A/N: Hey guys…Sorry for the long time no update, but right now, I'm at my mom's house in NJ, so it took me a while to settle down. Not to mention I hit this dam blocking my river of ideas. Now what do people call them? think Oh, yeah! It's called "writer's block". Anyway, right now, I'm going to answer all the reviews. Which reach up to an unsurpassable amount of gasp THREE! --! sigh

Celinae: We meet again, Mrs. Celinae. TAKE THIS! HUG My FiRsT eVeR rEvIeWeR! Unfortunately, I have no clue on what to do with the Inuyasha/Other anime fanfics. No ideas…other than Love Hina, but I'm still working on that. Not to mention all my work is back in NY… worry

Nightshadegirl: MY FIRST ACTUAL COMPLIMENT! hug Uh…Unfortunately I have nothing else to say… worry more

Hanako Tabris: My…first… "flamer"…Yes, I know it's been done to death, but if you think the story, right now, is unoriginal, wait until the later chapters. sigh Oy Vey… worries into insanity

A/N: Funny that my first three reviews would be a flame, compliment and a comment…By the way, LinkSSByu-gi-ohfan, you were not featured on the above space because you came later. Without further ado, here comes the new chapter…Although the original is in NY, I can't wait until the end of the summer, can I? --!

Disclaimer…again: Aren't you guys getting tired of this? As you all know, I do not own any part of the Pokemon franchise, bootleg or not. Until next chapter…

A Whole New World

Chapter 4: Concealed Memories

By: Luxfer

Mist. Fog. Both conceal the truth. Both dim the senses. Both confusing the same person, who at this moment, was dreaming about a small room with a big fireplace, burning merrily. There stands a man, blackened with shadows, looking deep into the fireplace, at a crumbling piece of paper.

"Hikaru! Hikaru, I have something for you!" yelled the man up the stairs.

"Coming dad!"

The man looked expectantly at the top of the stairs. Then came the footsteps. Fast and eager the feet came, running down the stairs, carrying with them a very excited little boy.

Little Hikaru bounced up and down impatiently. Looking all around he asked, "So…whatcha got for me?"

The man cloaked in darkness kneeled down, right next to little Hikaru. He handed him a small package, wrapped in blue wrappings.

"Here. Take it and remember. I will always look after you, however far apart we are."

"Hehe." Little Hikaru grinned widely and skewered the package to smithereens. The man laughed at his eagerness.

"Cool dad! This cap is awesome!"

And with that statement, he slammed it on his head and started marching around, ordering imaginary Pokemon to do his bidding.

"Charizard, Flamethrower! Meganium, Solar Beam! Swampart, Hydro Pump!"

The man laughed again. "Ahh…Hikaru…I sure am going to miss you. Promise me to become a great Trainer, like me!"

"You're not that great dad! You don't even know the first thing about Pokemon!"

The man stopped, surprised. And then he laughed, picked up his child and said to him.

"Be strong, Hikaru. For me and your mother. I'll be going now."

At these words, the little boy's grin drooped and his face fell. But then, his eyes gleamed with hope and he said, "But you'll be back in time to play with me, right?"

The man whispered, "Of course I'll be back. Goodbye, Hikaru."

With a final hug and a couple of quick steps toward the door, Hikaru Leonardo Tsukasa's father was never seen again.

Sakura Tsukasa woke up, sweating and shaking.

Ugh great, that dream. Of all the times, why now?

Sakura shook her head vigorously and decided to wash her face. Heading towards her bathroom, she heard noises coming from the hallway. Curious, she poked her head out the door.

"Go get 'im Blaziken! Wow Terry, this is awesome!"

Sakura, knowing who the noisemaker was, crept into Hikaru's room, unnoticed by the distracted boy.

On the Visi-Phone was a boy, with wavy, curly hair.

"Man, Hikaru, if your mom was here, she'd kill you."

"Don't worry about it! She's sleeping early to make me breakfast and to quiz me. Oh my God, he did NOT just order his Charizard to Seismic Toss him."

"Yes he did. Cool, eh? You owe me for…this…Hikaru…" The tiny boy on the Visi-Phone tried to get Hikaru's attention, pointing to something ominous-looking behind him.

"What is it Terry? Go Charizard, finish him!"

"H-hello…Mrs. Tsukasa..."

"Oh come on Terry! Like I'll fall for that again! But I'll humor you. I'll show you that there's…nothing…" At that moment, Hikaru chose to turn around right into his mother's glowing red eyes, who at the moment was carrying an ominous looking toy hammer.

Widening his eyes, he thought; Oh shi-

THWAP! KERBAM! WHOPSH!

Terry, witnessing this, decided to spare his eyes from the terror. Upon screwing his eyes shut as tight as he can, he noticed he can hear. Realizing this ability, he smashed his open palms into his ears in a fruitless attempt at shutting out the blasts of noise emanating from the phone.

