Ash awoke the next morning yawning with a stiff back. He let out a painful groan as he sat himself up rubbing his eyes. Groggily he snatched the papers he had worked on the other night and carefully slipped them into his bag to avoid wrinkling them.
He glanced beside him and smiled at the still dozing Pikachu. Deciding not to wake him Ash got up off the couch and went into the kitchen, he searched around but after a while he found a pair of scissors and headed into the bathroom.
Ash closed the door behind him and walked over to the sink where the mirror was located. He eyed his hair thoughtfully as he twiddled with the scissors in his hands. His hair was no longer the bleach blond it had been a few months ago; it had grown out and was now the regular raven black hair with slight blond at the tips.
Ash began to trim away at the remaining blond for the next few minutes until the sink was coated with a thin layer of light yellow. Taking a look in the mirror, his hair was now pure black without a trace of blond. Smiling to himself, he turned on the tap and rinsed the hair down the drain before taking a quick shower.
After the shower Ash changed into his regular attire that consisted of jeans and his hoodie before going to wake up Alyssa. He knocked gently on the door, and almost instantly it was opened by a fully dressed Alyssa.
"Morning Aly, are you ready to head out?" He asked.
Alyssa nodded, "Yup, I just have to grab my gear and we're good to go!" She replied happily going back into the room. She came back out with the long case slung over her back.
"Perfect, my match is in an hour so we have plenty of time to get you and Pikachu set up," Ash walked around the couch and gently shook Pikachu awake. Once the electric type was up he hopped into Alyssa's arms and onto her shoulder.
Ash then went over to one of the closed bedroom doors and silently opened it, inside his mom was still deep asleep. Ash smirked and shook his head; he went over to his mom and gave her a gentle shake. "Mom, wake up if you're coming to my match you better wake up soon." He whispered.
Delia slowly opened her eyes and yawned, "Morning honey, are you ready for today?" She asked as she sat herself up.
He nodded, "Yup, but if you're going to make it you and Misty need to hurry because the match starts in an hour." Delia went wide eyed and shot up from the bed.
"Thank you for waking me dear, have you gotten Misty up yet?" She asked quickly as she headed for the bathroom in the bedroom.
Ash shook his head, "No Aly and I have to get going quickly or else we'll be late, so we'll see you guys afterwards alright?" Delia nodded and Ash said goodbye to his mother before heading to the front door where Alyssa and Pikachu waited.
"Okay let's go," Ash said as he pulled his hood over his head, and opened the door for Alyssa and Pikachu.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The trio left the cabin and began the short trek over to the stadium; it was a nice day out. The sun was out, but the sky was coated with a thin layer of white clouds that blocked the ocean blue sky. They continued to walk in silence until Alyssa turned to Ash and posed a question.
"Shay?" She asked to get his attention, while using his persona because they were in public.
He turned to face her, "Yeah Aly?" he replied raising an eyebrow.
She pursed her lips as she thought of what she was going to ask, "What was that small stack of paper on the table beside you last night?"
Ash wasn't sure how to answer that, so he tried to turn the conversation away from it, "When did you see those, I worked on those while you were all asleep."
"Remember we didn't get a chance to eat yesterday, and during the night I got hungry so I made myself a snack. And when I left my room I saw the papers,"
Ash nodded thoughtfully, 'Maybe I should have put those away last night…' He sighed, "It's nothing Aly, just something I need to get done for when I face the Rocket… Which reminds me we have to get started checking the competitors to get some leads…" He trailed off forgetting the previous conversation as they entered the large stadium and stood in the lobby, which was filled with fans, Trainers, and a receptionist.
Alyssa could tell that he was hiding something, but she'd let it go for now. "We can talk about that later, but right now I'm going to go get set up and I'll contact you before your match okay?" Alyssa said as she began to walk towards a door that said 'Employees Only.'
Ash raised a hand in farewell as he went over to the auburn haired receptionist, "Excuse me, I have a match in fifteen minutes and I was wondering where I'm supposed to go?" He asked politely.
The receptionist looked up from what she was doing and smiled, "I take it your name is Shay?" She asked.
Ash raised an eyebrow, "Yes I am…" He replied calmly, but on the inside he was feeling slightly uneasy.
