Heyo. Here's Chapter 3 for ya. I suppose there are sufficient reviews to warrent my post this. But don't be lazy. I expect enough reviews of this chapter, or I won't post Chapter 4. ~_~
Chapter Three: Time for a change
"Prof.Oak! That was the worst possible thing you could have ever done. If You seem to think that taking away everything that Ash has worked hard for was nessesary, then my once high opinion of you has become very low indeed!" Ashly hissed. Her eyes, normally big, soft and expressive, were now narrowed and hard, glaring slits. Her normally fine complexion was flushed with anger.
The professor was speachless.
"Miss Greene-"
"I'm going to stick up for Ash, 'cause he's my best friend. And I'm glad I won't see any of you again!" Ashly turned to Gary, placed a well aimed slap on his cheek, and went into Ash's room after shouting something over her shoulder. The tone she used made it appear to be a very bad word indeed.
"What did she say?" asked a very shocked prof.Oak.
Misty and D.J exchanged looks.
"You...don't want to know." D.J finally answered, shaking his head.
"Oh."
"I think You should leave now." Misty said in a hard voice. Prof.Oak, Gary, and Officer Jenny left quickly.
In Ash's room...
Ash was laying face down on his bed, sobs shuddering through him. Ashly was perched on the edge, rubbing his back and talking in low, soothing tones, murmering endearments. How many times had she done this for him when they were growing up? Too many. She felt sorry for Ash. He'd stored so many bad feelings inside, and now he'd finally cracked. Not that it was unwarrented...
"Ash, miele, please. I can't do anything more. You know I have to leave soon."
"That's right. Your new job." Ash said bitterly, turning his face away."Go on, leave me."
"Ash, it's not that...I..." Ashly cried out."I want to stay, for your sake, darling, but I can't. I WANT to be with you..."
"Hey!" Ash brightened slightly,"Why don't I go with you?"
Ashly was shocked.
"You mean, as a vacation away from this..." Ashly gestured furiously with her hand."...mess?"
"No, I mean to work with you."
"Well..." Ashly thought about it. His request was rather strange."Do you have any idea of what you'd have to do? Any training?" Ashly didn't expect the answer she got, though it pleased her.
"Yep! Last year!"
Ashly smiled. She was slowly starting to like the idea of Ash coming with her.
"Good enough. Alright, Ash, you can come, too, I guess. But what should I tell the others? I mean, they'll wan't to know where you're going..."
Something inside Ash began to burn heatedly, almost irrationally. The sound of his friend's names made him angry. It just made him remember things he didn't want to remember at all.
"Nothing!" Ash snapped. Ashly looked up surprised. There was such an edge to his voice!
"But-"
"But nothing! I don't want their sympathy, and I don't want them to follow me anymore! I just need some time to think, away from my problems."
"But Brock's there..."
"That makes no difference if he doesn't recognise me..." Ash said, grabbing his long, wild hair, pulling it into a ponytail with a rubber band. Ashly surpressed a laugh. Ash looked pretty silly.
"Okay...I'm not going to tell them...but you have to figure out a way to leave without the others finding out." Ashly said, folding her arms."I'm not going to."
"Not a problem." Ash said. Ashly raised an eyebrow. Ash grabbed his backpack, and put everything he needed into it. He pushed open the window and tossed the pack out. It landed with a thump in the hedge, soon followed by Ash. Ashly sighed and left the room.
"How is he?" Misty asked, walking up to her. She was about to enter the room when Ashly put out a hand to stop her.
"He wants to be left alone for a little while." Ashly answered,"I've got to leave now, or I'll miss the boat to Velensia. See ya."
"Bye, Ashly..."
Once outside, Ash and Ashly walked in silence until they were at Ashly's house. Ashly was getting more and more aggitated. She thought Ash's hair looked weird, and it was starting to bother her. She finally blurted it out.
"Ash, I Think that it would be better if you got a hair cut. No one would recognise you then!"
"CUT MY HAIR?!?! ARE YOU INSANE?!?!"
