Locked Away, Chapter 31: The Tribute

Ash arrived at Gary's laboratory a few hours before sunset. His feet were sore, his back ached, and his muscles felt like they would rip themselves apart had his skin not been there to keep him together. He had walked continuously for over eight months, and whereas the journey hadn't affected him at first, now that it was finally drawing to a close.

He was tired.

To make matters worse, greninja refused to speak with Ash; he wouldn't come out of his pokeball, and according to Gary, in order to rectify the problem, Gary would have to forcefully dismantle the pokeball. Ash didn't want that, though. Greninja would come out of his pokeball when he was ready, Ash wouldn't force the water pokemon.

So, when he arrived, he spent the better part of the evening catching up with the pokemon he reunited with. All eleven of them, in hopes that they would inspire greninja to emerge—but the pokemon never did.

Instead, Gary watched at a distance, mesmerized that Ash, a grown man, knew so many large, terrifying pokemon; charizard, snorlax, noivern to name a few, and they were all friendly.

While sitting in a group, Ash held togepi in his lap while sitting cross-legged and was not only happy with his pokemon, he was having a full discussion with them. Never in Gary's twenty-one years of life had he ever imagined seeing such a thing, but when it came to Ash, he was starting to make very large exceptions. Ash, even though he might have been a little crazy, sometimes and his methods were unorthodox, and he was a bit of a child still... Gary couldn't ignore that since Ash returned things had already started to change. Little by little, people seemed to open up, everywhere he went, everyone he met, changed.

In little under a year, Ash managed to influence the stubborn Cerulean City gym leader into accepting a role as an Elite Four member. He had managed to rekindle the bonds between two estranged gym leaders and the pokemon professor of Kanto. Ash freed an entire route of a charizard that was, surprising to Gary, very friendly. He managed to some how bring the press back to odd occurrences by creating several of them himself. While his use of pyromania was somewhat heretical, his ability to disrupt the normal flow of the world drew necessary attention back to the cruelty of the pounds, the unfairness of the league officials, and the difference in equality amongst all trainers.

Somehow, Ash managed to explore six regions, disturb the peace in all of them, and come back unscathed.

...and only Ash could do that.

Standing up as his pokemon started conversing amongst themselves, Ash pressed his hand against charizard's snout—who had been mostly disheveled and brooding since Gary received him a little under two months ago.

The large dragon would likely never fly normally again. Whatever mangled his wing did a professional job of it, it had ripped through most of his bone structure, and wingspan—if he ever did heal, it would take years.

In a rather peculiar, touching moment, charizard lowered its head to face Ash, dipping its horned forehead against Ash's, knocking the trainers hat off. Gary wasn't positive, but in the glimmer of the sun, he thought he might have seen Ash apologize, and tears roll from the red-eyes of the dragon.

A terrifying scene at best, and yet incoherently... sweet.

After the brief moment with charizard, Ash turned on his heels and headed back towards the laboratory, wiping his eyes the best that he could with the underneath of his wrist.

Mockingly, Gary snorted. "Still a cry baby, I see."

"I am not." Ash sniffled, grumbling under his breath as he straightened his hat so that Gary couldn't see his face. "Not crying."

"It's alright." Gary expressed rather quietly, sitting back on his patio chair while kicking up his calf onto his knee. "Finding out about the repercussions of bad decisions sometimes warrants tears."

Ash stared at him for that comment, and found a seat beside Gary on the patio chair opposite of him with a questioning gaze.

"Do you think he will heal?"
"In time," Gary murmured, folding his arms. "Pokemon heal differently than we do, an injury that would have killed us sometimes only leaves a scratch on them. Charizard's are known for their durability, so...whatever struck charizard was designed to kill strong pokemon-" he paused, raising an eyebrow at Ash's expression.

"Charizard surviving says something about his character, doesn't it?"

Ash smirked at that, feeling better. "I guess so." He looked off into the distance, watching the dragon pokemon scowl in frustration as a playful togepi and pikachu climbed up on top of him, in an attempt to brighten his spirits.

"If it wasn't for me though...He wouldn't have gotten hurt." Ash's gaze fell. "I should have been more careful."

"Really?" Gary mused, snorting. "Did you know whatever it was that hurt him was going to be where you were at the time? If it wasn't for you and that gym leader, he would still be terrorizing route twenty five."

Ash fidgeted uncomfortably at the mention of Misty, but then returned to normal rather quickly. "I guess."

"What did happen, by the way?" Gary managed, thumbing his lip. The doctors hadn't called Gary, or anyone when Ash visited the hospital, thankfully.

"Ahh, just some stuff." Ash said, waving the conversation off. He didn't want to involve Gary, the pokemon professor in Kanto with any of his ordeals more than he had already. No, he would wait until he could talk to Misty and Brock before mentioning what he saw in Unova; and even then... Ash would have to choose his words wisely.

Gary shook his head, picking up that whatever trouble Ash got into wasn't exactly legal, so he laced his fingers over his knee, and then stared directly at Ash.

"So, what are your plans now that you've raged mayhem on all other parts of the world?"

A long pause followed in which Ash took a solid look at his hands. His expression was unreadable, due to the bill of his hat obstructing his view, but when he sat back, Gary could see the hopeful expression on Ash's face.

