Hope Awakened
Gary stood at Ash's bedside. He looked down at the unresponsive trainer. He reached down and grasped Ash's hand tightly.
"Hey Ash. You know that was a rather brave thing you did back on the mountain there. Not just any trainer would do that for their pokémon. I must admit that you've become a great trainer, and a great friend."
Gary released Ash's hand. He walked over to the chair and pulled it up alongside of the bed.
"I know we've had our share of fights and competitions, but I just want you to know that I'm here for you buddy. Come back to us."
Jessie and James sat in the side room off of the court room discussing their case with their lawyer.
"Well things don't look so good" said the lawyer.
"That's why you're here," said Jessie angrily.
"I'm afraid that what's been said in the courtroom, although it is not valid, will hold a large sway in the Jury's minds."
"Well what can we do?" asked James desperately.
"Well I'm afraid that unless we can find any witnesses that can vouch for your story we're pretty much sunk," said the defense attorney.
James sat thinking about the dim future for him and Jessie. What would happen to Meowth and the other pokémon? They were like a family. True that they weren't like your average family, but that was they way he liked it.
"Jessie was right. That twerp brought us nothing but trouble. I should've just left him Maybe I am too sentimental. None of this would have ever happened if it hadn't been for me. Oh Jess, I am such a fool," James thought to himself and just sighed.
Brock, Misty, and Tracey sat around a small table in a nice little diner. Mrs. Ketchum had promptly excused herself from the table after the group had been seated.
"Do you think she's alright?" Tracey asked.
"I mean she's been in there for a long time now."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much. It must be hard for her though," replied Misty.
A well dressed man slowly approached the table carrying a small pad in his hand.
"Excuse me may I take your order?"
"Well we're waiting for somebody, could you come back in a few minutes?" Brock asked.
"Could I at least get you drinks?"
"Sure," replied Brock.
"I'll have a cup of tea."
"And for you sir?" the waiter asked looking at Tracey as he madly scribbled on his pad.
"Just a glass of water."
"And for you miss?"
"I'll take a glass of orange juice."
"Alright, I'll be back shortly with your drinks."
The man walked away and disappeared behind a pair of swinging doors.
"It's nice to get away from the hospital for a bit" commented Brock sipping his tea.
"Yeah, but I just wish we could get Mrs. Ketchum to take a little time to relax," Misty replied somberly.
"She must be rather worried. I mean it's been two weeks without any change. For all we know Ash may remain like this for another year."
Ash's eyes slowly slid open as looked around the room. He lay in bed wondering where he was now, and what had happened. The last thing that he remembered was being at the mountain top. He looked around and saw Gary sitting in a chair next to the bed reading a tourist guide.
"Gary, what are you doing here?" Ash asked in surprise.
"Ash?" Gary said startled as he nearly jumped out of his chair.
"You're awake!" Gary proclaimed.
"Yeah. What's going on here?" asked Ash.
"Well Gramps told me about what happened so I decided to pay you a visit. You had us all worried. I admit you even had me a bit worried Ash."
"Worried? What are you talking about? What's going on here?" said Ash in a state of panic.
"Take it easy Ash. Everything's fine now. You have a few broken ribs, and your leg is busted."
Ash reached down and felt the bandages that tightly bound his chest. He felt slight pain as he touched his bandaged chest.
Ash struggled as he tried to sit up in the bed. Gary rushed over to the bedside and helped him up.
"Thanks."
"Where's Misty? I'm sure that I heard her voice earlier," asked Ash.
"She left with your Mom, Brock, and Tracey when they went to the restaurant, but how did you know that she was here?"
"I'm pretty sure that I heard her"
"But you've been in a coma for two weeks now" said Gary in a confused tone.
Ash had a look of shock upon his face.
"No that can't be. I was with Brock and Misty at the top of the mountain and …"
"Just calm down Ash. Everything's alright"
"Where's Pikachu. Is he alright?"
"Don't worry. Pikachu is fine. Gramps is taking care of him and your other pokémon."
A look of relief came over Ash's face, but yet he remained puzzled.
"I've been here two weeks?"
"Yeah. You were hurt pretty bad."
"Two weeks," Ash muttered to himself in disbelief.
Mrs. Ketchum returned to the table. All of the group looked to her with concern as she sat down, yet no one was brave enough to voice the question that plagued their minds.
Finally Mrs. Ketchum broke the awkward silence by saying "Well are we all ready to order?"
This statement brought some ease to the group as they returned to casual conversation. The waiter walked up to the table slowly setting the drinks in front of their respective owners.
"Are you all ready to order now?"
Mrs. Ketchum looked around the table as heads bobbed in acknowledgement. The waiter quickly took note of the groups orders. After the waiter left the group slowly returned to conversation.
"Now I just want to thank all of you for everything you've done for Ash and I. You are such close friends to Ash, but I can't ask you to stay any longer. Do not feel obligated to stay because of Ash. Why don't all of you just take some time to go home?"
"We've never felt obligated to stay Mrs. Ketchum. We're staying because of Ash is our friend and he needs our help and support," said Brock.
Misty and Tracey shook their heads in agreement with Brock's statement.
"Once again I can't thank all of you enough. Just remember that if you need to go somewhere you don't have to worry about it. You've all done more than enough. More than I could have ever hoped."
"So Ash have you heard about Team Rocket," said Gary.
"What about them?" asked Ash.
"Well the police finally caught them," replied Gary.
"What? When were they caught?"
"Well strangely enough they were caught the same day that you were brought to the hospital. Yeah, they're currently on trial. It's been all over the news. They're being tried for thefts, and cruelty against pokémon, but I've heard that the main charge against them is beating a child. Supposedly they beat up some poor kid pretty bad."
"I can't believe that they'd do such a thing. It just doesn't seem like them."
Brock, Misty, Tracey, and Mrs. Ketchum were getting out of the Taxi. This meal out was just the thing that they had needed. Over the past two weeks things had become very stressing for all of them. This time away had allowed them to have a good time, and they knew that Ash was in good hands. Even though Gary and Ash often competed against each other they were close friends.
"Thank you for the meal Mrs. Ketchum," Brock, Misty, and Tracey said in unison.
"Oh don't mention it. I should be thanking you. Ash is lucky to have friends like you."
The gang walked back into the hospital, and checked in with the worker at the reception desk.
"Welcome back Mrs. Ketchum. I trust that you had a good time out."
"Yes, and thank you very much. Have a nice day," replied Mrs. Ketchum with a big gentle smile upon her face.
It was comforting to see Mrs. Ketchum smile like this. It had been a while since she had last smiled like that.
The gang continued on towards Ash's room. They opened the door and got a surprising sight, Ash was sitting up in his bed. He and Gary were talking and laughing.
"Ash!" shouted Misty as she ran towards him and ferociously embraced him as tears of joy ran down her cheeks.
"Ow Misty that hurts," said Ash.
"Sorry," she said releasing her grip on him.
"Ash," the others said in unison as they rushed to his bedside.
"Mom, Brock, Tracey," Ash said happily.
Mrs. Ketchum asked a volley of questions… "Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?"
"Mom, I feel fine," Ash replied.
"Ash,…" said Mrs. Ketchum softly
"you had me so worried young man," she replied in a stern manner.
Ash had a bit of an embarrassed look upon his face until he saw the tears in his mother's eyes.
"I don't know who was more worried about you Ash, your Mom or Misty."
"Brock!" Misty replied in an annoyed tone elbowing Brock in the side.