"No, not really..." Ashly grinned.
"Why do I even bother?..." Ash sighed,"Are You ready?"
"Yep! Let's go!"
The boat was called the 'S.S Lapras', Ash stood, with his eyes poping out of his head, while Ashly bought the tickets.
"Let's board, Ash. I got us a good cabin!"
They stood on the deck for a few minutes, and watched as Pallet Town slowly disapeared.
"Bye-bye, worries..." Ash sighed, and turned away.
Misty knocked several times on Ash's door during that afternoon, but always to no answer. It didn't really bother Misty or D.J, until Mrs.ketchum came home. She was furious when she found out what had happened. She stomped around the living room angrily, raving and shouting about what she would like to do to Prof.Oak, and that 'spoiled little brat' of a grandson of his...
She thought it was best, however, to leave Ash alone for a little while longer. But when it was time for dinner...
"Ash?" Delia knocked tentively on her son's bedroom door.
No answer.
"Please, honey, come on out."
Still no answer.
"I've made your favorite dinnr." Delia tried, hoping that Ash would be enticed, but it didn't work. She tried the door, and was surprised when it swung open revealing...an empty room.
Ash wasn't there...
After settling in, Ashly dragged Ash (under protest, of course!) into the bathroom for a hair cut. Ash grabbed the door frame, and hung on for the sake of his spikey black locks. But Ashly gave an almighty yank, and Ash came loose. Ashly slammed the door. After a mad struggle, Ash gave in.
"There! That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Yes!" Ash was miffed. He had loved his long hair! He looked sadly down at the bits of his hair that littered the bathroom floor. Then he looked in the mirror.*But...this is even better!*
He looked more closely at his reflection. Short, wavy, with a center part, and spikey bangs (Ashly just couldn't tame them)...
"Not bad!" Ash exclaimed."It looks so cool!"
Mrs.Ketchum grabbed a handfull of Officer Jenny's uniform.
"What do you mean there's nothing you can do?!?!" she screamed.
"I'm sorry, Mrs.Ketchum! W-we've done everything possible to find your son..." Officer Jenny stammered,"We don't have any clue where to look next. We can't track him, and I'm afraid we can do nothing more than wait until he shows up."
"Wow! This place is as beautiful as I remember!" Ash exclaimed, as he steped down from the ship.
"Yeah!" Ashly agreed.
"When was the last time you were here?" Ash inquired.
"When I was 6!"
Both cracked up.
"Hello? Aunt Joy?" Ashly called into the pokemon centre.
"Ashly? Right on time!" Nurse Joy said, stepping out of the back room.
"Yes, and I've brought a friend. He wants to volunteer, as well!"
"Okay! We need all the help we can get! What's his name?"
*Uh-Oh!* Ashly thought, panicking. She hadn't thought about that...
"Matt Anderson." Ash said smoothly, and held out his hand. Nurse Joy shook it happily.
"Welcome aboard, Matt!" she said cheerfully.
*'Matt Anderson'?* Ashly thought, rather amused that he had thought of a name. When Nurse Joy was out of earshot, Ashly murmered to Ash "Hm, 'Matt Anderson'?"
Ash blushed.
"It was all I could think of, really..."
Nurse Joy came back and gave them their uniforms and showed them around.
"Misty, you need your sleep! C'mon, Ash will be okay, he just might need time to find his feet. Please stop worrying." D.J pleaded, taking the redhead into his arms. Misty burried her face in D.J's shoulder.
"Oh, I can't sleep, D.J!" Misty sobbed,"I know I haven't been exactly the nicest person to Ash, but I want him back! I need him! I-I..."
Misty continued to sob into D.J's shoulder.
"Matt, will you take this delivery to Prof. Ivy's lab?" Nurse Joy asked a few weeks after 'Matt' had come to the island.
"Sure! I'd love to!" Matt took the box's, and slipped them into his new flashy blue backpack, and slipped on his green rollerblades.
Zipping down the road on his blades, Matt was clearly enjoying himself. Then a thought hit him.
