains and eventually she had completely locked herself away in her home." Greta stated.
"We theorised that due to her empathic powers her emotions are heightened so extreme emotions like love and sorrow could be intensified however when we asked she just shrugged and said she didn't know. It was like this for three months and everyday at least one of us would visit her and try to get her to talk to us but everyday all we got was silence." Scott said.
"What happened after the three months?" Ash asked.
"We were all amazed when out of the blue she began coming to meetings again and she even re-opened the Battle Tower. She would put on fake smiles around us thinking we would not notice, but we did. We also noticed how she was always wearing outfits with long sleeves even in hot weather. At first we thought nothing of it as she usually dressed that way in the past." Scott now had his head in his hands and tears were leaking from his eyes.
Ash was terrified at what he was hearing, he was praying to Arceus and anyone else listening that they weren't about to say what he thought they were.
Scott looked at Greta "Can you please tell him what you saw that day Greta?" She nodded, but was clearly struggling to keep her composure.
WARNING SCENE OF SELF-HARM BEGINS NOW!
Flashback (Approximately six years ago)
Greta was walking to Anabel's house to check on her and see if she was willing to talk today. All of the Frontier Brains and Scott did this on a regular basis to see how she was as they were all worried about her. They had all had their spirits lifted when recently she had started to open up a bit but there were many days that she would completely ignore them.
Greta arrived at Anabel's house and knocked on the door, she waited for a few moments before knocking again and to her surprise, she got no response. Usually Anabel either told them to go away or opened the door so they could talk. Greta thought that Anabel might have left the door open so she could come in; she turned the doorknob and found that the door was unlocked. She walked inside the house and could hear that Anabel was sobbing upstairs. Greta immediately grabbed a Pokéball for protection just in case a robber had broken in and was hurting her.
Greta walked upstairs as quietly as possible making sure to avoid any of the creaky floorboards. When she got to the top of the stairs she headed towards the bathroom since it seemed that Anabel's sobs were was coming from there. She slowly opened the door already prepared to attack whoever was hurting Anabel however, she stopped in her tracks when she saw the scene in front of her. She felt sick as she saw Anabel stood at the sink with a knife in her right hand that had blood dripping from it; the blood had made a pool of red on the counter, which was mixing with the tears that were streaming down her face. More droplets of blood were landing slightly to the side of the puddle and Greta looked at the source of the blood and saw that it was slowly seeping out of the long gash on her left arm.
Greta let out a horrified gasp at the scene, which got Anabel's attention, and she turned to face Greta. The Frontier Brains stood in silence staring into each other's eyes and time seemed to stand still. Suddenly Anabel dropped the knife, which clattered, in the basin and her eyes rolled back as she fell forwards. Greta was quick to react and luckily caught Anabel before she crashed to the floor. Greta carried the limp Anabel to the nearest bedroom and placed her on the bed. She went back to the bathroom to get some medical supplies and bandaged Anabel's arm to the best of her ability. After washing the blood off her hands, Greta pulled her Pokénav out of her pocket and called Scott.
Scott picked up his Pokénav "Hi Greta what's up?" He said.
"I-I-it's Anabel, Scott y-y-y-you gotta get here NOW!"
Scott was worried as Greta was not one to stumble over her words unless something was seriously wrong.
Hang on I'll be there in a minute." Scott said in a panicked voice.
A few minutes later Greta heard a car screech to a stop outside, she heard the door swing up open and bash against the wall as Scott ran into the house.
"Greta where are you?" Scott yelled.
"I-I-I'm up here Scott i-in Anabel's room." She stuttered.
Scott bounded up the stairs and burst into the room. He only had to look at the bandage on her left arm and the marks littering her right to know what had happened.
"Oh no. Oh dear Arceus no." Scott said.
Scott walked to the bed and fell to his knees as he took a closer look at the damage Anabel had done to herself. Greta knelt next to him and had tears trickling down her face; they stared at Anabel and wondered how it had come to this.
"What do we do Scott?" Greta asked between sobs.
"I don't know Greta. I really don't know." Scott replied.
Flashback over
SCENE OF SELF HARM ENDED
Greta had been struggling to keep it together while she told Takeo about that horrid memory but as soon as she finished it became too much for her to handle, she broke down and started sobbing. Scott immediately pulled her into a hug in an attempt to calm her down, he held her tightly as she cried into his shirt. He turned his attention back to Ash and saw that he was staring at the ground in front of him.
