Alter Persona

Chapter 9

Author's notes: after 5 months ( O.o ) I've finally updated. That's because my school hasn't really let up, my mom isn't letting me use the comp, and I've been busy with my other works. My exams aren't over yet, so don't expect me to put up another chapter anytime soon. Still, I wonder how many of you believed that I would forget about this fic...

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Ash suddenly felt himself snap into consciousness, which felt very much like a sudden jerk one felt when they woke up from a dream whereby they were falling. "Uhh..." he moaned softly, as he tried to open his eyes. But he hadn't accounted for the time of the day, which caused him to snap his eyes shut as the sunlight assaulted his eyes.

Despite his arm feeling like lead, he lifted it and threw it over his eyes. Instantly, he felt a piece of cloth on his forehead. As his eyes gradually adjusted to the light around him, he wondered where he was. Once feeling up to it, he sat up, grabbing the cloth as he straightened. Must've overworked my muscles, he muttered to himself silently, as he felt his burning muscles protest.

The door opened, causing him to snap to attention and turn towards it. A familiar orange haired young woman entered the room, causing him to blink. "It's you..." he muttered as a way of greeting to Misty.

"Hi to you too," she replied sarcastically as she placed a small basin of water on the top of the drawer at the head of the bed. "So how're you feeling?"

"...... painful."

"Hmm. I'm not surprised, actually. When I found you, you were covered in so much bruise that you were almost blue black all over. What did you do to get those bruises anyway? Wrestle a Tauros?" she muttered. "Now hold still," she instructed as she sat down next to him on the bed and pulled her face close to his.

Ash appeared impassive, but in truth, he was wondering what was the woman doing. And he was also wondering why was his heart beating so quickly.

Misty pressed her forehead against his, her eyes closed. For a few moments, they stayed that way until she pulled away from him and nodded with satisfaction. "Your fever's lower now. But you still need more rest."

Ash ignored her words for the most part. "Where am I?" he questioned instead.

"Pallet town, in Professor Oak's lab," Misty informed him, taking his attitude in stride. If her former 'meetings' with him were any indication, she knew that he did things his way, and there would be little stopping him. "How did you end up so near here anyway?" she asked in turn, picking up and squeezing the water from the towel till it was damp, not wet.

Her attempt to put it on the man's forehead was stopped as Ash didn't reply but grabbed at her hand, pulling both the towel and her hand away from his face.

Misty felt her face flush and she quickly pulled her hand back. Ash who was now staring at her sideways did not seem to have noticed anything. But actually, he was wondering if she was feeling unwell, when he noticed her cheeks turn red. Gently dropping the towel back into the basin of water, she folded her hands on her lap and waited for him to answer his question.

However, Ash still chose to ignore her question. "Why did you save me?"

"Huh?"

"I'm a dangerous man wanted by the police, the gym leaders and the Elite Four for theft of a valuable artefact and mass murder. Why did you choose to save me instead of reporting me to the proper authorities?" Ash elaborated for her.

Misty had to smile a little at her 'patient's' statement. "We're talking pallet town here, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. This is only a small town, and there isn't any police station anywhere for miles around." She giggled, making Ash wonder if she was really sick. "Besides, I don't think anyone would've been able to get past your pokemon," she declared.

'And you managed to?' Ash thought to himself. "I see." He turned to face her fully. "I..." he paused. The word he wanted to say felt weird, as he muttered it first to himself. "Thank you for taking care of me." There. He said it.

"You're welcome. Besides, I owe you one... You know, for back in the museum?" Misty reminded him. "Talking about the museum, weren't you supposed to be..."

"Dead? No," Ash lied. "I was seriously injured, but if they wanted to kill me, they should've double checked."

Misty found the statement odd, but she decided not to pursue the matter. "Whatever you say," she shrugged. "Better fix you something to eat. You've been sleeping the past couple of days." Getting up, she kicked the drawer lightly. "All your stuff and your pokeballs are in here. And your... more dangerous possessions are under the bed," she told him, picking up the basin and leaving the room.

Ash stared at the door after Misty had closed it behind her. She was a very strange person. She had hated him for injuring her pokemon, yet she had been taking care of him while he wasn't well, without a bit of complaint. It was as though her hatred of him had evaporated because he had kept her safe back in the museum.

Much as he found the woman interesting, he had to find out more about himself, more about Team Rocket. He had to stop them, had to destroy them. Needed to prevent them from using more people to create others like him. He got off the bed, ignoring his muscles' protests. Quickly, he took out his cloak and glasses, putting them on. Checking under the bed, he found his guns and his dagger.

Once he had his weapons in their usual, easy to reach places, he started the door, opening it and moving so quickly that he nearly crashed into Misty who was just outside the door, a tray of food balanced on one hand, the other reaching for the handle.

