Two New Friends

Ash read the letter in his hands intently. He'd never gotten a letter since his mother's death, so this was a surprise. The letter was written in very neat handwriting, fluidly joining letters, 'I's dotted with hearts, and full stops drawn as flowerheads. It was, obviously, a girl who wrote this letter. Even Ash could tell you that, and he's really oblivious to this sort of thing. The letter said thus;

'Dear Ashton Ketchum-Oak

My name is MW. Sorry for not using my full name, but my three older sisters told me that I shouldn't give that kind of information to someone I don't know. But I don't think you're that much of a threat. You are my age, afterall. Anyway, I'm writing to try and be your friend. I heard about what happened to you a few weeks ago on the news. I'm so sorry about your mummy. I can't imagine how sad you must've been when you found out. I can't believe Team Rocket would do such a mean thing. I hope you've weren't hurt too badly by them. I would really like it if we could be penfriends, because I don't have many friends here in Cerulean City, which is pretty boring.

From,

MW.'

Ash smiled with happiness he hadn't felt in a while. He had someone out there who took it upon herself to write a letter to him, to try and make him happy. And not because anyone told them to, as well. That was really nice. It made Ash feel tingly inside. Someone cared. Well, if they cared that much, it's only fair to write back, isn't it? He ran to a desk in the corner of his room, sat in the chair, and picked out a sheet of paper and a blue pen. He thought about what to say to say to this mysterious MW, and started to write his note.

'Dear MW,

Thank you for your letter. It really made me smile. Thank you for your concern, but I'm happy. Mummy would want me to be. It's nice to be able to contact someone my age, I don't have many friends either, aside from Gary. I'd like to be your penfriend, that'd be nice. I hope we can meet in person someday, though. Here's a little bit about me, so you know who I am.

My name is Ashton, obviously, and Professor Oak has adopted me after Team Rocket attacked my house, making me Ashton Ketchum-Oak. My favourite colour is chestnut brown, as that's the colour my mummy always described my eyes as. My favourite song is Pokérap by James "D Train" Williams & Babi Floyd. I would tell you my favourite type of Pokémon, but I like them all. Hope to get a letter back from you soon.

From,

Ashton.'

He scanned the letter, to make sure he'd written all he wanted to say. He, then, pulled an envelope from his drawer, and wrote the return address that was written on the top of the letter that MW had sent him. Once he was confident the addresses matched, he folded up his letter, and slipped it into the envelope. After sealing the letter securely, he hurried downstairs, and explained to Professor Oak what he had received in the post. The professor smiled when he heard about someone had wanted to become friends with Ash. He'd need someone to give him some support. When Ash asked the professor if he could have a stamp for his own letter, the old man was more than happy to oblige. He stamped the envelope, and took it to the nearest post-box, and popped it in, smiling to himself knowing that Ash had someone to give him support from another town.

The following day:

Ash was out bright and breezy, walking around Pallet Town. This was a new stage of his training. He'd have to get up at 5 o'clock, eat a pre-prepared breakfast, and walk the distance of Pallet Town. He didn't mind that much. He was used to walking great distances with his mum. They'd walk together along the beach every weekend evening. It was Ash's favourite pastime with his mum. The summer Sun was starting to peak over the horizon on the East side of the town, bathing the sky in a shimmering orange glow, glinting and glistering like a giant amber stone. What very few, thin and wispy, clouds there were present in the pleasantly warm skyscape were tinged a soft and warming pink, making them look like floating candy floss floating in an orange smoothie – which, funnily enough, was something that Ash used to do at the summer fair (mix candy floss with his orange smoothie his mother would always buy him).

The streets were peacefully quiet, which was common, even when people were walking along the pathways, but the emptiness made it all the more soothing somehow. Ash knew this town like the back of his hand, so he had no issues with navigation in the area. He planned his route with Professor Oak back at the lab before he set off, and made sure it passed all his favourite spots. He started at the lab, and headed south to the beach, and walk along the length that he and his mother used to walk. After the beach, he made his way past where his house once stood – now a touching memorial ground for his mother. The house had been razed to the ground by the flames. Whenever he was pulled from the burning wreckage, Ash would never know. After passing his mother's new grave, his route took him past all his favourite streets and shops of Pallet Town. He passed the confectionary shop, where he remembered very vividly they had the sweetest tasting chocolate he'd ever tasted in his life. They had all sorts of exotic flavours, from Cherubi Berry to Teddiursa Honey. He passed the bakery, where they always baked their bread to order. You'd pop in, order a loaf of your preferred bread of the day, and they'd have it cooked for you in minutes.

Walking through all these memory lanes gave Ash a mixture of feelings. Happiness at the good times these streets contained in their cobblestone floors. Comfort in the relaxing atmosphere that always radiated from the town's inner aura. But a tang of sadness at the memory that his mum was gone, and would never walk him down these roads again. He felt salt water starting to gather in the corners of his eyes, as he remembered his mum, and how she was always there for him if he needed her. If he came home crying, because he bumped his knee, she was there at his side with a bandage and a kiss, ready to make it all better. If he was having trouble with a puzzle, she'd sit beside him, and help him identify the pieces, before giving him the reins again over the task. She was always there in his times of need. But now… when he really needed her more than he'd ever need her for as long as he lives, even if he lives to be a hundred million years old… she wasn't there. And never would be.

