[Three Months Later]
"Take a left and the League Village should be around the corner!" Alyssa shouted above the roar of the motorcycle. Ash nodded to his two companions who were riding in the sidecar next to him. The travelling trio had spent the past two months training and causing hell for Team Rocket, but now their objective lay ahead of them. The Indigo League.
"Pikachu you're going to stay with Alyssa during the Conference alright? I can't be seen with you on my shoulder until our match, so you'll be watching alongside her. Where ever that may be okay?" Ash asked as he slowed the bike outside of a large circular building and came to a stop.
Pikachu who had ridden on Alyssa's lap during the drive from Viridian to the Indigo Plateau nodded and hopped out of Alyssa's lap and onto her shoulder, "Pi Pikapi!" Pikachu replied happily giving a mock salute.
Ash smiled and got off the bike, with his two friends following his lead, "First stop we need to register for this thing," Ash mumbled as he went around to the sidecar and took his bag out from under the seat. He undid the zipper and reached in pulling out his badge case. Redoing his bag he replaced it under the seat and held up his badge case, "Let's go," he stated pulling his hood over his head.
The trio left the bike and walked over to the entrance of the circular building, pushing open the twin glass doors Ash got a sense of déjà vu. The room was large and luckily for Ash empty. Around the room were scattered circular reception desks with a monitor located in each.
Ash and company walked over to the closet desk where a young woman with brown hair, and blue eyes smiled in greeting. "Hello, I take it you're here to enter the League?" She asked politely. A smile was seen underneath the shadow of Ashs hood.
"Yes please," Ash said placing his badges onto the counter and taking his Pokedex out from his pocket and into his hand. The receptionist opened the badge case and scanned each badge individually.
A ding sounded as the eighth badge was scanned and a green light came onto the screen behind her. "Alright, now if I may see your Pokedex for identification, we can get you all set for tomorrow," She grinned.
Ash leaned slightly over the counter and spoke quietly. "I need to make a request," he spoke quietly but seriously. The receptionist leaned forward so she could hear clearer.
"And what may that be?" She asked curiously.
"I need to not go under the name that the Pokedex," Ash put the Pokedex onto the counter as he said it, "quite yet." She raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded.
"The rules of the League are that you may go under any name until the Top 16 where all Pokemon battles become 6 on 6. Once there your name and the town you are from will be used until the end of the tournament." She replied.
Ash nodded thoughtfully, "Alright, but the name you see come up you cannot repeat to a single person okay?" He asked seriously. The receptionist eyed Ash carefully, it was her first year working the registration counter and so far this is was the strangest competitor to come through.
"Sure… Can I ask why?" She asked curiously. Ash nodded and motioned to the Pokedex.
"Your answer is right there."
The receptionist took his Pokedex and slid it into a slot on the counter. She turned around to the screen behind her and gasped raising a hand to her mouth at the name and picture above. She turned around wide eyed looking at Ash in shock, "You-You're supposed to be…" She shook her head stammering not believing this for a second.
"Dead? No not yet. But if you let anyone know I'm here until the Top 16 then I will be. This has to be kept under wraps okay?" He asked quietly, as his Pokedex ejected from the slot in the counter. She nodded still wide eyed.
"What, what name are er do you want to use for the preliminaries?" she asked shaking her head as she went over to a computer.
"Shay, just Shay" Ash said turning to his two companions who had been observing quietly. He turned back to the girl as another thought crossed his mind. "Oh, can I swap the picture that is used on the score board with this?" He asked pulling out a picture from his back pocket. The picture had Ash with his bleach blond hair and a white baseball cap concealing his eyes in the shadows.
" And could we get a room for three in the village," He added on as he handed the picture to the receptionist. She nodded.
"Sure. Sure to both of those," She said as she reached under the desk and took out two keys, Ash took both and handed one to Alyssa. "Now all we need to do Shay…" She trailed off to make sure she got his persona right, he nodded, "Is set up your first match for tomorrow." She pressed a red button that was next to the slot where the Pokedex was entered, and the screen that previously had Ashs picture and name changed into four cut off areas.
The screen was divided into four squares; each square had either a picture of a rock, leaf, raindrop, or snowflake in it. The rock square lit up and began going clock wise around the four, Ash repressed the button and the light slowed down until it stopped on the Leaf symbol.
"You're first match will be on the Grass field over in Stadium B," The receptionist announced. She then typed in something into the computer and the screen switched back to the picture of Ash, and now a picture of a boy with blue hair, and the eyes to match.
"This will be your opponent tomorrow at 10AM tomorrow morning." Ash nodded and thanked the woman for her help. She then added, "Oh, and it's great to see you back… However you managed to do it…" She smiled still shocked by his appearance.
