Tall person: (cowers) don't hurt me…see there's a new chapter! Right here! Just don't hit me with that overly large hammer.

Question Marks: You again! Yay! Thanks for the…umm word…

Chapter three

We had been talking for an hour, maybe longer. I wasn't really counting. The rain hadn't stopped but it had died down a bit. Instead of the sound of tennis balls being thrown at the window it now was a calm melody. Many people had come in after we did. Others were smart and brought an umbrella with them, so they only stayed a few minutes before heading out into the storm again.

Everyone was dry, with a few wet socks but Nurse Joy had given each of us soup and hot chocolate.

Randi and Pikachu stopped there conversation and now where listening to ours. I didn't understand why. We were talking about random things like, for example, about ourselves, how Misty, Brock and Ash met, and what we liked.

Everything was great until Ash asked a question that I didn't want to answer. "So Ashley, how's dad doing?"

I froze. He didn't know. I looked down to the ground and tried to hold back my tears as my bangs covered my face. Truthfully I didn't want to remember my father. I knew if I did it would only bring more pain.

Randi whined and nudged my arm, sensing my sadness. I looked up at him and patted him on the head telling him that I was okay. I gathered my self up with a sigh and looked at Ash.

"He's dead" I told him in a cold harsh tone.

He didn't say anything for a while. He blinked four times before talking, "Dead? How?"

"He was part of the police force. One day a Pokemon Center had been robbed and the Nurse Joy who was working there was being held hostage. Father and his Growlithe went on the case. Then there was a shoot out"

Everyone was listening intently to what I was saying. Even Pikachu had his ears perked up.

"No one came out alive, not even the Pokemon"

Misty covered her mouth in shock. "That's horrible"

I could only nod when a picture of what happened entered my mind; the sound of gun fire, the shattering of glass and the scream of cops and Pokemon being killed. Oh how I wished the memory would be gone forever so that it won't hurt as much in my heart.

"Does mum know about this?" Ash asked after looking at the tiled floor for a few minutes. I shrugged, "I'm not sure. I called her but she wasn't home so I left a message"

"Probably out in the garden" he said, grinning.

Smiling was all I could do when the memories of the funeral were showing up. Then the sun shone through the glass windows of the Pokemon Center and everyone smiled, happy that the storm was over. There was a few dark clouds hanging over head but nothing much to worry about.

The rain dripped off the leaves of tree's and bushes. Tailow's shook their wet feathers as the sun light hit there homes along with the other Pokemon that happened to get wet. Trainers started to leave, thanking the Nurses that helped them. I grinned when an idea came up in my mind.

"Hey, Ash?" I asked him.

"Yeah?"

I tossed a Pokeball in the air, catching it as it fell back down. "How 'bout a battle? You know, just to test how good you are"

Ash smirked at the challenge while both Misty and Brock were shaking their heads. I started to think that it was a stupid idea but the thought of me and my brother battling shoved that thought out of my mind. "I accept"

I got up, shaking when the feel of my wet socks touched my warm feet. Randi got up as well excited that we were getting out of this boring Pokemon Center. "Well then, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Ash got up quickly with Pikachu on his shoulder but Misty and Brock got up slowly. I looked at them worriedly checking quickly if anything was wrong. Not that I cared personally, I just wanted to see if Ash's friends were alright. When I saw nothing I looked back to see where Ash was laughing when he was already out the door.

The doors dinged when they opened, letting us out and dung again when they closed. When I was little I used to go inside and out of those doors, amusing my self for an hour or so. The only reason I stopped was because there was a long line of people waiting for me to make up my mind whether to go in or out.

I was glad when Ash had found a nice clear spot for our battle, saving me the time and energy of finding one myself. Battling was something new to me, and I never did back home, until Kaden taught me. You may think it's strange that someone actually had to be taught to battle, but not in that way. I knew how to fight; of course, I just needed help learning all the moves and items that could be used. I could tell you more, but that's not what this story is about now is it?

Ash went to one side of the field while I went to the other. Misty and Brock stood on the left side, so that they could have a good view. A random wind blew across the grass making it seem like we were cowboys ready to shoot one another. All we needed was one of those tumbler plants.

"This will be a two Pokemon battle" I called to him, "No items"

It took me by surprise when he only grabbed one poke balls from his belt then I mentally kicked myself for being stupid. I looked at my belt and tried to decide on which of my friends should have a chance of battling. Electrike was defiantly not going too, she was much too young. I smiled when I finally decided on the one.

