DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon.
This story is the longest and most ambitious work I've attempted to write so far. Think of it as a kind of multi-episode story arc of the anime, but with a more mature twist. I'll try to update as often as I can, but it takes me such a long time to write at my best so I can't make any promises as to how regularly that'll be.
This chapter and the next serve to set the scene; the heart of the story will unfold in time...
Hidden Power
PROLOGUE
Ash Ketchum rolled over in his bed for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. After a whole day of travelling, he'd expected to be out like a light as soon as his aching body hit the mattress, but lo and behold, here he was, wide awake and positively bristling with energy. Sweat-glued strands of black hair streaked his forehead, and his chestnut eyes felt weighty and unfocused, despite sleep having yet to come even close to claiming him. It had been a long time indeed since he had slept in his own bed. Comfortable perhaps wasn't the best word to describe it – his feet hung over the edges and the covers didn't seem to stretch as far as they once did – though it certainly beat roughing it out in the woods, and was at least a change from staying at another plain old pokémon centre. In any case, he knew that his restlessness was no fault of his surroundings; there were only a handful of things that could keep him up like this, many of which were so rare and confusing that he struggled to even put them into words.
In his defence, the last few days had been a lot more eventful than most. Saying goodbye to his travelling companions was never an easy task, and Iris and Cilan were no exception. The open road was often a lonely place, and he couldn't have been more thankful to run into two people who were willing to share their individual journeys with him through the Unova region. Iris had told him that she would be heading to Johto to battle the Blackthorn City gym leader, Clair, whereas Cilan intended to travel to Hoenn in the hopes of entering a renowned fishing competition. Naturally, Ash was saddened by their departure, but gave the duo his best wishes nonetheless, like he always did. As they had both taken the same train to Johto, he wondered if they would even travel together for a while before splitting off; a pleasing thought, in a peculiar sort of way…
Then there was the epiphany he'd had at Professor Oak's pokémon reserve only hours ago. As soon as he had learned that Alexa, his temporary (and now only) travelling companion, was from the Kalos region, a faraway land with its own battle conference, its own gym leaders and, most importantly, a whole range of new and unique pokémon to discover, the idea of exploring such a place had never left the aspiring pokémon master's thoughts. Until this afternoon, a thought was all it had been, but now he was decided: Kalos was to be his next destination. Ash's head jerked upwards slightly. Of course! The excitement of starting a new adventure in the morning – that had to be why he couldn't sleep, right?
But there was one other thing on his mind, a seed that had been planted at almost the exact same moment as the last. It was the simplest little snippet of a conversation, one he had given so little thought to at the time, yet for some reason he couldn't keep it out of his head now:
"Hey, Professor, where's Tracey?"
"As fate would have it, Misty invited him to the Cerulean gym."
The final few words played over and over again on his lips. That name…that place…had it really been so long? It went without saying that he missed all of his friends, wherever their journeys and career paths had taken them. Tracey was one of his oldest friends, and so it was understandably disappointing not to have seen him at the lab today. But Misty…she was his best friend, the very first of his travelling companions. It had been three years since he last saw her in person, and their written contact in the meantime had been patchy at best. He shivered as a strange sensation churned about in his stomach, a mixture of guilt, sadness and something else he couldn't quite pin down. There was no excusing it, as he well knew; how could he have gone all this time without seeing the one he missed most of all?
Turning his head to the side, he noticed Pikachu curled up in a deep slumber, his angular yellow tail rising and falling with every light snore he purred out. It really was amusing to him that the little ball of fur could be so tired when he'd spent most of the day hitching a ride on his trainer's shoulder. Then again, Ash realised, his loyal pokémon companion wasn't as young as he used to be – and now that he thought about it, neither was he.
Almost twelve years he had spent in pursuit of his goal. Twelve years, over half his life, and he still loved every second of it. Even so, it would have been nice to have a proper victory under his belt by now. Instinctively, the young man's eyes wandered over to his chest of drawers, upon which lay a variety of souvenirs from his years of travelling. Though his case of Unova badges he had placed there earlier that day glinted over at him instantly, it was the shimmering Orange League trophy next to it that really caught his eye. Unofficial or not, the little-known tournament was the only one of its type that Ash had ever conquered, and the winged bronze object it earned him one of his most prized possessions. He could still remember the roar of the crowds, the euphoria of prevailing over such a tough opponent, the feeling of the trophy for the first time in his hands…but even that was a whole ten years ago. Almost to the day, in fact.
Tracey was travelling with him back then – Misty too. And before he could do anything about it, there was his mind snapping straight back to her. All those times he'd returned home after a tournament, all those years he'd been coming and going, and he had never once thought to visit her before he left again. It would have been so easy, just a day or two up at the gym for them to catch up, battle, maybe even fight a little? He chuckled to himself before the smile slid lazily off his face. At least Tracey had been there to keep her company, he reminded himself…although for some reason, the more Ash thought about that, the queasier he began to feel. He should have been there for her; he should have been the friend she deserved; he should be-
Sitting up, Ash slowly nodded in realisation. It wasn't too late to make this right. He was home now; there was no better opportunity – especially since there'd be no telling how long he was going away for this time. And besides…
"Kalos isn't going anywhere, right, buddy?" he whispered with a grin over to his snoozing pokémon. "Hope Alexa doesn't mind a quick detour to Cerulean City…"
He then lay back down, closing his eyes and, to his relief, feeling tiredness creep up on him within minutes. A new start was just around the corner, a new path to walk with countless new adventures waiting to be had – but who was to say that the old ones weren't still just as fun?