"Down the hall," She leaned over the desk and pointed towards a hallway that was through two blue doors "And second door on the right."
Ash smiled and thanked her before heading down the hallway and continued until he reached the second door on the right. He gripped the handle, twisted and pushed the door open, on the other side was a locker room that brought back old memories.
The locker room was large, and empty. The walls had televisions mounted around the room that were screening the ongoing battles. Ash sat down on a bench and began to watch the battle that was currently happening on the rock battlefield.
A Tyranitar was having a furious battle with a Salamance; the Salamance released a ground shaking roar as it unleashed a hyper beam towards the panting Tyranitar. Ash continued to watch the battle until he was brought back to his senses by his pant leg vibrating.
Ash reached into his pocket and took out his Pokegear and flipped it open, "Hello?"
"Hey Ash, Pikachu and I are all set up here, how's everything over there, you nervous?"" Alyssa replied, in the background Ash could hear Pikachu chatting in the background trying to get Alyssa to hand him the Pokegear.
"No I'm not nervous, just a bit antsy. How does everything look up there, any shady people?"
There was a pause before she answered, "No everything looks good up here, Pikachu pointed out that Misty and your mom arrived a few minutes ago,"
Ash nodded, "Okay keep an eye on them, I sh-" Ash was cut off by a red light turning on above the television screen signalling him it was time for his match. "Sorry Aly I gotta go," He finished quickly standing up and heading down the hallway in the room.
"Alright Ash good luck,"
"Pika pika Pikapi!"
"Thanks you guys, I'll make this quick see ya soon!" Ash shut off the Pokegear and slipped it into his pocket as he approached the end of the hallway where a balding man in a tank top waited for him.
"Hello?" Ash stated curiously. The man nodded and came up to Ash with a small black microphone.
"Hi, we just need to put this on your jacket so the crowd can hear what you two say." The man replied gruffly. Ash shrugged and allowed the tiny microphone to be put on him. "All good to go, good luck out there."
"Thanks, I'll do my best." Ash replied simply, he was going to make fast work of his opponent. The faster the match ended would mean that he wouldn't be out in the open for as long.
The man walked away, and Ash turned and faced the door. It had been a long time since he stepped out into an official Pokemon battle. The Coliseums in Orre could be considered official, but they were all double battles and no crowds were ever present.
He'd be lying to himself if he wasn't nervous or excited. But more nervous for the risk factor he was setting himself up for, this was the first time in years that he was showing himself to the public and he hoped to God that they wouldn't recognize him.
Ash took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled as the door in front of him creaked and began to slide apart blinding Ash with the sun's rays. With one final deep breath Ash stepped out of the room and onto the battlefield.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Welcome everyone to the third round on the Grass field!" The Announcer exclaimed ecstatically to the crowd. The crowd roared in cheers and applause as the match was about to get underway.
On both sides of the field two pairs of twin doors slid apart and out stepped Ash, and a boy with blue hair and blue eyes, who wore jeans and a blue polo shirt. As they stepped out a large screen lit up with a picture of Ash and the boy with three boxes underneath, Ashs were green while the others were red.
The two made their way to both Trainer boxes and waited until the introductions had finished. "On the Red side is Galen Marek from Saffron City a League favorite in this competition!" Galen waved to the crowd as they cheered praise for the young boy.
"And on the Green side is an unknown Trainer who goes by the name of Shay!" The crowd cheered, but it was noticeably quieter than before. Which made Ash smirk under the shadow of his hood.
The Referee stepped forward, "Both Trainers are only allowed three Pokemon," he turned to Galen who nodded in acknowledgement and then to Ash who stood stock still; he took that as a yes.
"Let the battle begin!"
"Go Ivysaur!" Galen shouted reaching to his side and tossing a Pokeball into the air. The Pokeball burst open and in a glow materialized a green Pokemon that was on all fours with leaves and a bulb on its back.
Without a word, Ash tossed his Pokeball into the air and sent out a dark blue Pokemon with fins on its arms and legs.
"Galen sends out his Ivysaur while Shay calls out a Gabite!" The announcer exclaimed. A picture of Gabite, and Ivysaur lit up onto the scoreboard underneath their individual Trainers.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Misty turned to Delia in surprise, "Wait if Shay has a Gabite that must mean his Gible evolved!" She exclaimed incredulously!