"For once...I don't really have anything I need to do—no immediate goal..."

Gary crossed his arms, watching his childhood friend's gaze. "And what do you plan to do with that?"

A scoff escaped Ash's lips while he shook his head a bit.

"Honestly?" He glanced over to his pokemon, which were sleeping peacefully in the field together, as one, happy family in the dying sun. Pikachu, togepi, bulbasaur, charizard, chimchar, bayleef, donaphan, totodile, snorlax, talonflame, and noivern. A drop in the bucket to his original team...but, some of them were back—safe, happy. He stared down to greninja's pokeball, and glanced away. He many have failed many of his pokemon, but he was here now, and that's the best he could do.

"I think I'll go to sleep." Ash exhaled, with a smile tugging on his lips.

Gary laughed at that. "Not for ten years though, right?"

"Nah..." Ash waved him off, standing. "Ten hours or so might do it though." He laughed in return, giving the man in question a stoic nod, and then walking off into the back bedrooms where he would be staying for the night before he began his adventure to Cerulean City the next morning.

Gary watched him leave, and then turned his eyes to the pokemon in the field slowly as the door beside him tugged open and a rather frazzled Leaf popped out of the house. Ash and Leaf exchanged briefly, before the brunette found her way to the deck, where she plopped down into the seat beside Gary's, watching the pokemon as well.

"He caught quite a few high level pokemon for a beginner." She admired while Gary slumped into his chair further, looking at his wife.

"You're telling me. Half of the pokemon he has he shouldn't have even known about. They're not native to Kanto, and there is no way he got all that information from Misty."

"Hey, she's pretty smart." Leaf grumbled in Misty's defense, Gary blinked at her.

"I didn't say she wasn't." He argued with an eye roll. "I'm saying that the pokemon he has aren't well known to this region. He caught them too quickly to just-"

Leaf chuckled, taking Gary's hand in her own and stroking the palm of it with her thumb. "It's frustrating, isn't it?"
"Yes!" Gary gasped. "I don't understand how he managed to find so many different pokemon, and cause as much trouble as he did after being in a coma for ten years. It doesn't make sense!"

A long pause followed his outburst, and then;

"You seem happier though." Leaf hummed. "Like something that's been missing finally came back."

With borderline pathetic eyes, Gary turned to his wife, and blinked twice before rolling his shoulders and sitting back in his seat.

"...yeah, I guess so..."

Misty rolled her head back, having been sitting at her desk with little movement for the last hour and a half. She checked her phone again—listening to the message that Ash left—wondering why he didn't call her from his pokedex.

Not only that, when she dialed the number for his pokedex now, it only reached a dial tone.

It had been a little under two months since he called, and it had been just under a month since he sent her a letter. Misty knew he was in France, and for the most part knew that he was safe, she however did not like being ignored.

Her foot rattled beneath the desk, running over the thoughts in her mind about the trouble he could have gotten himself into. What if he really did mess up? He didn't sound so great when he left her that message—sure, he said not to worry, but how could she not? He spent five months sending passive letters and then suddenly decided to call her when he made it to France?

That wasn't right, something had to have happened to him, and he was avoiding her.

...Because she had tabs on him through Cole. The seven year old boy still called Misty on a normal basis, asking about her training as an Elite Four member; he was overly enthusiastic about learning about pokemon, and would sometimes let it slip that he spoke with Ash regularly.

"He says he misses you a lot whenever I bring you up around him..." Cole had told her one day, followed quickly by: "Are you two married?"

Ahh, trying to explain to a seven year old the difference between 'friends', 'married', 'dating' and 'acquaintances' was a lot like stubbing a toe. Painful, shocking, and a little nerve racking. In the end, Misty complied to the seven year old's simple beliefs, and agreed only because it was simpler to agree with him than it was to argue, and she wasn't ready to explain to him the difference between what a 'mommy' felt compared to what 'she' felt.

...Mostly because whenever she tried to, she would stammer, bite her tongue and evidently find herself slamming her head onto what ever hard surface she could find to clear her mind.

Regardless if he had neglected to send letters or call, hearing that he missed her was information enough for her to forgive the man. Slumping in her desk chair, she let out a long, frustrated sigh.

The man. She thought while resting her chin on top of her folded arms. Since when had it become that? It seemed like only yesterday he was the little boy she ripped out of the river.

Drawing close to three in the morning, her eyelids felt heavy, recalling the event that was once a bitter memory. Sleep pulled at her eyes, begging her for a few hours of rest, and she could do nothing but comply.

Ten years ago... Misty's life changed.

She had been sitting off of route one, minding her own business, fishing for water pokemon of any kind. She had only been on her own for less than a year, but she was still determined—she would not return to the Cerulean City gym until she was a water pokemon master! It was simply out of the question!

Stewing in her own frustration, she recalled her sisters terrible behavior—how they treated her like such a kid. Just because their parents left because obligations were too much didn't meant hat Misty couldn't handle her own in battle. She had been training pokemon since she was walking, there was nothing she couldn't do!

She would catch an amazing water pokemon, she would enter the league matches, and she would defeat the Elite Four and enter the championship match. Misty would win and then her sisters would have to respect her!

Unfortunately, that moment would never come, as her life would be turned upside down the second her fishing line sunk.