Ash turned back around and gave her a wave, "Thanks, and remember don't say a word." He called back, she nodded and he turned to Alyssa, "I don't think she's going to say anything," Ash pushed and held the door open for her as they stepped back out into the crowded streets of the Pokemon Village, "So should we head to our lodge then get ready? I have to be at the opening ceremony in an hour so…"
Alyssa looked down at Pikachu, as they made their way over to the bike, "Sounds good, Pikachu and I have to go get our equipment anyway. So while you head over to the Ceremony we'll take the bike grab our stuff and be back at the cabin when you return okay?" She suggested stepping into the side car and placing Pikachu into her lap.
"Sounds good, but once we get settled I got to head over to the center and get my team for tomorrow. And if you get back early you two may want to scout around where you'll be watching for each of the matches?" Ash started up the bike and began to drive off towards where the cabins were located for the Trainers that competed.
"If we have time, you know I'm not a fan of pink so I'm going to have to get a new set of clothes while we're gone!" She shouted over the engine. Alyssa was currently wearing a pink beanie over her long blond hair, a pink tank top, and blue skinny jeans with white and pink sneakers.
Ash chuckled and looked at his companion, "You look great as you are, but green is definitely more your color!"
Alyssa turned away from Ash as her face became slightly red. Whenever Ash complimented her, she couldn't help but blush. Usually he did it without trying, but when he did it on purpose like he just did she felt Butterfrees in her stomach. Her thoughts of Ash were neutralized when she locked eyes with a girl they drove passed. Quickly turning away from her she looked at Ash.
"We may have a problem Ash…" She wasn't sure, but from the pictures she had seen it looked like her. Ash didn't answer, but instead drove up a hill and slowed down in front of a log cabin. He shut off the bike and turned to Alyssa.
"Well this is where we're going to be staying for the competition, now what were you saying about a problem?" He asked curiously as he offered his hand to help her and Pikachu out of the side car. Pikachu hopped onto Alyssa's shoulder as she took Ashs hand and climbed out of the side car. Once they were out Ash reached into the sidecar and took out his bag and shrugged it onto his shoulders, before moving to unlock the door.
"I can't be sure because I haven't seen them before, but I think I saw-" She was cut off by another voice.
"Ash!" Two female voices shouted, Ash stopped opening the door to the cabin and froze.
'This is not happening. They cannot be here…' He thought wide eyed turning around to see if it was indeed,
"Misty…Mom?" He nearly shouted in disbelief! Misty and Delia came running up the hill to the cabin grinning. Ash did not have the same look on his face.
The two females went to take Ash into a hug, but he stopped them by taking a step back, Misty was puzzled by his reaction, "What's wrong Ash, aren't you happy to see us?" She asked somewhat hurt.
Ash mentally cursed himself, he turned to Alyssa before acknowledging his mother and girlfriend, "Alyssa, can you do a quick background check on my opponent while I talk with these two?" He asked kindly. Alyssa nodded, sighing as she and Pikachu stepped into the cabin and out of sight.
He then turned back to the other two who were watching, he let out a big sigh before speaking. "Both of you inside right now, I'll be in there in a minute after I park the bike…" He trailed off as he took the bike by the handles and began wheeling it around behind the cabin.
Misty turned to Delia, "I don't think he's too happy to see us…" She trailed off uneasily, she had seen Ash driving what appeared to be some sort of bike with the girl who was apparently Alyssa and took off with Delia right behind her to catch up.
She nodded, "I think your right, but we should go introduce ourselves to his friend," She replied cheerfully walking over to the front door and stepping inside, with Misty right behind her.
The cabin was well furnished, but not overly extravagant. The room they were in was square with two couches in the center of the room that were around a rectangular wooden table, on the wall in front of the couches was a 42 television. To the left of the couches were four doors, one that was open leading to a bedroom, another which led to a kitchen, and the other two led to bedrooms.
Delia stepped inside and went over to the open door in the room and peaked inside, sitting at the desk in the room was Pikachu and Alyssa who was using her laptop to look over a Trainers profile. "Knock knock," Delia smiled happily as she entered the bedroom.
Alyssa turned around and smiled at the two girls, getting up from her seat. "Hello Mrs. Ketchum it's lovely to meet you, Ash has told me so much about you," Alyssa greeted politely extending her hand. Delia smiled warmly back and took her soft hand gently.
"It's wonderful to meet you to Alyssa; Ash had spoken very highly of you when he came home,"
Alyssa blushed as she said that. Pikachu hopped off the desk and into Delias arms, "Chukapi!" Pikachu squealed happily snuggling close to her.
"And it's good to see you to Pikachu, have you been taking care of Ash like I asked?" She asked half seriously, half kindly. Pikachu hesitantly looked from Delia to Alyssa for some sort of reply.
"Don't worry Mrs. Ketchum; Ash has stayed out of trouble for about a month now, which is almost a record for him!" Alyssa answered sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, which did not go unnoticed by the older woman.
Giggling, Delia smiled at Alyssa, "Did you pick that up from Ash?" she asked raising an eyebrow at her.
She got the same result; Alyssa rubbed the back of her head and answered, "Yeah, after being around him for so long some of his traits begin to wear off on you…" Delia giggled once again, before turning behind her.
