Fallen Angel

A young man of about 23 walked along a beaten track, at his side was a father fierce looking Pokemon whom the trainer had named 'Lee', it was a Tyrouge.  The two had been inseparable when since they met when the man was 19, before then, the trainer no memory of his life: he smiled at his small friend of 4 years as it began to rain

"Come on pal, into your ball, its warmer" he said: the Pokemon turned into energy and returned to the safety of his pokeball.

Sighing, the man continued on to a Pokemon Centre where he could rest.

Misty was board, Gary was off with one of the many tarts he picked up in towns like this, and Erika and Brock, two ex-gym leaders, now couple were having dinner at restaurant in town, and she was stuck in the Pokemon Centre with nothing to do.  So she let Golduck and Totodile out for a few minutes, the pair of water Pokemon always to glad to keep their mistress and loyal trainer company.  Misty felt a breeze and turned around; a man had come in, about her age with a long, hooded coat on

"Hi would you like you Pokemon healed" Joy said as the man handed over his Pokemon

"Yes please but Lee and Hound are okay so I'll keep them handy in case trouble walks in" he said and went to sit down, right beside Misty and her Pokemon

"Hi, I'm Misty and this is Golduck and Totodile" she said brightly

[Whoa, what a babe] Ash thought as he let Lee and Hound out.

The Dark-type Pokemon made a few people nervous; they didn't have a good reputation

"Don't worry, Hound is very friendly" Ash assured the other Pokemon

"He's as loyal as any Archanine and twice as tough with a Fire Blast attack that'll melt damn near anything" he said; rather proud of his Pokemon

"What about Tyrouge, I heard they're the pre evolved form of, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and Hitmontop, is it true?" Misty asked

"Yes, his name is Lee, and is very special, my first Pokemon, he never wanted to evolve so I gave him an Everstone which he has in that belt" he pointed to a small black stone in the belt buckle

Lee shifted the belt up a little so Misty could see it, the little Pokemon seemed proud of this choice.

***********************

Misty and Ash hit it off and then Gary arrived

"And the pig says to the horse 'hey fella, why the long face', is it a great joke or what?" he asked as the blonde bimbo laughed

"Just go and screw her Gary, its all they ever want" Misty said

"Well at least I can pick up a member of the opposite sex" he shot back

"Oh I think Misty can pick them up, she just doesn't whore herself like you do pal" Ash said and sipped his tea causing Misty to laugh

Gary walked over to Ash and looked down on him

"A wise guy huh" he sneered

"Not wise, just observant" he countered

Gary would have advanced but he caught sight of the Houndoom at his feet and the Tyrouge drinking tea beside him

"I bet you wouldn't be so tough with out your Pokemon" he said

Lee burst out laughing and Hound smiled as Ash stood up slowly

"Here is some free advice pal, stay the hell out of my way, both in Pokemon and physical battles, 'cause I'll knock you down in both" he said and got his Pokemon off Nurse Joy

"Cheers, I'm heading off to bed" he said

"Bye Misty, I hope I didn't offend you" he said

"What about, the whoring thing, please, that was so funny I think I broke a rib from laughing so hard" she said as Ash went upstairs

Ever curious; Misty went to see Nurse Joy

"Hey Joy, you know him, who is he?" she asked

"I've seen him around, why?" she asked

"He scared the living daylights out of Garry, no easy task" she said

Joy chuckled

"Well Ash is a very intimidating man, funny thing is, he can't remember anything that happened before he was 19; I found him lying unconscious and naked in the woods one day.  All he remembers is that he's a trainer" she said.

Misty was stunned

"Wow, that's incredible" she remarked and went up to her room,

Joy smiled

[You don't know the half of it] she thought and went to tend the Pokemon.

*****************

Misty sat with her Discman on the bottom bunk in the room her friends had reserved for the evening listening to her favorite band 'Queen', her favorite song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was playing, as Erika and Brock appeared in each other's arms.  She could hear the faint moans and groans coming from Gary's room

"Shit, he's gonna have a million paternity suet's by the time he's 30" Erika said as Brock nuzzled her neck

"Bed time Brock" she said and swung up to the top bunk to sleep

"Man I enjoy being in love" he said before falling asleep.