"Oh, it must be a big one!" She gasped, tugging on the fishing pole to pull up her catch. It must have been a seaking, or a shelder! Maybe if she was lucky, it would be a golduck! Whatever it was, it was heavy. With one heave, she pulled the submerged creature from the river, but she noticed right away it wasn't anything she wanted to see and a loud sigh escaped her throat.

"Aww, it's just a kid... and a pokemon!" She leaped from her place at the small dock to examine the boy who was coughing up water. As she neared, a look of worry washed over her face, and she knelt, looking only at the yellow mouse. "Oooh, are you okay?"

Suddenly, small rage boiled inside of her chest when the raven-haired boy looked up at her with dewy brown eyes, soaked; "Yeah, I'm okay."

She couldn't stop herself, she wasn't really thinking when her hand flew from her side, and smacked against his right cheek. How careless! This pokemon was in terrible condition and he was thinking of himself first!

"Not you! Look at what you've done to that poor little thing!" A second later, pure shock filled his eyes as he looked up at her—both terrified and confused. Obviously, he hadn't gotten himself into this situation intentionally. Her heart twisted behind her breast.

Misty's face softened slightly as she realized the error of her ways, "Is it alright?" She hummed weakly as he looked down at the mouse, heart broken. As if he needed her to make him feel worse—he was already beating himself up.

He choked on his words for a split second, "I..I...I think so."

A wash of anger struck her again, but this time she threw her arms to her side and reeled away from him.

"Well don't just sit there, it needs a doctor right away!" She explained urgently. "There's a medical center not too far from here, but you've got to get moving now!"

Seconds later, he was also to his feet, looking at her with alert, wide eyes."You mean a hospital?"

Misty threw her hands onto her hips and nodded, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "Yes, for pokemon!"

"Can you tell me which way do I go?" he asked, desperation clearly in his voice.

Carelessly, she pointed and his eyes followed her finger toward the direction of Viridian City. "That way." she said unimpressed.

However, their time spent together was short lived as Misty heard the loud fluttering of wings in the distance... a flock of spearow flying over the horizon came into view and her mouth fell open.

"They're coming back!" Ash screamed, taking off up the hill and leaving her at the shore. "Run!"

Blinking several times in confusion, she followed him up the hill quickly. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

Without explanation, he climbed onto her bike, kicked off the stand after tucking pikachu into the basket and looked at her bravely. "I'm borrowing this." He shouted, but before she could get another word in edge wise, he was already gone.

"H-hey, that's my bike!" She shouts after him, flabbergasted by such behavior. Who did he think that he was!?

The boy in the red hat was already well down the path when he looked back at her over his shoulder, his blue jacket flying in the wind as he peddled faster.

"I'll give it back someday!" he shouted carelessly, though Misty could feel terror in her heart, thinking about the price of that bike—he had no intention of ever returning that bike! Then just like that, he was gone; as fast as he had come into her life, he exited.

Frustrated, she almost screamed, almost threw her arms up, but instead, she swallowed hard and slammed her tiny fists against her waist in a pint of rage.

Overhead, she could see the rolling thunderstorm clouds which had only moments ago seemed miles off, now rolling directly over her head. Just her luck!

"Man, stupid kid!" She groaned, quickly throwing together all of her supplies. She didn't want to get caught up in the rain storm and she would have to catch up with him to get her bike back. And she would get her bike back! Who did this thief think he was, anyways!?

Xoxs

Misty traveled for just under an hour by foot, staying under the tree line and cursing her new 'friend' for stealing her bike. Her feet ached in her red sneakers, and she could feel the humidity of the quickly fallen rain decorating her body in the summer heat. She was sweating, thanks to the lack of breeze and the short storm! If only she had her bike, she would at least have some wind against her hair while she zoomed down the forest path.

"I'll kill him when I find him!" She hissed aloud, squeezing her fists shut. "Better yet, I'll report him to the police for stealing my bike!" for a long moment she inhaled, making herself feel better by imagining worlds where he would earn his 'just desserts".

She would make this kid suffer, and he will know not to mess with the fourth sensational sister of the Cerulean City gym! How dare he even think to steal from her, Misty Waterflower! She would kick his—up ahead, the smell of smoke drew her attention from her thoughts, and her stomp came to a slow crawl. The path was clearly scorched from that massive lightning strike from before. Luckily, there was no fire around, so she pressed forward, keeping her eyes open.

...then she saw him. At first, a boiling rage penetrated her heart.

"Hey, kid! Where's my-" beside him, discarded on the road as if he had fallen off of it, was the remains of her bike—toasted. An ugly, copper red fried to near indistinguishable properties. Her eyes flashed back over to the boy, who she realized by his point, was nearly lifeless, laying on his stomach. She couldn't see his face, but in his arms, right beside his head, was the same pikachu, wheezing in pain.

Her knees trembled for only a moment before she pushed forward swallowing hard. "Hey!" She called to him, falling to her knees beside the body.

"...cha..." the mouse squeaked indescribably, though Misty did not understand what it was saying—she could see that his eyes were slightly open, barely conscious, she pressed her hand against his back and felt electricity surge through her finger tips, raising her arm hairs.

"Oh..oh—oh no." She hummed weakly with trembling fingers.