"Misty dear, come over here." Delia stepped aside so Misty could get through the door. Alyssa held out her hand to the red head.
"It's a pleasure Misty, Ash has told me so much about you, I can't wait to get to know you both more," Alyssa smiled warmly at Misty.
Misty smiled back and took the offered hand, "It's great to meet you Alyssa, I have to thank you for keeping Ash going when he was…" She trailed off uneasily not sure of what to say. Alyssa quickly stepped in to save her.
"Don't even mention it, he helped me through it more then I help him so." She said dismissing the conversation. Misty opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the door opening and closing shut.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash stepped into the cabin and closed the door behind him, he shrugged his backpack off and placed it next to the door, followed by him undoing his black hoodie and tossing it onto the couch. Opening his bag he took out his water bottle and had a quick drink before replacing it. Misty and Delia hesitantly stepped back into the room where Ash now stood waiting for them.
He motioned for them to take a seat, which they obliged. He was about to say something when Alyssa stepped out of the bedroom, "I got the information on him, so Pikachu and I will head out and grab our supplies and be back in an hour or two alright?"
Ash nodded, "Alright I'll see you in a bit, and have you guys introduced yourself?" He asked curiously. She nodded, "Okay can you leave the laptop in the room and I'll get to it in a few minutes?"
"Sure thing,"
"Thanks Aly," he said as she went over to the front door of the cabin.
"Alright see you in a bit, let's go Pikachu!" She opened her arms and Pikachu leapt out of Delia's arms and scampered over to Alyssa and hopped into hers. Pikachu waved goodbye as the pair left the cabin.
Ash turned his gaze from the door to the two girls in front of him, "Okay, what are you two doing here?" He asked seriously, he didn't want any unneeded info, he just wanted the truth.
"We wanted to come chee-" Ash cut his mother off politely by raising his hand.
"You came here… To cheer me on?"
They nodded. "Well you're not, the next few days you cannot acknowledge me, Alyssa or Pikachu."
"Why can't we be here to cheer you on? We want to congratulate once you won the League, and defeat the Rocket!" Misty said angrily, she didn't particularly like the tone Ash had right now and wanted him to cut it out.
Ash shook his head in amusement and ran a hand through his black hair, "Here's how this is going to go down," his tone was dead serious like the one he had used when they told him about the party, "You can stay at the League, and even come to my matches if you like but you will not cheer for me, will not come find me to congratulate me on a win. You will go to other matches, and not just my own, and you will not come back to this cabin until everything is over alright?" He asked making sure they understood perfectly clear.
"Why ca-" Ash cut Misty off before she could even begin.
"Because, Team Rocket is here, at the League. They want me dead, they most likely already know I'm here, and the fact that is, if they see you at all of my matches that confirms it's me and I'll be dead in seconds okay? Alyssa and I have spent months preparing for this, everything has to go smoothly or Team Rocket wins, and that cannot happen. We found out a lot more about what they are planning since I visited you three months ago Mist, I won't tell you what it's about but trust me this is not something you can deal with." Ash took a deep breath and sat down on the couch opposite the two girls.
He didn't say anything, he just stared at them until one of them asked a question, Delia was the first to speak up, "Honey why can't we go cheer you on?" She asked uneasily.
"Mom I want you to think about something," Ash began running a hand through his hair. "For the past few years Team Rocket has kept a keen eye on all of you. Now let me ask you something, what would they think if two close people to me both happen to show up at the League, and start cheering for an unknown competitor?"
Delia opened her mouth to reply, but shut it when she lowered her gaze and moved uneasily on the couch.
"It would lead to suspicion towards the competitors, who are competing. In this case you, right?" Misty asked downheartedly. Ash nodded, and sighed.
"Look, I know you both came here with good intentions but for the next week things are going to be hectic for Alyssa and I. We won't really be able to talk at all, I'm going to be going to be competing, and when I'm not I'm going to be checking the standings to find out who the Rocket is. And Alyssa is… Going to be giving me over watch while I battle, so we won't be around much."
"What about at night?" Misty asked curiously, Ash kicked his feet up onto the table and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Where are you two staying?" Ash asked. Delia and Misty gave each other nervous glances, before Delia spoke up.
"Well Honey… We uh were hoping we could stay with you, the hotels were full so we thought if we could find you before you register we could stay with you…" Delia said hesitantly. Ash cursed under his breath, everything had been fine but now he had to let them stay. He couldn't just kick his mother and girlfriend out onto the streets.
Groaning Ash placed his head into his hands, " I…" He paused as he thought were to begin. "Look I'm not going to make you guys sleep outside, but you will follow my instructions okay?" He asked seriously. The two girls nodded, " You both are lucky that I asked for a three room lodge, I was going to use one to store our stuff, but you two and Aly will be taking the rooms and I guess I'll have to take the couch…" Ash scowled, he wasn't going to act like he was happy about all this, because he was frankly pissed.
"No Ash I wi-" Ash cut Misty of by raising his hand.
