"Ash why are you doing this? There's no chance for you to win this thing!" Alyssa cried as she stared in disbelief at Ash.
Ash gave her a soft one arm hug. "I've got to Aly; let's talk outside the tent quickly okay?" Ash asked softly, whispering this quietly into Alyssa's ear so Sue wouldn't be able to hear.
Alyssa pulled gently out of the hug; looking into Ashs calm eyes didn't make her feel any better. "Okay, but you better have one damn good excuse for this!" Alyssa's voice wavered as she said this.
Ash and Alyssa left the tent and went to an unoccupied area where they could talk. "Okay Ash please tell me why, I won't be able to watch this fight it'll be too hard!" Alyssa's voice wavered as she looked to Ash for answers.
"Remember how Giovanni said that if I won I'd be able to take you with me to that new Academy?" Ash asked.
"Yeah?"
"Well two things, I can still walk and hopefully still be able to defend myself, and Giovanni thinks I want you to go with me to the new Academy so we can stay with each other right," Alyssa nodded and Ash continued.
"Well if I'm still in fighting shape I should be able to continue, I can't use my left arm, and I need to protect my left side and that's it. I can still use my legs and my right arm." Ash waited as Alyssa went over what he had just said.
"I suppose your right, but how far are you going to go?" Alyssa wouldn't be able to watch much more if Ash was going to be on the receiving end of these fights.
Ash gave her a reassuring smile, "Two more rounds and I'm done, a quick knock out and a lose shouldn't be too hard to do." Ash only wanted to go two more rounds; there were maybe four or five fights he had left to fight in. With broken ribs, and the damage he would take in the following rounds would be proof enough that he had tried his hardest.
Alyssa wasn't sure what to think, it was logical of course, but since Ash was putting his health on the line for this it didn't seem like the right thing to do.
"That's true I suppose, but you're putting your health on the line tho. Isn't that a bit much?" She asked.
Ash gave her a small grin, "Aly I've put my life on the line more times then you could imagine. There's really nothing to be worried about."
Alyssa made a mental note to ask Ash about the other times he risked his life, "We better get your shirt the match is going to start in a minute or two," Alyssa replied sadly.
The duo made their way back into the medical tent and over to where Ashs shirt lay.
"Aly, I'm going to need you to help me over to the ring just in case; I don't want to tire myself out before the match even starts." Ash said as he pulled the black shirt over his head.
"Okay Ash, but if you even start to get to beat up, I'm going to go in there and stop the match!" Alyssa wouldn't allow Ash to be seriously hurt, if he was still planning on getting out, he would still need to be able to walk.
"No Aly, do not interfere with the match! If I start to get on the bad side of things, you know that if you interfere Giovanni isn't going to be happy, and if I know that you plan to try and stop the fight I won't be able to concentrate to my fullest." Ash was dead serious on all of this, if he knew that Alyssa was going to risk harming herself for him at any moment that would put both of them in jeopardy.
"But Ash I-" Alyssa was cut off by the announcer.
"Our next match will be between Ketchum," Ashs name was instantly followed by a chorus of booing and cursing, "And Carson!" The announcer exclaimed!
Ash gave Alyssa a reassuring smile, "Come on Aly, let's get over there and end this thing quickly!"
As they slowly made their way to the ring, they noticed something different. The referee and Ashs opponent were not the only ones in the ring; Giovanni was standing between the two. As the duo made it to the ring, Ash stepped cautiously between the ropes and into the ring.
The referee handed Giovanni a microphone.
"We are nearing the end of this tremendous event, so why not make this a little bit more interesting?" Giovanni stated for the crowd.
Ashs eyes narrowed, and he tensed as Giovanni said that.
"For the rest of the competition, the combatants will be issued a knife of their choosing, and the original rules will remain intact!" Giovanni had a dangerous smirk on his face as he turned his gaze to Ash.
Ash felt a chill run up his spine; they wanted him to fight with knives? He could barely stand up a few minutes ago! He turned around to see Alyssa whose face was ghost white, her blue eyes showed too many emotions, she was scared, worried, terrified and much more.
"Will both combatants follow me to choose your blade," The Referee said as he stepped out of the ring.
Ash turned his gaze to the Ref and slowly made his way after him. About five meters from the ring was a wooden table that had knives lain out in individual scabbards. Ash walked up to the table and examined the knives.
Carson however, walked up took the largest knife and walked back to the ring. Ash removed each of the knives from their scabbards and examined each one. He was looking for the perfectly balanced knife that would be able to block, slash, stab, and parry.
After ten minutes of going through the knives, he picked out a single edge knife with a black hilt and a thick 10' edged steel blade. Quickly running his thumb gently across the blade to check to see if it was sharp, satisfied that it was, he attached the scabbard to his shorts and made his way back to the ring.
As Ash stepped into the ring, he looked for Alyssa to give her a reassuring smile. Ash saw her just behind where he was standing. Ash gave her a smile and slight wave, as he turned to face his opponent.
Carson had light brown hair which was stylized in a bowl cut; he had a broken nose, a small cut on his cheek, cold brown eyes, and an 11' stiletto double bladed switchblade knife in his left hand.
Ash shook out the last of his nerves and switched his blade into his right hand and held it loosely.
The Referee stepped out of the ring with a wicked grin on his face, pulling out his cap gun and pulling the trigger. He let the blood shed begin.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash and Carson began to circle each other, Ash kept his right side pointed toward Carson to avoid any more injury to his damaged ribcage.
Carson lunged forward and sent an uppercut slash at Ash. Ash dodged the blade as it passed harmlessly over where his throat had been before. Ash stepped forward and swung a kick into Carson's gut. With him winded Ash quickly threw two right jabs into Carson's jaw.
Carson staggered, but quickly retaliated by faking a knife stroke at Ash followed by a right hook into Ashs ribcage.
Ash went to parry the knife, but was thrown off when Carson stopped the stroke and stepped into Ash and threw a hard right into his ribcage.
Ash fell to the ground and grasped his side in pain. The pain was excruciating, it was like the painkillers had never taken effect. Ash rolled to the right as Carson brought the knife down for a killing stroke.
Ash knew that right then and there he was fighting for his life.
Ignoring the pain in his side, he got up and held the knife more tightly then before. Carson lunged forward and swung a two diagonal strokes at Ash. Ash parried the first, and narrowly avoided the second stroke.
Ash waited for the next attack, he knew he would have to make the jump from defensive to offensive soon or else he was done for.
Carson slowly moved in on Ash trying to keep him cornered. Carson suddenly ran forward and swung a slash at Ash which caught him on the right side of his chest.
Ash cried out in pain as the blade tore cleanly through his shirt and across his chest. Ash could feel his warm blood soaking his shirt.
Carson swung a horizontal cut at the Ash; ducking out of the way, Ash swung his blade horizontally across Carson's knee caps.
Carson crumpled to the ground unable to stand as Ashs knife was driven deeply across his knees. Ash was beginning to feel a little light headed. Shakily moving over to Carson, Ash roughly flipped him on to his stomach pinned him down with his knees and took his knife hand and twisted it into a painful submission!
"YOU GOT TEN SECONDS TO QUIT OR ELSE YOUR ARM GETS SNAPPED!" Shouted Ash, Ash was minutes away from passing out, blood had started dripping from underneath his shirt and onto his legs.
Carson refused to give in so Ash twisted his arm almost an extra 180 degrees. A crack sounded throughout the room as Carson's arm was snapped.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Alyssa watched as Ash took the knife across his chest. Instantly seeing that the blade tore through the shirt and drew blood Alyssa ran for the medical tent and grabbed Sue!
"Sue! Ash got cut! Hurry we need to get over there he's not going to last long out there!" Alyssa shouted worriedly.