Ooh, that's gotta hurt. Ugh, that doesn't sound like it's still intact. Oh snap, that doesn't bend like that!

Catching a couple of glimpses of the terror, he came upon the conclusion that, instead of shutting himself from the phone, he could just cut the connection. Mentally smacking himself for not doing this earlier, he said "Mrs. Tsukasa…good night…" Click.

"Don't Terry! Don't leave me alone! I might need a witness!"

"A witness you say? Hohoho…you'll need more than a witness…"

"NOOO!"

An hour later after Hikaru's unfortunate situation…

"Now that you have learned your lesson…GET TO BED!"

Hikaru, caressing his head, was thrown bodily into his mattress, adding another injury on his head, for it hit the wall as well.

"Ow! Mom! How about some love and compassion!"

"That's only in the morning. You're lucky I didn't punish you for being so rude to the mayor's daughter!"

At this, Hikaru's instincts took over his brain and he replied, "But it was her fault!"

Sakura turned her back on the door and whispered in a dangerous voice. "What did you say?"

Hikaru, immediately sensing the danger, retreated from the battle, so to speak. "Nothing, mother… "

"Good. You have to wake up bright and early tomorrow, Mr. Pokemon Expert."

And with that finishing statement, she closed the door and walked down the stairs. Sighing, she went to the Espresso Machine and poured herself a cup of cold coffee.

"That boy…when will he learn?"

Taking a sip, she heard a slight tip-tap sound above her.

Is that Hikaru again! Oh…that boy is gonna get it now!

Putting down the barely-touched cup of coffee, she gathered up her energies for another fight. Morphing her face into an angry scowl, she walked up the stairs, only to reach the conclusion that whatever was making that noise was on the roof.

Uh-Oh… Sakura thought. This cannot be good.

Preparing herself, she ran down the stairs and out into the streets. Scanning the rooftops, she quickly identified a dark figure in the way of the full moon.

There he is…Haven't had fun in a while…God knows Hikaru can't take my real beatings…let's go Mr. Ninja…

Sakura took a couple of steps back and ran straight at her house walls. A split second before her body would've made contact; she flipped backwards so her face was facing the bright, full moon. Kicking against the wall, she soared through the air and landed on the rooftop opposite hers.

Looking for the figure, she realized that the tip-tap sound was gone, and the figure on her rooftop had disappeared.

Shit. Where'd he go? Closing her eyes, she scanned her mind for her lessons. A memory floated into her calm mind.

Scan your surroundings again, Sakura. Find the traces of your enemy and disappear into the shadows, ready for his special surprise.

Opening her eyes again, she jumped and landed quietly on her roof, right on the spot the figure was on.

Boots? Has this guy been traveling?

However, while she was pondering who he was, the figure stepped out from the rooftop where she'd been on, right behind where she was standing before.

Gotcha.

Sakura immediately realized the danger she was in. Damn, I've gone soft!

Shik.

Shit! JUMP, SAKURA, JUMP!

Sakura flipped into the air, her eyes searching for her attacker and the weapon she heard he drew. Her eyes caught a glint of steel flying exactly at where she was.

Shuriken?

Landing on the rooftop next to her own, she looked at where the shuriken came from. But to no avail. The man was gone. Or…so she thought. For right behind her was him again.

Gotcha.

Above? Below? Right? Left? Nope. BEHIND!

Spinning around and catching her opponent by surprise, his Kunai knife missed its mark. Whizzing a little to the left of where she stood, Sakura analyzed the speed of the knife and calculated her chances. She took it.

"So you caught the knife. Glad to see you're alert as ever, Sakura."

Panting from the effort, Sakura said "Who are you?"

"Don't remember me, Sakura? Shame, shame…"

"I said WHO ARE YOU!"

Angered by this resistance, she threw the knife and it hit right between her opponents legs, past his body.

"You've gotten worse, Sakura. What have you been doing?"

"Learning. You're wide open, Mr. Ninja. HYAA!

Jumping straight at her opponent, she pulled out a hammer from her shoe. People always wondered why she always bought 2 sizes bigger than what she should where.

Standing calm and unmoving, the opponent said, "You forget how fast I am, Sakura. I can…move!"

"Hehe…Not so fast are you now, Mr. Ninja? TAKE THIS! HAMMER SHOT!"

Pounding the hammer into her opponent's skull cause the opponent to immediately sway.

"How am I not able to…move?"

And with that last statement, he fell. Heading toward the ground, Sakura didn't even bother trying to help.

"Because that knife stabbed through your cape smart one!"

Hanging from his cape, Sakura jumped from the roof and got him down. Laying him down on the ground, she looked into his face, shining from the moon.

"Oh dear…my own sensei! Mr. Koga!

Sakura immediately tried to revive him. By targeting her hammer at his pressure point on his foot, she managed to wake Koga up, albeit with a stabbing pain in his foot.

"OH MY GOD WOMAN! WHY IN HELL'S NAME DID YOU DO THAT!"