"Ash, honey, can you get the door?"
A loud thud sounded from the upstairs level of the Ketchum residence.
"Oof! Uhh, y-yeah, just a minute!"
Ash rubbed the part of his head that had just made contact with his door, readjusting his hastily placed feet within his jeans and groaning in exhaustion. This morning had been a later-than-expected start, no doubt owing to his bout of reflection when he was supposed to be sleeping, so the fatigued pokémon trainer had been forced to take a shower and get dressed in record time to be ready for Alexa's arrival. Evidently, it still wasn't quick enough.
"The door, Ashy!" came his mother's mirthful voice from the kitchen. "You're keeping your poor friend waiting out there!"
"Pikapi, pika chu!" seconded Pikachu at the foot of the stairs.
"C-Coming!" Ash shouted down as he stumbled out of his bedroom and barrelled down the hall in the direction of the staircase. The second to last step creaked as usual under his weight, and the crinkle in the welcome mat almost sent him flying, but he eventually made it to the front door, swinging it open and wincing at the bright sunlight that immediately hit him.
"Morning, Ash!" waved Alexa, her headset and laptop case in hand.
"Hey, Alexa," he smiled back at her, "and…Professor? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see you off, my boy!" the aging researcher chuckled through his trademark coffee breath.
Ash stepped backwards to let them into the house, at which point Alexa looked the pokémon trainer up and down in confusion.
"Um, I feel I may already know the answer to this, but…did you sleep well?"
It was certainly no mystery as to what she was referring to, Ash discovered when he examined his bedraggled appearance. His fly was down, the one sock he had on flopped about at the end of his toes, and the head hole of his black T-shirt was currently home to both his neck and one of his arms.
He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Ehe…"
"Seems like a classic case of pre-travelling jitters to me," came another voice from the doorway.
"Tracey!" Ash cried as his older friend stepped through the threshold to greet him.
"Glad I caught you before you left," Tracey said. "It took me ages in the rush hour traffic to get back from Cerulean City, so I figured I might have just missed you."
Ash's ears pricked up. "Wait, I thought Professor Oak said it was yesterday you were in Cerulean City."
"Yeah, that's right," he nodded. "I went over there to help Misty out yesterday, but I ended up staying until this morning. Oh hey, Pikachu!"
"Ah…" Ash mumbled ethereally as he watched Tracey bending down to shake Pikachu's paw. "Pokémon centre?"
The amiable pokémon watcher stood back up. "No, no, I just stayed at the gym."
"You spent the night at the gym?" Ash blurted out without thinking.
"Er, yeah. Misty insisted."
With those words came the sickly, bubbling feeling in his stomach again. There was something about the image all of this conjured that bothered him, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. It only made sense for Misty to have put Tracey up for the night, after all; the gym was huge, and Misty had always gone above and beyond for her friends. Still, knowing this, the time they must have spent together while he was away, it almost made him feel kind of…lonely…
"Is something the matter, Ash?" he heard Alexa say after a tense few seconds.
Only with this question did Ash even realise he was staring off into space. He shook his head to regain his bearings and turned back to his concerned friends.
"Oh, n-no, I was just-"
"Good morning, Alexa!" chirped Delia Ketchum as she skipped into the living room. "And oh, Samuel, Tracey, what a nice surprise! Will you be staying for breakfast?"
"We'd love to, thank you, Delia," said Professor Oak.
As the guests gradually filed into the kitchen, Ash raced back upstairs to complete his morning rituals without any more interruptions. Five minutes later, he reappeared wearing his brand new travelling garb: a blue jacket with white lining, a pair of red and black fingerless gloves, and a new red cap with a pokéball motif to complete his signature look.
"Oh, Ash, you look so grown-up in those clothes!" Delia beamed. "But then, I suppose you are a grown-up now, aren't you? Here, I made your favourite."
"Thanks, Mom," he said, taking a plate of scrambled eggs and sitting down between Pikachu and Professor Oak. Across the table, he saw Tracey and Alexa engaged in a lively conversation, something about the 'joys of pokémon watching' or the like. He presumed they had introduced themselves while he was upstairs.
"…And I'm turning thirty in a couple of months so I was planning to stay in Santalune City with my sister until then," Alexa finished with a flick of her mousy bangs.
Her eyes then panned over to Ash, at which point he knew she was about to address the donphan in the room. "So, Ash, you all set to head to the airport in Viridian soon? If we get there in the next hour or so, I reckon we could be on a plane by just after midday."
The pokémon trainer gulped. He'd very much hoped not to have a huge audience for this part of the conversation.