"After the incident we made her see a psychiatrist several times a week hoping that we could try and help her. We also made sure that at least one of us was with her at all times, everyday one of us would spend the night there just in case she tried anything during the night. This went on for a couple of years until the psychiatrist said that since she hadn't tried to hurt herself again and there was no evidence that she would she was allowed to be left on her own again. Greta and I still check on her a few times a week though just to make sure she doesn't have a relapse."
Scott stopping talking and the only sound in the room was Greta's muffled sobs. After a couple of minutes Ash fell off his chair and landed on his knees, he made no attempt to get up as he pounded the floor angrily while tears streamed down his cheeks. He hadn't cried since that day seven years ago as he had managed to keep his emotions in check, but now he just couldn't stop crying at the fact that one of his worst nightmares had now become a reality.
"It's all my fault. It's all my fucking fault." Ash said repeatedly.
He didn't care if Greta found out who he was, after what he had just heard the only thing that mattered to Ash was Anabel. Hearing Takeo blame himself for what happened confused Greta.
"Scott why is Takeo blaming himself?" She asked between sobs.
Scott saw no reason to lie to Greta anymore, after telling Ash about the memory she had just relived she deserved to know the truth.
"Because Takeo is Ash Ketchum."
Greta's eyes widened in shock and she realised why Scott had said only Takeo could help Anabel. Scott and Great turned their attention to Ash when he suddenly got to his feet and looked straight at Scott.
"Where's Anabel's room?" Ash asked.
"Ash maybe you should calm down first before you confront Anabel. It is no good seeing her when you are in this state. Besides she'll still be at the stadium watching the first round with the others." Scott said trying to reason with Ash.
After giving it, a moment's thought Ash reluctantly agreed with Scott and started to calm himself down. Although he wanted to see Anabel, he knew that if she saw him in this state it would be more likely to scare her than comfort her.
"When will she get back?" Ash asked in as calm a tone as he could manage.
"The first round matches end in about an hour. So she should be back in an hour and a half." Scott said relieved that Ash had chosen to take his advice.
Greta wiped the remaining tears out of her eyes and got up from her seat; she walked over to Ash and punched him, which sent Ash crashing to the floor.
"Listen you bastard you better fix this otherwise there will be nowhere for you to hide from me." Greta growled.
Ash rubbed his cheek and nodded, Greta was satisfied with the response as she saw the guilt in his eyes.
"Scott I'm gonna head to my room and try to get some sleep. Bringing up these horrid memories has left me feeling exhausted."
Scott nodded and Greta left the room leaving Ash and Scott alone. Scott looked at Ash and saw that he was still staring at the ground, the look in his eyes and his general posture showed that he was feeling incredibly guilty about what had happened. Scott sat down next to Ash and placed a hand on his shoulder making Ash turn his attention to Scott.
"Ash stop blaming yourself. There is no way any of us could have foreseen this."
"But I should have gone to her or someone else I trusted first and told them what happened. Instead I just ran away and didn't take into account other people's feelings."
"Ash in hindsight yes you probably should have gone to someone but you were in a very dark place after the incident seven years ago. I don't think that anyone could possible hold your actions against you. Anyway the past doesn't matter now, the only thing that matters now is what you are going to do to make things right."
"Ok Scott, you're right. Hey do you mind if I stay in here and take a nap until Anabel gets back?"
"Sure Ash you get some rest, I think Greta had the right idea about getting some sleep. Don't worry I'll make sure to wake you up when Anabel gets back."
"Thanks Scott." Ash said, he then laid down and fell asleep.
Time skip (an hour and a half)
Scott had been sitting at the table waiting for Anabel to return diligently, he suddenly heard a door slam shut in the corridor. He knew that the only one of his Brain's that would slam a door so forcefully was Anabel so he stood up and walked over to the Ash who had been sleeping soundly on the sofa. He placed a hand on Ash's shoulder and shook the sleeping trainer.
"Ash wake up. I think Anabel's back."
Ash's eyes shot open and he sat up almost clashing heads with Scott.
"What room is she in?"
"She's in room three four eight." Scott replied.