Delia nodded, "Remember A- I mean Shay had been sent a lot of his Pokemon, so some of them must have evolved right?" Misty nodded and turned back to the battle.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Galen opened his mouth to order an attack, but Ash beat him to it.
"Gabite you know what to do." He stated calmly. Gabite acknowledged Ash by leaping a meter off the ground and flipping itself so it was pointing downwards and began digging downward with incredible speed.
"Wait for it to come up Ivysaur!" Galen shouted, Ivysaur turned to his master and nodded before looking around the field for movement. After two minutes of nothing happening, the crowd started to get restless, and began to boo Ash.
Galen scowled at Ash, "You scared Shay so you're hiding in a hole?" He shouted irritably. Ash just stood unmoving, which made both Trainer and Pokemon growl angrily.
"Yeah well we'll sho-" Galen was cut off when the hole that Gabite had dug began to shine a dark orange, "What the…"
In a split second, a dark orange ball shot up out of the hole and into the air, before bursting into dozens of smaller orange spheres that plummeted to the ground towards the unsuspecting Grass Type.
"Dodge it Ivysaur!" Galen shouted desperately! But it was to know avail, Ivysaur was pelted mercilessly by the falling glimmering orbs which rattled the field and started a dust cloud as it did so.
Once the brown dust cloud cleared, Ivysaur was trying it's best to keep standing. "Don't giv-" he didn't get a chance to finish as the ground underneath Ivysaur crumbled away and out shot Gabite swinging a hard uppercut into the lower midsection of the Grass type sending it flying.
Ivysaur soared through the air before landing with a thud on the ground and swirls in its eyes. The crowd was stunned, Ash had not spoken a single command but here he was with a victory.
The referee rushed forward and held up a green flag, "Ivysaur is unable to battle the victory goes to Shay!" He shouted as Ivysaurs picture dimmed on the scoreboard leaving only two spaces remaining underneath Galen's picture.
Galen was speechless, without a word, he raised his Pokeball and recalled the fainted Pokemon.
"Great job Gabite, you did excellent! Do you want to stay and finish this or do you want to give the others a shot?" Ash asked the Dragon type.
"Bite Gabite!" Gabite replied giving Ash a thumbs er claw-up. Underneath the shadow of his hood a smile came across Ashs face as he recalled Gabite and replaced him onto his belt.
"And Shay recalls his Gabite after a swift victory over Ivysaur, will both Trainers call out their next Pokemon!" The announcer's voice ricocheted through the cheering stadium.
"I choose you Roserade!" Galen yelled tossing his second Pokeball into the air. The Pokeball sent out a meter tall green grass type, which had what looked like two bouquets of flowers for arms onto the grass field.
Ash shook his head as he tossed his Pokeball silently into the air, 'Poor kid only brought his Grass types to the match, Rookie mistake.' Ash thought as his Pokeball burst open into the large dragon fire type.
"Galen sends out his Roserade, which may have been a major mistake as Shay calls out a powerful Charizard!" The announcer shouted loudly deafening everyone in the stadium.
Ash called out across the field, "Forfeit now if you like, there's no chance for you to win." He stated calmly.
Galen looked like he had been slapped in the face, angrily he replied, "No way, Roserade Razor Leaf!" Roserade rose it's bouquet like arms and unleashed a powerful twister of razor sharp leaves towards Charizard.
Charizard snorted, and countered without a command by sending a massive jet of fire spewing from its mouth, turning the leaves to ashes.
"Charizard, Flamethrower."
Charizard opened its jaws again and let go another torrent of scorching flames over to the Grass type who took the attack head on, sending the Grass Type through the air and onto the ground skidding to a smoldering halt in front of its Trainer.
"Point to the Green Trainer!" The referee shouted as Roserade picture faded from the scoreboard and Galen returned Roserade to its Pokeball.
"And Shay takes down Roserade with ease! Coming from the unknown, Shay has unleashed two powerhouses and is definitely making an impression!" The crowd roared their approval at the announcers words with cheering and thunderous applause.
'Forgot how easy it was to make them cheer, seeing Charizard tho probably helped.' Ash thought as he waited for his final opponent.