"You will take the rooms no questions asked okay, my rules or you're on the street. And for the other rules you two will be back at this lodge by 8 for the preliminaries okay. For the top 32 to the finals, you can stay out until 10." Ash spoke to them as if they were children, his tone wasn't very kind, but the turn of events took him out of his good mood.
"Okay honey, we'll be back by those times." Delia confirmed truthfully, Ash nodded and got up from the couch and unlocked a window in the room. Once open he reached to his belt and unclipped a Pokeball. The sphere burst open and materialized from the red light was his Growlithe.
Ash bent down and gave Growlithe a scratch under the chin, looking to the two girls he got up and headed for the front door, taking his hoodie and slipping it on. "Growlithe and I are heading to the opening Ceremony, afterwards I'm getting my team for tomorrow and then I'll be back."
"Okay we'll go onc-" Ash interjected once again cutting the red head off.
"No, you two will stay here, you can watch on the television" He pointed to the TV on the wall, "There is no need for you two to come, and besides you're going to explain to Aly that you're staying." Ash finished firmly opening the door with Growlithe at his heel.
"But-"
"No buts, my rules and you will follow them." Ash said dead seriously before closing the door behind him and the Fire Type.
Misty glared at the door, "I think we made a mistake coming, he certainly isn't thrilled about us being here…"
Delia nodded, "Yeah, but we can't do anything about that now. How about I go make us something to eat?" She suggested getting up from the couch and moving to the kitchen.
"Alright…" Misty agreed hesitantly.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
[One Hour Later]
Delia and Misty sat on the couch in the living room of the lodge watching the opening Ceremony of the Pokemon League.
"Do you see Ash?" Misty asked curiously, as she took a sip of hot chocolate.
Delia shook her head, "No, I don't thin- Oh there he is, behind the blond girl to the left!" She exclaimed pointing at the screen.
Misty squinted at the screen, "Are you sure? The hoods up and you can't see who it is?" She replied uncertainly.
Delia nodded, "That's how I know it's him, he's hiding remember so he keeps his hood up to conceal his identity!" Misty had a look of realization dawn on her as she saw the truth in what the older woman had said.
They sat in silence watching until the door to the lodge opened, in walked Alyssa with Pikachu happily sitting in her arms and a long case, and backpack slung over her back.
"Hey what are you two still doing here?" Alyssa asked confusedly at the two girls sitting on the couch. Delia smiled and answered.
"Well, Ash invited us to stay here with you two as long as we follow your rules," Alyssa gaped; she did not expect Ash to go and do something like that.
"He invited you?" She asked making sure she heard right, Delia nodded. Flabbergasted, Alyssa nodded unsurely and went over to the bedroom she had the laptop in. Pikachu hopped out of her arms and onto the desk as Alyssa shrugged the long case, and backpack off her back and leaned them against the wall.
Pikachu hopped off the desk and scampered out of the room and onto the couch as Alyssa stepped out of the room and went around to the couch and sat down. The trio of females sat in silence until Misty spoke up, "Umm Alyssa?" She asked somewhat uncertainly. Alyssa turned her gaze from the screen to the redhead.
"Yeah Misty?" she replied, she figured that a couple questions would be asked since this was their first meeting.
"Ash told us that he found out some more info about what Team Rocket is planning; could you tell us what it was?" She asked curiously. Alyssa pursed her lips; Ash hadn't told them which was enough for her to know not to say anything.
"Sorry Misty, I better leave that up to Ash if he decides to tell you or not…" Misty nodded her understanding and posed another question.
"Umm, before when we first met a while ago, you said Ash saved you more then you saved him…" She trailed off seeing if she was going somewhere that she shouldn't.
Alyssa eyed her carefully, "Yeah…" she replied hesitantly, she wasn't sure where this was going, but she was going to kill Ash for making this awkward for her. She didn't know what she could tell Misty and his mother but she wanted to make sure she didn't go to deep into what happened at the Academy or once he escaped.
"What exactly did you mean by that? He told us about how you met and that fighting competition, but other than that he had only said a little bit else about his time at the Team Rocket Academy… Could you tell us more about what happened there?"
Alyssa looked around uneasily… A lot happened at the Academy, and afterwards… She had a faint idea of what she could say but, bringing one thing up could lead to questions she couldn't answer.
"Umm… What do you two want to know…? I can't answer everything for you, but I'm sure a few things will be alright…" Alyssa repositioned herself so she sat cross legged on the couch and facing the two girls.
Delia cleared her throat to get Alyssa's attention, "Yes Mrs. Ketchum?" She asked politely. Delia smiled and took that as a sign to continue.
"Umm dear," she began politely
'Dear?' Alyssa thought warmly.
"I was wondering, when Ash told us about the two of you spending time together at that Rocket place, he said that he would die to save you if he had to," Alyssa felt her cheeks go warm, which she cursed herself mentally for because Ashs girlfriend was sitting right across from her.
