Crossroads Chapter 14: A New Ash
Previously on Crossroads: Paul ambushed Ash and Anabel, which led to a colossal battle between the rivals. Thankfully Corey arrived to save Anabel from Paul's Drapion, which led to Ash and Anabel revealing their true feelings for each other. Unfortunately, Ash lost to Paul and his Electivire, and Paul got his payback.
Tohjo Falls, Woods Near Anabel's House – Kanto Region
After the fierce battle with Paul had ended, Ash, Pikachu, Anabel, and Corey headed back to the cabin.
Anabel clung to Ash's arm, saying soothing things softly in his ear to try and calm him. However, Anabel couldn't see a tint of red slowly making its way into his eyes. Anabel looked up to meet Ash's cold gaze and gasped as he harshly ripped his arm away from Anabel and took off in a dead sprint.
"Ash, where are you going!?" Yelled Anabel with her arm stretched out and then turned to her brother and said quickly, "Come on, Corey, we have to stop him before he hurts himself!"
"Right!" Replied Corey as the pair took off after Ash; however, even with the moonlight guiding their way, he managed to get too far ahead and vanished into the night. Finding Ash would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
After an hour of looking, Corey said, "Anabel, we have to get back to the cabin. Look, it's not like I don't want to find Ash, but let's rest and continue in the morning."
Anabel, who didn't look any better than her brother, if not worse, shrugged Corey's comment to the side and retorted, "Damn it, Corey, how can you think like that? Of course, we'll find him; we have to…."
Corey noticed the sadness in her voice, got down on a knee to look her in the eyes, and said softly, "Anabel, I understand how you're feeling. If it were my girlfriend, I would act the same, if not worse."
Anabel was about to respond, but Corey silenced her by saying, "However… trying to find him now when he probably doesn't want to be found isn't going to help anyone, mainly both of us. I promise we'll look for him right when the sun comes up in the morning, but for now, we need to go back to the house and rest."
Anabel opened her mouth to respond but closed it slowly, knowing that there was no argument to give, and nodded her head in 'agreement' if you could call it that.
"Good," said Corey softly as he stood back up and threw a Pokeball into the air, releasing his powerful Fire-Type Magmortar (Volcanus).
"Volcanus, can you give us some extra light to find our way back to the cabin?"
"Mag-Magmortar," said the Blast Pokémon with a nod as he lit a small flame on one of his cannon-like arms.
"Come on, Anabel, we should get back and sleep. We're going to need it."
The Salon Maiden nodded as she followed her brother and the Blast Pokémon as the same hopeless feeling sank into her.
The sun had just risen, and Anabel was already set to go out and look for Ash. Corey almost fell out of his bed when Anabel barged into his room, yelling, "Get the hell up, Corey! If you're not fully awake in less than a minute, you're getting sprayed by Starmie!"
"Alright, alright, I'm up, sheesh," said Corey as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
Anabel quickly turned on her heel and slammed the door shut so Corey could have his privacy while the violet-haired trainer mumbled to himself, "jeez, we better find Ash; I don't know how much longer I can deal with Anabel like this."
Corey quickly collected himself, and Anabel shoved him out the door as they resumed the search for the raven-haired trainer.
"Alright, it was hard to tell, but think last night we looked around the south side of the forest, so after all that running, Ash must've done left start on the north end today," said Corey while looking towards Anabel with a questioning face.
"I just want to find him; we'll search this whole forest if we have to," said Anabel with her arms crossed over her chest.
Corey nodded and followed the highly determined lilac-haired teen into the woods.
After an hour or two of fruitless searching, Corey sighed and said, "Too bad I don't have any flying Pokémon with me, or this could be a lot easier."
"Same, but there must be some way we can scour the area to make sure we don't accidentally miss him," replied Anabel as she continued to scan the trees in search of something resembling a trail Ash.
"Yeah… Ash's Pidgeot would be perfect right about no-" as Corey was about to finish his sentence, an enormous bolt of lightning shot into the sky about a mile south of their current position, causing the earth to shake.
Anabel quickly fumbled around to assess the damage. The amount of pure electricity was astounding as it turned the previously blue sky a stormy black. More lightning bolts rained down from the sky, striking trees around the area, causing them to burst into flames.
"What the hell was that!? How could lightning cause an earthquake!?" Roared Corey as he moved his hand quickly to his belt and threw a Pokeball into the air, yelling, "Titan! Help us out!"
What emerged shook the earth as a full-grown Rhyperior materialized from its Pokeball and announced its presence with a mighty roar, "Rhy-perior!"
Corey pointed in the direction of where the bolt of lightning appeared and yelled, "Titan, we have to make it to that area; cover us until we get over there!"
"Rhy-perior!" Roared the drill Pokémon, nodding at his trainer's request.
"Alright, Anabel, let's go! I'm sure whatever's at the center of that crazy storm is where we'll find Ash! Let's move!" Anabel nodded at Corey, and the trio began running towards the location.
"Why isn't the lightning hitting us?" Asked Anabel and then looked up to see Rhyperior was absorbing the electricity.
"Rhyperior's ability is Lightning Rod which directs all kinds of electricity towards its drill, the drill then destabilizes the electricity and causes no kind of effects to Rhyperior. It's a very handful ability to have, especially for a time like this!" Answered Corey while Rhyperior gave another roar in approval as he absorbed another lightning bolt.
"Yeah, I'd say so," said Anabel as they continued to run towards their destination.
After a couple of minutes, they cleared the trees and arrived at a once lush plains area now thick with char and ashes. They couldn't help but gasp at the scene before them as Anabel put her hands on her mouth in pure shock. Along with the damaged grounds, a flock of Pidgey and Spearow lie defeated with swirls in their eyes. Their bodies had the type of char only an Electric-Type attack could only cause.