Galen reached down to his third Pokeball hesitantly, with a sigh he tossed his final Pokeball into the air and it opened revealing a large dancing Pokemon that appeared to be wearing a sombrero.
"And Galen calls out his final Pokemon a Ludicolo!" As soon as Ash recognized the Pokemon he knew he had this in the bag.
"Charizard, just like Orre!" Ashs shouted, to the Fire type! Charizard smirked and nodded, stomping it's foot onto the ground and snorting out flames.
"And now let the battle begin!"
"Ludicolo use Hydro Pump!" Galen ordered, Ludicolo extended its arms and placed its palms facing outward where a powerful torrent of water shot out towards Charizard. Charizard flapped it's powerful wings, kicking up dust as he did so and flew a meter off the ground before heading straight towards Ludicolo with tremendous speed.
"Not even gon-HUH?" Galen shouted dumbfounded as Charizard sped straight through the powerful water attack without losing speed and up to Ludicolo grabbing its arms then doing a 90 degree turn upwards. Charizard sped high into the air and began doing backflips until it stopped and dive-bombed downwards while unleashing a point-blank range Flamethrower into Ludicolos face. Ten meters from the ground Charizard heaved Ludicolo to the ground with a loud thud before extending its wings breaking itself from hitting the ground.
Ludicolo hit the ground and a dust cloud was kicked up as a tremor ran through the field. The thin dust cloud faded and the crowd gasped as they saw that the field had become a crater with a soot covered Ludicolo in the center. Ash did everything within his power not to laugh at their reaction.
"Point to the Green Trainer, and the winner of this match is Shay!" The announcer cheered enthusiastically! The crowd followed his example and stood in a standing ovation as Ash recalled Charizard and walked around the field to shake his opponent's hand.
Galen walked up to Ash and extended his hand, "Great battle Shay, congrats on the win and good luck later on." He said downheartedly.
Ash took the offered hand and shook firmly, "Thanks Galen, sorry for being so ruthless out there, you're a hell of a Trainer and I can't wait to face you again in the future!" Ash said seriously.
Galen grinned and waved goodbye as he left the way he had entered the stadium. Ash headed for the entrance he came out of, but was stopped by reporters.
"Excuse me; excuse me Mr. Shay would you like to say a word about your battle?" Ash stopped walking and looked at the cameras.
He stood there motionless, "This match was nothing compared to what's planned for later on," With that Ash left the stadium leaving the reporters dumbfounded at his parting words.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash immediately left the stadium and headed for the Pokemon Center. Even tho Gabite and Charizard hadn't taken any serious damage it was better to be safe than sorry, and while he was there he was going to start narrowing down who the Rocket could possibly.
Ash pushed open the door to the crowded Pokemon Center and made his way to the front desk where Nurse Joy stood smiling.
"Hello Nurse Joy, I was wondering if you could take a look at my Pokemon for me?" Ash asked politely as he placed two Pokeballs onto the counter.
"Sure thing and I just saw your battle it was fantastic other Trainers are going to have to keep an eye out for you!" She complimented taking the two Pokeballs and placing them onto a tray.
Ash smiled, "That's very kind of you, but it was only my first match so there isn't too much to be excited about," A thought crossed his mind, "When it comes down to the Top 16 to the finals tho that should be interesting…" He hinted subtly which Nurse Joy didn't seem to pick up on.
"Oh I'm sure that with your skills you should make it there no problem, I mean you didn't even have to order some of your Pokemon to attack they knew exactly what to do!"
Ash nodded, "That maybe so, but I have to head out and get ready. When will my Pokemon be ready?"
"Maybe in an hour or a little sooner, they didn't seem to take much damage or be too tired on the screen so they should be ready fairly soon!" She replied as she began to go to the door on the other side of the counter.
"Alright thanks a lot Nurse Joy see you soon!" Ash said with a wave as he walked away to where a crowd of Trainers stood around a monitor looking at the next match ups. Ash walked up and began to skim the chart for his next match.
He was halfway through looking when a sixth sense told him he was being watched. Ash snapped his head around and he saw by the front doors a blond girl around the age of twenty who wore a pink and white baseball cap, a pink hoodie, and green cargo pants staring at him.