"Well sorry! And YOU are a shinobi, so aren't you supposed to be used to pain?"

Rubbing his feet, he responded coolly "Because most of my opponents aren't fast enough to hit me! But of course, one of my star pupils must be able to!"

Laughing, Sakura held out an arm to help steady Koga. Koga, egotistical as ever, tried walking alone, only to accomplish the unforeseen goal of falling face-flat.

"SENSEI! Just let me help you!"

And with that statement, she bent down and helped a protesting Koga up.

"A true man walks alone, unsupported!"

Sakura responded "But all 'true men' have women backing them. And, last I'd heard, YOU still don't have a wife."

"Please…don't remind me…Janine is still trying to get me to go to 'blind dates'". Koga shivered at the mention of the last two words. "Last time, she set me up with Sabrina."

At this, Sakura laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that…" Sakura doubled up in laughter.

"What!"

Koga bent down to help her up and then poked at her ribs.

"Ha-CK! What was that for? Did you HAVE to manually shut me up?

"Yes I did. Now what's so funny?"

"Now I won't be able to laugh for a week…Anyway, you and Sabrina do go together."

"WHAT WAS THAT!"

Sakura just ran into the house. Koga quietly followed, fuming from the last comment.

Whispering, he said "How do we go together? We argue all the time we are together!"

Sakura just sighed and poured Koga a cup of black coffee. Koga just nodded in thanks and Sakura scowled. Putting the coffee cup back in its tray, she sat down on the table, on the opposite side of Koga.

"Every time you're here, you bring me news from the League. What now? They want me to re-join or something? Cuz I am NOT-"

"We saw him."

The effect these words would take on anyone else would've been minor. They would've thought who is him? But Sakura wasn't anybody else. And she knew EXACTLY who he was.

Choking back tears, she croaked "Where? When? Who?"

Koga moved over to her side and stroked her back and patted it.

"It was three days ago. I got here as fast as I can. One of the locals in Fuchsia City saw him and recognized him despite his disguise. He was surfing, heading toward Cinnabar."

"How…how do you know he wasn't headed for Pallet?"

"We have satellites Sakura. He was using the surf waves straight past Seafoam and was heading toward the volcano.

Sakura looked up at Koga, with eyes both shining with hope and despair. "Then Blaine-?"

"No. You know how tight the two of them are. If he doesn't want the others to know, Blaine wouldn't say anything."

At this response, Sakura sat back down, defeated. Koga whispered "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I should've kept a closer watch on him. I should've known…"

"There was nothing you could've done. His spirit is great. He might've even fought you. Heaven knows you two have fought before."

Sakura forced a grin. Finally, after a minute of quick decisions, she wiped her arm on her eyes and got up. Koga questioned, "What-?"

"I'm going after him. I'll drag his ass back here if I have to, Hikaru deserves better."

Koga immediately stood between her and the doorway.

"You know perfectly well I cannot let you go. He cannot be persuaded. And Hikaru needs you now more than ever."

"How would you know that?"

"You underestimate me, Sakura. I know perfectly well Hikaru wants his Trainer's License." Sakura gasped.

"How did you-"

"If you interrogate him, he'll tell you he bumped past an old lady. He couldn't see through my disguise. Went right past me."

"Of course he barely remembers you, Sensei. And of course. Hikaru needs me now more than never. I can't leave him like…he did."

Koga moved back toward Sakura and patted her back, in a soothing matter.

"That's a good girl. I have to get going now."

"So soon? Aren't you going to say hi to Hikaru?"

At this, Koga turned back toward Sakura and protested, "You must not inform Hikaru of his father. He'll go straight after him. I know he cannot take any of them on. DO NOT TELL HIM. For his sake. Don't."

"Okay…"

As Koga was about to leave, Sakura said, "Sensei…be careful…"

Koga looked back and nodded in a reassuring way. Good luck to you to, my student, Sakura.

With a gust of wind, he jumped out into the rooftop, as silent as possible, fast as a leopard.

A/N: And with that, this chapter is done. Feel free to ask me Questions and such. All I know is the title of the next chapter. And an excerpt from it. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Later, not Goodbye

PREVIEW

Walking down the road, Hikaru looked back tears in his eyes. Running back, he opened his arms.

Sakura, tears flowing freely down her face, opened her arms into Hikaru's. In their final embrace, Hikaru whispered to his mother; "Take care you. I'll find Dad. I promise."

Sakura could only nod and let him go. Brushing both her own tears and his away, she said "I know you will Hikaru. Go along with your friends. Visit as much as you can!"

Hikaru forced a laugh. Walking away, tears in his eyes, hands on his backpack straps, Hikaru left Goldenrod for the Pokemon journey of his life.

END PREVIEW

A/N: Short I know, but what can I do in 10 minutes? And btw, most likely, this'll change. I just need to come up with more heart wrenching stuff. Til next time,

L8er!