Misty was feeling a bit depressed so she went outside to get some air.  As she walked along the path, she could hear someone singing, it was a local song called 'Distant Ballad', a very nice song in her opinion and she decided to follow the sound of the song to its owner.  She was surprised to see that it led her back to the Pokemon Centre where she saw Ash sitting on his window sill singing

[What a nice voice] she thought

She remembered that her key-card to the center doors was in her shorts which were inside and it was still really cold despite the long pants and jacket she had on, she started shivering.  Ash suddenly appeared in front of her

"Cold?" he asked

Misty rolled her eyes

"Yeah a bit" she said

"No key huh?" he continued.

Misty nodded and Ash smiled

[Well, just this once won't hurt] he reasoned and wrapped his arms around Misty

"Ah Ash, as much as I appreciate the gesture to keep warm, I-"

She stopped when the feeling of ground beneath her feet was gone and she realized she was floating in mid-air

"Eep" she squeaked and wrapped her arms around Ash's body

"I won't drop you, I promise" he said as they landed softly in his room, he let go of Misty but it took a few minutes for her to do the same

"You can let go of me anytime soon Misty" he prompted

Lee sniggered in the background

{Aww, how cute} he said

"Stow it you" he said as Misty, blushing, let go of him

"Sorry, but that was amazing, I mean, you flew, but, how?" she asked

"It's a kind of magic" he said and smiled

Misty walked out of his room and Ash lay down and looked over at his bag: a soft green glow emanated from it

Misty went back to her room, also smiling

[Ooh that was nice] she thought and got into bed and went to sleep, a dreamy and content smile on her face as Golduck and Totodile made quiet sniggering noises at the look on their trainer's face.

That morning, Misty and her friends were eating breakfast when Ash approached them

"Hi guys, listen, I was wondering if I could travel in your group for a while?" he asked

"Why, to scared to travel alone?" Gary asked

"Bite me.  I was on the lookout for some human company on my travels" he explained

"Brock, Erika, what do you reckon?" Misty asked her other friends

"Okay, cool" Erika said

Ash sat down, being a large rounded table for 5 there was still a spot open, the one next to Misty and as a thank you gesture, paid for the breakfast meal, Brock and Erika liked him even more after that, Misty was so glad he had asked to join them, besides Erika, she had no one to talk to and Brock was usually chatting with Erika anyway, so Ash gave her a person to chat to.  Brock and Erika picked up their Pokemon from Nurse Joy and Gary did too, then the group set out on the walk to Space City, where Gary was hoping to earn a Galaxy Badge from the Gym leader: Star.

Misty and Brock had known Gary for many years, ever since he was 10 and had first started out on this journey around the world, although the four were tight friends, and lovers in Brock and Erika's case, Gary and Misty's relationship was becoming strained as Gary got more and more arrogant with every badge he earned "Misty, you okay?" Ash asked, Misty nodded

"Sorry, musta zoned out" she said and blushed at the boys attentive stare

"Oh look, Ash is hitting on the harpy" Gary said

Misty went red from fury

"If you don't shut up Gary, the next thing that hits you will be my Gyarados's Hyper Beam!" she screamed at him

Ash chuckled and fell into step beside Misty as the walked into the woods; Brock had Golbat out who was having a happy flap around in the dark forest.  The forest was becoming more and denser as they went on until it was so thick it was stopping them

"Its late, we may as well camp here" Erika said

"I'll ask Scizor to cut us a path through all that tomorrow" Ash said as he got his sleeping bad ready, the subject of guard duty came up.  Ash produced a pokeball

"Go, Umbreon" he said as the Dark-type evolution of Eevee materialized, its body rings glowing menacingly in the dim area

"Umbreon, we need you to stand guard tonight, will you?" Ash asked, the Pokemon nodded and jumped up into a tree

"Well, with that solved, which's hungry?" Brock asked

"ME!" chorused the rest of the group.

Brock made a curry with some salted chicken and carrots while Misty fed the Pokemon, all the while she could feel Umbreon's eyes on her

{You like Ash don't you?} , she asked

Misty blushed a little

"A bit" she admitted

Umbreon smiled and walked over to Misty

{He needs someone like you, but first, you'd have to accept him, all of him} the Pokemon said before jumping back into the tree

[That was weird] Misty thought and returned to feeding the Pokemon.

At about midnight, Ash lay awake; thinkin

[Would a girl like that accept me for what I really am?] He paused and looked over to her

[No way, she's probably got a million men chasing her, why would she waste any energy on me, oh well, even fools can dream] he thought and went to another area of the forest.