She turned her gaze away from him as soon as their eyes met and walked out of the building. Ash continued to stare at the spot she stood with narrow eyes before looking at the monitor again searching for his picture.
After a few seconds he found his picture next to a brunette that was flashing a 'V' for victory sign much like he did when he was younger, under the column that said his next battle would be located at the Water Field in one hour. Ash left the center and took out his Pokegear quickly dialing in a number.
"Hey Ash great battle, I can't bel-" Ash cut her off quickly.
"I know who the Rocket is Aly, I'm looking for her right now!" Ash whispered quickly as he looked left and right for the girl he had seen moments before.
"WHAT! Ash do not follow her, how do you even know it's a Rocket?" She exclaimed furiously.
"I don't know where, but I've seen her before and she was watching me." Ash began walking down the crowded street past all of the concession stands in search for the blond.
"So she was watching you, you just battled, and where did you see her before?"
Ash sighed as he took a left and continued down the street in search of the blond, "I. I don't know but you and Pikachu don't need to stay up in the rafters anymore, you can go watch with Mom and Misty until my match with her."
Alyssa stammered for an answer, "What… That is not a good idea and you know it Ash. When's your next battle?"
"Forty-five minutes, Water Field. Look, take Pikachu and put your stuff back in the lodge. After the match you, Misty and I can talk about this." Ash replied quickly as he caught sight of pink in the distance. Ash quickened his pace to a half jog and kept his distance.
"Why Misty, how can she help with this?" Alyssa asked confusedly, she had nothing against Misty but she couldn't see how she fit in here.
"I know the Rocket from my Journey she could help narrow her down…Dammit…" Ash muttered the last part under his breath as he saw the person he was trailing was not the blond from before, but instead a person wearing a Jiggilypuff costume who was handing out balloons.
There was a pause before Alyssa answered. "Okay fine but we need to talk later alright?" She asked seriously. This puzzled Ash but he agreed.
"Okay Aly, I'll see you all after the match." Ash replied.
"Okay talk to you soon Ash…" She replied cutting off the call. Ash placed the Pokegear back into his pocket before turning around and going back the way he had come before.
'Where have I seen her before…? I don't think she's from the Academy; she's got to be from my Journey. So which Rockets did I meet…? Jessie, James, and Meowth… I wonder what happened to them, maybe they found another kid to follow around, nah after years of following me they probably retired.'
For the next hour until his match Ashs thoughts revolved around everyone he had met on his Journey, whether it be Team Rocket, someone he helped, or someone who may hold a grudge against him.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ashs next round went smoothly; he had used Totodile against a Clamperl and won fairly easily. Totodile had stayed out to face the next opponent which was a Chinchou but lost when he was knocked off one of the floating platforms and into the water where Chinchou let go a Thunder attack; knocking out Totodile.
Ash countered by sending out Glalie who hit Chinchou with an Ice Beam, followed by a Take Down knocking it out. Ash recalled Glalie when his opponent sent out a Pidgeotto, and countered by resending out Charizard who won with ease against the smaller flying Type.
As soon as the match ended, Ash brought his Pokemon to the Pokemon center and returned to the cabin where he awaited the arrival of Misty, Alyssa, and his mom.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Ash opened the door to the cabin and went straight over to Alyssa's room. He opened the door and went to the desk where her laptop was located. Ash picked up the laptop and went around to the couch and sat down as he kicked his feet up onto the table and slumped back into the sofa.
Ash switched on the laptop and went to the Trainer database on the Leagues website where it had a list of each Trainer who was competing. Ash scrolled down the list of names for ten minutes until he stopped at one that caught his eye.
'21 year old Daniel Flower,' Ash thought as he pursed his lips as he continued to stare at the picture of the blond.
"Where have I seen you…" Ash muttered incoherently. He drummed his fingers across the keys on the laptop as he searched deep into his memory for some insight into who she was. His thoughts were cut off by the front door opening and closing shut, he turned his head and saw Alyssa and Pikachu walking in and coming over to sit by him.
Pikachu hopped off of Alyssa's shoulder and over to Ash as Alyssa took off the case on her back. "Good job on those matches Ash, I still can't believe that you had Gabite weaken the field for Charizard." Alyssa said with a grin as she sat down next to Ash and Pikachu hopped onto her lap.