Misty noticed the slight blush, but ignored it for now as Delia continued. "He said that you kept him going and stopped him from doing anything he'd regret… If you could, could you tell us what he meant by that?" She asked softly. Alyssa felt uncomfortable; she looked to the ground as she thought if she should answer.
"I, I supposed I could answer that… I just don't think Ash would be too happy if I did tho…" she replied uneasily, Delia had a look of worry come across her face.
"How bad did he get?" She asked just above a whisper.
Alyssa cringed, she didn't want to go into this but she could tell Ashs mom was almost as stubborn as he was.
"I… How, how much do you want to know?"
"Can you please tell us anything about what happened there? It doesn't have to be on that subject, but Ash only told about what the important events that happened. Could you tell us about anything that he would have left out on purpose?"
Alyssa could think of a few different things, but some of those were more personal to her then to Ash. There was one thing tho, it would lead to a question that she wouldn't answer but Ash would hopefully be back by then and save her from being pressured.
"I, I can tell you about when he almost… When he fully gained my trust, and I gained his…" She winced as she said it, she wasn't sure if they were going to want to hear it but it would answer one of their questions.
Misty thought about it curiously, Ash had said they told each other the truth no matter what it was. So whatever made Alyssa trust Ash completely must have been big? She slowly nodded.
Alyssa took that as a sign of continuing. "Well, a few months after we met, Ash and I were pretty good friends. There were times when we couldn't answer each other's questions but we understood that." She sighed as she got herself more comfortable.
"I guess you could say that he earned more than just trust from me on this," She shook her head as she felt her cheeks warm slightly and she got off topic. "After the fight in the cafeteria and we became friends, Ash wasn't picked on as much as before. He still got into fights, but since he was a great fighter they stopped instigating him and moved onto me so they wouldn't wind up in the infirmary but could still get to him…" She informed calmly.
Delia and Misty instantly could see she was setting aside her emotions like Ash for when she began.
"And well like I said a couple months after we became friends they started going after me to get at Ash. And then one day I was heading to one of the training rooms where Ash was allowed to practice with knives, and well some Rockets thought it would be a good time to go after me since Ash had beat up one of them the week before…"
[Flashback]
Alyssa walked through one of the crowded hallways of the Rocket Academy. She had just finished her Pokemon Training and was now going to find Ash so he could give her another lesson on how to defend herself. The past few months after she met Ash had been rough on the both of them. She had become a prime target for Grunts to get on Ashs nerves.
A week after they met, Ash had begun to teach her how to defend herself if the situation called for it. Unfortunately for them, two weeks after Ash had fought Chris, Chris and a few of other Rockets had found her and gave her a beating saying 'You had this coming, expect this a lot more now that your pals with Ketchum.'
She had been bruised and suffered a dislocated shoulder, and when Ash saw what happened to her, he was quite angry. She had told him that she was okay, but he wouldn't have it. He had brought her to the infirmary right away then stormed out of there with a dangerous glare.
Long story short Chris got it worse than he had before, Ash had broken his jaw, and had re-broken his healing nose. Ash had dragged him through the Academy and to the infirmary to show her what he was going to teach her to do. And she was well on her way there; she could almost handle one Grunt if it came down to it. But that rarely happened.
So here she was two months later on her way for her next lesson. Alyssa took a left and continued down the hall. She could hear mutters of her name along with Ashs as she passed groups of Rockets. She and Ash had become good friends, she liked Ash, he had a good personality, he was kind, funny, had some of the weirdest stories, a cheerful guy, and just an all-round good person. She was glad she made the decision to stick with him then go to the other Rockets.
She knew what hanging out with Rockets could be like from her time at the Orange Island Academy. It wasn't very fun, most Grunts were vulgar, rude, arrogant, cocky, selfish, and most of the guys at one point had tried to take advantage of her.
Ash hadn't been any of those things, but what surprised her the most was that on the outside he seemed so calm and emotionless, but on the inside he was an emotional wreck. From what he had told her about before he was forced to join the Academy he was an always cheery guy, but the Ash she knew was still a happy guy, but when overly stressed or after he had taken a serious beating things got very rough for him.
She was actually glad that he shared his emotions with her, good or bad it didn't matter. She didn't know everything he was going through, but she knew what a rough life was like.
She sighed as she pushed open a door and continued walking down another hallway. She saw the door where Ash was training at the end of the hall; the doors were painted black and had a red R painted across the center. She was halfway there when someone called out to her.
"Hey babe where ya goin?" A sickeningly sweet voice shouted from behind her. Alyssa scowled as she turned around to see who it was. She clenched her fists tightly as she saw standing at the other end of the hall. A light blue haired Grunt with a black eye around 17 years old stood with a smirk plastered on his face and his arms crossed glaring at her.
"What the hell do you want, another black eye?" she growled threateningly. The Grunt barked out a laugh.
"Ketchum ain't here to save you this time," he stated a dangerous smile coming across his face.
Alyssa scoffed, "I can take you on myself, I don't need his help to take you down!" She sneered. The Grunts smile grew.
