Hey, everyone, it's been a little while. Sorry I haven't updated so soon, but I was sick. (with a cold) Mom wouldn't let me on the internet, which apparently means no updates. Also, now I have a ton of homework to catch up on. TT

Thank you, reviewers. Give yourself a pat on the back!

Or you could read instead.

I don't own Pokemon...if you hadn't noticed.

Speaking of, I remember when i was writing this, my brother came into my room and said, "What are you writing now?" I said, "Pokemon fan fiction." He replied, "OH GOD, WHO ARE YOU TORTURING THIS TIME!" I smiled and said, "Ash Ketchum. He's my favorite!"

Okay, let's go.

"Have you ever seen Ash like this?" Max asked Brock. Brock had gone to a nearby store to buy extra bandages for Ash, and Max had readily agreed to accompany him.

Brock cocked an eyebrow. "Well…" he drew the word out. "Not like this… But I mean, he is just missing Pikachu… We just have to wait until Pikachu gets his memory back, and then everything will be A-okay, and Ash will be just jumping to Mossdeep City."

"Yeah, but…but what if Pikachu…never gets his memory back?"

Brock paused for a long time. "Honestly, Max… I don't know… We've just got to hope for the best…"

Max shook his head. "I can't believe Ash actually tried to take Pikachu's Thunder, Iron Tail, and Thunderbolt."

Brock chuckled. "Ash is like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max queried. "Has he done anything like this?"

"Well…, there was that one time when Ash's Bulbasaur was about to evolve, so he traveled to the Mysterious Garden—where all Bulbasaur gather to evolve together. So Ash, Misty, and I went after him, and when we got there, there was a ton of Bulbasaur, and a Venasaur."

"So what happened?"

"When the Bulbasaur started to evolve, it seemed that Ash's didn't want to. So by the time the others had evolved into Ivysaur, Bulbasaur had pretty much stopped his evolution." Brock paused, bringing up the old memory. "The Venasaur didn't like that, and it used its Vine Whip and was about to hit Bulbasaur."

Max almost gasped. "Did Bulbasaur get hurt?"

Brock shook his head. "No, because once Ash saw that, he ran forward and intercepted the attack, earning two huge bruises on each shoulder."

Max winced.

"And there was that time when we accidentally got captured along with Zapdos… And since there were…like these shield things around Zapdos and Moltres, we—me, Ash, Misty, Melody, and Team Rocket—had to break 'em out."

Max nodded. He had heard this story… But he didn't remember being told anything about this particular part.

"So…yeah… And Ash ran right into the shield thing, trying to get it open. I'm thinking it hurt like hell, but if it did, Ash didn't show it. He never does."

Max sighed as he and Brock left the store.

They were silent most of the trip back, each of them preoccupied by their own thoughts.

"Come on, Ash, let me help you," Brock said, almost getting annoyed.

"I told you, I don't need help. I can do it by myself!" Ash retorted.

Brock folded his arms across his chest and glared slightly at Ash. "Will you quit being so stubborn and just let someone help you? Is that too much to ask?"

Ash just glared right back at him, struggling to his feet. When he finally got to the standing position, he stood on the one leg that hadn't been injured. Sure, that one was really sore and couldn't do much anyway, but it was about ten times better than what the other could do at the moment. He wobbled a little, but regained his balance. "See? I can do it myself. I don't want you wasting your time by helping me."

Brock gave him a look. "Well, if you're so independent, then I'd like to see you get into the tent, all by yourself."

"Brock, don't make him do that…," May protested.

Ash shook his head. "I'm doing it. Just to show you that I can…"

"Well, go ahead, champ," Brock muttered. He knew very well that there was a high chance that Ash wouldn't make it all the way to the tent, and that was the whole point. Ash needed to learn that sometimes he needed help. Like if he was injured. Like now.

Ash set his face with a determined expression, lightly putting down his left foot. He put just a teeny bit of his weight on it, not expecting what came next. Pain seared through his leg from the cut and from the plain old soreness of it. He inhaled quickly and closed his eyes for a second, drawing glances from his other three friends.

After a little thinking, Ash put more weight on the injured leg and then removed it and set his weight back on his right leg again, bringing more pain, but not as much as the other leg. He continued limping like that until he was a mere two steps from the tent. It was like a constant beat, he thought. Right leg down, pain. Left leg down, even more pain. And the rhythm repeated over and over and over again. He could feel three pairs of eyes boring into him from behind, and with that in his head, he was more determined than ever to make it inside the tent.