Ash immediately got up and walked to the door, he opened the door and suddenly started feeling very nervous.
"I don't know why but I suddenly feel so anxious about seeing Anabel."
"That's understandable Ash considering what you've just learned and that you've not seen her for seven years. Just go to her and tell her how you feel."
"Okay Scott thanks. Wish me luck."
"Good luck Ash." Scott said.
A confident look appeared on Ash's face and he walked out the door making sure to put his hood up.
"Please bring Anabel back to us." Scott murmured once Ash was out of earshot.
Ash closed the door behind him and walked down the hall, he glanced at every door looking for room three four eight. At the end of the corridor he finally came to the right room, he felt himself getting nervous again so he knocked on the door before his nerves overwhelmed him.
"Anabel are you in there?" Ash asked
Ash waited a few moments but he got no response, he decided to knock on the door a little harder and was rewarded with the sound of an annoyed huff from inside the room. He then heard footsteps approaching the door.
"Who's asking?" Anabel asked in an irritated voice.
"Erm if you don't mind I'd rather say this to your face than say it to a door." Ash replied.
Anabel let out another annoyed huff and opened the door but she did keep the chain lock on just in case he was dangerous. When the door was open, Anabel looked confusedly at the mysterious hooded man stood outside her room, and then she remembered the first match of the day where a hooded man had obliterated his opponent.
"You're that Hayashi guy that everyone is talking about. Why are you here?"
Ash looked down the hall to make sure the coast was clear and listened to hear if anyone was coming, when he certain that there was nobody nearby he lowered his hood. The second the hood fell Anabel gasped and her eyes widened, she knew those eyes and that hair could only belong to one person.
"Ash is it really you?" She asked hopefully.
"Yes Anabel it's me." Ash said with a smile.
Anabel stood in the doorway looking at the man that had dominated her thoughts for the past seven years. A small smile crept on to her face as tears formed in her eyes, she couldn't believe that after all these years she was finally face to face with him.
"So Anabel can I come in?" Ash asked.
Anabel quickly took the chain lock off and opened the door fully removing the barrier between her and Ash. Moments later Ash walked forward and wrapped his arms tightly around her, that was all it took for Anabel to lose control of her emotions and she began sobbing into his shirt as she let out seven years of misery. She clung on to Ash tightly fearing that if she let go of him he would vanish from her life again. Ash rubbed Anabel's back in an attempt to sooth and clam her down, he gently manoeuvred them inside her room so they could have some privacy. They sat down on the couch and Ash tightened his grip on Anabel hoping that it would help calm her down and prove to her that he was here for her. After ten minutes of crying Anabel's sobs gradually lessened until they became quiet whimpers.
"A-Ash I m-m-missed you s-s-so much." Anabel whimpered.
Ash tilted Anabel's chin up and stared into her lavender eyes seeing, the pain in her eyes broke his heart however there was also hope and love in her gaze which made him hope that there was a chance for them to be together. Ash moved his hand from her chin to her cheek and then wiped away her tears with his thumb.
"I missed you too Anabel. Not a day went by where I didn't think of you."
A combination of Ash's words and his hand on her face made Anabel blush; she rested her head on Ash's shoulder and closed her eyes, feeling incredibly happy that Ash was actually holding her. She tightened her hold on Ash and a small crept on to her face as she felt him tighten his grip on her, she felt safe in his arms and would be more than happy to stay like this for as long as possible.
Anabel's eyes suddenly shot open and she broke out of Ash's embrace when she felt Ash place a hand on the sleeve of her shirt and start to roll it up. She began panicking as she felt the fabric moving up her arm and she quickly stopped Ash from revealing what she had done by placing her hand on his and gripping onto it with a death grip.
Ash released his grip on Anabel's arm and gazed into her terrified eyes, Ash could see the fear and regret in Anabel's eyes, which confirmed that what Scott and Greta had told him was true. He had been hoping that the two of them had been trying to make him feel guiltier for abandoning Anabel but her reaction shattered those hopes.
"Please Anabel I have to see this for myself."
Anabel reluctantly released her hold on his hand and she quickly looked away not wanting to see the disgusted look she knew would be plastered on Ash's face once he sees what she has done to herself. Ash placed his hand back onto Anabel's arm gently and he slowly slid her right sleeve up, his eyes widened as he saw a horrifying series of scars running along her arm. Tears formed in Ash's eyes as he looked at what Anabel had done to herself because of him being so selfish and not going to her after the betrayal.