In the center of the defeated Flying types stood the person they had been looking for. Ash didn't look good. His dress pants were torn, jacket and tie long gone, and several thin tears were among his black undershirt. Ash's trademark hat was nonexistent, leaving his raven hair looking messier than ever. Anabel peered closer and noticed his eyes were the worst part of it. Gone were the pair of eyes Anabel could look into for days; the slight tint of red she'd seen earlier had expanded to envelope his eyes. It wasn't a blood red but a lighter version; he seemed almost possessed with dark rings underneath, indicating he must not have slept.
Standing on all fours next to Ash was his faithful partner Pikachu who didn't look any better than his raven-haired trainer. The mouse had several cuts and bruises on its body but didn't seem fazed; it was as if it couldn't feel any pain. Pikachu also held the same red glow in its eyes as if it was a virus contracted by its trainer.
"Ash…" said Anabel softy as she looked on, tears forming in her eyes while Corey yelled with a clenched "Ash! What the hell do you think you're doing!"
As Corey was about to yell out again, Anabel dashed forward to engulf Ash; Corey turned his attention to her and yelled out, "Anabel, don't!"
Ash looked at Anabel and smirked; he then looked down at Pikachu while pointing toward Anabel and called out, "Thunderbolt."
Pikachu responded almost instantly as it charged forward and unleashed a deadly surge of electricity toward Anabel.
"Anabel, no! Titan, use Rock Polish and intercept it!" Roared out Corey as the drill Pokémon quickly put its arms together and smoothed out its body, increasing its speed dramatically. Rhyperior quickly rushed forward so it could use its ability to redirect the bolt of lightning. Just before the Thunderbolt reached its target, the lighting surge sensed Rhyperior's horn and took a sharp detour before being swallowed into the drill.
Anabel let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding as her face grew into shock at the pure fact that the one she loved almost hit her with a massive bolt of electricity.
Corey ran up to Anabel's side and put a hand on her shoulder, asking quickly, "Anabel, are you ok!?"
Physically she was fine; however, Anabel could only shake her head 'no' at the sight of Ash, who still had the same sadistic smirk.
Corey then looked at Ash and yelled, "What the hell was that, Ash! Last night you said you loved her, and now you're trying to hurt her! What's wrong with you!"
Ash stared into Corey's eyes for a second before closing them and shaking his head while chucking at the naive question asked, "Nothing's wrong; I'm merely doing what I should've all along, losing emotion. I'm pushing my Pokemon, forcing them to use every ounce of energy in their pathetic bodies, and anyone who gets in my way will turn into that pathetic clump of birds you see around us."
Ash's voice was cold and calculated. Even as nasty as he is, even Paul never sounded as ruthless as Ash was in that one statement.
"How could you say that about Pokémon! About your friends! We've all stood by you since day one! Losing one battle doesn't mean you have to change who you are! They will still love and respect you, and so will I!" Cried, Anabel.
Ash's coldness turned to anger, "This isn't just one battle anymore, Anabel! It's a culmination of battles since I became a trainer, and all this nonsense about caring about People and Pokemon hasn't gotten me anywhere! Even after connecting with you, it should've made me stronger, but instead, Paul came in and beat me like it was child's play, and I've had enough! I've had enough of losing, and I've had enough of you!"
Anabel ran forward to charge Ash however was held back by Corey, who glared at 'Ash' and said, "Anabel, you have to calm down; this isn't Ash."
"What do you mean?"
"You see his eyes… it's his aura. Use your feelings, Anabel; his aura must've spun out of control after losing and all of the harsh things Paul said to him. Unfortunately, spawned from it is the total opposite of whom and what Ash is, somebody who's even worse than Paul. Not even Paul is cruel enough to hurt random Pokémon of this mass; no, it's Ash's aura."
"So then, what can we do?" Asked Anabel.
Corey looked at Ash and said, "what else… battle him and beat him!"
"A fantastic plan, Corey, but even you don't have the power to stop me," said Ash, his hand twitching in anticipation of battle.
Corey got down on one knee just as he did last night and said softly, "Anabel, you have to do it; you have to beat him. Even if I could defeat him, it won't do anything for him; it might make Ash feel worse. I don't know for certain, but I feel to quell something like this, a person very close to the possessed person must stop it themselves. Anabel, do you really love Ash?"
"Yes," said Anabel automatically.
"Then do it, sis, get Ash back," said Corey as he stood up and took a step back, allowing Anabel to face her beloved.
Ash stood waiting with his arms crossed as Anabel collected herself, took a deep breath, and said softly, "Ash… I love you, and if this has to be the final test before we can finally be together, then I'll gladly go through it!"
"Hmph, you think you could beat me, fine… I've been looking for fresh meat all day. Pikachu," said Ash with a shake of his head as Pikachu raced onto the burnt grass battlefield, electricity sparking on its red cheeks.
Anabel unlatched a Pokeball from her belt and threw it into the air while calling out, "Go, my Friend! Alakazam!"
"Ala-kazam!" called out the Psi Pokémon calmly before he saw who its opponent was and quickly turned its head back towards its trainer in question.
"It's ok, my friend, we have to do this," said Anabel calmly before turning towards Ash and calling out, "I'm ready, Ash!"
Only one thought ran through Corey's mind "I hope you are ready. If this doesn't work, we may never get him back…."
Author's Note:
Thanks all for reading. I reworked this chapter a ton and feel much better about the balance I have Ash take compared to the previous version. Maybe I wanted everyone to be a ruthless prick when I was younger writing this. Either way, it sets up for the next one, and here's the next chapter's name. Thanks again!
Crossroads Chapter 15: Radiant Dawn Part 1!
Cyclone20