"Um, yeah, about that," he started, wringing his hands under the table. "Are you in much of a hurry to see your sister?"
"Erm…not especially. Why?" Alexa asked, perplexed.
"Well, I was just thinking about all my past journeys last night when I couldn't sleep, and, uh…"
He paused to take a nervous bite of toast. Why was this so hard for him to say? "And I…I think I'd like to go to Cerulean City to visit my friend Misty before we leave."
Pikachu's sticky face emerged from the bottle of ketchup he had been lapping away at all morning. "Pikachupi?" he squeaked excitedly.
Alexa raised a curious eyebrow. "Cerulean City?" the journalist repeated. "But we passed through there on the way to Pallet Town! Why didn't you say anything then?"
The question caused Ash's face to redden. "I, er, didn't think to at the time…"
"And wait a second; you don't mean Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean gym leader, do you? She's said to be one of Kanto's strongest trainers these days – I'd sure like a chance to interview her for my portfolio at some point."
Ash nodded, feeling a strange sense of pride after Alexa's description of his best friend.
At the end of the room, Delia clasped her hands together with joy. "Oh, Ashy, I think that's a wonderful idea! It's been so long since you and Misty have seen each other; just think of how happy this will make her!"
"Tell me about it," Tracey agreed. "Honestly, when I was at the gym, we spent most of the time just talking about you. You couldn't shut her up once she started! I'm not sure Misty'd ever admit it, but it's obvious she's dying to see her best friend."
Out of the corner of his eye, Ash couldn't help but notice Alexa's smile growing wider with each new fragment of insight she gained.
"How sweet!" she giggled soon after. "Well, I can't very well deprive you of an opportunity like this, now can I?"
Aside from the rather unsettling wink she gave him thereafter, Ash quickly felt himself returning to his usual energetic, optimistic self.
"Awesome!" he exclaimed, leaping up from his seat. "Then let's go pick up Charizard and get going!"
"You're travelling to Cerulean on Charizard?" Tracey inquired.
As Ash nodded his head once again, Professor Oak cleared his throat and adjusted his red shirt collar. "In that case, we'd best be heading back to the lab. Are you ready, Ash?"
The boy in question was no longer there, however, as a swift gust of wind and the subsequent billowing of the tablecloth were quick to demonstrate.
"Come on, guys, let's go!" his effervescent voice shouted from the path outside.
Delia could only giggle. "That's my Ash, alright."
The short walk up to the laboratory was peppered with stories of Ash's adventures in Unova, a subject that Tracey and Professor Oak absorbed with particular fascination. Delia and Alexa chatted a couple of feet behind the boys, and although Ash's own conversation prevented him from properly hearing theirs, he was sure he heard his and Misty's names crop up now and then, followed by bursts of girlish giggling. Whatever that was about was clearly not for him to know, but he didn't stick around long enough for it to faze him.
A quick trawl through the reserve saw Ash reunited with his loyal fire dragon, and soon after, he, Charizard and the rest of the Pallet party were congregated on the winding dirt path outside the lab.
"Looks like that's everything," Ash affirmed as he and Pikachu climbed up onto Charizard's back. "Hop on, Alexa!"
She didn't move. "What's wrong?" he spoke down to her. "Aren't you coming with me?"
"Oh no, you go on ahead. I think I'll stick around in Pallet Town for the time being," Alexa stated, turning to Professor Oak. "If you wouldn't mind, Professor, I'd love to pick your brain some more about your philosophies on pokémon research. And you too, Tracey – an interview of such a dedicated pokémon watcher would be invaluable for my portfolio."
"Of course!" the two researchers expressed simultaneously.
"Besides," Alexa continued, glancing at Delia out of the corner of her eye, "something tells me Misty'd appreciate it a lot more if you went to see her alone."
She then winked at him again, and like before, Ash had no idea what to make of it. "Well, okay then," he shrugged. "I'll be back in a day or so, and then we can head to Kalos." After a slight pause, he quickly added, "Two days tops!"
"Take care, honey!" Delia smiled up at him. "And give Misty my love!"
"Groooaaar!" puffed Charizard, unfurling his mighty wingspan. Slowly, the Flame Pokémon rose up into the air, kicking up a fierce wind underneath him, and moments later, he and his passengers were but three indistinguishable dots in the distance.
Delia watched the sky until the tiny speck had completely disappeared. She could feel a small tear in her eye, but she knew it would not fall. This was her son's calling, his destiny, and there was nothing in the world she wanted more than for him to be happy.
"He'll be back," a rather windswept Professor Oak assured her.
The auburn-haired woman looked over at her old friend. "Oh, it's not that. I was just thinking…"
"Ah," he immediately understood. "The age-old question. Aren't we all?"
"You'd think one of them would've given it away by now," Tracey joined in. "Then again, Ash isn't exactly known for his intuitiveness with this sort of thing…"
"If you're talking about what I think you are," said Alexa, "then from what you've told me, Mrs. Ketchum, this practically seems like a done deal already! Do you think something will come of it this time?"
Turning her eyes back to the sky, Delia sighed wistfully. "I really hope so, Alexa. For both their sakes…"