"Maybe that's true," he jerked his head slightly to the right before continuing; "You can take me on but what about them?" He asked coldly.
Alyssa was puzzled, "What are yo- What the!" She was interrupted by two pairs of hands grabbing her roughly by her arms and shoulders lifting her off the ground. She furiously struggled against her to captives holds, "LET GO OF ME YOU FREAKS!" She shouted angrily as she was carried forcefully over to the smiling Grunt.
As soon as she was in range of the Grunt she kicked out in hopes of landing a low blow, unfortunately he saw it coming and grabbed her leg and twisted it painfully. Alyssa bit her lip to not cry out as pain shot up her leg. "Try that again and I'll break it," He said coldly.
With that he drew his right hand back into a fist threw a hard right into Alyssa's gut. Alyssa gasped in pain as the wind was knocked out of her. Before she could recover he began throwing hard rights and lefts into Alyssa's face.
Her lip was cut and her nose was bleeding badly, she felt like she was going to pass out when the beating stopped. The Grunt eyed Alyssa thoughtfully, "Not so tough now are ya?" He asked coldly as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a switchblade.
"We're gonna have some fun now aren't we?" He asked as he raised his hand to Alyssa's bruised face and caressed it gently. He gripped her by the shirt and pulled her closer to him and kissed her hard on the lips.
Alyssa couldn't do a thing about it, she was tired, in pain, bleeding, and restricted by the two Grunts holding her. She tried to struggle away, but it wasn't helpful, the Grunt let go of her shirt and pulled out of the kiss, and delivered another blow to the cheek.
He spat onto the tiled floor smirking, "Taste pretty good babe, to bad I got to send a message to your boyfriend," He shrugged and flipped open the switchblade, he brought the blade up to her cheek and applied gentle pressure drawing a little blood.
"Don't worry, I'm just gonna give you a new beauty mar-UGH!" He was cut off as a heavy force knocked him off his feet and onto his back. "What th-AGH!" He cried as a powerful fist drove into his jaw.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Where is she, she should have been here ten minutes ago…" Ash muttered as he walked aimlessly around the training room. He had been waiting for Alyssa so they could start there training but she hadn't shown up and he was beginning to get impatient. He sighed, "Might as well go look for her…"
Ash took off the white tank top he had been wearing and put on the regulation Team Rocket shirt. Sighing he walked over to the door of the training room and pushed it open, he froze at what he saw. At the end of the hallway two Grunts were holding a limp Alyssa while a third which Ash recognized instantly pulled out of a kiss and stroked her cheek.
Fury built up in Ash as he saw that, he sprinted down the hall not making a sound and over to the Grunt, who was now holding a knife to Alyssas face. Ash a meter away from the Grunt tackled him to the ground. He heard the Grunt shout in surprise but cut him off with a hard blow to the jaw.
Ash was hell bent on breaking every bone in the Grunts body, he had thrown five solid punches into the Grunts nose and jaw breaking both effortlessly. He was about to throw another when he was pulled off the Grunt and hit in the gut by one of the two Grunts who had held Alyssa. Winded Ash ducked and incoming blow and kicked the Rockets kneecap shattering it making him cry out in pain. Ash went to turn to the other Grunt who had held Alyssa but was too late.
Ash spun around and was hit square in the nose by a hard right hook. Ash staggered against the wall of the hallway, but bounced back. Nose gushing blood, Ash stepped forward to the Grunt and threw a hard right into his stomach winding him. He was about to throw a punch to the temple when he heard Alyssa call weakly to him.
"Behind you…" She called out painfully she was in a heap on the ground laying painfully as she watched Ash fight for her. Ash turned his gaze to Alyssa as she spoke, that would prove costly. Ash gasped as he felt a searing pain course through his back as something sharp cut across it.
What happened next went in slow motion for Alyssa.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Behind you…" Alyssa called as loud as possible, the Grunt who beat her came up behind Ash and brought the switchblade hard across his back, Alyssa gasped as the Grunt then gripped Ash with one arm around the neck, and drove the blade deep into his back.
Alyssa paled as she saw the Grunt let go of Ashs limp body and the bloodstained knife came out of his back. The Grunt flipped Ash over and got down over top of him and continually punched Ash as hard as he could in the face.
Alyssa was terrified as she saw the ground around Ash begin to form a puddle of blood from his wounds, "Ash!" she called out, but didn't get an answer. The Grunt got off of Ash after he finished and motioned for the other Rocket who did not have the shattered knee.
"Get him out of here, these two are finished," then with a smirk he added, "Specially her Majesty here, he'll be lucky if he makes it through the night!" He let out a short bark of laughter as Alyssa painfully crawled over to Ash.
She painfully moved over to Ash and gasped, as tears came down her bloody and bruised cheeks. Ash was cut, bruised, and unconscious losing blood fast. He wasn't conscious and it was all her fault, he stopped the Rocket from scarring her more than she was, he had taken the beating for her but she wasn't worth it. He could possibly die from his wounds and it would be her fault.