"Hello! Is there anyone here!?" She screamed into the forest, but the only reply was the sound of fleeing pigeys, scared spearows—at least those that were still alive after the lightning.

What am I supposed to do? She thought to herself, watching his eyes turn from that chestnut brown, to white. His eyelids fell closed, the last bit of consciousness fading fast—as well as pikachu, who also turned over, limp. For a moment, she thought to scream again—but that would only alert more pokemon, it wasn't safe.

"W-wait. Stay awake." Misty tried instead, but her voice did not carry, it was barely strong enough to form above a whisper. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, regretting every terrible thought she had about the boy; every inconsiderate motive. What if she caused this?

Trembling, she reached out her hands once more, counting to five.

One. She grabbed his arms, reeling them in front of her as she hoisted his weight up onto her shoulders. Two. His head bobbed against the back of her neck, and she shuddered, trying to stand with his extra weight—for a boy, he was surprisingly light. Three. Once she had him over her shoulders, she let his arms lie limp, and then took the small mouse, who also emit small, electrical charges, and stuffed the pokemon into her red back pack before wrapping that over her shoulders so that the pokemon would be cradled at the front of her person, rather than being squished by him. Four. With one heave, like a great onix, she rose to her feet, keeping his arms latched around her person. She staggered once, twice, and then found her footing.

Five. She started moving.

xoxs

Misty couldn't say how long she was in the forest, but his labored breathing against her neck was enough to keep her going—maybe he had only passed out, and he would wake up shortly? But if he had been truly been electrocuted—jesus, he should have been dead!

When the Viridian City police center came into view, resting at the edge of town, Misty's voice barely carried.

"H-help!" She cried, her voice squeaking. She was covered in sweat from head to toe when the woman working at the stall looked at her—her hair was blue, and her eyes turned from dull, to panic in seconds.

"Oh my... What happened?!"

"I-" Misty gasped for air. "I don't know! I found him like this, with his pikachu!"

The officer threw up her arms and helped Misty maneuver the boy from her shoulders, and towards the police station. She checked for a pulse, and as he had done to Misty prior, the left over charge in his body made her hair stand on end.

"I'll call and ambulance, are you his sister?"

"N-no. I just found him on the path!" Misty cried. "Is he okay?" She asked, but the officer didn't reply.

Three days passed before she could see him again. Apparently, the electrical current that passed through his body didn't leave things unscathed—and while she didn't know all the details, she was still told they had to rush him into the intense care unit.

When she saw him next, he was in a white hospital gown, with a feeding tube cut into his throat, an oxygen tube running down his neck, and IV's in both arms. He was connected to a heart monitor, several different scans, and most importantly, he was marked with a green tag—he was unclaimed by his family—a John Doe.

They had tried his pokedex previously, but even the durable pokemon computer was fried to a crisp. Beyond repair, beyond use. and...yet, here he slept, alive. And with him, asleep on the bedside table, was his pikachu—who had also not woken up since the accident.

The first time Misty saw him, she was advised not to stay for too long. His skin was a weird yellow, a 'side effect' the nurses said, and he had random bruises all along his arms and face, and chest. He had an entrance point of the current at his abdomen, but clearly lacked an exit point. It was as if the electrical current penetrated the flesh, and then disappeared.

Xoxs

Word got around about the accident rather quickly. By spreading the news to her sister, they alerted a trainer from the same town as him about the accident. Said trainer came to visit only once, before running out of the hospital and throwing up.

Misty thought he had a weak stomach, but she wasn't much better, only, she felt obligated not to throw up...

The next time she came to visit was the first time she met his mother; a tall, lively woman with auburn hair, who cried. A lot.

Her name was Delia Ketchum—the boy's name was Ash. A fitting name for a terrible situation—he should have been reduced to ashes at the voltage he was pushed into, but he wasn't. His mom took Misty to lunch several times, but the redhead could hardly remember them—they were spent with some older man with gray hair, and her rambling on and on about how 'precious' her son was, and how she couldn't believe this happened to him.

While Misty felt terrible, she could believe it. Ash was reckless.

They had a sort of weird bond at first. Misty returned to the hospital several times because she felt guilty—like some part of her conscious wouldn't let her believe that if she had been a little more aggressive, he wouldn't be laying in the hospital—a vegetable.

"Ahh, you're back again, I see?" Delia asked her when Misty walked in, holding her red bag.

"Yeah... I thought I would stop in while they worked on construction for the train." Misty muttered, stepping in and taking a seat beside Delia at the window. The mother knit to ease her mind.

"Well, I appreciate you coming here. He will like to know that his friends came to visit him when he wakes up."

Misty's face relaxed, when the woman had said—but Misty doubted that when would ever happen.

"...We're not friends." Misty admit weakly, crossing her feet under her chair. Delia laughed and shook her head, smiling even in such a situation amazed the redhead, but made her uncomfortable at the same time.

"You would be. He always liked the tough ones, you know." Delia mumbled. "He never really did have a lot of friends..." Delia muttered, stopping her knitting to look at the young boy.

"...so I'm sure regardless, he would appreciate the effort." She continued her stitch, shoulders quivering. Delia kept the tears down while Misty sat back, folding her arms gently in front of her chest, her yellow crop top exposing her stomach more as she kicked out her pale legs.