He was going to show them that they didn't need to worry about him. He was going to show them that they didn't need to bother with him. It was pointless.

So Ash trudged those last two steps, stepping inside the tent and falling in a painful heap on his sleeping bag.

"Ash? You okay in there?" asked Brock from outside, hearing a thump coming from inside the tent.

"I'm fine," Ash grunted back. "Just getting comfortable." And with that, he opened up his sleeping bag and snuggled inside, careful not to hurt himself doing so. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, but couldn't escape the wave of nightmares that soon came.

Ash picked at his breakfast the next morning absentmindedly. He had been plagued with nightmares all night long, so he hadn't gotten much sleep. But ever since Pikachu left, when had he really gotten a peaceful sleep?

When he woke up, he had carefully made his way to the separate part of the tent to change. The others were still asleep, to Ash's delight. He didn't want to hear Brock's 'you-need-help-because-you're-hurt' lecture again.

But now everyone was up, Brock had already made breakfast, and they were all eating. Or in Ash's case, just watching his food. He did notice that May looked kind of nervous, but the apparent reason for that was because of the contest that was that day. In just a few hours, she would be stepping on that stage and trying to win her third ribbon.

Ash could relate. Although he never really shows it, he is always completely nervous the day he goes to a gym to challenge the leader.

"So, Ash, are you just going to stare at your breakfast or actually eat it?" Max asked sarcastically.

Ash glanced at the younger boy. "Actually, I'm not that hungry." And he gave the plate back to Brock. "No offense, Brock. I'm sure it's delicious… But I'm just not hungry."

May stood up suddenly. "Hey, you guys, shouldn't we be going into town now? I want to go to the pokémon center and maybe practice a little more…check out the competition…"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," agreed Brock. "All of our pokémon could use a little rest."

May smiled and began walking, Max following closely behind her. "So let's get going!"

Brock hurried to catch up. "Wait for me!" And the trio began to walk to town, like Ash dropped off the face of the planet.

Well, I can understand that. May's just excited about her contest. Brock's just excited about seeing Nurse Joy at the pokémon center. And Max is excited because everyone else is, Ash thought. Don't worry, I'm coming… I'll catch up…eventually…, he called out mentally to the others, once again feeling the pain in his leg when he got up.

Ash was about halfway to the pokémon center when he saw the others walk inside it. Tired, Ash sat down on a nearby bench, his leg almost screaming in relief.

At least I made it this far, Ash thought, looking down to the injured leg. And it's not like I'm going to let the others think I'm too weak to walk.

He then just saw a green-haired boy walk past him, hands deep in his pockets, almost not paying attention.

Ash recognized the boy in an instant. "Hey, Drew," he greeted. Of course he knew Drew. May's rival. The teenager looked to Ash with a bored expression. "Oh. You're May's friend, right? Almost didn't recognize you without your hat. Guess you finally realized it made you look more like a loser than you already do."

Ash almost rolled his eyes. This coming from a coordinator. He knew he could kick Drew's ass any day of the week. "So you're entering the Lilycove contest, right?"

"Of course. I plan on winning my fifth ribbon here. It should be easy, especially if May is going to be there." Drew paused, looking around. "So where's your Pikachu? You know, that one time when we battled, I would've really liked to battle that pokémon other than your weak Taillow. At least Pikachu looked a little tougher."

"Pikachu…isn't…here…," Ash bit out. "And my Taillow was never weak."

"If it was that strong, it would have evolved."

"As a matter of fact, he did."

Drew stifled a snort. "He probably did it out of pity."

Ash folded his arms across his chest. "You really shouldn't call any of my pokémon 'weak'. They get stronger all the time, and any one of them could beat you."

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked sarcastically. "Then… I challenge you to a battle. Using only one pokémon only, no substitutions… That should be good practice for the contest later today…"

"We don't have a judge," Ash pointed out.

"We don't need one. We both know the rules for battling. And if one of us cheats, it would just be a sign of weakness." Drew smirked. "And I do know a good place to battle. It's not too far from here. Very secluded."

"Okay then, I accept your challenge." And Ash brought out his pokéballs, trying to decide what pokémon to use. Hmm, Torkoal and Swellow are out. That would make it much too easy… Grovyle…maybe… Corphish? Hmm… He looked to Drew. "So, Drew. Do you want me to use a pokémon that could easily beat yours or not?"

Drew was caught off guard. "Umm…"

Ash dismissed his question. "Fine, I'll just use one that has no advantage over yours…" He got to his feet quickly, determined not to let Drew see him limp. "Lead the way."