Sue glanced around and beckoned for two of the other nurses to grab a stretcher. Sue, Alyssa, and the two nurses ran out of the tent and toward the ring.
"TEN SECONDS TO QUIT OR ELSE YOUR ARM GETS SNAPPED!" Alyssa heard Ash shout above the crowd. Pushing through the noisy crowd Alyssa saw Ash dripping blood onto Carson as he held his arm in a submission.
Seconds later Ash twisted his arm around and a snap was heard throughout the arena. Alyssa heard the cry of pain as Carson's arm was snapped, but her focus wasn't on that. As soon as Ash snapped his arm, he fell from his position on top of Carson and onto his side unmoving.
"ASH!" Alyssa roughly pushed through the remaining Grunts and quickly went through the ropes of the ring. Falling onto her knees, she flipped Ash over onto his back. She paled at how much blood was soaked into Ashs shirt.
Alyssa was pushed to the side as Sue and the two other nurses lifted Ash onto the stretcher and rushed him to the medical tent.
Alyssa took off after Sue and the nurses and ran into the medical tent. Sue and the nurses placed Ash onto one of the beds.
Sue took a knife and cut Ashs shirt from the collar down and examined the damage. Alyssa gasped at sight in front of her. Running down from just below his right shoulder to the bottom of his sternum was a deep gash that blood was freely flowing from.
She hadn't seen Ash in this bad of shape since they met, he had taken some bad beatings but nothing like this. The bandages that had been wrapped around his ribcage was now dark pink, she guessed that underneath the bandages it would be badly bruised.
"Alyssa please sit outside until we get Ash patched up, it's not going to be pretty." Sue replied seriously as she took out a syringe and injected it around the wound. Alyssa shakily turned away from where Ash was going to be sewn up and left the tent.
Leaving the tent she sat down on a chair that was outside the tent flap. Placing her elbows on her knees and her head into her hands she tried to stop her shaking.
'Please be alright Ash, we've gone through too much now for it to end here. There's still so much we need to do together, so much you've told me about, I can't be the one to tell them what happened to you…' Alyssa thought as more tears escaped her eyes.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash felt like his eye lids weighed 1000lb. slowly he peeled opened his eyes and took in the blurry surroundings. Ash went to lift his arms to rub his eyes, but stopped when he felt something tug against his skin. Blinking rapidly to clear his vision, Ash saw that his arms were connected to small tubes that connected to bags of liquids.
Ash looked around the dark room and realization dawned on him when he saw that he was in the infirmary. He was alone in the room, and judging that because the lights were off it was night time; all the other beds were made and looked as if they hadn't been slept in for a while.
Ash took the tubes that were attached to his arms and tore them off. Ash sat up and noticed that he did not have his shirt on, his eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the massive stitching he had on his chest.
Ash gently ran a finger across the black thread that held the lips of the wound together. It didn't hurt; he felt the left side of his ribcage and winced as pain shot through him. 'At least I know I'm not dreaming' Ash thought.
Ash carefully got off the bed and used it for support until he could locate his clothes.
After a minute of looking around the room, he spotted the box that he had gotten before the fight. Limping over to the box he let go a sigh of relief when he saw that the box contained an unripped black shirt.
Taking the shirt in his right hand he shrugged it over his shoulders and painfully slipped his left hand through the sleeve followed by his right. Lucky for Ash, he was still wearing his black shorts from the matches.
Ash walked over to his bed to see if his water bottle was over there, he was parched. He had no idea how long he had been out for. A couple hours, or maybe it could have been a week for all he knew.
Ash turned his turned his head to the door as he heard footsteps coming from outside the door. The door clicked opened and standing in the doorway was Alyssa with a tray of food in her hands.
Alyssa flipped on the light to the room and dropped her tray on the ground when she saw Ash. A smile broke out onto her face and she ran at Ash and threw her arms around him.
"Ash! Oh thank God you're finally awake!" Alyssa cried into his shoulder. Ash stood baffled as Alyssa cried into his shoulder. Ash gave Alyssa a gentle hug.
"What do you mean finally awake?" Ash asked curiously.
Alyssa pulled out of the hug and looked into Ashs eyes. "You've been out cold for three days! You lost a lot of blood and you've been resting!" Alyssa was overcome with relief that Ash was okay; she pulled him back into another hug.
"It's been three days? Shouldn't I be on my way to the other Academy right now?" Ash asked in disbelief! He couldn't believe it had been three days, it seemed like only a few hours ago he had fought in his first match!
"No, you aren't going for another few days; you lost too much blood to be risked being moved far away, and you aren't nearly recovered enough to be sent off somewhere where they'll train you a lot harder than here!" Alyssa smiled as she let Ash out of the hug.
"What time is it Aly?" Ash asked.
"Almost three in the morning, you should go back to sleep if your still planning on going tomorrow night!" Alyssa said softly as she sat him down on the bed.
"Why are you up this late Alyssa? Shouldn't you be asleep as well?" Ash asked, the fact that it was three in the morning and she was still up was odd. Alyssa liked to get as much sleep as she could.
Alyssa raised an eyebrow at him, "Because I've been so worried about you, Sue thought you would have woken up a couple of hours after you passed out. But when you didn't we got worried and I haven't gotten much sleep since."
"I'm sorry I made you worry about me, I shouldn't have continued fighting after I got my ribs broken." Ash said guiltily. The fact that Alyssa lost sleep over him didn't sit well with his conscious.
Alyssa gave him a smile, "It's fine Ash, your reasoning behind it was more than true. I don't blame you at all," A scowl came across her face at what she said next.
"I do however blame Giovanni for issuing knives into the fight, you could have been killed. He really is scum isn't he?" Alyssa said bitterly.
Ash lay back on his bed and gave Alyssa a questioning look. "Did anyone get, you know killed afterwards or is it just injuries?"
"The only reason Giovanni put knives into the match were for when you fought, as soon as you were out of the tournament he removed knives and said it was 'Because he was concerned for the safety of the other fighters!' So to answer your question, no, No one got killed afterwards." Alyssa said angrily.
"I think we should get some sleep Aly, you go back to your room and I will see you in a couple hours alright?" Ash said changing the subject.
"Alright, see you soon," She said as Ash gave her a smile and closed his eyes. Alyssa walked past the tray on the ground, and turned around to take a look at the soon to be sleeping figure on the bed.
"Good night Ash," She said softly as she turned off the light to the infirmary.
"Good night Alyssa" Ash called back. The door to the infirmary clicked closed and Ash drifted off into sleep.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
[11PM The Next Day]
Two best friends made their way down one of the many hallways of the Team Rocket Training Academy. The two would usually be laughing, smiling, and enjoying each others company. But not this night, tonight the air around them was tense, sad, happy, and nervous.
They took a right and stopped outside a pair of doors that led to the girl's dormitory. The raven haired boy and the blonde haired girl turned to look at each other.
Ash let out a sad sigh, "Well Alyssa…" Ash trailed off sadly, he hated goodbyes.
Alyssa couldn't think of anything to say, they had just spent their last day together and tonight Ash would be attempting the breakout.
"Ash I…" She didn't know what to say, a tear escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheek. Ash noticed immediately and wiped away the tear, followed by him pulling her into a gentle hug.
"Don't cry Aly, everything's going to be fine." Ash said softly into her ear.
Alyssa wrapped her arms tightly around Ashs neck, to avoid touching his broken ribcage.
"I know Ash, it's just…It's not going to be the same without you, and I'm not going to be there to help you when you get in trouble!" Alyssa's voice was muffled as she buried her face into Ashs shoulder.
"We'll find a way to stay in contact, and once you're in the field we should be able to see each other more often!" Ash said trying to cheer up his upset friend.
"But that won't be for another two years or so…"Alyssa trailed of as more tears escaped her eyes.