Ash nodded as a smile came across his face, "Yeah, I got lucky that the kid actually sent out a heavy Pokemon. The crowd thought Charizard leveled the field with that Seismic Toss and is some sort of powerhouse, I had to keep myself from laughing at their reaction!"
"Pikachu here thought what Charizard did was all by himself right Pikachu?" Alyssa giggled; Pikachu nodded and rubbed the back of his sheepishly.
Ash chuckled and scratched Pikachu behind the ear, "Well buddy I have a few more tricks up my sleeve so be sure to keep an eye out," The Ash became serious, "But anyway Aly this is the Rocket." He turned the Laptop so Alyssa could see the screen.
Alyssa analyzed the picture of the girl before slowly nodding, "Alright… So you don't know who she is but you've seen her somewhere before?" She asked to make sure she understood the circumstances.
Ash nodded, "Yeah, I ha-" Ash was cut off by the door opening and closing as Misty and Delia stepped into the cabin.
"Hey guys, great job out there Ash you really went all out didn't yeah?" Misty asked as she came over to Ash and sat down on his right.
"Thanks Mist," Ash replied. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Mist do you happen to recognize this girl?" He turned the screen to face Misty. Misty pursed her lips and scratched the side of her head in thought.
She slowly shook her head, "No Ash I can't say I do… Why is she important?" She asked.
Ash opened his mouth to reply but Alyssa answered for him, "Ash seems to think that she's the Rocket we've been looking for. He thinks that you two might know her from when you traveled together…" Alyssa trailed off hoping Misty could remember if this girl was a Rocket.
Misty went deep into her mind as she thought of all possibilities, "Well… Which Rockets have we met Ash I mean after everything we went through we met a few Rockets right?"
Ash nodded, "Well so far I can only think of Jessie, James, and Meowth."
"What about Buff and Cassidy?" Misty added.
"Wasn't it Biff?"
"No actually it may have been Bart… Or wait no Bob."
Ash shook his head, "No no no, it was Barney, or was it Botch?" Ash placed his head in his hands, "You know what never mind. There was those two in Alto Mare…"
Misty nodded, "Yeah they were, oh what is it… Annie and Oakley!"
"Then who was it… That guy who tried to capture Celebii… but it can't be him, because well it's a guy…"
While Ash and Misty were listing off names, Alyssa had taken the laptop from Ash and had begun searching the names in the Rocket database.
"Ash have you two met any Elites, or high ranking Rockets? That's who Giovanni would assign for an important mission like this." Alyssa stated seriously.
As soon as Alyssa mentioned Giovanni, it triggered something in Ashs mind. "Mist think back to Johto…"Ash spoke quietly as his thoughts were far away.
Misty nodded, and Alyssa turned her gaze from the laptop to Ash as she saw he was possibly onto something.
"Remember the highest mountain in Johto? You, Brock and I were… I think we were late for a bus or something and we ended up having to stay with a researcher or something right?" Ash asked uncertainly.
"Umm yeah… wasn't it like Mt. Quena…?" She said slowly not sure if she was right or not. A look of realization dawned on Ashs face as she said that.
"Mist," Ash said seriously, "What happened while at that cabin do you remember?" Misty shook her head, "Team Rocket showed up and took Pikachu, but a few minutes before that a guy and a girl showed up. And the girl looks exactly like the one on the computer but older! Do you remember her name?"
Misty did everything within her power to try and remember the girl's name, but she couldn't come up with a name, "I'm sorry guys but I'm drawing a blank…"
"It's fine Mist… But her name… It, her code name was like Dark Flower… or Night Rose or something…" Ash trailed off as he thought of more possibilities.
Ash sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I'll be back in a second I just have to talk to mom about something…" Ash said getting up from the couch.
"What do you need to talk to her about?" Alyssa asked curiously.
"Just a small question nothing important. You two stay here and brainstorm and I'll be right back," He replied going over to his mother's room and knocking gently on the door before opening and closing it behind him.
"Something's up with him…" Alyssa muttered, Ash wasn't acting as if this was one of their missions. He was taking it far more laid back then he should be, and when his mom and Misty showed up he let them stay which could jeopardize the entire operation.