"This is all my fault." Ash murmured guiltily.
To say Ash's reaction surprised Anabel would be an understatement. She was expecting to hear several comments on how revolted he was by her scars and how weak she was for doing this. As her mind raced at Ash's words, she suddenly felt something dripping onto her right arm. She turned her gaze back to Ash and saw that tears were streaming from his eyes and dripping on to her arm. Anabel placed her hands on his face and made him look at her; there was no disgust in his eyes only guilt, shame and something else that she couldn't quite place. The look in his eyes made her start crying again and they embraced each other, they held each other tightly while they cried for a couple of minutes until they both calmed down. Ash was the first one to pull back and after sliding Anabel's other sleeve up he gently held her arms, which made Anabel, look confusedly at Ash who gave her a small smile.
"Trust me." He whispered.
Anabel nodded and watched as Ash's hands began to glow blue, the glow then transferred from his hands and surrounded her arms. Anabel winced as she felt a little bit of pain but before she knew it the pain had gone and the glow, surrounding her arms had vanished. Anabel was curious about what Ash had done so she looked at her arms and what she saw stunned her. She sat there staring at her once scarred arms, which were now completely smooth as if there had never been a single scar there. She ran her hands along her skin and to her surprise found that it was as smooth as it looked.
"It's not possible." She whispered in disbelief.
"It is possible Anabel due to the power of Aura. You see Anabel Aura truly is an amazing thing; it can use it for several purposes from creating spheres for attacking to healing even the most grievous wound. I have trained for the past seven years with my Lucario who has helped me master my power. Right now, I just used a bit of healing Aura to erase the scars. After all I couldn't let your beautiful skin be marred by scars."
Anabel blushed at the compliment and looked down hoping that Ash wouldn't see her crimson cheeks. Ash smiled at her reaction and felt a rush of confidence so he decided that it was time for him to come clean to Anabel and tell her what he should have said seven years ago. He wrapped his arms around Anabel and pulled her to him, she instinctively returned the embrace and found herself inches away from Ash. She could feel his breath on her lips and her cheeks turned an even darker shade of red.
"Anabel, do you remember the time we spent together after I beat Brandon?" Ash asked.
"O-of course I remember. Those were the most amazing months of my life." Anabel replied happily.
"They were the most amazing months of my life as well, those few months made me happier than anything else I've ever done. The day that I got on that boat to Sinnoh was the worst day of my life, even worse than when those traitors betrayed me. Standing on the deck of the ship and watching you wave at me from the dock while you faded from my sight broke my heart. Once you were out of my sights I felt as if a part of me had been ripped away and I have always felt this void that only you have been able to fill."
Anabel stared into Ash's eyes and hope flooded through her, the look that she couldn't place earlier was blatantly obvious to her now, it was love.
"Anabel I truly am sorry for all the pain I have put you through. A few years ago, I considered coming back and seeing you but I was afraid that you would hate me for being gone for so long so I decided to stay away. To be honest I had been intending to compete in the tournament and then go back into hiding but now that I'm here with you in my arms, I can't imagine my life without you. I love you Anabel with all my heart and soul and I swear that will never change. "
Anabel could feel her heart beating in her chest, she was sure that it was close to bursting out of her chest. She continued to stare into Ash's eyes and couldn't believe that the man she loved felt the same way.
"Ash I love you too." She declared
A tender smile appeared on Ash's face and before Ash could reply to Anabel's declaration, she had pushed her lips against his putting all the love she had for him into it. At first Ash was surprised by Anabel's rather bold move however, he quickly got over his surprise and returned the kiss. Neither of them wanted the kiss to end but the need for air forced them to break apart, they sat in silence while they refilled their lungs with air and they gazed at each other with dark blushes on their faces. When their regained their breath Anabel leaned her head on Ash's shoulder again
"Ash promise me you'll never leave me again. I can't survive without you."
"I promise that I will stay by your side for the rest of our lives. I couldn't live without you by my side, without you everything else is meaningless."
Anabel smiled in content and felt tears forming in her eyes however, for the first time in years they were because of joy not sorrow.