Ash went to pull out of the hug but was stopped when Alyssa didn't let go. Smiling to himself he went back and returned to their hug.
"You should head back to your room Aly, its best you don't know when I leave. Although I think you'll hear when the alarm goes off…" Ash trailed off.
Alyssa slowly pulled out of the hug and gave Ash a sad smile, "I'm really going to miss you Ash…" Alyssa didn't want to see Ash go, but it was either this or him being sent to a different Academy.
"I'm going to miss you too Aly, but we'll see each other again soon I promise!" Ash said giving her his toothy smile.
Alyssa smiled back, "Alright Ash I-" Alyssa stopped as she remembered something. "Ash hang on I forgot something!" She said as she opened the door to the dormitory and ran inside.
Ash stared at the door confused, he had to get ready and Alyssa just takes off? What's up with that?
Three minutes passed and Alyssa reappeared with a bundle wrapped in cloth. "Here Ash, I think you might need this for later!" Alyssa said seriously, handing him the bundle.
"What is it?" Ash asked as he unwound the cloth. After unwinding the cloth, Ash pulled out a sheathed knife. After a second, he realized that this was the knife he had used in the tournament.
"Where did you get this!" Ash asked quietly, looking up from the knife to Alyssa.
"When Sue pushed me out of the way to get you on the stretcher, I landed by the knife. Everyone was staring at you so I grabbed it and immediately took off after Sue!" Alyssa replied looking around to make sure no one was watching or eavesdropping.
Ash brought his gaze back down to the knife in his hands, after a second he attached the scabbard to his side and looked back at Alyssa.
Ash stepped forward and brought her into a tight hug, "Thank you for everything Aly, I wouldn't be here without you! I'm going to miss you so much!" Ash said softly, a tear going down his cheek.
Alyssa reciprocated the hug and they stood there for five minutes. Ash gently pulled out of the hug and looked into Alyssa's eyes smiling. "I'll see you soon right?" He asked.
"Right!" She said. Alyssa pulled Ash into one last hug. Pulling out of the hug they stood there in silence.
"Good bye Ash…" Alyssa said sadly.
"Good bye Alyssa, I'll see you again soon…" Ash said giving her one last smile as he turned around and walked down the hall.
Alyssa watched as Ash walked away, she stood there well after he had turned the corner and disappeared. Alyssa let a sad smile and a tear comedown her cheek.
'Good luck Ash, I'm going to miss you…' Alyssa thought as she turned around and left the hallway.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash immediately returned to his room, locking the door behind him he sat down on his bed and let a few tears escape. He usually wouldn't do this, but if he didn't get his mind off this the entire attempt would be futile.
He had to be completely focused or else he wouldn't be able to summon his Aura. Over the last year and a half or so, he had spent countless nights staying up late to get his Aura under control. He was nowhere near mastering it, but he could summon his Aura and possibly use it as a weapon.
He had to be completely calm, and focused tho.
Ash took deep breaths and calmed himself. He stood up and began stretching, he made sure to stretch very lightly so that he didn't injure his side anymore then it was.
Ash finished stretching and closed his eyes. He began to clear his mind of all his thoughts and memories, past, present, and future. Slowly he could feel something deep with in him. Calming himself even more he could feel the Aura within him strengthen.
Eyes still closed, Ash raised his hands in front of him, his palms facing outward. Ash centered his Aura and a glowing blue orb flicked and disappeared in front of his hands. Ash opened his eyes and spread his legs apart for balance.
Taking a deep breath, he set his face into a determined look. Ash shut his eyes again and centered his Aura; the blue sphere reappeared and lit the small room with a blue hue. A smile appeared on Ashs face as the sphere disappeared and the lighting returned to normal.
Ash went over to his dresser and changed into the outfit he wore during the competition. Clipping the knife to his side, Ash opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a thin sheet of plastic. Looking to make sure it wasn't bent he set it on top of his drawer and sat back down onto his bed.
It was still a bit early to make the break out, so he waited on his bed, taking deep breaths to keep himself calm.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
[1:30AM]
Ash got up from his bed and did a very quick stretch, grabbing the thin sheet of plastic Ash quietly left his room. Ash silently jogged to the cafeteria, luckily for him he hadn't run into any Rockets on the way down.
Ash took out the thin piece of plastic and slid it through the crack between the two doors to the cafeteria. The plastic stopped as it hit the lock holding the two doors together. Ash twisted the door knob and moved the plastic up and down diagonally until he heard a satisfying click.
Smirking Ash slowly entered the pitch black cafeteria. Closing the door behind him he searched the wall aimlessly for the light switch. After a minute of searching he felt the switch and flipped it on.
After his eyes adjusted to the light, Ash locked the door to the cafeteria and jumped over the counter into the kitchen. Looking around the kitchen, Ash saw a broom, and a chair. Ash also noticed plugged into the wall was a blender with a fairly large cord. Ash walked over to the broom and tossed it over the counter toward the door. Walking up to the blender Ash pulled the cord out from the wall and pulled out his knife.
Ash swung the knife down on the cord and severed it from the blender, feeling a quick jolt of electricity as he did so.
'Haven't felt something like that in a while!' Ash thought to himself, a smile coming across his face. Ash took the cord and tossed it over the counter and walked over to the chair and carefully placed it over the counter, followed quickly by himself.
Ash stole a glance at the clock, it read 1:48. Ash grabbed the broom and cord, Ash placed the broom horizontally across the two door handles. Making sure it was secure, Ash took the cord and wrapped it around the two door handles, and the broom; making sure to tie it off tightly at the end.
Ash grabbed the chair and tilted it under the door so that the backside was jammed under the door handles. Satisfied that the door would take some time to get through, he walked through the rows of tables and to the third last window from the left.
The window was a foot or two above Ashs head, and would be a tight squeeze; but he would fit.
Ash took a step back and took another glance at the clock. 1:53. Ash took a deep breath and raised his hands. Ash closed his eyes and focused his Aura; he could feel the power coursing through him. The blue sphere appeared and flickered repeatedly until it stabilized.
Ash waited until he knew he had his Aura fully under control. Ash snapped open his eyes and pulled his arms back, quickly thrusting his hands forward the Aura Sphere shot forward and into the iron bars of the window.
A small plume of dust surrounded the window, blocking Ashs view of the damage; Ash stole another glance at the clock 1:57.
Ash turned back to the window and saw that the bars were dented. Ash focused his Aura again and formed another Aura Sphere. Pulling it back, he shot it forward. This time one of the two bars flew off into the courtyard onto the other side.
Ash focused his Aura, but before he had the opportunity to form another sphere, the alarm went off.
"We have a security breach in Sector 2 Room 117! All personnel report and neutralize the threat!" A female voice announced over the PA System.
"Shit!" Ash muttered furiously under his breath!
Ash tried to focus his Aura, but instead of it forming the Sphere, all it did was flicker in front of him.
Ash needed to calm down. If he didn't, it would very well be the end for him, his life, his chances at escape, friends, family, everything.
Ash closed his eyes; he dismissed all thoughts from his head. He began to form an Aura sphere and was about to fire when he heard the door trying to be forced open. The sphere flickered, but remained. Ash ignored the sounds and brought his full attention to the problem at hand.
The Aura Sphere formed and Ash fired at the window, without waiting to see the damage Ash formed another and shot it at the window!
Ash turned around when he heard someone from the other side of the door shout "Grab a Pokemon to break this thing down!"
Ash looked to the window and saw the other bar was destroyed. Ash didn't waste another second. Ash ran up and grabbed the window sill with both hands and pulled himself up, the pain burned through his side as he pulled.
Ash began to pull himself out through the window. On the other side of the window was a large grass field that was surrounded by a metal fence, past the fence was the lining of the forest.