Being the nice two minute older sister that I am, I waited for Ash to go first he kept staring at me with a very stern look. Although it made him look constipated I said nothing and looked down at Randi. He nodded and walked in front of me. "I chose Randi"

"And I choose Pikachu!"

At its name, the small electric mouse jumped down from Ash's shoulder and stood in front of him. Small sparks jolted from its red cheeks as if giving us a warning of what was coming. I found that quite unnecessary. Suddenly the Pikachu ran towards Randi on all fours. Randi stood his ground until I said; "Go Randi" and he ran for the mouse.

When Pikachu was close enough Ash yelled, "Tail whip!" Pikachu jumped and his lightning bolt shaped tail started to glow. Randi stopped running and looked up and the airborne rodent. It twisted its body until its tail was in Randi's view and it came down with enormous force. Getting worried I called to him, "Randi! Dodge it!"

He jumped backwards and just barely missed it. A huge dust cloud formed when Pikachu's tail hit the ground. It went down hard and I could feel the ground shake. When it settled Pikachu was standing, unharmed. Figures.

'Stubborn Rodent'

I blinked and looked around to see whose voice that was. I grinned when it was Randi's voice I had heard. "Shadow ball" I ordered. A black orb started to form in Randi's mouth and his eyes glowed white. When the black orb could no longer grow Randi shot it at Pikachu. It dodged it and skidded to a stop. The dust had blocked his vision giving Randi the perfect advantage for a sneak attack. Pikachu was franticly looking around for Randi shocked when he came out of the dust and bit it on the shoulder. It cried out in pain making Ash call back out to him. He couldn't see what was going on. The dust was blocking his vision as well.

I was happy that I finally got some damage on that blasted rodent but then my mark started burning. At first I thought it was nothing but as the burn grew I had to hold my cheek. As if that would help. Although the pain was hurting me I had to focus on the battle, then maybe later I would see what's wrong. "Crunch!"

Randi sank his teeth harder into Pikachu's shoulder making it cry out louder.

"Spark Pikachu!"

Just then I heard Randi yelp when a blot of electricity hit him. He shook his head over and over as if trying to get the pain out of his mouth. Pikachu was airborne again except this time its eye were full of anger. Blood was dripping down its shoulder but it didn't seem to notice. Sparks were coming out from its red cheeks and that's how I knew, this was going to hurt…a lot.

"Thunder bolt!" Ash yelled.

Just then, huge lightning bolts were created from the two small red dots and Pickachu's whole body was covered in yellow electricity. Each one went for Randi. There was no way to dodge it, so all I could do was watch as Randi got hit. He cried out as the electricity went through his body, making his hair static like as if he rubbed against the couch too hard.

When the lighting bolts disappeared, Randi had no more energy to stand and he fell down on the ground. I ran to him, seeing if he was okay. I smiled when he was still breathing but I was disappointed to see that there were burn marks on his grey skin. I picked him up and placed him beside me before grabbing the Pokeball on my belt.

"I choose," I pressed the button in the middle of the ball, causing it to grow. I threw it up in the air. It was air born for a few seconds, and then it released the Pokemon within it. As it fell back down I caught it, "Blaziken"

I knew Ash had never seen this kind of Pokemon before, since his eyes were wide, including his mouth. He quickly grabbed something from his backpack and since I was far away I couldn't tell what it was. As soon as I saw the red color and heard the two dings when he opened it I knew it was a pokedex.

"Blaziken, the blaze Pokemon. Blaziken has incredibly strong legs – it can easily clear a 30-story building in one leap. This Pokemon's blazing punches leave its foes scorched and blackened"

At the compliment, Blaziken made a small coo at the end of his throat. I laughed, "I haven't seen one of those in years"

"You don't have one?" he asked putting his pokedex back into his pack. I shook my head, placing my hands on my hips, "Nope. I don't need one, and even if I did I'd never use it. Now back to the battle, Blaziken! Fire punch!"

On my command he ran to Pikachu, claws gaining fire as he did so. Pikachu tried to dodge it but the last battle used up all his energy so he couldn't get away in time and Blaziken was able to hit him right on his cheek.

Pikachu flung to the other side of the field. It landed with a 'thump' when it hit the ground and never got up again. Blaziken's claws turned back to normal when it sensed that Pikachu could not fight anymore.