Ash and Anabel spent the next few hours talking about what had happened in the past seven years. Ash told her about his quest to destroy Team Rocket with him eventually telling her about the true reason his former friends had betrayed him, Anabel hadn't been surprised about Ash being the cause of Team Rocket's downfall as the idea of the police doing anything along the lines of what they claimed is laughable. The revelation of the true natures of his former friends on the other hand had shocked Anabel; she had never sensed any kind of negative emotions from them.
In return, Anabel reluctantly told Ash about every time she had hurt herself, beginning with the first scar she got because of Gary and Max who had challenged her for the Ability Symbol and had constantly bad-mouthed Ash during the matches. Somehow, she managed to compose herself enough to win both matches but afterwards she had gone home and after crying for what felt like hours she cut herself for the first time.
The couple lost track of time completely and it wasn't until Anabel yawned that they noticed how late it had gotten. Ash could see Anabel struggling to stay awake so he picked her up bridal style, which made Anabel blush and he carried her to the bedroom. He gently placed her on bed and pulled the quilt up to cover her; he gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and turned around with the intention of sleeping on the couch. He was stopped from moving by a hand grabbing his arm; he glanced back and saw Anabel sitting up looking at him
"Where are you going?" Anabel asked wearily.
"I was gonna go sleep on the couch." Ash replied.
"Please don't leave me alone." Anabel pleaded.
The desperation in Anabel's voice was blatantly obvious and Ash could not deny her so he took off his cloak and placed it over the door. He climbed into the bed and pulled Anabel to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She snuggled into the comforting embrace and quickly fell to sleep in his arms, Ash stayed awake for a couple minutes staring at her peaceful face before joining her in slumber.
The next morning Ash woke up early as usual. He opened his eyes and looked at Anabel who was still sleeping and smiled when he saw her eyes flicker open. Her gorgeous lilac eyes, which were no longer blank and lifeless like they had been yesterday, instantly memorized him; they were now bright and happy. A relieved look appeared on Anabel's when she saw Ash's eyes and she gently pushed his lips against hers. They broke the tender kiss and stared lovingly at each other.
"Good morning beautiful." Ash murmured.
"I was so scared that last night was a dream."
"Nope last night happened so I'm afraid you're stuck with me." Ash said jokingly.
"I think I can live with that."
"Good because I'm never leaving you again."
The couple smiled at one another and laid there in silence just enjoying being in each other's arms.
"Ash we should probably get up." Anabel said breaking the silence.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Ash replied with a hint of sadness.
She nodded in response, feeling a similar sense of sadness and they broke the hug so they could get out of the bed. Ash was the first one up and he pulled Anabel off the bed, wrapping her in a hug that she eagerly returned. They reluctantly broke the hug after a couple of minutes and took a step away from each other. Ash looked at Anabel and saw that she had a nervous look on her face.
"What's wrong Anabel?" Ash asked worriedly.
"Well I was thinking that maybe you could stay here for the rest of the tournament. If you want too of course, you don't have to feel forced to do so." Anabel murmured.
"I love to stay here with you Anabel, I'll head back to my hotel room to go pick up some stuff that I left there and then I'll meet you outside the Pokémon Centre in an hour." Ash replied.
"I wish I could meet you there Ash but I have to watch the rest of the first round matches today so I'll be in the stadium all day." Anabel said sadly.
"Don't worry about it Anabel, I understand that as a Frontier Brain you have commitments. I'll keep myself occupied for the day and I'll come back here at about five o'clock."
"Okay Ash, I'll see you later."
Anabel turned towards the bathroom to get ready for today but before she could take a step, Ash pulled Anabel to him and gave her a quick kiss making both trainers blush. When the need for air became too great, they reluctantly broke apart, while they regained their breath they stared into each other's eyes lovingly. When they finally regained their breath Anabel went to get prepared for the day while Ash got his cloak and put it on making sure his hood was up, as he still wanted to keep his identity a secret for now. Ash took a quick look in the mirror to make sure that his face was shrouded, once he was sure that he wouldn't be recognised he left the bedroom and walked to the door. He opened the door and saw Scott and the other Brains stood outside presumably here to collect Anabel to take her to the stadium for today's matches.
Ash saw the confused looks that appeared on the majority of the Brains faces and his mind went blank as he tried to think of an explanation for why he was in Anabel's room but he just couldn't come with any ideas.