Ash stopped when he felt a tremor run through the building. Looking through the small space between his body and the window, Ash saw the door to the cafeteria fly across the room, and slide to a halt.
"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Ash shouted as he pushed with all his strength to force himself through the tight window.
"Grab Him!" Someone shouted!
Ashs feet were still in the cafeteria, while the upper part of Ash was clean through the window! Ash pushed and squirmed with all his might to get through. Finally Ash got his waist through the window and he tumbled to the ground beneath him. It was a ten foot drop, which Ash landed painfully on his side.
Ash muttered something as he hit the ground. Getting up ignoring the pain in his side Ash made a full out sprint across the courtyard. Ash pumped his legs as fast as he could.
"Get Him!" Someone shouted! Ash kept running, but turned his gaze to where he heard the voice. Sprinting towards Ash were three dog like Pokemon with jet black fur, a red snout, curved horns on its head, and a skinny black tail with an arrow head tip.
'Houndoom!' Ash thought as he turned his gaze back in front of him.
Ash was 50 meters away from the fence. Ash could hear the sound of the rapidly approaching Pokemon.
Two meters away, Ash jumped at the chain linked fence, seconds later Ash felt something pass through the air where he had just been. Ash climbed as fast as he could, he stole a glance to the left to see the Houndoom about to unleash a flamethrower.
Ash dove off the top of the fence and onto the other side as he felt his legs suddenly heat up. Ash didn't stop to look behind him; he could here shouts, and alarms going off. But he ran with every ounce of strength he had.
Adrenaline pumping, Ash sprinted across the open field and into the forest. Not stopping, Ash swerved, jumped, and ducked under all the shrubs, stumps, and fallen trees in front of him. Ash heard something behind him, turning his gaze for a split second he saw a Houndoom trailing him through the trees; closing the distance on him fairly quick.
Ash ran to his left, getting cut by all the bushes he was pushing through, Ash pushed through a large bush only to feel heat pass behind him. Ash ran straight forward, his eyes widened at what was to come. Ash couldn't make out how far the fall of the cliff would be. Ash turned his gaze quickly behind him; the Houndoom was just meters behind him.
Ash had put everything on the line for this moment. Risk a quick painless death right here and now for freedom, or be slowly killed and tortured by Team Rocket. Ash chose the former.
Ash ran with all his might, the Houndoom at his heel. Ash was meters away from the cliff. With a few feet left, Ash put the rest of his energy into running, and leapt off the cliff.
Ash somersaulted through the air, into the darkness. Tumbling into whatever fate lied beneath him.
Ashs life flashed before his eyes, his friends, family, Pokemon, people he met on his journey, every league he entered before flashed by him in the course of a few seconds.
A few more seconds of free falling Ash hit the bottom. Ash fell straight into the watery depths. As soon as he hit the water, it felt like he landed on pavement. It felt like his bones shattered as the air was driven from his lungs.
Ash kicked his legs as hard as he could to try and surface, they screamed in pain as they protested the movements. After what seemed like an eternity he broke through to the surface and sucked in as much air as he could.
Gasping, he looked to see how far he had fallen. It must have been a good hundred plus feet, from the top of the cliff. Ash kicked through the water and after a minute he was sprawled out on the dirt of the forest.
Ash laid there for minutes as he recovered his strength and breath. 15 Minutes later, Ash picked himself painfully off the ground and continued his way through the forest away from the cliff. Ash could hear voices far off in the distance as he continued through the bumpy terrain.
A few hours passed and he was well into the forest, he couldn't keep going. He looked around and found a hollow tree hidden behind a rocky outcrop. Crawling into the tree, Ash took out his knife and laid it beside him.
Ash gratefully closed his eyes, "I'm finally free…Finally free…" Ash said to himself as he drifted into sleep.
[End Flashback]
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The room was silent, nobody knew what to say. They just looked at Ash in astonishment, amazement, disbelief, sadness, the list goes on.
"That's how I got out, I honestly don't know how I survived that far. But once I hit Ecruteak City, I decided to go to Goldenrod. On the way there I realized I didn't have a Pokemon so I racked through my brain and then it hit me. Charizard wasn't far away, so I decided to head to the Charific Valley." Ash said to break the silence.
"So what did you do after you went to Charizard, and what about Alyssa?" Brock asked. He was still slightly in awe at Ash; he couldn't believe his best friend had gone through so much!
"Alyssa is fine; I stay in contact with her every now and then. As for what I did after I got Charizard there is quite a bit. But I'll tell you what I've told mom and Misty." Ash said. Looking at his Pokemon, Brock, Tracey, and the Professor.
Ash went on retelling the group about how he got Charizard, his name change in Orre, and the Coliseums he competed in.
After he finished retelling those stories, Ash took a look at the clock on the wall.
"Well, I think that's enough of this for now, we've been at this for more than a couple hours!" Ash laughed. It was 9PM and he was rather tired.
"I guess we should get something to eat and get going before it gets to dark," Brock said getting up from the couch.
The group got up and stretched their stiff muscles from sitting for so long. Ash turned to his Pokemon. "I'll come see you all around noon tomorrow alright?" Ash asked.
The Pokemon cheered in delight!
Ash turned to Charizard, "Charizard do you want to stay here for the night so you don't need to sleep in your Pokeball?" Ash asked the fire type. Charizard grunted and motioned for the other Pokemon to follow.
"See you all tomorrow!" Ash called out as he waved to the departing Pokemon. Soon it was only the humans, Pikachu, and Growlithe left in the once crowded room.
The group went to the lobby and said their goodbyes. The group of Delia, Brock, Misty, Ash, Growlithe and Pikachu who was sitting atop of Growlithe made their way back to the Ketchum residence.
Closing the door behind them, they all sat down and relaxed. Excluding Ash.
"I think I'm going to turn in for the night, I'm rather tired after today!" Ash said suppressing a yawn.
"Alright Ash, you'll be sleeping in your room right?" Delia asked her son.
"Yup, come on Growlithe. Are you ready for bed Pikachu or do you want to stay up longer?" Ash asked his small electric buddy.
Pikachu smiled at Ash and hopped up onto his shoulder. "Pika Pikapi!" Pikachu said cheerfully!
"Good night you guys!" Ash said waving to the group on the couch.
The three made their way up the stairs and into Ashs old room.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
As soon as Ash, Pikachu, and Growlithe were out of site, Delia, Brock, and Misty broke into conversation.
"I feel so bad for Ash, he went through so much! I can't imagine what it would be like to actually go through all that!" Misty said shaking her head.
"I know sweety, he must be stronger then he looks if he managed to get through all that!" Delia said.
"All I know is that we shouldn't get on his bad side!" Brock said seriously looking at the two women.
There was silence between them as they thought about what Brock said. After what Ash had told them, they'd hate to get on Ashs bad side.
The three continued talking for another two hours before they decided to turn in.
Brock and Delia were the first to leave. Misty decided to wait a while longer so she could get a snack to eat before sleeping. After a quick snack, Misty made her way upstairs. As she made it to the top of the stairs, she saw Ashs door was open.
Quietly peeking in, she smiled at the site of Ash sleeping. Ash was too tall for his bed so he was curled up with Pikachu close against him, while his Growlithe was lying sprawled out at the end of Ashs bed keeping his feet warm.
Quietly closing his door so she didn't wake him, she made her way to her room and changed into her pajamas. Once dressed, she shut off her light and slipped under the covers. Slowly she drifted off into sleep thinking over what she had learned about Ash that day.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Misty awoke the next morning, glancing at the clock it was 6AM. She had always been an early riser. Scooting out from under the covers, she stood up and stretched. Yawning she made her way over to the door and pulled it open and stepped into the hall.