"HELP!" She cried hoarsely as she held Ashs face gently, the hallway was crowded with Grunts who stared at the scene intently.
"Ash please don't die on me please don't!" She sobbed into his chest; she was too weak to get him from where they were to the infirmary which was on the other side of the Academy.
"OUT OF THE WAY!" A female voice shouted as three people sprinted down the hall towards them. Alyssa looked up from Ash to the brown haired woman who came up to them.
"Sue Ash he, he-" She choked back as more tears sprung from her eyes. Sue motioned for the two nurses who came with her to load Ash onto the stretcher.
The two nurses carefully laid Ash onto the stretcher and got up and ran down the hall and around the corner. Sue put her arms around Alyssa gently since she was in shock, "What the hell happened, we got to get you checked out, and how was he bleeding so much?" Sue asked as she slipped an arm around Alyssa and helped her to her feet.
"I, I was grabbed and they, he came and stopped him from cutting me, and and!" Alyssa was hysterical, she was shaking uncontrollably as she and Sue hurried to the infirmary. Arriving at the infirmary Alyssa gasped. On one of the beds Ash was laid out without his shirt on, he was on his stomach unmoving as the nurses hooked him up to bags of liquid and machines.
Sue sat Alyssa down on one of the beds, and quickly went to the nurses. "How bad are the wounds?" She asked worriedly.
"He has major blood loss, and the stab wound is deep but luckily the knife didn't pass through his ribs stopping it from hitting any major arteries. We need to get him into surgery before he bleeds out and the tissue damage becomes irreparable." One of the nurses said urgently as he and the other female nurse began to wheel Ash away through a pair of twin doors.
"You take care of the girl!" Sue ordered another nurse in the room. Sue left Alyssa and headed through the door the nurses had taken Ash through, as the fourth nurse came over to her and began checking the damage Alyssa had taken.
[Pause Flashback]
Alyssa was staring blankly ahead of her as she remembered the events that had taken place, Misty and Delia stared at her in shock.
"My, my poor baby…" Delia whispered with tears in her eyes, she couldn't believe he had been stabbed and had to go into surgery. She felt awful for Alyssa, to see and have to go through that would have been terrifying.
Misty had tears in her eyes and Alyssa progressed through the story, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Ash and especially Alyssa having to be beaten like that, and not to mention watching Ash being so close to death. "What, what happened next?" Misty whispered, she knew Ash survived or else they wouldn't be here that moment but she wanted to know how it all turned out.
Alyssa took in a shaky breath and continued.
[Continue Flashback]
Three hours passed and Alyssa was sitting on the same bed she had when she arrived in the infirmary, the nurse had cleaned the blood from her face, and sewn up one of the larger cuts on her cheek while Ash was in surgery.
Alyssa was still shaking with her arms wrapped around herself as she continued to blame herself for this happening to Ash. "Please don't die Ash please don't die," her already red swollen eyes welled up with tears and began streaming down her tear stained cheeks at the thought of losing her only friend.
Alyssa released her hold from around herself and took a tissue before blowing her nose, she tossed it into the half full garbage can and looked to the door hoping Sue would come out. 'It shouldn't take this long, something happened, he, he, he….' Alyssa was close to having a panic attack she had to know if Ash was alright.
She placed her head in her hands and tried to calm her shaking, she knew Ash would want her to stay strong but it was nearly impossible knowing that he was on the brink of death. Her head snapped up as she heard the doors to the emergency room open.
Sue came out wearing bloody plastic white gloves and a hygiene mask. She stopped at a garbage can and took off the gloves and tossed them in followed by the mask. She walked over to a sink and washed her hands before coming over to Alyssa.
Alyssa watched as Sue came over to her, "Is, is he… did he…" Alyssa trailed off shaking her head scared to find out the outcome.
Sue sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "When we got him ready for surgery he had lost a lot of blood, we stopped the bleeding from the cut across his back but the stab wound was the main problem. Before we started to repair the muscle in his back, he went into cardiac arrest,"
Alyssa covered her mouth and paled, "Oh god no… no, no…" She trembled as she knew what Sue was saying. Tears poured from her eyes, and she began to cry uncontrollably until she felt Sue take her gently by the shoulders.
She looked into her eyes as she continued, "We brought out the defibrillator and we got his heart back to normal," She reassured Alyssa with a smile.
"Oh thank God, oh thank God, I, I, I" She was hyperventilating, she thought Sue had told her that Ash had died, but he was alright, he was alright…
"C-Can I see him?" She hiccuped. Sue nodded and helped the scared girl to her feet, they walked through the doors Sue had come out of and down a short hall where they took a left into a small room with a chair, and a bed that has Ash lying on top of with tubes running from his arms to machines and bags on that hung from the ceiling.
Alyssa carefully walked over to Ash, she sat down into the chair and took his hand into hers, "I-I'm so sorry Ash, I'm so sorry…" she whispered as tears welled up into her eyes.