"So, when do you think he will wake up?" Misty asked hopefully, trying to cheer the woman up. It seemed to work because she sighed happily.

"Oh, knowing Ash when I least expect it—you know, he has a way of always finding trouble."

Misty smiled widely at that. "I don't doubt that."

xoxs

Sometimes when Misty came to visit, Delia wasn't around.

"I can't believe this!" She hissed looking at the storm outside. "All of that work and the gym leader isn't even here! Who does he..." Misty growled under her breath, taking a seat beside Ash. Nonchalantly, she brushed her hand against his, and took a hard look at his nails. Carefully, she started to tidy them.

"You know, you're lucky you aren't awake." She hissed. "They are making so many ridiculous rules for everything!" Misty hissed, having cut his nails just a little too short, she sighed and filed them down. She looked to the door, half expecting to see Delia walk through them—but after an hour, Misty leaned forward once more, talking to the vegetable.

"You're lucky, you know." Misty repeated, brushing a strand of his grown hair from his face—how long had it been now? Two, three years?

"Your mom cares so much about you." Misty muttered, rising to her feet to brush his hair. She grabbed scissors left on the bedside table, and recalling that Delia had given her permission since the woman 'refused to cut her son's hair until he woke up' Misty would do it for her.

"My parents don't care about us." Misty grunted angrily. "They left my sisters because life was too hard at the gym! So they put a freakin' ten year old in charge, can you believe that?" Misty rambled, sniffing once the strands of his dark hair were cut short.

Her face scrunched up. "It would be nice if you woke up. Your mom really misses you, Ash." She leaned over him, looking his face with sullen eyes.

"...what are you even doing in there?" She asked, leaning closer when a nurse walked in and cleared her throat.

"Ms. Waterflower, visiting hours are over."

"Oh, sorry." Misty said quickly while gathering her things. She briefly glanced over her shoulder before following the nurse out. "See you later Ash." She said openly, getting an odd, sympathetic look from the nurse as she led Misty from the nurses station and to the elevator.

Xoxs

She remembered the moment clearly, the day Delia walked out of her sons room, crying. She looked a bit paler today—though her face was glowing. Her stomach had grown a little, and if Misty had looked closely, she would have seen that the single mother had been adoring a golden band on her left hand for some time—but they hadn't talked often.

"Hi Delia." Misty greeted the mother as she almost walked right past her.

Delia's eyes widened, seeing Misty for the first time.

"My, how you've grown!" Delia exclaimed. "You're almost all grown up now." She whined, pulling Misty into a very warm hug that brought a blush to the redheads face.

She would never admit it, but she loved Delia's hugs. They were always so warm and thoughtful; so full of life and devotion. Motherly. Misty didn't know what it was like to have a mother.

"Yeah, I'm fourteen now."

"So I've heard. I saw you compete at the league." She paused, wiping her eye. "well, watched you compete..." That was when Misty noticed from behind Delia, they were rolling Ash from his room. Misty pointed, in her hand, she held a blue vase, and white flowers.

"Where are they taking him?"

Then Delia cracked again. "Exploratory surgery." she wiped an eye. "The doctors can't understand why he won't wake up. He doesn't have any negative results, his brain seems to be functioning normally he just won't..." Then she sniffled again, and Misty pat her on the back.

"It's okay. He'll be fine." Misty muttered, smiling at the woman with full confidence. "He just needs to heal on his own time, right?" She said, reminding the woman of what she had said.

"...oh dear." Delia hummed, grabbing Misty once more into a tight hug. "You are so sweet."

Misty hummed happily at that. "Not everyone would say the same."

From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a familiar face in the room beside her—a dark man with squinting eyes looking at her, wearing a green vest and brown pants. He sat beside a man who looked to be in the same situation as Ash, but misty didn't think much of it—how could she when a crying mother was rambling. She glanced at him for only a moment, but then returned her attention to the yammering Delia as the mother led Misty down the hall, and to Ash's room, where Misty set the blue vase, and white flowers on the table beside his bed.

Xoxs

When she was seventeen, she was different, colder. Her hair was down, her face was turned at a permanent scowl, and she hadn't been to the Viridian City hospital in well over a year. She stopped visiting frequently after her time in Sinnoh, and after taking over at the Cerulean City gym when she was sixteen, she had little time for anything outside of fixing the gym.

For years her sisters told her she was the one unprepared to control the gym, but in reality, it had been her sisters that were ill prepared! Water shows, badge hand outs, the loss of very well every battle they had—her sisters were the ones that needed help. Not Misty.

Unfortunately, it took her too long to realize this. The league officials were tempted to shut the gym down in lie of recent events with coordinators, as well as a few outstanding issues she had with one of the most prominent coordinators of this time—Dawn Matthews. Regardless, Misty still made time—once a year, every year.

She had white flowers in her hands, the same as usual when she walked into his small room with blue curtains, an endless supply of pictures, and goodies. It had been a little under three years since Misty last spoke with the boy's mother, but she missed her. A little bit.

"Hey there Ash." Misty started, walking to the blue vase which hadn't been moved. She removed some old flowers within the container, and replaced them with new ones before taking a seat beside him. She stared at him for a time in silence, and then brushed his long hair from his face.