Rubbing her eyes her jaw dropped open at what she saw. The door to the bathroom opened and out walked Ash with nothing more than a white towel wrapped around his waist. She immediately took in Ashs appearance, wet blonde hair, the large muscled arms, chiselled six pack and chest, and the scar.
As much as she wanted to take in the rest of his body, she couldn't take her eyes off the scar.
"You okay Mist?" Ash asked, Misty was standing at the other end of the hall unmoving and staring at him.
Misty slowly made her way over to him and stopped in front of him.
"Ash where'd you get that?" She asked quietly as she stared at the scar.
"Remember what I said about me getting cut in that fight. Well the cut left the scar in its place." Ash said.
Misty wasn't sure what made her do it, but she slowly raised her hand and gently brushed it down the large scar.
Ash wasn't sure what Misty was doing, but when she gently brought her warm hands down across his chest, a warm tingly feeling quickly came through him.
"Uhh Mist…" Ash trailed off, he wasn't sure what to do.
Misty looked up into Ashs brown eyes and instantly a thought popped into her head, "Ash, how do you keep changing your eye color, they were blue before and now they're brown again?" Misty asked.
Ash looked at her curiously, but answered her question. "Well once I got Charizard, Liza told me I should change my appearance so I bleached my hair, and she also gave me the idea of getting colored contacts."
Misty gazed into Ashs eyes, she wasn't sure but she felt like she forgot something. After a second she remembered. She remembered the promise she made to herself. She promised herself that if Ash did ever return, she would tell him her feelings for him. That she loved him.
Ash stared blankly at Misty, they were standing in the hallway and he was dripping water onto the carpeted floor. She was standing a foot in front of him and she had run a hand softly down his chest. Ash didn't know what to do, he needed to get changed but he didn't want to be rude.
"Are you okay Misty?" Ash asked curiously.
Misty snapped out of her thoughts and took a hesitant step toward Ash, so that their faces were inches apart.
Ashs heart hammered at how close she was, he could feel her warm breath come across his chest.
"Ash, I…" Misty trailed off. She wanted to tell him, but he had just returned and she didn't want something to drive him off somewhere else.
"What is it Misty?" Ash asked softly but curiously.
Misty stared into his eyes and saw nothing but kindness, warmth, caring, and a little bit of curiosity in them.
"Ash I, I n-need to tell you something…"She was nervous, her heart was pounding loudly and quickly in her chest. She was surprised that it didn't wake up the entire house.
Ash gave her a reassuring smile "You know you can tell me anything Mist, no need to be nervous!" Ash said reassuringly.
'That's what you think…' Misty thought.
Taking a deep breath, she went for the plunge. "Well, before you left and right now in fact. I, well sort of alwa-" Misty was cut off by the doorbell.
Ash snapped his head behind him "Are you expecting anyone Misty?" Ash asked cautiously.
Misty was slightly angry that someone interrupted her confession, but seeing Ash get cautious made her a little nervous.
"No Ash why?" She asked.
"Go answer the door; I'm going to get changed. And remember, I'm not here so act as if nothing changed!" Ash said seriously.
Misty looked at Ash and then the stairs. Ash gave her a nod and quickly went into his room, closing the door behind him. Misty turned her gaze to the stairs, and hesitantly made her way down the steps and to the front door.
Misty's heart was pounding, she wasn't sure why but seeing Ash get so serious so quickly made her nervous. Shakily she unlocked the door and pulled it open.
"MISTY!" Squealed two female voices!
Misty was quickly enveloped into a tight bear hug by two girls. The taller of the two wore a green bandana tied around her long brown hair, a tight orange sleeveless t-shirt with a black collar that fit her slim figure nicely, black bike shorts, and a pair of red and white sneakers. Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness.
The shorter of the two, wore a white beanie with a pink pokeball printed on the front over her long blue hair, she wore a short pink skirt, with a sleeveless black tank top with a white V-neck underneath.
"May, Dawn what are you doing here?" Misty exclaimed in surprise!
The two girls pulled out of the hug with grins on their faces.
"We decided to take time off and surprise Delia, you and Brock with a visit for Christmas!" May smiled cheerfully!
"Yeah so we took the SS Anne from Johto to Kanto, and now we're here!" Dawn smiled excitedly!
Misty had a smile break out across her face! "Come on in! Brock and Delia are still asleep, and...So is Pikachu." Misty finished. Her smile faded as she remembered Ash was upstairs.
"Okay great! Dawn and I will bring our bags into Ashs room and then we can get breakfast made for the others!" May said cheerfully!
Before Misty could stop them, the two perky girls rushed up stairs. Misty bolted up the stairs and saw Dawn about to open Ashs door.
"No! Don't go in there!" Misty shouted. The two girls looked curiously at Misty; ignoring her plea they opened the door and walked in.
Misty shot after the two and into Ashs room! Her eyes went wide at what she saw.
"Hey Pikachu it's great to see you again!" Dawn squealed as she picked up the smiling electric type from the bed. Misty looked around the room, the bed was made, a little ruffled from where Pikachu was laying, the pictures, desk and everything else was exactly where it was supposed to be.
But no Ash.
After Dawn said hello to Pikachu, Pikachu hopped over into Mays arms and nuzzled his face into her cheek in greetings. After the hellos were said, May and Dawn went downstairs to prepare breakfast, leaving a bewildered Misty, and a happy Pikachu in Ashs room.
"Pikachupi pi ka kachu Pikapi!" Pikachu said running over to the desk and pointed to a small piece of paper on top.
Misty followed Pikachu over to the desk and took the piece of paper, reading what was written on it.
Misty, left due to unseen difficulties. Be back later.-Shay.
Misty looked away from the paper and down at Pikachu, keeping her voice low she asked "Did Ash write this Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded.
"How did he get out?" Misty asked confused at the situation.
Pikachu ran over to the window in Ashs room and pointed at it.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
[A few Minutes Earlier]
Ash stepped into his room and unzipped his bag quickly, he pulled out a change of clothes, dark blue jeans, black t-shirt, and his colored contacts. Quickly slipping into his outfit, Ash put the contacts into his eyes.
"MISTY" Ash heard called out from downstairs. 'I know those voices…' Ash thought. Ash lightly ran over to Growlithe and Pikachu.
Gently waking his sleeping Pokemon, Ash took out Growlithes Pokeball. "Growlithe we have to get out of here now!" Ash said urgently. Without hesitation Growlithe got up from its sleep and touched the red and white capsule with its noes.
Ash went to his desk and opened one of the drawers and took out a pen and small piece of paper, quickly writing something on it he signed it off and placed it on the desk.
Ash grabbed his bag and opened the window, tossing his bag out the window Ash looked quickly at Pikachu who was watching curiously.
"I'll be back real soon buddy, tell Misty about the note on the desk okay!" Ash said to Pikachu.
Pikachu nodded, and Ash turned out the window and climbed out. Perching on the outside of the window sill, Ash pulled the window closed, and jumped to the snow covered ground rolling to help break his fall.
Ash snuck around the back of the house and heard a shout from inside, Ash leapt over the railing of the back porch and got down on his stomach. Peering inside, he caught sight of two girls entering the kitchen chatting to each other.
Ash silently went back to the side of his house where his window was and leaned against it. Pursing his lips he thought about how he could handle this situation.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Misty took another look at the note and realized it was signed off as Shay. "Come on Pikachu!" Misty said as she left the room.
Going down the hall she went straight to Delias room, quietly opening the door to her room. The walls of the room were painted a light shade of yellow, the walls were lined with pictures of Ash, Delia, Misty, Brock, and all of Ashs other friends.
There was a dresser had two vases that contained a beautifully assorted amount of colorful flowers. Misty crept over to Delia and gently shook her awake.