*Oh, S***!!! Brock works at Prof.Ivy's Lab!!! I'm in trouble!!!* he stopped suddenly.*Hey! Now's the perfect time to test my disguise! Brock won't know it's me, if my disguise is as good as I think it is!*
Matt continued to the Lab. When he got there, he rang the bell, rather nervously. Brock answered the door.
"May I help you?" he asked, peering out the door at Matt.
"I, ah, have a delivery to for Prof.Ivy." Matt stamered.
"Oh! Please come in, and I'll get her."
Matt looked around the room that Brock led him into. It was clean, neat as a pin, and must've been a parlour, or something, Matt decided. He sat the box's on the table in the corner, and waited. Brock came in with Prof.Ivy.
"Why, thank you, young man. You must be one of the new volunteers at the Pokemon Centre. Nurse Joy is thrilled that there are two of you. Do tell me your name."
"M-Matt Anderson" Matt stamered.
"Well Matt, can you help Brock take these Pokeballs to the Pokemon Centre? I'd really appreciate it."
"Sure thing!" Matt grinned. When he turned around, he stopped grinning.There had to be at least 50 Million boxes of Pokeballs! He sighed in mock defeat. Brock grinned at him, and began to put the box's into his backpack. Matt did the same. Then they loaded there arms and started towards the Pokemon Center. As soon as they were far enough from the lab, Matt shuddered and sighed. Brock grinned at him, and rolled his eyes.
"I know. It takes some getting used to, doesn't it? To tell you the truth, I used to think the way she could twist you around her finger was cute, but now it's just annoying!" Brock said, disgusted. Matt laughed slightly.
"The only things I like out here, are the Pokemon and the climate." he replied. Brock nodded in agreement.
"The only reason I stayed here was to learn more about Pokemon, and maybe take care of them, 'cause they seemed to need my help. Sometimes I wish I'd never stayed here. I sometimes wish that I'd stayed with my friends..." Brock trailed off and looked down. Matt stared at him, and patted his back awkwardly, in a comforting gesture.
"Hey, it's okay, um, Brock. I'm sure your friends are fine. Maybe it hurt them to leave you behind, but they did because they probably knew it's what you wanted. Besides, if they are good friends, they'll never forget you. Feel better?"
"Yeah. Everything you said makes sense. I think I'll call them, if they're in Pallet Town, as soon as I get to the Pokemon Center."
Matt nodded.
"Pretty sound idea."
"Thanks!"
"Hello? Mrs.Ketchum? This is Brock. Is Ash there?"
Mrs.Ketchum choked back a sob.
"N-no. H-he's not. But M-Misty is..." she ran off sobbing loudly. Misty picked up the phone.
"Hello? Oh, hi Brock...Why'd you phone?"
"To say hi and catch up with you and Ash. Why?"
"Oh, Brock...I should have phoned and told you...Ash ran away. He was accused of Pokemon theft, and had his Pokemon taken away from him."
"He had Pikachu taken away?! No wonder he ran away!!"
"We've been trying to find him, but there's no place we haven't searched, and He's gone!" Misty was almost hysterical. Remembering everything that had happened was painful.
"Misty, calm down! You checked everywhere? You're sure?"
"Yes! Pallet, Viridian, Pewter, Cerulian, Vermilion, Saffron, Celadon, Fuisha, and even Cinnabar Island! And all the small villiges in between! He's gone!"
"You didn't search the Orange Arcapelaco, did you?"
"Oh! No, we didn't think of it."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Mrs.Ketchum, the Police, D.J, and I."
"D.J? Is that my replacement?"
"Well, actually, first it was a Pokemon watcher named Tracy, when Ash was in the Orange League. Then we went to Vermilion, and met D.J Thunderston. He's been a good friend, and has got us out of several situations more than twice."
"Well, I'll check around in the Arcapelaco, and phone in often. Sound good?"
"Yeah, but I'm coming with you!" Misty said firmly.
"But..." Brock protested.
"No buts! I want to find him too, and I want to find him now!"