"I swear, we should shave you bald." She grunted before standing up and clipping his bangs and parts of his hair. Thankfully, as technology progressed, they moved away from the nasty insert on his throat, and were able to apply a food pump directly to his stomach so he didn't look like some type of Frankenstein. His breathing had normalized to a point he was away from the oxygen tube, the mask, and was now only using the tubes at his nose.

"I remember when you had to wear the mask." She mumbled, straightening the tubes on his face, to make sure they wouldn't be uncomfortable. She looked at his arms, pale from lack of sunlight, but still full of life—even after so many years in a coma.

"When are you going to wake up?" She asked, resting her elbows on his bed. She sat back, looking at the television in the corner of his room which played re-runs of old news regarding the most recent Team Rocket attacks, and then shut the television off. "Sorry I don't visit more often." She said weirdly, crossing one leg over the other. "It's busy at the gym... I finally managed to tame a gyarados, if you can imagine that. To think I used to be terrified of them..." She stammered, having lost her thought. Never before had she been unable to rant to Ash. Being in a coma, he was a wonderful listener.

...but now, she couldn't bring herself to speak with out harrowing tension. She rose, and glanced down at him once more before sighing.

"...Happy birthday, Ash."

"Thanks." His rasp voice suddenly replied, sending her spiraling backwards and landing back into her visiting chair. She almost screamed, but realized it wasn't sleeping Ash that was speaking to her—it was adult Ash, standing at the foot of his bed.

"Who—who..." She stammered, and then her brain clicked. "I'm dreaming..." Misty muttered shaking her head.

"Yeah you are." Ash explained, tilting his head down. "See, this moment here... I was traveling with Dawn. I was fifteen." Ash muttered weakly, pursing his lips as he took a seat at the foot of the hospital bed. His eyes didn't leave the boy sleeping until he looked directly at Misty, and extended his hand to her.

"I can show you, if you want." he explained, smiling.

"...show me?"

"My dreams."

She scoffed, her appearance changing from that of her seventeen year old self, to who she was the day Ash woke up. The same short hair, curled under her ears, to the same skeptically, unhappy look in her eye.

"Why would you show them to me?" Misty muttered, hands on her hips in much of the same fashion as the had been when she first stumbled upon the boy in the forest. He grinned at her, narrowing his brown eyes and approaching her. He stood only a few inches taller than her, but it was painfully noticeable when he placed the palm of his hand against her right cheek.

"Because I l-"

Misty woke with a start when her phone started to ring, the morning sunlight had already penetrated the sheer curtains of her dorm room, and she wiped the drool from her face with little ease. She fell asleep. Again.

But what was that about..? She rubbed her head, checking her phone for the call she missed. Daisy's name reflected back at her, and Misty set the phone back down, stretching out and feeling her back crack.

She hadn't dreamed of those days in years. So why now, all of a sudden? She licked her dry lips, thinking of the last moment—that was the day she told Ash she wouldn't visit him regularly anymore; it was the day she decided to stop feeling guilty. She was seventeen, that was just over five years ago now. Misty thought about it, carefully reiterating the dream in her mind. Did she feel guilty about...leaving him?

No, that wasn't it. Regardless of if she had visited everyday or not, he wouldn't have woken up.

...but he might have.

"Ugh!" Misty shouted, throwing her hands up. She couldn't take this right now! Standing up quickly, she threw out her chair and inhaled while grabbing her bags. She was heading back to Cerulean City today, after spending several months training for her position as an Elite Four member, she would finally be going home...

...still, she wondered why she would dream of Ash now, all of a sudden. Behind her chest, racking against her ribcage, her heart thundered and she shook her mind clear.

Don't be crazy Misty. She told herself before taking the last of her items, and leaving for Cerulean City once more. Ash was awake now—safe. What happened before didn't matter.

Brock used to visit the Viridian City hospital everyday, he remembered now how often he would see Ash's mother, Delia, and how frequently Misty would visit, even when she was busy.

He remembered the first time she lost a huge battle at the league, she had gone to the hospital in a huff expressing her anger—loudly- in the room beside his father's. How Brock hadn't connected the dots before, he would never guess... But who Misty was now, compared to who she used to be was like night and day. While much of the temper had stayed, she grew up. Like they all had.

He cleared his throat while checking his green vest, and then looked over at his cellphone where he clicked a few buttons, and then scrolled down to find her name.

As he suspected, it went straight to voice mail.

"Hey! I was just checking up on you since we haven't talked in awhile. You should be finishing up your training today, right? The league party is in a few days, so I thought I would let you know that I will meet you there instead of Viridian City." Brock scratched his neck. "Did you ever get a hold of Ash? Agatha called about him the other day. Thanks."

When he hung up the phone, he pressed it back down pessimistically while rolling away from his desk, and walking off into the gym.

This week would start the beginning of their attempt to fix the league—open back up the enjoyment training pokemon used to bring. Misty would be obtaining her title at the end of the week, and if fortune would have them—they would begin phase two of their plan: removing all laws created after Giovanni was sent to prison two years ago, and sustaining a following of coordinators and trainers, with the help of Dawn, in order to create a flowing democracy of equality and fairness amongst all trainers. No more pokemon center fees, pokemon compounds, jail for having a pokemon without a license, and no more missing trainers or fear of Team Rocket. They were few, and small—but they were ready.