"What do you mean?" Misty asked curiously, Alyssa looked up to Misty.
"Oh uh, nothing Ash is just being… Odd." She replied awkwardly. Misty could see that Alyssa was somewhat telling the truth, but decided not to press the matter any further. But she did ask something that she'd been curious about for a while.
"Umm Alyssa can I ask you something?" She asked timidly.
Alyssa nodded as she went back to searching on the laptop, "Yeah no problem, fire away." She replied, contently.
"Do you like Ash?" She asked bluntly but quietly. Alyssa instantly looked up from the screen as red as Pikachus ketchup and ahead of her, after a second she turned to Misty.
"Is it really that obvious…?" Misty opened her mouth to say something, but Alyssa continued before she could start. "But I swear to God, I'd never try and steal him from you. I'm not that kind of person!" She replied quietly but truthfully.
Misty nodded, she could see Alyssa was telling the truth, but she was still a slightly worried. "I believe you Alyssa, I can see you're not the type of person who would try and take someone else's boyfriend."
Alyssa smiled back glad that Misty wasn't angry or upset with her for liking Ash. The two drifted into awkward short silence until Alyssa spoke up, "Hey Misty?"
"Yeah Alyssa?"
Alyssa pursed her lips, "There's going to be a time when Ash is going to need help…" She trailed off seriously.
Misty furrowed her brow in confusion, "What do you mean?" She asked uneasily.
Alyssa looked her dead in the eye, "There's going to be a time when Ash…Snaps. I don't know when it's going to happen; whether it is in two months or a week, but you won't be able to help him." Alyssa was dead serious on this.
"What do you mean I won't be able to help him?" She knew Alyssa wasn't trying to insult her or anything, but she didn't know what to think of all this.
"Ash has been through a lot… When you first saw him when he showed up in Pallet Town you could see he was different right?" Alyssa asked curiously.
"Yeah he was calm about everything. He told us that he hid away his emotions because of the beatings, and if he didn't he wouldn't have survived…" Alyssa nodded thoughtfully.
"Do you mind telling me what he told you?"
Misty eyed Alyssa curiously, she wasn't sure but something was going on. "Sure I-" She stopped when the door to Delia's room opened and out walked Ash who briskly came over and sat back down.
"Aly look up Black Tulip." He stated urgently.
"Black Tulip?" Ash nodded, and motioned for her to hurry. Alyssa did as told and searched the Rocket database and almost immediately a profile came up.
Alyssa opened the profile and a picture of the blond came up in a Rocket uniform. Alyssa turned her attention to Ash, "How did you figure this out?"
"I asked mom to list flowers for me since she spends a lot of her time gardening, so I figured she'd know which flower was used in her" Ash gestured to the picture "Code name."
Misty smirked at Ash, "That's pretty smart thinking Ash; I didn't know you could be so clever!"
"I'll have you know Mist I'm plenty smart, just not at math." He stated in a matter of factly tone.
"That and reading maps…" Alyssa muttered under her breath, which immediately drew Misty's attention.
"Did he get you lost to!" She asked incredulously.
"More times than can imagine," Alyssa replied shaking her head.
"Oh believe me I'm pretty sure I can. Every day when we traveled he'd get us lost in a forest or he'd make us go the wrong way."
"We were on the road for two days heading from Lavender Town to Vermillion City and Ash had the map. It turns out he led us the wrong way so we ended up in Celadon instead." Alyssa said in a disapproving tone.
"Well how often did he hold the map upside down and tell you that you were going the right way?" Misty asked curiously.
"I'M SITTING RIGHT HERE YOU KNOW!" Ash shouted in disbelief, the two were talking about his map reading skills instead of trying to figure out the identity of the Black Tulip.
Alyssa ignored his outburst and turned to Ash blankly. She blinked twice before saying anything. "Did you actually hold a map upside down?" She asked seriously.
Ashs jaw dropped, he didn't know what to say, he was speechless. He would have thought that Alyssa of all people would have at least stopped the conversation by now and gotten back to the subject at hand.
"Are we going to continue or are you two going to keep mocking me for something that happened once?" He asked exasperatedly.