Misty blinked and frowned at him in annoyance. "Where do you think you're going? You should be resting, not getting all worked up as though you're ready to go on an adventure or something," she chastised him as she pushed him back into the room with her free hand.

"But there are many thing that I have to do," Ash argued, surprised at her strength. Even though he was unprepared, he usually couldn't be moved by just anyone.

"All of us have things to do, my dear," Misty retorted sarcastically. "But you won't be able to do anything well if you aren't absolutely well yet. I don't want you to run off before your body is ready, only to find yourself in need of care again," she growled at him. Before he could add another word in edgewise, she cut him off. "Now, quit yapping and start eating," she trusted the tray at him and narrow her eyes dangerously.

Ash glared at her, at the tray which was now in his hands, and back at her. Even though he had his glasses on, he had a feeling that the woman could see him, as she narrowed her eyes further. 'Great. What does she want from me now? I've already thanked her, haven't I?'

Ash continued to glare at Misty, while Misty did likewise, even though Ash had the advantage of wearing dark glasses. Seconds passed as they did nothing but pit their will power against each other, neither willing to give way. That was, until their stomachs growled audibly.

Ash blinked at the sound, while Misty blushed and looked at her tummy. Suddenly, she burst out laughing at the humour of the situation. Ash stared at her face as she continued to laugh.

Slowly, he felt himself smile a little. But Ash didn't know what it was since he had never smiled at all during the time he was with Giovanni, simply knowing that it felt good.

"You're smiling," Misty commented once her fit had subsided. Seeing the confused look on his face, she wondered if he even knew what she was talking about. "You know, like I'm smiling now?" she smiled.

"Oh," Ash nodded. So that was a smile... "I do believe that it is time for lunch?" he stated, rather than asked. Misty nodded. "If so, can I go somewhere else to eat? This room is... rather restrictive," he added.

"Well, since you have the strength to argue with me, I guess you're well enough to walk around," Misty nodded. "I guess now's a time as good as any to take you on a tour of the compound." And I think I know just the place for him to get some fresh air and let his pokemon out...

"That would be helpful."

Suddenly, Misty realised something. "You know, I've told you my name when we first met and I still don't know your name now," she glanced at Ash as she led the way.

"Just call me Ash."

-!-!-!-!-

"Very impressive place," Ash commented, looking at the grassland around them. This was the first time he had actually seen an area of land so large which was undamaged by buildings of any kind.

"Yeah. It's like a miniature pokemon reserve, actually, since Professor Oak uses the land to rear and research pokemon," his companion replied. "You can release your pokemon if you want to," she added.

Ash took out his pokeballs and threw them far into the air. It was a habit of his to try to cover more area. It meant that his pokemon would be able to manoeuvre better. Halgre and Eidra appeared to be very happy to be out of their pokeballs.

He settled down onto one of the chairs opposite Misty as he continued to observe the land from the platform they were on. "How did you get to know about Professor Oak?" Ash wondered aloud.

"It was around ten years ago when I first met Professor Oak. Brock and I were on our pokemon journey, and we were on the way back to our respective cities when we found out that we were running low on supplies. So we came here to restock and met Professor Oak. We became good friends and so Brock and I usually help out around here when we have spare time," Misty answered.

Ash nodded as he swallowed. "Does anyone else live here other than the Professor?"

"There's Gary and May Oak, grandchildren of the good professor. And there was another family living here. A lady and her son. Funny thing is that I can't seem to remember much about them. All that I know is that they passed away in an accident around three years ago, I think," she laid her chin on her hands as she set her elbow on the table. "And what's with the questions?"

"I just want to make sure that this professor has nothing to do with Team Rocket," Ash replied flatly as he turned to look at the sun which was high above the mountain at the far side of the plateau.

"Weren't you with Team Rocket?" she asked innocently, only to jump and yelp in surprise as Ash slammed his clenched fist down on the table. Hard.

"Do not mention them again, even less so about my former relationship to them," he faced her, an angry look on his face. "They betrayed me and I will never forgive them for that."

"O-okay," his companion squeaked. "Sorry about that."

"......" Ash did not react to her apology for some time. "Forget it."

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Author's notes again:

Okay. Chapter 9 ready to go, with quite a bit of revision in the previous chapters. Drakon is now called Eidra, since I felt that I shouldn't 'copyright' nicknames. There are many little changes which probably won't matter, but felt that I aught to.

Anyway, I apologise to my old readers for having taken so long to post this chapter. . the next chapter won't be out anytime soon, since the exams I mentioned before were simply school exams. Now, I've got my Prelim exams just around the corner (literally, since it starts on Monday) and I've got my O Levels after that that. My guess is that I'll be back around... November? (.''')

Well, hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Nothing much, since it's only an introduction to... Ash's new life. Of sorts. I think. scratches head I've got no idea how this will turn out, even though the general idea is there. Till next time then.