And Drew did just that. He led them both to a nice, secluded meadow, just the right size for a pokémon battle.

The two teenage boys took their positions and grabbed a pokéball.

"Go, Roselia!" Drew said, throwing his pokéball and letting out his grass-type pokémon, Roselia.

"Grovyle, I choose you!" Ash said, throwing his own pokéball.

Drew smirked from across the meadow. "Ready to be beaten to a pulp?"

"I think you should be asking yourself that," Ash replied calmly, and Grovyle assumed a ready stance. He felt slight déjà vu, battling Drew again.

Drew used his finger to flip his bangs out of his face, closing his eyes for a second and calling out, "Magical Leaf, Roselia!"

"Rosa…lee!" Roselia exclaimed, shooting shots out of her red flower.

"Dodge it!" Ash said.

Grovyle smirked at Roselia, as if asking how she thought she was going to win, and then easily sprang aside.

"Quick Attack, Grovyle!" Ash called out, and Grovyle hurried to comply.

"I wonder where Ash is," May said, finally realizing that Ash was no longer with them…

"Ash?" asked Nurse Joy from behind her desk. "As in Ash Ketchum? I have a package for him." And she handed over a cardboard box to Brock.

"It has no return address," Brock muttered.

"Well, I'm going to see if I can find Ash," May said. "You two stay with the pokémon, okay?"

Brock and Max nodded, and May left.

Walking back to camp, May felt a little worried about Ash. She had almost forgotten that he was injured… How did she and the others think he was going to make it all the way to the pokémon center by himself?

But knowing Ash, he would have tried anyway.

Being about halfway between the pokémon center and where May and the others had set up camp, May heard something in the distance. "Rosa…!" Even though it was far away, May knew it like the back of her hand, instantly knowing what it was. A Roselia. More specifically, Drew's Roselia.

She trotted toward the sound, peeking through the bushes and spotting an all-too-familiar scene. She had seen something like it once before, right before her second contest.

She could see Drew…and Ash. They were battling. Seeing Ash, calling out orders to his Grovyle, almost made May think that he was back to normal. Not wanting to interrupt their battle, May watched quietly from the bushes.

"Petal Dance, Roselia," Drew said, as if he were merely asking someone to pass the butter instead of calling out an attack. And before Grovyle could do anything, the attack hit, throwing the grass pokémon back.

Drew smirked. "Well, even if our pokémon are evenly matched type-wise, I guess I'm still a better trainer than you," he commented. "Finish it up with Solar Beam."

Roselia raised both of her flowers to the sky, taking in the sunlight and preparing for a powerful attack.

Ash clenched his fists. There was no way he was going to let this…this jerk beat him. Grovyle wasn't moving, just crouched down in a concentrated stance. After getting hit with Roselia's Stun Spore, the pokémon found it harder to move.

"ROSELIIIA!" Roselia was finally ready for her Solar Beam and let Grovyle have it.

It was a direct hit, pounding Grovyle into the ground. Grovyle groaned, nearly out of energy.

Drew's smirk was still in place when he said, "I guess you're weak, just like your friend, May."

Ash clenched his fists harder. "I may be weak, but May is a way better coordinator than you!" And he looked to Grovyle. "Grovyle, please get up. Do it for me, for May… For…for…Pikachu…"

"GRO!" Grovyle mustered up his strength and jumped up, glowing green.

"Overgrow," Ash breathed. Grovyle had only used overgrow once before, but now he was doing it again, adding a boost to his Grass-type attacks. "Okay, Grovyle, it's time for you to use Solar Beam."

Grovyle looked to him curiously. He didn't know this move…

"Just try," Ash encouraged.

"Gro, grovyle!" And Grovyle began to concentrate.

Drew chuckled. "Trying to use a move your pokémon doesn't even know? That's terrible. But I am impressed with the overgrow. You and May are still weak though…"

"Come on, Grovyle, show Drew that you aren't weak. And show him that we're right about May—she is a better coordinator than him."

Grovyle looked to him again, as if to ask, 'can I show him that you aren't weak as well?'

"I am weak," Ash whispered to Grovyle. "But you don't have to be…"

"Vyle!" And suddenly, Ash could see golden rays of sunlight going into Grovyle.

Drew's eyebrows shot up as he realized that Grovyle was really going to use Solar Beam. "Use Magical Leaf to block the Solar Beam that's coming, Roselia!"