Not only that, they would take the opportunity of having someone at the top to root out Team Rocket lurking behind the scenes, and show the world who has been truly running them for the last nine years. Brock smiled while adjusting his shirt, and sat back happily.

Around the time Ash first woke up... Cole didn't remember a lot, he tried, but as a child, he found that remembering only caused more pain. He remembered the day his mother was given the news about his father's passing, he remembered how Gary hugged Delia as she wept, and most importantly, he remembered the man in dark clothes who had come to deliver the message.

The young boy remembered how often his mother cried after that; her smiles were devoid of happiness, and she spent hours crying. She stopped leaving the house, she stopped knitting extra clothes, and since his dad died, she stopped smiling honestly.

It had only been a few months after pikachu stopped sleeping. Originally, the chubby mouse slept every day, for hours on end, but for about a week—the pokemon didn't seem to sleep at all anymore; on top of that, he had more absurd stories than ever.

A man named "Ash Ketchum", grand adventures of epic proportions, fighting crime and bad guys—pikachu told him everything. The wonderful world of pokemon, the amazing, beautiful landscapes; and a hero. Ash, while quite possibly only a figment of pikachu's imagination, became Cole's hero after his father died. Became a beacon of light when his mother become depressed.

Some nights, he could hear them down stairs. Pikachu and his mother; hear her wheeze into the old pokemon's ear. "I don't know what I'm going to do." She would hiccup. "I tried... I tried."

However, Cole would never forget that day, most of all. A few months before Cole finally met Ash; only a few weeks after pikachu stopped sleeping so much.

After a rather static message of left on her voice mail, she had become overjoyed with excitement, nearly screaming across the house for Cole to hurry down stairs and to grab his jacket—they were going to visit the hospital. Cole had done as his mother commanded, pulled on his shoes and coat, but when he reached the top of the stairs; she had already changed her mind.

"Never mind Cole." She called to him, voice trembling. The young boy couldn't see more than a figure in the door way, sunlight gleaming in. The man wore all black, with a tie; and tiny glasses that made his black goatee all the more menacing.

"Nothing has changed my dear..." He said in a voice so thick of fake remorse that Cole felt sick. "I'm sure you weren't having...any thoughts, were you?" He asked, touching his mother's cheek as if they were friends. Delia took a firm step backwards, rejecting his advances completely.

"No." she hissed, though Cole could hear the familiar sting in her voice that made his stomach churn.

The man smiled, and tipped his head to her. "Good." He spoke in a threatening tone before turning away, and shutting the door behind him.

From the top of the stairs, Cole could see his mother's hands trembling, shaking beyond any level of tears he had ever seen before—she was angry. Unbelievably so.

"Why!?" She screamed, her voice shaking the house as she grabbed the phone receiver on the table by the kitchen entry door, and ripped the corded machine from the wall with a furious yell.

Terrified, Cole turned and ran back up into his room, slamming the door shut as he and his pikachu's followed him beneath his covers. He cuddled the pichus while the mother rubbed his head.

"...Pika..." The chubby pikachu muttered, patting Cole.

"Do you think he will ever come back?" Cole whimpered into the blankets, tears batting his eyes. "Ash? Do you think he'll help us?"

A long pause followed when Pikachu let out a soft sigh, sleeping beside the young boy; agreeing with him.

Morning was just over the horizon when Ash pulled himself out of bed that next day. His eyes were puffy, and somewhere along the way, pikachu, chimchar, and togepi had found their way to his bed. He rolled each one off of his person, careful not to wake a single one before he kicked off onto his feet, yawning.

Thoughtfully, he checked over his pokedex, and then tucked it away into his backpack before grabbing a set of clean clothes. From there, he showered quickly, and then tossed the rest of his belongings into his bag. Ash put on his cleanest, neatest clothes before beginning to wake chimchar, pikachu and togepi up.

"C'mon guys. We have to make the morning train." He told the pokemon who grumbled in response. Leaving them to ready themselves, Ash stepped out of the guest bedroom looking like a new person. He found his way to the kitchen, where Gary and Leaf were sitting at the table, enjoying their morning coffee, and the news paper.

Ash's eyebrows raised. "Do you two ever sleep?"

"Better question; do you ever wake?" Gary added hotly, eyebrows twitched. "Your train leaves in ten minutes."

Ash's mouth fell open with a gasp. "What?!" he looked to the clock, and then shouted for his pokemon. "I over slept! Why didn't you wake me?" He grumbled, and Gary could on shrug his shoulders before rolling his eyes.

"I'm not your keeper." Leaf smiled at Gary's remark. Ash stared at the both of them—they were both evil!

"I'll remember that!" Ash barked, shouldering his pack and rushing out of the back door to grab the rest of his pokemon team while a distraught pikachu and chimchar tried rolling togepi out of the lab so that it would move faster.

"Pika pika!" The mouse shouted with support from chimchar that caused Ash to pause with a loud grunt, and scoop up the egg. He grumbled something about 'keeping up' with everyone, but the egg would have none of it as it tossed a dark shade at Ash, who apologized while racing out past the field.

"He's so peculiar." Leaf observed, rapping her fingers on the coffee mug she held.

"You have no idea." Gary uttered, setting his news paper down. "At least he had the smarts enough not to leave in his pajamas."