***************************

Vapoureon, one of Misty's Pokemon got up from snuggling her trainer and spoke to Umbreon

{He's wrong you know} she said

{'Bout what?} Umbreon asked lazily

{About thinking Misty would be wasting her time to like him, she thinks he's great, I heard them muttering in their sleep} Vapoureon sounded confident

{I know that, but, Ash has issues; it's his life: something happened to him that he would've preferred not to, although he's learnt to embrace it a little, he still can't come to grips with all of it} the Pokemon said with a sage like air about her

{What happened?} Vapoureon asked

Umbreon smiled

{Wait and see} she answered as Vapoureon went back to bed.

The next morning was very uneventful for all after Scizor cut the path, Misty noticed Ash seemed a little down and sad

[How odd, he was pretty happy last night and yesterday] she thought as Ash let Lee out to stretch his legs

The Pokemon looked at his master in sadness, Hound and Umbreon were also out and also seemed distressed about Ash; Misty wanted to know what was wrong so she used her famous 'Sledgehammer' approach

"Ash, you seemed depressed, something on your mind?" she asked

Ash forced an obviously well meaning (but also obviously fake) smile and shook his head while Lee and Ash's other Pokemon shook their collective heads and sighed

{Small steps Umbreon} Hound said

{If he don't pull out of this slump soon, he's gonna cap himself} Lee said with authority

Although Lee had not said that loud enough for anyone other than the others to hear, unfortunately for them, Misty's Azumaril had good hearing and heard the whole thing, even though he was in his pokeball and vowed to tell Misty about it when they had a spare moment.  Suddenly the ground gave out from beneath them everyone, aside from Umbreon and Hound, who jumped out of the way in time fell into the hole

"If this is Team Rocket again I will scream" Misty proclaimed as the Team Rocket members appeared

"We're dispensing with the motto for now, so hand over the Pokemon, or face the consequences" James threatened

"Umbreon, Hidden Power attack" Ash yelled to his Pokemon who leapt to the defense of everyone.

The Pokemon glowed, all the rings went white and circle of white energy balls surrounded her

{EAT THIS} Umbreon screamed and shot them at Team Rocket

Each ball hit a target, Jesse, James, Meowth, Arbok, Victribell, Wheezing and Fearow and knocked them out cold

"Espeon, help us out of this hole" Gary said and freed the Psychic Pokemon who lifted them up using telekinesis

Hound stood guard on Team Rocket as the group dusted themselves off and grumbled obscenities

"Hey twerps; who's the new twerp?" Jesse demanded, Hound growled angrily and bared his teeth

{He's my trainer, now shut up} he snarled.

Meowth however was prepared for this situation and pressed a small button on his remote control.  A blinding flash hit the area and the Pokemon couldn't see.  The, Victribell used a Sleep Powder attack and sent them all into the land of nod.  Meowth then pressed a second button.

Large cannon emerged from the balloon and fired at the group, knocking all the Pokemon out and causing a landslide.

"Misty, Ash.  Get out of there!" Erika yelled

But Misty was too slow having hurt her ankle and rocks tumbled towards her.  Ash, thinking with out reason leapt in and covered her with his body.  Once the dust settled, Gary, Brock and Erika looked at the mound of rocks and then at the recovered Team Rocket

"You, you killed them" Erika shrieked and reached for her most powerful Pokemon, a Meganium

She was halted however by a green glow coming from the rubble; then the ground began to shake and the rubble began falling away: then it happened

BOOM

The rubble shot outwards in several directions revealing what was underneath it: a tall figure in armour of red and silver with a long lethal looking spear: then they noticed that Ash was missing but Misty was underneath this mysterious character and aside from the few scratches on her, she was wide awake and very much alive

"You" the figure in armour hissed and pointed at them with a gauntleted hand

Team Rocket stood rooted on the spot: neither they, nor anyone else for that matter had ever come across something like this before.  Before the group could respond: the pauldrons on the shoulders of this large being opened and fired a large bolt of green energy, much like a hyper beam, only stronger

"TEKNO BOLTS" he screamed as the launched towards Team Rocket.

This caused the usual result, sending Team Rocket and their stooge Pokemon nearly into orbit.  Misty got up and dusted herself off and looked at her saviour: eyes wide and mouth agape, in all her travels she had never seen any kind of technology like this.

"Ash, is that you?" she asked

Ash nodded and the armour vanished by turning to light and going inside a crystal Ash held in his hand

"Misty I-" he stopped and collapsed

Misty caught him and called Brock over

"We've got to get to a Pokemon Centre" she said

"Okay" Brock grunted and hauled the younger man on to his shoulders and began jogging towards the Centre they'd just left.

A stunned Erika and a very scared Gary followed them a minute later