"Alright, then. Catch the next boat over, if you can, okay?"
"Okay. I'll be on my way! 'Bye!"
Chapter Three: Time for a change
"Prof.Oak! That was the worst possible thing you could have ever done. If You seem to think that taking away everything that Ash has worked hard for was nessesary, then my once high opinion of you has become very low indeed!" Ashly hissed. Her eyes, normally big, soft and expressive, were now narrowed and hard, glaring slits. Her normally fine complexion was flushed with anger.
The professor was speachless.
"Miss Greene-"
"I'm going to stick up for Ash, 'cause he's my best friend. And I'm glad I won't see any of you again!" Ashly turned to Gary, placed a well aimed slap on his cheek, and went into Ash's room after shouting something over her shoulder. The tone she used made it appear to be a very bad word indeed.
"What did she say?" asked a very shocked prof.Oak.
Misty and D.J exchanged looks.
"You...don't want to know." D.J finally answered, shaking his head.
"Oh."
"I think You should leave now." Misty said in a hard voice. Prof.Oak, Gary, and Officer Jenny left quickly.
In Ash's room...
Ash was laying face down on his bed, sobs shuddering through him. Ashly was perched on the edge, rubbing his back and talking in low, soothing tones, murmering endearments. How many times had she done this for him when they were growing up? Too many. She felt sorry for Ash. He'd stored so many bad feelings inside, and now he'd finally cracked. Not that it was unwarrented...
"Ash, miele, please. I can't do anything more. You know I have to leave soon."
"That's right. Your new job." Ash said bitterly, turning his face away."Go on, leave me."
"Ash, it's not that...I..." Ashly cried out."I want to stay, for your sake, darling, but I can't. I WANT to be with you..."
"Hey!" Ash brightened slightly,"Why don't I go with you?"
Ashly was shocked.
"You mean, as a vacation away from this..." Ashly gestured furiously with her hand."...mess?"
"No, I mean to work with you."
"Well..." Ashly thought about it. His request was rather strange."Do you have any idea of what you'd have to do? Any training?" Ashly didn't expect the answer she got, though it pleased her.
"Yep! Last year!"
Ashly smiled. She was slowly starting to like the idea of Ash coming with her.
"Good enough. Alright, Ash, you can come, too, I guess. But what should I tell the others? I mean, they'll wan't to know where you're going..."
Something inside Ash began to burn heatedly, almost irrationally. The sound of his friend's names made him angry. It just made him remember things he didn't want to remember at all.
"Nothing!" Ash snapped. Ashly looked up surprised. There was such an edge to his voice!
"But-"
"But nothing! I don't want their sympathy, and I don't want them to follow me anymore! I just need some time to think, away from my problems."
"But Brock's there..."
"That makes no difference if he doesn't recognise me..." Ash said, grabbing his long, wild hair, pulling it into a ponytail with a rubber band. Ashly surpressed a laugh. Ash looked pretty silly.
"Okay...I'm not going to tell them...but you have to figure out a way to leave without the others finding out." Ashly said, folding her arms."I'm not going to."
"Not a problem." Ash said. Ashly raised an eyebrow. Ash grabbed his backpack, and put everything he needed into it. He pushed open the window and tossed the pack out. It landed with a thump in the hedge, soon followed by Ash. Ashly sighed and left the room.
"How is he?" Misty asked, walking up to her. She was about to enter the room when Ashly put out a hand to stop her.
"He wants to be left alone for a little while." Ashly answered,"I've got to leave now, or I'll miss the boat to Velensia. See ya."
"Bye, Ashly..."
Once outside, Ash and Ashly walked in silence until they were at Ashly's house. Ashly was getting more and more aggitated. She thought Ash's hair looked weird, and it was starting to bother her. She finally blurted it out.
"Ash, I Think that it would be better if you got a hair cut. No one would recognise you then!"
"CUT MY HAIR?!?! ARE YOU INSANE?!?!"
"No, not really..." Ashly grinned.
"Why do I even bother?..." Ash sighed,"Are You ready?"