"Uh. Hi guys." Ash said awkwardly hoping that it would buy him a little more time to think.
The five Frontier Brains who didn't know who Takeo really was looked at the mysterious hooded man and wondered why he was in Anabel's room.
"Hi Takeo. What erm, what are you doing here?" Brandon asked.
Ash knew that there was one thing he could do that would explain everything and that was reveal his identity to them. However, he was stuck debating whether to tell them the truth or not, after a bit of thought he finally decided that he could trust them. To the Frontier Brains surprise, Takeo lowered his hood, revealing his identity, the revelation caused the five Frontier Brains to gasp and their eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. The Brains stood in silence for a few minutes as they tried to form a coherent sentence, so many questions and emotions were rushing through them, which was making it impossible for them to choose one specific thing to say first. Scott and Greta pushed past the other Brain's and stood in front of Ash.
"So Ash how's Anabel?" Scott asked.
Ash was about to respond when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him tightly, he shifted his body so that he could return the embrace and keep looking at Scott.
"I'm much better thank you." Anabel replied.
Scott and Greta were amazed at the massive smile on Anabel's face and the brightness in her eyes that had been dull and lifeless for so long. Anabel then looked at her fellow Brains who were still in utter shock at the return of Ash.
"Morning guys, how are you?" She said brightly.
"We're fine thanks." Greta said.
"You have no idea how good it is to finally see you smiling." Scott added.
"Thanks Scott."
Greta then noticed that Anabel was for the first time in about six years wearing a short-sleeved shirt, which shocked her, but what made her eyes widen was that the scars that had littered her arms had vanished; even the long deep one on her left arm was gone. Greta grabbed Anabel's left arm and closely inspected it, she then ran her hand along Anabel's arm thinking that she was using some kind of visual trick to the hide the scars but was amazed to find that her skin was completely smooth exactly how it was seven years ago. She looked up at Anabel in utter disbelief, they had tried so many things to try to remove the scars but nothing had worked so she was desperate to know what had done this.
"Anabel what happened to your arms?" Greta asked.
The other Brains were broken out of their shock by Greta's words and instinctively looked at Anabel's arms. Their eyes widened even further when they saw her scar free arms, everyone looked expectantly at Anabel waiting for an explanation. Anabel looked at Ash wondering if she could tell them what he had done, after all she was not sure whether he wanted his abilities to be common knowledge. Ash saw the look and knew that Anabel wanted to tell them the truth but was leaving the decision up to him; he smiled at Anabel and then formed an orb of Aura in his hand, which he showed to the Frontier Brains.
"I have the ability to manipulate Aura to do many things; one of those is the ability to heal even the most severe of injuries." Ash stated.
The astonished Brains stared at Ash and were still speechless; so many thoughts were rushing through their heads that they were certain their heads would explode. Ash could see that they wouldn't get any intelligent response from the Brains any time soon so he thought that now would be the best time to leave.
"Alright Anabel I'll see you later okay."
Ash gave Anabel a peck on the cheek making her blush and then walked passed the still stunned Brains. He made sure his hood was back up before he went too far and took the elevator to the ground floor; he walked out of the reception area and out the front door. He was immediately forced to shield his eyes as the sun momentarily blinded him, he considered letting Charizard out so he could quickly fly back to his hotel but chose to walk instead since it was such a beautiful day and it would be a shame to waste it.
Back outside Anabel's room, The Frontier Brains were still stood in silence trying to sort through the information they had just received in the last ten minutes. They weren't sure what had shocked them the most, Ash's reappearance, his ability to use Aura, Anabel genuinely smiling for the first time in seven years or the fact that her scars had been healed by Ash.
While the Brains stood in silence, Scott and Greta looked at Anabel with smiles on their faces. They were overjoyed that Anabel was already much better and they were confident that the old Anabel they knew and loved would be back in the very near future. Both Scott and Greta had both noticed how her shoulders had slumped after Ash left and how the smile that had been on her face had fallen slightly. Scott placed a hand on Anabel's shoulder making the Salon Maiden look up at him and he gave her a small smile.
"Anabel you've got the day off. Go spend time with Ash." Scott commanded.
"Really?" She asked hopefully.
"Sure Anabel. Try going to the Elenion hotel first as that as where he is staying."