Delia slowly opened her eyes and saw Misty. "Misty what is it?" Delia asked groggily.
"Ashs gone Mrs. K" Misty said.
"WHAT!" Delia shouted as she shot up from her bed in a panic.
'Oops, not the best choice of words…' Misty thought. "It's okay Mrs. K! He will be back later, but May and Dawn showed up so he had to get out of here!" Misty said quickly and reassuringly.
Delias heart was hammering, "Misty you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Delia said catching her breath. The thought that Ash just disappeared in the middle of the night wasn't something she wanted to think about!
"I'm sorry, but he left a note, and he signed it off as Shay, so I don't think he wants to let May and Dawn know who he is right away!" Misty said seriously.
"Okay Misty, what are Dawn and May doing here tho?" Delia asked slightly confused. She loved the two girls to bits, but couldn't think of a reason they'd show up.
"The wanted to surprise us with a visit for Christmas, and boy they sure did!" Misty chuckled sheepishly.
"Well I guess I better get up and go say hello then shouldn't I? Oh and are you going to get Brock up as well?" Delia asked.
"Will do! Mrs. K, but how do you think Ash is going to handle this?" Misty asked, the way Ash had revealed himself the previous two times, to her and Delia, and then afterwards to Brock, Tracey, and Prof. Oak were all quite something.
"I'm not sure, but it's going to be something that's for sure!" Delia said as she pulled herself out of her bed.
"Alright I'm going to wake Brock up, I'll see you downstairs in a bit." Misty said as she left Delias room and went to the second guest room.
Misty woke Brock up, but made sure to choose her words more carefully then how she woke up Delia. Explaining the situation, Brock and Misty headed downstairs to have an early breakfast with the others. May and Dawn informed them of their travels to Unova, where a new branch of contests were being held.
"Unova sure is something, so many new Pokemon there; it sure is beautiful right Dawn?" May asked taking a bite of her omelet.
"Yeah it sure is, Misty you should take a break from the gym and travel with us for a while. There's a city much like Goldenrod over there entirely for shopping!" Dawn squealed in delight!
"As much as I'd love to go, it just wouldn't work out so well. The gym has gotten a lot busier. With the Indigo League finishing last month, they're getting the gyms prepped for next year's League, and not to mention all of the water shows we host at the gym!" Misty said as she took a drink of her orange juice.
Before anyone could reply, the doorbell rang, Misty, Brock, and Delia stared at each other. It was only around 7 in the morning and they wouldn't be expecting anyone. So it could only be one person.
"I guess we should go answer it?" Misty shrugged as she, and the others got up from the table. Walking to over to the front door, Misty turned the door knob and opened the door. Standing in the door frame was a smiling Ash.
"Misty it's great to see you again!" Ash stepped in and took Misty into a quick hug. Misty was slightly puzzled, but decided to go along with it.
"It's uh nice to see you to…Shay?" She replied uncertainly. Ash met her eyes and gave her a look to play along.
"Hello there Mrs. Ketchum it's lovely to see you again!" Ash said as he pulled out of Misty and his hug, and went over to Delia.
Delia smiled, but found it odd because he had called her Mrs. Ketchum instead of mom. "It's great to see you to Shay!" Delia said faux cheerfully.
Brock decided to play along, "Hello there Shay, my names Brock. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet." Brock said putting out his hand. Ash smiled and shook Brocks hand.
"It's a pleasure Brock!" Ash said as he turned to the brunette and blunette. "Hello there,"
"Hello Shay, my names May!
"And I'm Dawn!" They said cheerfully.
"It's great to meet you both!"
"So Shay what brings you here?" Brock asked trying to find out how Ash had this planned.
"Well Misty invited me over for Christmas, and it's always great to catch up with her and Delia, with all the travelling I do!" Ash said cheerfully.
"Are you a Pokemon trainer?" Dawn asked. She couldn't help but like what she saw from this Shay guy, it seemed like he had a good personality, and he didn't look too bad either!
"Indeed I am, how about you guys?" Ash asked.
"How about we get back to breakfast before we start talking!" Misty coaxed!
The group agreed and returned to the kitchen, Ash pulled up a spare chair to the table and they began talking.
"Well May and I are top Coordinators, right now we are competing to get into the Unova Grand Festival!" Dawn said as she went back to eating.
"Top Coordinators eh? Must have won a couple Grand Festivals then?"
"Yup, We've each won once!" May replied.
Misty was about to say something, but May cut in. "So how do you and Misty know each other?" May asked inquisitively.
Ash smiled, "Misty and I have almost known each other for about eight years now right?" Ash asked, turning to Misty.
"Oh yeah, something like that." Misty said simply.
"So are you two together?" Dawn asked bluntly.
Misty turned a deep shade of red, while Ash had a puzzled look come across his face.
"What do you mean together?" Ash asked. Everyone sweat dropped at Ash.
'At least he hasn't changed completely…' Misty thought.
"You know, are you to going out. Like dating?" Dawn asked, she couldn't help but wonder if he was free. He had a good attitude, good personality, and she couldn't help but feel he was somewhat familiar.
May wasn't far from Dawns thoughts, she was already in a relationship with Drew, but she couldn't help feel that she knew Shay from somewhere.
Ash felt his cheeks go little pink, why did he come back if they were just going to start this again. "Misty and I? No we've known each other for too long, were just really good friends." Ash replied.
Misty felt a pang of disappointment when he said that, 'Maybe I should just move on, he doesn't feel anything he probably has something with that Alys-' Mistys thoughts were cut off as Dawn replied.
"Then why did you blush?" Dawn asked.
Ash blushed a deeper shade of pink, at a loss for words; he said the only thing that seemed plausible. "I didn't blush!" Ash mumbled quickly putting his head down, before the others saw the blush come across his face.
Dawn raised an eyebrow at him; she could see something was there so she decided not to press the matter. Misty on the other hand felt her heart lift a bit at Ashs actions. He was uncomfortable with the situation which meant he might feel something.
"Shay are you sure we haven't met before?" May asked. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but they did know each other. From where tho, she wasn't sure.
Ash looked up; the group could tell he was thinking something over. The long moment of silence confirmed Mays suspicion and Dawn could now see that they had indeed met before.
"Where have we met before Shay?" May asked suspiciously her eyes narrowing. Ash pursed his lips and he continued to think. Taking a quick glance at Misty, Brock, and his mom in hopes for some help, he sighed in defeat as each of them shrugged.
Ash cleared his throat. "Maybe we should move to the living room before I answer your question," Ash said. He had a slight idea of how he was going to play this out.
"Okay lets go," Misty said as she got up from the table rather quickly. Before the rest got up, Ash began taking the others plates.
"There's no need to do that Shay, we can get those done later!" Delia said a little nervously.
"It's fine mom, I'll just put them in the sink for now." Ash said. May and Dawn froze, 'Mom…' they thought.
Staring wide eyed at Ash, May broke the quick silence. "A-Ash…" May asked not believe this for a second.
"It's me May…" Ash said softly, the reason Ash took the plates was because he knew what could happen when May gets angry. He didn't like the thought of her having forks and knives around her.
Dawn leapt up from her chair, knocking it backward and ran at Ash throwing her arms around him. "Ash! W-We missed you so much, wha-what happened to you?" She cried into his shoulder. Ash placed his arms around her and gave her a tight hug.
"I missed you to Dawn; I'll tell you what happened in a little bit. This is a lot for you to take in isn't it?" Ash asked softly. He felt Dawn nod against his shoulder. After a few minutes she let go of Ash and a smile came across her face, as she looked at her best friend for the first time in years.
As soon as Dawn let go, Ash had the wind knocked out of him as he was tackled to the ground!