"Yep! Let's go!"
The boat was called the 'S.S Lapras', Ash stood, with his eyes poping out of his head, while Ashly bought the tickets.
"Let's board, Ash. I got us a good cabin!"
They stood on the deck for a few minutes, and watched as Pallet Town slowly disapeared.
"Bye-bye, worries..." Ash sighed, and turned away.
Misty knocked several times on Ash's door during that afternoon, but always to no answer. It didn't really bother Misty or D.J, until Mrs.ketchum came home. She was furious when she found out what had happened. She stomped around the living room angrily, raving and shouting about what she would like to do to Prof.Oak, and that 'spoiled little brat' of a grandson of his...
She thought it was best, however, to leave Ash alone for a little while longer. But when it was time for dinner...
"Ash?" Delia knocked tentively on her son's bedroom door.
No answer.
"Please, honey, come on out."
Still no answer.
"I've made your favorite dinnr." Delia tried, hoping that Ash would be enticed, but it didn't work. She tried the door, and was surprised when it swung open revealing...an empty room.
Ash wasn't there...
After settling in, Ashly dragged Ash (under protest, of course!) into the bathroom for a hair cut. Ash grabbed the door frame, and hung on for the sake of his spikey black locks. But Ashly gave an almighty yank, and Ash came loose. Ashly slammed the door. After a mad struggle, Ash gave in.
"There! That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Yes!" Ash was miffed. He had loved his long hair! He looked sadly down at the bits of his hair that littered the bathroom floor. Then he looked in the mirror.*But...this is even better!*
He looked more closely at his reflection. Short, wavy, with a center part, and spikey bangs (Ashly just couldn't tame them)...
"Not bad!" Ash exclaimed."It looks so cool!"
Mrs.Ketchum grabbed a handfull of Officer Jenny's uniform.
"What do you mean there's nothing you can do?!?!" she screamed.
"I'm sorry, Mrs.Ketchum! W-we've done everything possible to find your son..." Officer Jenny stammered,"We don't have any clue where to look next. We can't track him, and I'm afraid we can do nothing more than wait until he shows up."
"Wow! This place is as beautiful as I remember!" Ash exclaimed, as he steped down from the ship.
"Yeah!" Ashly agreed.
"When was the last time you were here?" Ash inquired.
"When I was 6!"
Both cracked up.
"Hello? Aunt Joy?" Ashly called into the pokemon centre.
"Ashly? Right on time!" Nurse Joy said, stepping out of the back room.
"Yes, and I've brought a friend. He wants to volunteer, as well!"
"Okay! We need all the help we can get! What's his name?"
*Uh-Oh!* Ashly thought, panicking. She hadn't thought about that...
"Matt Anderson." Ash said smoothly, and held out his hand. Nurse Joy shook it happily.
"Welcome aboard, Matt!" she said cheerfully.
*'Matt Anderson'?* Ashly thought, rather amused that he had thought of a name. When Nurse Joy was out of earshot, Ashly murmered to Ash "Hm, 'Matt Anderson'?"
Ash blushed.
"It was all I could think of, really..."
Nurse Joy came back and gave them their uniforms and showed them around.
"Misty, you need your sleep! C'mon, Ash will be okay, he just might need time to find his feet. Please stop worrying." D.J pleaded, taking the redhead into his arms. Misty burried her face in D.J's shoulder.
"Oh, I can't sleep, D.J!" Misty sobbed,"I know I haven't been exactly the nicest person to Ash, but I want him back! I need him! I-I..."
Misty continued to sob into D.J's shoulder.
"Matt, will you take this delivery to Prof. Ivy's lab?" Nurse Joy asked a few weeks after 'Matt' had come to the island.
"Sure! I'd love to!" Matt took the box's, and slipped them into his new flashy blue backpack, and slipped on his green rollerblades.
Zipping down the road on his blades, Matt was clearly enjoying himself. Then a thought hit him.