Ash became angry, a side of him that I hadn't seen since…I can't remember. He grabbed his Pokeball, pressed the button, threw it up in the air and his last Pokemon came out. It was a Charizard.

Dragon Pokemon are my favorite kind of Pokemon, including fire and whenever I see one it always makes me happy. They're so cool.

"Fire against fire eh? This will be interesting"

With out my order, Blaziken charged for Charizard. He jumped over Blaziken using his wings and blew a huge fire blast at Blaziken. Using his arm, Blaziken covered his face from the hot flames coming from Charizard mouth. It hurt him a bit, but since he is a fire Pokemon it hardly did any damage.

Blaziken jumped out of the flames, using all the power in his legs and he kicked Charizard square in the jaw. This made Charizard stumble but before it hit the ground it flapped its wings twice so that it was back in its place.

(A/N: This reminds me of the Pokemon video for GBA sp. I forgot about that when I did this)

Blaziken cursed.

If he kept jumping he'd get tired to quickly. He had to think of another plan. When he jumped again I thought he was nuts but that thought quickly went away when he hit Charizard in the gut with his elbow, slamming the dragon into the ground.

When the dust settled the two were holding hands with each other, pushing them to one side of the field. One of Charizard's wings was out of place. It was broken.

It bit Blaziken's shoulder, making him grab it and back off. His arm was badly injured and if he fought with it anymore, it would break. I didn't like that my friend was hurt so badly and it surprised me that tears were filling at the ends of my eyes. Then my marking started hurting again, this time worse then before, as if Charizard was using a powerful flame attack on my cheek. I tried not to but I cried out, falling to my knees.

This immediately caught Blaziken's attention and he came running over to me.

Brock was amazed, "Look at that. Blaziken is leaving the battle to tend to Ashley!"

'Ashley? Ashley are you okay?' he asked.

The pain slowly started to go away. "Yeah, I'm fine Blaziken" I started to get up, Blaziken helping me. I was shocked that Ash was already beside me, worry filling his eyes. Charizard was gone; probably back in its Pokeball. "What happened Ashley?"

"My eye. I'm not really sure but, I think it burns whenever Pokemon get hurt"

Everyone blinked. I smiled, "I'm fine. Honestly. What we should be worrying about is our Pokemon. They need to go to a poke center."

"Lucky we just came back from one" said Misty.

I nodded. Brock was nice enough to help bring Randi back to the center while Ash carried Pikachu. I'm never really a fan of Pokemon battles…I don't even see why I do them.

When all our Pokemon were tended too, and both Randi and Pikachu were back at Ash's and my side we left, waving to the nurses. "I'm glad to see you're back on your feet Pikachu" said Ash, looking up at the rodent sitting on his cap.

"Pika" it piped happily.

"Same here" I said ruffling Randi's hair. He barked.

"For a Pokemon breeder you have really strong Pokemon Ashley" complimented Brock, which was sweet of him. Maybe he wasn't all that bad. Suddenly he grabbed my hands, "Maybe together we could breed Pokemon, and hopefully breed ourselves"

That ruined it. Ash's eye was twitching from suppressing his anger, Randi snared and Misty turned red. I was about to slap him but Misty grabbed his ear and pulled him away, "You pervert! Can't you keep your mind off of girls for one day!"

"Ow! That's attached you know!"

After that… predicament I stayed closer by Misty until we came to a fork in the road. One was going the way I needed to go and the other, to the cities gym. "I guess this is goodbye" I said standing in front of the path.

"Why don't you come with us Ashley?" Misty asked, "We don't mind another person coming along, especially Ash's sister"

I held up my hand and shook my head, "Thanks but no thanks," they became sad, which made my heart melt. I've never seen anyone unhappy about me not coming along. "I need to do something really important. I can't afford to miss it"

The sky was getting dark again and we could hear a faint rumble of thunder coming our way.

"Where are you going?" asked Ash a faint show of hope in his expression.

"Johto, why?"

The thunder grew louder.

Ash grinned, "We'll come with you!" Brock and Misty's eyes widened, "What!"

"We'll come with her" He repeated. "But Ash what about the gym?" she asked. I frowned. It sounded like she didn't want to come with me. "The gym can wait, besides. It sounds like Ashley's going to do something exciting"

Seeing that his mind would stay unconvinced, Misty sighed, "Alright"

Ash wrapped his arm around my neck. "Lead the way Ashley!"

Secretly I smiled. This was going to be a lot more fun with my brother coming along.