"GROVYLE GRO GROVYLE!" And a beam of light shot out of Grovyle, heading straight for Roselia, whose Magical Leaf attack was about to run into Grovyle's Solar Beam…

But with a powerful attack like Solar Beam, combined with Grovyle's overgrow ability, the beam of light completely fried Roselia's Magical Leaf and hit her head on, knocking her to the ground.

"Roselia!" Drew cried, picking up the fainted pokémon. To Ash, he said, "She can't go on…" And he returned her to the pokéball. "Well… I better get going to the pokémon center…" With that, he left without any other words.

Once Drew was out of sight, Ash let himself fall into the grass, saying, "My leg is killing me…" He then looked up at Grovyle. "Good job, pal. I bet if May was here, she'd be proud of you for beating Drew… And I'm really glad you learned Solar Beam… You deserve a long rest…" Ash pulled out Grovyle's pokéball and returned Grovyle for a rest.

May, still behind the bushes, was surprised and a little confused. Ash beat Drew, Grovyle learned Solar Beam, and…and… He stood up for me, May thought. When Drew called me weak, Ash showed him exactly what he thought… She looked back to the exhausted Ash. But he told Grovyle that… He called himself weak… I don't get it. Ash won the battle, so how could he be weak? Unless…unless he didn't mean physically or being a weak trainer…but maybe mentally? I don't know…

Ash looked up to the cloudless sky, telling himself that he would just rest for a little while before trying to catch up with the others. They should still be at the pokémon center, and they probably haven't even noticed that he was not with them.

…Or not…, Ash thought, a head coming into his line of sight.

"Ash?" May asked. "Come on, we've got to meet back up with the others…"

Ash got up, ignoring the hand May offered. "Umm…" His mind scrambled for an excuse for being out in the middle of nowhere. "Yeah…let's get going." And he began to walk as best he could in the direction of the pokémon center.

May walked beside him. "Oh, a package arrived at the pokémon center for you, Ash."

Ash looked at her, arching an eyebrow. "From who?"

May shrugged. "There wasn't a return address on it, and we weren't about to open something that was yours so… We don't know." She changed the subject. "So……do you think Drew will be at this next contest…?" She already knew the answer, of course, but wanted to see what Ash would say.

"Uh, I don't know, May. He could be… But on the other hand, he might not." And if May hadn't seen Drew battling Ash, she might've actually believed that.

"Just wondering, because the contest starts in an hour…" And when Ash didn't say anything, May found them stuck in a cloud of silence, only interrupted by the slight grunts Ash made if he pulled a wrong muscle or something. May watched him limp from the corner of her eye, still worried about him.

When they reached the pokémon center, they saw Max and Brock sitting on a couch, and Brock had a small cardboard box in his lap. The two looked up to them.

"May! Ash! You're back!" Max exclaimed.

"I don't know when I was ever here, but whatever," Ash replied flatly. He went up to Nurse Joy's desk to rest his own pokémon, especially Grovyle.

"Where has he been?" Brock asked May.

May paused for a long while and lowered her voice. "I saw him battling with—"

She cut herself off as Ash walked back to them, standing in between May and Brock, about to say something, but Brock beat him to it.

"So, Ash, May tells me that…" Brock's voice trailed off as he saw May making fierce movements across her neck behind Ash's back, apparently telling Brock to cut it out. "That you should really open this package!" And he thrust the package in Ash's arms.

Ash gave him a slight questioning look before walking over to the other couch.

May stifled a sigh in relief. "I'll tell you guys later, okay? And good recovery, Brock." She looked back over to Ash, who had the box open in his lap. He cocked his head to one side, gazing at the contents. He then got up and threw the box in the trash.

May, curious, went to sit on the other couch that Ash had returned to, asking, "So…what was in the box?"

Ash half snorted. "First off, the box was from Team Rocket, and they were trying… Well, I don't know exactly what they were trying to do, but the box was full of shreds. They literally tore my hat to shreds."

"You can always get a new one…"

Ash shook his head. "I don't need it anymore anyway…" He turned away, looking at the clock. "We should get going to the contest arena…"

May glanced up at the clock and jumped up. "Yeah! It'll take us like fifteen minutes to get there… I've already registered… It's starting in forty minutes…" And she grabbed Brock and Max and headed out, grabbing their pokéballs on the way out.

Enter: Drew. YAY!

I just hated when Drew beat Ash that one time, soooooooo...voila. I like Drew though. He's pretty cool...

But anyway...

Are you ready...for some...FOOTBALL!

No, i meant...are you ready for more? Or would you rather I stop before this story gets serious?