"He won't be waking up for another few hours, we knocked him out cold while we worked on him, maybe you should come get something to eat" Sue suggested softly.
"I'm going to stay here with him; I'm not really hungry…" Alyssa whispered as she looked at the bruised, cut and torn boy in front of her.
Sue nodded her understanding as she silently left the room to leave Alyssa and Ash alone. Alyssa squeezed his hand softly placed her cheek against it, sighing she moved the chair closer to the bed and leaned against it placing her head next to Ashs, and closed her eyes.
A couple minutes later she was fast asleep, her hand still in Ashs.
[End Flashback]
Alyssa had tears running down her cheeks as she finished the story. Both Delia and Misty had tears streaming down their cheeks as well. They had gone through so much and it was just so unbelievable that they survived it physically and emotionally.
Delia opened her mouth to say something, but she was speechless. A sound was heard outside the window of the room they were in, Delia and Misty turned to see what it was. A hand appeared on the other side and slid the window to the right opening it, a moment later two hands gripped the window sill and pulling himself up into view was Ash.
Ash pulled himself through the window and closed it behind him, he shook his head exasperatedly, "Well that was fun," He said sarcastically, "But I got my… What happened Aly?" Ash asked worriedly as he saw Alyssa with tears running down her cheeks.
She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out, Ash turned to Misty, "What happened?"
"Alyssa told us about how you stopped her from getting cut, and-" she stopped as Ashs eyes widened. Quickly he went over to Alyssa and helped her up pulling her into a tight hug. Alyssa broke down into Ashs chest and began to cry uncontrollably.
Misty and Delia watched silently as Ash comforted the distressed blond. Ash rocked her back and forth and rubbed her back to help soothe her. Misty hated that she felt a pang of jealousy as she watched Ash comfort Alyssa. She knew Ash wouldn't cheat on her and that Alyssa had been through alot, but seeing him hold her made her jealous.
Ash slowly pulled out of the hug as her crying began to slow, "Are you okay?" He asked softly, she nodded. Ash gently put an arm around her, "Come on, I think you could use some sleep…" He trailed off as he led her to the open bedroom.
Alyssa took off her beret and placed it onto the desk before moving over to the bed and slipping under the covers.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
She nodded, "Yeah, I'll be okay…" She sniffed giving him a weak smile. Ash smiled back and shut off the light.
"I'll see you in the morning Aly, sweet dreams." Ash said softly closing the door behind him.
"Night Ash." She whispered closing her eyes tightly.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash silently closed the door behind him; he turned to the two girls who were staring intently at Ash. He came around and sat down on the couch and ran a hand through his hair, "So how did you get onto that subject?" He asked curiously but was greeted by silence, neither seemed to be willing to answer so Ash continued, "Look I'm not mad it's just that is a very delicate area for her. If you could please don't bring that up again," Ash asked softly, but seriously.
"We're sorry honey; we just wanted to know more about when you were away. We had no Idea that it was so…" Delia shook her head once again unsure of what to say.
Ash smiled at the two, "You don't need to be sorry, you didn't know." He took a quick glance at the clock at it was nearing eight. " I know it's early, but tomorrow is going to be a long day. By the time you get up Aly and I will be gone. My match is at 10 in stadium B, if you want to come watch that's fine. But right now you need to get some sleep.
"Alright honey, your rules we'll head to bed." Delia agreed getting up from the couch, motioning for Misty to do the same. Misty and Delia went to their separate rooms and got ready for bed. Once they were ready Delia said goodnight and went into her room to read before sleeping. Ash sat on the couch with his bag and Pikachu next to him who was already dozing peacefully.
"Ash?" Misty said softly behind him, Ash got up from the couch and smiled at the red head who was now in her pajamas.
"Yeah Mist?" He asked softly, Misty came up to him and pulled him into a hug. Ash reciprocated and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that Ash, I couldn't imagine…" Ash cut her off by pulling half out of the hug.
"What's done is done Mist, there's no changing the past. We can talk about this in a couple days alright? But right now you get some sleep, okay?"
She nodded and leaned in closing her eyes; Ash followed her example and pulled her into a deep kiss. After a minute Misty pulled out due to the lack of air, and smiled at Ash, "Good night Ash, I'll see you in the morning…" She said quietly giving him one last peck on the lips.
"G'night Misty, sleep tight," He replied as she disappeared into her room and closed the door. Once he was alone he quickly went over to his bag and took out a pen, and a couple sheets of blank paper. He went back to the couch and placed the paper onto the table and leaned back.
Ash sat there in silence for a few minutes chewing on the end of the pen. Removing the pen from his mouth he leaned forward and began to write on one of the pieces of paper. He sat there for an hour before he sighed and slumped back into the couch tossing the pen onto the table.
He reached forward and folded each of the sheets in half and placed them back on the table stacked neatly. "Deal with those in the morning…" he yawned as he lay down on the couch and closed his eyes as he drifted off into sleep. A few minutes later the entire cabin was silent as everyone slept peacefully with a long day ahead.