"Ash I've missed you so much, I can't believe it's you! Where have you been it hasn't been the same without you?" May cried as she held Ash in a tight hug on the kitchen floor. Ash put his arms around her and held her softly.
"It's alright May, I'm back and I'm not going anywhere so don't you worry!" Ash said softly as he held the tearful girl in his arms.
May got up from Ash and let him get up from the ground. The two relieved girls took Ash in a hug together and held him there.
"So do you guys want to know where I've been?" Ash asked softly, he was going to tell them what he had told the others. It wasn't going to be as hard the second time around because he had told it the other day.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The two girls nodded and the group left to the living room where Ash retold his story. Nearing just after noon, Ash had finished telling his two friends the events that occurred while he was gone.
Dawn and May had tears in their eyes, "Ash, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, I thought we had it rough, but you! You had it a thousand times worse!" May said as she stared at Ash sadly.
"It's fine May, what's done is done. It was tough, and still is, but everything is fine now." Ash said to the sad girl.
"Ash how did you manage to get through all that?" Dawn asked, she was awestruck by Ash, she hated that he disappeared, it was the worst day of her life, but to find out how many risks he had gone through made him even more of a hero in her books!
"I honestly don't know Dawn, the main reason was because of Alyssa, and without her I wouldn't even be here right now." Ash replied.
The group sat in silence when Ash remembered something. "How about we all head up to the lab, promised that I've go up and visit the Pokemon, and I can answer more of your questions." Ash suggested.
The group agreed and waited while Brock, Misty and Delia showered. Once they were done, Ash went upstairs and got Pikachu who had been dozing peacefully. The group headed up to the lab, and went out back to the Pokemon Habitat.
"Pikachu do you want to go find the others for me?" Ash asked his electric partner.
"Pi Pikapi!" Pikachu answered, Pikachu was about to take off when it remembered something. "Pika chuchu pi chu ka!" Pikachu asked Ash.
Ash smiled; reaching down to his belt he unclipped two of his three pokeballs. Tossing the balls in the air, the red beams of light produced Growlithe, and a brown Pokemon with long creme colored segmented arms and legs, with three fingers and three claw-like toes, and large almond shaped eyes.
"Ash you have a Hitmonlee!" Brock asked surprised!
"Hitmonlee, everyone here is our friends; I'd like you to go along with Growlithe and Pikachu there to meet the rest of my Pokemon!" Ash said to the fighting type. Hitmonlee nodded to Ash and gestured for Pikachu to lead the way.
Ash turned to look at Brock, "When I came through Johto to get to Kanto, I had to go through a large cave, passing through a Tyrogue thought I looked like a worthy opponent so he challenged me to a battle."
"I was surprised, usually a Pokemon like that would run away. But instead this one decided to fight. So after the battle it asked to join me, so it could find new challengers to fight against, I told him of the risks that would involve coming with me but that only made him want to join more." Ash said to the group.
"Wow," was all Brock said.
Ashs group of Pokemon assembled, and they spent time catching up with Ash, when a thought crossed Ashs mind. "Hey guys, have you guys trained at all since I was gone?" Ash asked.
All of his Pokemon nodded enthusiastically, "That's great to hear, how bout we get some good old training in?" Ash asked excitedly! The Pokemon more than willingly got into groups and begun to spar with each other while Ash went around and watched how much his Pokemon had improved.
"Looking good Buizel! Nice razor leaf Bulbasaur! Awesome speed Infernape!" Ash said as he went around his Pokemon. After an hour or so the Pokemon took a break from training and relaxed in a clearing.
Ash looked around and saw Hitmonlee chatting to Sceptile, Ash walked over and chatted with the Pokemon.
"That was some good work out the Sceptile, I'm really proud of how much you've improved. But do you mind if I borrow Hitmonlee so I can get some practice of my own in?" Ash asked.
Sceptile smiled and gave Ash a nod, Ash and Hitmonlee walked into the middle of the clearing and got ready.
Ash placed his bag on the ground and unzipped one of the pouches, quickly taking out a pair of hand wraps he wound them around his hands and took off his shirt.
Ashs Pokemon looked up from what they were doing with interest. After what Ash had told them, they wouldn't mind seeing Ashs skill.
Ash shook himself out and got into a fighting stance raising his fists in front of his face.
"How about five minutes and first take down wins?" Ash asked the Brown Pokemon fighter.
"Mon Lee!" Hitmonlee replied as it raised its own fist and started moving around rhythmically. Ash smiled and the two began to circle.
Ash stepped forward and threw two left jabs followed by a right kick, Hitmonlee block the two punches and countered Ashs kick by blocking with its left leg the spring up and going for a round house kick.
Ash ducked the blow and went for two lighting fast rights and a left uppercut. The first right landed, but the uppercut and second jab were blocked. Hitmonlee went on the offensive and delivered a quick left followed by two speedy rights and a left kick.
Ash blocked the left, and the kick, but was hit in the gut by both rights.
Ash smiled, "Use your back muscles more, or are you going easy on me?" Ash asked Hitmonlee. Ash threw two rights and a left, one of the rights came in contact and so did the left. Hitmonlee swung its leg out in an arc, knocking Ashs feet out from underneath him. Sending Ash crashing to the ground.
Ash let out a laugh, "Nice job Hitmonlee, how about a round two?" He asked grinning!
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The group of people came out of Prof. Oaks lab and into the Pokemon Habitat, they had just gotten a snack while Ash trained with his Pokemon.
"Where could he have gone?" May asked, Ash was know where to be seen.
The group looked around and couldn't see anyone except for the odd Pokemon here and there.
"He couldn't be that far away, he's-" Brock was cut off as they heard a feint cheer come off from the forest to the south.
Puzzled the group shrugged and made their way over to where they heard the sound. Entering the cluster of trees, they came across a clearing where all of Ashs Pokemon were circled around something.
"What's going on?" May asked. The group shrugged and looked over the group of Pokemon and gaped at what they saw. Ash was pinned on the ground by Hitmonlee in a submission.
"Never let your guard down Hitmonlee!" Ash said as he rolled out of the submission and swept his leg in an arc, knocking over Hitmonlee.
"Damn, Ash looks pretty good!" Dawn said as she took in Ashs bare chest, and muscles.
"Sure does…"Misty trailed off as she watched the fight in amazement; the fighting looked as if it was dance. The movements were precise and looked as if they had been practiced for hours; the movements were smooth and flowed perfectly as they went into the next move.
May looked beside her at the dreamy eyed Misty, "Misty are you okay?" She asked suspiciously.
Misty snapped out of her staring and blushed a little, "Yeah, I'm fine it's nothing…" Misty trailed off.
"Misty do you still like Ash?" Dawn whispered to Misty. Mistys face heated up and she could feel the blush getting stronger.
"Yes Dawn I do, and seconds before you and May showed up I was about to tell him that!" Misty whispered back. Since Ash had disappeared Misty, May, and Dawn became close best friends and shared everything with each other.
May gasped! "Really! How were you going to do it?" She asked excitedly.
"Well I had just woken up and went into the hall and Ash stepped out of the bathroom with nothing more than a towel on…"Misty trailed off as she remembered the scene.
"Misty snap out of it!" Dawn said as she shook Misty by the arm.
"Oh sorry!" Misty said blushing again, "Well I went up to him and Ooo!" Misty winced as she saw Ash take a hard right to the jaw.
"Went up to him and pretty much was just going to come out and say it, I promised myself that if he ever returned I'd tell him…That I loved him." Misty said softly but quietly.
May and Dawn aww'd at Misty, "I'm sorry we ruined your moment Misty, how are you going to tell him now?" May asked.
Misty looked at her shoes and rubbed her toe awkwardly into the ground. "I don't know, I barely had enough nerve to do it before, and now I'm not sure I'd be able to. There's no time that seems right!" Misty said looking at her female best friends.