"oh, give him a break." Leaf's eyes rolled. "He's nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about?" Gary barked in a snippy tone of voice.

Leaf pursed her lips, a mischievous look crossing her eyes. "He's going to see his girlfriend today. You would be nervous, too."
Gary snorted. "Oh please. I've never been nervous around a girl my entire life!" He said while throwing his arms up.

Leaf raised her eyebrows, accepting the challenge. "Really?" She asked, leaning back so far in her chair that Gary felt his toes curl in panic. He looked at her with an abrasive, squinted look, and could feel sweat run down his neck.

"...No, dear." He said with his mouth twitching—though before the conversation could continue, the door bell rang, and Gary groaned.

"What did he forget this time? His ass?" Leaf grumbled from the table, eyes narrowed to slits while Gary laughed and found himself to the front door.

"Ash-" Gary started, stopping the moment two sets of blue eyes stared at him. "Not Ash." Gary corrected. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

The older one, the female with brunette hair tied into a red bandana pointed to the teenage boy beside her. "This is Max Maple, the one you talked to on the phone about that interview." She then pointed to herself. "And I'm his sister, May."

Gary's face flushed embarrassingly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He had completely forgotten about this.

"I'm sorry. I forgot."

"You what?" Max gasped and Gary shrugged his shoulders. "We flew here all the way from Hoenn!" Max grumbled, but Gary put up his hands for mercy.

"Yes, yes, I know." he muttered, clearing his throat and straightening his shirt. "You can come in, it's fine." He assured them, stepping aside so the siblings could walk in. Each had only a single back pack, but they looked well-traveled and prepared. May's face scrunched up.

"Did you mention Ash?" May asked skeptically, and Gary nodded.

"You actually just missed him."

She pouted slightly, though it was mostly playful banter. "Oh, shucks."

Behind Max, a large green pokemon entered, and Gary's face paled. Another one? He forced his best smile at the large sceptile, and then looked down at Max.

"Your pokemon?"

Max looked behind him. "Yeah, actually." He paused for a moment. "But he knows Ash, as well."

"Why am I not surprised." Gary mused, throwing his arms up. "Come, join my wife and I for breakfast." Gary ushered the three of them inside, shutting the door behind him.

"Breakfast! Oh man!" May gasped, clapping her hands. "Thanks so much!"

"Not a problem..." Gary grumbled watching the duo walk carelessly into the kitchen where he could feel his wife's displeasure more than he could see it. His face twitched, as if he would be upset at first, but it was quickly replaced by a smile—followed by a bellyful of laughter.

Gary touched his face, listening to the sound of Leaf and May talking, while Max made harmless jokes about his sister and found himself laughing twice as hard as he leaned his palms against his knees.

Never, in a hundred years, did he see himself accepting strangers into his house before meeting Ash again. Especially not strangers from the Hoenn region! That was miles away.

Gary shook his head and exhaled, releasing a breath of air from his chest as he looked over at a picture on the wall that was over fifteen years old now: a picture of the late professor standing beside Delia Ketchum, and the two five year old brats—Ash Ketchum, and Gary Oak. A lot might have changed since Ash left temporarily, but more than that, time stood still. Now, after ten years, it seemed to move forward at advancing speed and Gary, while exhaling, couldn't imagine it any other way.

Piece by piece, he was watching the world fall back into place.

Author's Note:

Had requests for: Ash spending time with his pokemon, more information about the other characters, Misty's time at the hospital, more of Cole, some of Delia, and more pokeshipping (so I threw in a hint -shot-)

So; to make a long story short...I couldn't decide on any single suggestion. so I just did a weird combination of them all (since really, we don't get to see a lot outside of Ash's POV since this -is- technically his story)

As always, and I think I say this a lot; but thank you guys for all the feedback! I try my best to keep the pacing and story as progressive as possible (While not just spelling out every plot point) and without going 'too' slow. Thus far, this has been a great experience for me, since I've learned so much from the reviewers via PM's and discussions!

I know not everyone who has stuck around is going to enjoy everything that happens in this story, and I know from some of your requests there are simply things I will not be able to deliver before the end of the story,

When this story -does- finish, if you -still- have outstanding requests tied to this story universe (A side arc or something that you want to see, that I never get into), shoot them my way, and I will get back to them when I can as possible end-of-story omakes. Just putting that out here now so you know that is an option. However. As far as changing and adding stuff in, the rough drafts and outlines are already pretty set in stone, and to change them would be...

Painful.

That doesn't mean I don't agree with the reviewers and change things that don't make sense, but for the most part; I'm sorry if I don't deliver what you expect (especially if you've read -this- many chapters).

I'm a little torn, because I want to tell you guys now that the start of chapter three pretty well marks the end of most of the "What's going on!?" as -narrators voice- our heroes find their next adventure. You've spent this long going "What is happening?" and well, in about 5 chapters, we're going to know exactly what is happening, why it's happening, and what they need to do to fix it.

Thank you guys for all the support, and I hope you enjoyed this tribute(fill in the blank) chapter. I hope that you will all enjoy the last half of the story and, that you'll stick around until the end!

But, if not, as I said in a previous chapter, go ahead and tell me where/why I lost your interest so I can hopefully improve on that next time.

NINT