"Now go have fun with your boyfriend." Greta added.
Anabel blushed at Greta's comment and quickly made her escape leaving Scott and Greta to explain everything to the other Frontier Brains. She knew that she and Ash would have to talk to them as well at some point but right now, she didn't care, she just wanted to be with Ash.
Anabel exited the hotel and started walking towards the Elenion hoping that she would find Ash, a smile appeared on her face when she spotted Ash in the distance. She considered calling out to him to get attention but she decided against that as a different idea came to mind. She quietly caught up to him and wrapped her arms around him tightly, which slightly startled Ash. He looked back to see who had grabbed him and saw Anabel smiling at him. She loosened her grip on Ash, which allowed him to turn around and pull her into a tight embrace.
"Anabel what are you doing here? I thought you had to go watch the remainder of the first round."
"Scott gave me the day off so I could spend time with you. So what do you want to do?"
"Well my Pokémon are in a clearing to the south so how about we introduce our Pokémon to each other?" Ash suggested.
"Sounds good to me, I'd like to meet the Pokémon who have been with you over the past seven years."
Ash broke the hug with Anabel and shot inside the hotel, a few minutes later he walked out with his bag on his back. Ash pulled Charizard's Pokéball off his belt and sent the dragon out, he asked Charizard if he would take him and Anabel to the other's and the dragon quickly replied with a nod. Charizard then let the couple get on his back and after Anabel wrapped her arms around Ash securely, he shot off at an incredible speed. As they flew, Ash heard a quiet whimper behind him and he felt Anabel's hold on him tighten. He looked back and saw that Anabel had her eyes tightly shut clearly afraid, as she was not used to flying, let alone flying at this speed. Ash told Charizard to slow down which he did until Anabel finally felt comfortable with the speed they were going at.
After ten minutes of flying, the clearing came into sight, Charizard gently landed in the middle of the area and let Ash and Anabel get off. All of the Pokémon in the clearing approached the duo and most of them looked confusedly at the lilac haired woman with Ash making Anabel feel a little uncomfortable under their scrutiny. She looked at all of the Pokémon in front of her and was unsurprised to see that she recognised very few of them. She knew about Charizard, Meganium, Sceptile, Feraligatr, Donphan, Primeape, Butterfree and Blastoise as Ash had told her stories about them before his disappearance and she had learned about Meowth while Ash had told her how he had attacked the Team Rocket HQ. The rest of them were completely unknown to her and by the confused looks they were giving her, she was completely unknown to them.
"Guys I'd like to introduce you to Anabel and well she's my girlfriend." Ash announced.
Although some of them didn't show it all of Ash's Pokémon were delighted that their trainer could now find the happiness he deserved.
"Ash can I ask how you met your Pokémon?" Anabel asked.
"Well that's up to them." Ash replied looking at his Pokémon
The majority of the Pokémon quickly told Ash that it was fine for him to tell Anabel about how they met. The only exceptions were Gardevoir, Flygon, Rotom and Porygon-Z who were reluctant to reveal their pasts however they trusted Ash so they allowed him to tell Anabel about their past. The Pokémon then left Anabel and Ash going back to what they were doing beforehand. Ash shrugged off his backpack and sat with Anabel in the shade of a tree.
"Hey Ash would it be okay to send out my Pokémon so they can meet yours?"
"That's a great idea Anabel."
Anabel took out her Pokéballs and released the Pokémon revealing A Metagross, an Alakazam, a Mr Mime, a Gallade, an Espeon and Raikou. Alakazam and Mr Mime went and began meditating with Gardevoir. Raikou joined Glaceon, Heliolisk, Porygon-Z, Luxray and Absol in their mock battle. Metagross and Gallade joined Lucario, Primeape, Infernape and Scizor in their melee. Espeon was the only one who didn't join the other Pokémon She instead lied down next to Anabel but was paying more attention to the captivating Glaceon.
"So I'll go through everyone in the order I met them." Ash said.
Notes
For anyone thinking that Anabel is being extreme in her emotions remember that she has empathic abilities, which I think would intensify her own emotions especially ones like sorrow.
Next chapter will take a while as it has a lot more editing than any other chapter so I hope this will keep you going until then.
Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like, it really helps me improve.
If you have any questions, I am more than happy to answer them.