Misty cleared her throat, "More like 17 times…" She mumbled. Alyssa coughed as she unsuccessfully tried to smother the laughter that was about to escape her.
"ANYWAY," Ash began loudly, "What is the name of Black Tulip…" he asked Alyssa who was still smiling a bit too wide for his liking.
She cleared her throat before answering, to try and subdue the remaining laughter, "Well most of her profile is classified, but she also goes by the name… Domino."
As soon as she said the name it clicked in Ashs head, "That bitch!" Ash shouted incredulously.
"What Ash?" Alyssa asked confused by the outburst.
"She. She was the one who tried to get me to join the Rangers! She was with Giovanni when they brought me to the Academy! After I agreed and everything Giovanni and who I now remember is Domino brought me over to the Academy and brought me down to the Sub Basement where the Rangers practice!"
Ash scowled and his eyes darkened, "When they started showing me how they practice and… Long story short she was the one who tortured me to get me to train as a Ranger instead of being a fighter." Ash got up from the couch and went over to his bag.
"Ash what are you doing?" Alyssa asked worriedly, she could see Ash was furious right now and she didn't want him going out and doing something he'd regret.
"Getting my payback ready." He stated emotionlessly as he picked up his bag and went over to Alyssa's room.
"I'll be busy for the next few hours so you guys can go out or whatever." With that Ash closed the door to the bedroom and went over to the desk and sat down.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
He placed his bag onto the ground and undid one of the zippers; he took out the jacket he had been sent and put it on. Over the last few months he had, had a replica of the jacket made except larger so that it would fit.
Ash reached down into his shoe and pulled out a small knife, it was the exact same shape and size as the one he had used against the Fearow. Ash held out his left arm straight ahead of him and lined the knife up against it with the hilt slightly underneath the cuff of the sleeve, and the point running down his arm.
Ash placed the knife onto the desk and took off the jacket before turning it inside out. Ash reached into his bag and took out thread, a needle, and a knife sheath. Ash placed the throwing knife into the sheath and carefully aligned it onto the left sleeve of the jacket.
For the next hour Ash expertly sewed the sheath to the inside of his sleeve, being extra careful to not show a seam on the outside. When he finished Ash put on the jacket to make sure he still had full movement over his left arm, without any obstructions.
Satisfied that the jacket was as good as it was going to get, he replaced it into his bag and took out a pen, envelops and the papers he had worked on the other night. Ash spread the papers he had written on across the desk, and placed them into individual envelops where he wrote something onto the front before sealing them.
Ash yawned while he re-stacked the envelopes and set them neatly back into his bag. He leaned back into the chair and rubbed his neck, "Better make my time here with them last…" With a groan he stopped leaning and got off the chair.
He grabbed his bag and opened the door to the bedroom and stepped out into the living room where Misty and Alyssa were discussing something, "Whatcha guys talking about," He yawned as he went over to the door and set his bag down.
Misty gestured to Alyssa to answer, "We're uh talking about Girl stuff."
Ashs eyes went wide and he held his hands up in front of him defensively, "Don't say anymore, but do you think you could talk somewhere else I'm beat and could use some sleep." Ash asked as he made his way around the couch and slumped down into the cushions.
The two nodded and got up from the sofa and stretched, "It's only eight and the restaurants in the village are still open, do you want to go?" Misty asked curiously.
Ash sighed, "No you two go ahead, mom probably will go tho." Ash replied tiredly.
Alyssa eyed Ash suspiciously, 'What's wrong with him, he should be trying to stop us from going to a restaurant together. Hell he should be stopping us from going out at all…' Something was up with Ash and she didn't like it one bit.
"Alright we'll ask her, and what did you do to… start your payback?" She asked curiously.
"Modified my jacket a bit, nothing much." Ash stated nonchalantly, Alyssa could see through the act tho, he may have made a modification but there was more to it.
"Alright, we'll see you in a bit…"
Misty, Alyssa, Delia and Pikachu left the lodge while Ash curled up on the sofa and fell asleep. Two hours later the trio of females and Pikachu returned to the lodge and found Ash passed out on the couch. They all followed suit and went to their own rooms to sleep, while Pikachu snuggled up beside Ash.
It wasn't long until the entire cabin was quiet and the only sound was the deep muffled snoring coming from the sofa.