"We'll help you Misty!" Dawn said encouragingly!
"Yeah, we'll get you and Ash alone in the perfect time and place!" May said as she went over how romantic the scene would be!
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Misty ask raising an eyebrow, as much as she would love the help she couldn't help but feel that they'd go overboard.
The two girls pursed their lips as they thought of a plan. Misty watched oddly as the two girls stood stock still with a pondering look on their faces.
After a minute, Misty could almost see the light bulb that went off over Dawns head! "I've got it!" Dawn shouted. The Pokemon turned to look at Dawn curiously. Dawn turned red in embarrassment and chuckled sheepishly.
"Keep it down Dawn!" Misty whispered furiously!
"Sorry I've got a really good plan! Let's go find Delia and Brock!" Dawn said dragging the two girls behind her! Misty took one last glance behind her to look at Ash; he was congratulating his Pokemon on a well fought fight.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The three girls went over to the table, Delia, and Brock were now sitting at. With a grin on Dawns face they pulled up a chair and sat down.
Brock and Delia turned from their conversation and looked at the three girls.
"Mrs. K, I was wondering if we could hold a party for Ash since he returned!" Dawn asked.
"We can't dear, to hold a party for him would attract attention and Ash doesn't want that." Delia replied a little downheartedly.
Dawn nodded in agreement, "Well I had this idea you see," Dawn said slyly, "What if we hold a 'Christmas Party' but it would really be a party for Ash in disguise!" Dawn said triumphantly!
The girls and Brock stared at Dawn a little confused. "I don't know Dawn, it would be a little risky don't you think?" Brock stated. They knew the importance of keeping Ashs identity a secret, it would be a major risk to hold a party.
"Oh come on Brock, it wouldn't just be for Ash!" Dawn said trying to reason with the breeder. Misty turned red at that
"Quiet Dawn!" Misty muttered glaring daggers at the perky blunette.
"What do you mean, not just for Ash…?" Delia asked suspiciously.
"Misty wants to tell Ash she lov-OW!" Dawn shouted as something pulled her hair hard!
"Way to let the Meowth out of the bag!" Misty snapped at Dawn! Dawn sunk into her seat as Mistys temper flared. Brock had a smirk come across his face.
"Are you finally going to admit you love Ash?" Brock asked smoothly. Misty clenched her fists at the cocky breeder.
"Shut it Brock! Or you're going to be in a coma for a month got it!" Misty snapped angrily!
Brock moved his chair away from Misty.
"Misty dear is that true?" Delia asked softly, but curiously.
Misty looked at Delia, she always considered Delia her step mother because she had lost her own when she was younger. She had always been there for her, so caring loving, everything she could ask for. Misty knew she could tell her the truth.
"Yes Mrs. K…" Misty trailed off.
Delia looked over Misty and thought about what she said. "I think we should do it." Delia finally said.
The group snapped their gazes to Delia!
"Really!" Squealed May!
Delia nodded, "Ash needs to find some happiness, and Misty can provide it more than anyone else can, if you love Ash I can't help but be thrilled! I've waited to long for you two to get together! And I couldn't be happier that you're the one for Ash, Misty!" Delia said smiling at Misty.
Misty felt a tear come down her cheek at what Delia said, it showed how much she cared for her and her happiness.
"Thank you Mrs. K! That really means a lot to me!" Misty said softly, smiling.
The group drifted into discussion on how everything would be planned out, they'd need to invite guests fairly soon. The party would be tomorrow night; there'd be food, drinks, and dancing. That's where Dawn and Mays plan laid; they planned on getting Ash and Misty to dance under the stars where they would have the most romantic scenery possible! The girls gushed at how romantic and sweet it would be!
Another hour or so passed and they were still well into discussion. Ash appeared out of the forest with Pikachu on his shoulder and his Growlithe at his side. Ash looked around for his group of friends and family. Looking around he saw them over at a table by the lab.
"Hey everyone!" Ash called out as he took a drink from his water bottle. The group at the table turned their heads and saw Ash approaching them. They quickly put their heads together and quickly pulled out and turned back to Ash.
Ash was puzzled, he eyed the group suspiciously. Walking up to the table, he didn't sit down but cast a quizzical eye over the group.
"What's up?" Ash asked. His question met with silence, he saw the others look at each other instead of answering.
"Did something happen?" Ash asked suspiciously. If something he should know about happened, it would be best that they told him. Ash looked at Misty.
"What happened Mist?" Ash asked seriously, he wasn't playing games, if something happened he needed to no.
Misty didn't answer.
"Umm, Ash dear…" Delia trailed off not sure how Ash would react to what they decided.
"Yeah mom…" Ash replied hesitantly.
"We have decided that we would uh, throw a Christmas party…" Delia trailed off waiting for Ashs reaction.
Ash stared at her with a blank expression. He blinked a couple times before answering.
"I'm sorry what?" He asked making sure he heard correctly.
"A Christmas Party…" Delia answered. Ashs blank expression was a little unnerving.
"No." Ash said firmly in tone that shouldn't be questioned.
The group got nervous at Ashs change in emotion. Before his eyes were lively, and happy. But now they were like steel, they wouldn't back down; Ash was dead set against this.
Delia looked into Ashs eyes with a firm look of her own, it was nowhere near as intimidating as Ashs, but she knew she could break him. "I'm sorry if you don't like this honey but were having this party." Delia replied firmly.
"And I'm sorry that when you have that party Team Rocket will come in here and kill a few of you!" Ash replied coldly and seriously. The group was taken aback by Ash sudden harsh change.
"Since I left, have you had a single party? And I'm not talking birthdays or something like Thanks Giving. I'm talking about something like a Christmas or a New Year's party." Ash asked the group seriously.
They shook their heads in a 'no' fashion. "Then why would you suddenly have one now?" Ash asked, a little calmer than before.
The group sat in silence. They didn't entirely know how to answer the question, they couldn't tell Ash Mistys secret.
Ash looked around the group for an answer. "Well you decided to throw a party, so there's got to be a reason for it!" Ash said looking each of them in the eye.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked Ash a little scared. Ash looked at Pikachu and instantly felt guilty. He took Pikachu off his shoulder and held him in a hug.
"I'm sorry Pikachu; I didn't mean to scare you." Looking to the group he used a more reasoning voice, "Look I'm sorry for how I sounded there, but it is all the truth. Team Rocket monitors everything, so after four years suddenly throwing a party could make them suspicious; tell me why you want to do this?" Ash asked softly.
The group looked around for an answer.
"Ash, please just let us do this, we want to celebrate your return, and since we can't hold a party for you we thought we could do it in disguise." Misty said looking at the table.
Ash stared at Misty with a blank expression, blocking everyone's chances of reading his thoughts. This was very risky he hated the idea of a party. It could alert Team Rocket to his position; they could even be in Pallet already for all he knew.
"On one condition, and if you disagree than I won't go along with it!" Ash said sternly. The group was surprised at Ash; they didn't think that he'd go along with it.
"What's the condition Ash?" Brock asked.
"If I say that we cancel it, at any moment, you need to end it no questions asked." Ash stated. Ash looked around the group to see if the objected.
Delia nodded her agreement, "Okay Ash, we'll do that. But why would we need to cancel it?" Delia asked.
"I've got my reasons, but also you're risking me having to leave without informing any of you so keep that in mind!" Ash said as he put Pikachu back onto his shoulder.
They didn't know what to say to that, Ash would leave without telling them if he had to. Misty looked into his eyes and saw that he was serious, she hoped to God that nothing would go wrong tomorrow night
"So we're in agreement then?" Ash asked.
The group looked to Ash and gave him a nod.
"Alright than, I've got a phone call to make." Ash stated as he turned and left into the lab.