*Oh, S***!!! Brock works at Prof.Ivy's Lab!!! I'm in trouble!!!* he stopped suddenly.*Hey! Now's the perfect time to test my disguise! Brock won't know it's me, if my disguise is as good as I think it is!*
Matt continued to the Lab. When he got there, he rang the bell, rather nervously. Brock answered the door.
"May I help you?" he asked, peering out the door at Matt.
"I, ah, have a delivery to for Prof.Ivy." Matt stamered.
"Oh! Please come in, and I'll get her."
Matt looked around the room that Brock led him into. It was clean, neat as a pin, and must've been a parlour, or something, Matt decided. He sat the box's on the table in the corner, and waited. Brock came in with Prof.Ivy.
"Why, thank you, young man. You must be one of the new volunteers at the Pokemon Centre. Nurse Joy is thrilled that there are two of you. Do tell me your name."
"M-Matt Anderson" Matt stamered.
"Well Matt, can you help Brock take these Pokeballs to the Pokemon Centre? I'd really appreciate it."
"Sure thing!" Matt grinned. When he turned around, he stopped grinning.There had to be at least 50 Million boxes of Pokeballs! He sighed in mock defeat. Brock grinned at him, and began to put the box's into his backpack. Matt did the same. Then they loaded there arms and started towards the Pokemon Center. As soon as they were far enough from the lab, Matt shuddered and sighed. Brock grinned at him, and rolled his eyes.
"I know. It takes some getting used to, doesn't it? To tell you the truth, I used to think the way she could twist you around her finger was cute, but now it's just annoying!" Brock said, disgusted. Matt laughed slightly.
"The only things I like out here, are the Pokemon and the climate." he replied. Brock nodded in agreement.
"The only reason I stayed here was to learn more about Pokemon, and maybe take care of them, 'cause they seemed to need my help. Sometimes I wish I'd never stayed here. I sometimes wish that I'd stayed with my friends..." Brock trailed off and looked down. Matt stared at him, and patted his back awkwardly, in a comforting gesture.
"Hey, it's okay, um, Brock. I'm sure your friends are fine. Maybe it hurt them to leave you behind, but they did because they probably knew it's what you wanted. Besides, if they are good friends, they'll never forget you. Feel better?"
"Yeah. Everything you said makes sense. I think I'll call them, if they're in Pallet Town, as soon as I get to the Pokemon Center."
Matt nodded.
"Pretty sound idea."
"Thanks!"
"Hello? Mrs.Ketchum? This is Brock. Is Ash there?"
Mrs.Ketchum choked back a sob.
"N-no. H-he's not. But M-Misty is..." she ran off sobbing loudly. Misty picked up the phone.
"Hello? Oh, hi Brock...Why'd you phone?"
"To say hi and catch up with you and Ash. Why?"
"Oh, Brock...I should have phoned and told you...Ash ran away. He was accused of Pokemon theft, and had his Pokemon taken away from him."
"He had Pikachu taken away?! No wonder he ran away!!"
"We've been trying to find him, but there's no place we haven't searched, and He's gone!" Misty was almost hysterical. Remembering everything that had happened was painful.
"Misty, calm down! You checked everywhere? You're sure?"
"Yes! Pallet, Viridian, Pewter, Cerulian, Vermilion, Saffron, Celadon, Fuisha, and even Cinnabar Island! And all the small villiges in between! He's gone!"
"You didn't search the Orange Arcapelaco, did you?"
"Oh! No, we didn't think of it."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Mrs.Ketchum, the Police, D.J, and I."
"D.J? Is that my replacement?"
"Well, actually, first it was a Pokemon watcher named Tracy, when Ash was in the Orange League. Then we went to Vermilion, and met D.J Thunderston. He's been a good friend, and has got us out of several situations more than twice."
"Well, I'll check around in the Arcapelaco, and phone in often. Sound good?"
"Yeah, but I'm coming with you!" Misty said firmly.
"But..." Brock protested.
"No buts! I want to find him too, and I want to find him now!"
"Alright, then. Catch the next boat over, if you can, okay?"
"Okay. I'll be on my way! 'Bye!"