Ash wiped his eyes, trying to think of the happy things about his mum, and not think of the fact that she couldn't be there for him anymore. As he looked up from his tears, he noticed a familiar forest up ahead. This was his halfway point, where the professor allowed Ash to rest if he needed it. And Ash needed this spot for a little rest. Not because he was tired, he'd happily sprint the rest of the journey back to the lab. But because he needed to correct his emotions. He jogged towards the forest, ducking and diving through the trees like a parkour master. Quickly, he made his way to the clearing he liked to sit in when he was upset or frustrated, or just needed to think to himself. There, in the middle of the clearing, was his special thinking stump. It used to be an old Oak tree, which was rumoured to have stood on this spot for a thousand years.

He took a seat on the old wood, and started to think to himself. He thought of Pallet Town, and the people who lived amidst its streets and buildings and cobblestone roads. And he remembered how friendly everyone was every day he and his mother went out on their special walks. And, every day they shared their special walks, the two of them would stop here, in this very clearing. He would sit here, thinking to himself, or playing with the local Pokémon, while his mother would go for a wander round the bushes and shrubbery, picking berries and fruits. She was always so good at picking the sweetest and juiciest fruits in these parts. Apparently, she learned a good amount of bushcraft when she was in the girl scouts. She had this special sling she made herself for collecting berries, and she always used it in this forest. One day, Ash asked his mother how she made it, and she told him she crafted it from the leaves of something called an 'Ensete ventricosum' – not that Ash could pronounce that – which were held together with a sticky tree resin. She even taught Ash how to make one himself. He sat a while longer, thinking of that day he made his first sling for gathering berries. His mother taught him how to identify the 'false banana' plant, as she called it for his benefit, and what tree to use the resin from for the glue. He surprised himself greatly that day. First, he had less of a job than he expected identifying the plants, and the actual making of the sling was easy, too. But remembering the teachings his mother gave him didn't give him as much comfort as it did heartache. Because one thing his mother would do on their special walks was bring him some of the fruit she'd collected, and leave it behind him quietly on a false banana leaf bowl, when he was really deep in thought. And knowing that she'd never be able to take a special walk with him anymore… the thought was too much. The tears he was slowly collecting began to fall, accompanied by soft, silent, sobs.

A small figure was picking berries from a couple of bushes, not far from its favourite thinking spot in the nearby clearing. Hanging from the little character's shoulder was a small, handmade sling, made from false banana plant leaves and held together with sticky tree resin. The figure looked into its special pouch, and counted the berries he'd collected. The pouch was pretty full, so that would be enough berries to last a good week or so. The small character smiled to himself, and made his way to the clearing.

As he approached, however, he sensed another presence. A second character already there. As he reached the edge of the clearing, the small figure ducked behind a cluster of ferns. As he peered out of the shrubbery, he could just about make out a shape of someone on the old Oak tree stump in the middle of the clearing. The hidden character squinted a bit, and stared inquisitively at the figure on the stump, and started to make out that it was… a human? What's a human doing here? He closed his eyes, and the two black appendages on the side of his head glowed a pale blue colour, sensing the human's emotions.

Insight into Ash's thoughts;

It's a warm summer's day, and he's looking up at an adult human. She's pretty tall, and very beautiful. Her chestnut brown hair is tied up in a ponytail that drapes halfway down her back. They look to be on a beach, watching the summer sunset as it bathes the evening sky in a golden glow.

"I love you, Mummy." We hear him say. 'Mummy'? What's a 'Mummy'? Is that, like, a human word for their female Meema? Suddenly, scene change! What in the name of Arceus is happening? There's fire everywhere! And… oh no. No, please no. It can't be. Please, don't let it be. She lifts her face. Oh no. It's her. This… 'Mummy' human.

Back in reality:

The figure's eyes snapped open at the feeling of moisture. A paw dabs at the liquid, to find salt water. Tears. He looked up at the human in the clearing, and saw that he was crying, too. Silently. Softly. Painfully. Whoever this… 'Mummy' was… she must've been very special to this human. The small figure inspects the weeping human, and finds that he looks about the same age as him. He's lost his mummy at 5 years old. Poor human. The character looks down at his little pouch of berries. He's collected more than he'd eat in the near future. Maybe he could share some with this human. See if it cheers him up. Slowly, he unfolds the leaf that he wraps around his pouch, and opens it out, making it bend into a sort of bowl shape. Sorting through his harvest of berries, he splits the collection he has into equal quantities. Gathering the half for himself, he slips them back into his pouch. The half that remains, he gathers into the bowl-shaped leaf, and starts to creep his way up to the human, trying not to make a sound as he sneaks behind the child, and places the leaf on the ground behind him.

Ash hears a faint rustling, followed by a few footfalls. A passing Pokémon, most probably. He continues with his thoughts of his mother, and imagining she's still with him. Soon, he realises the footfalls are headed towards him, not past. Quickly, he dries his eyes on the backs of his hands and turns to see who's approaching.

Nothing? There's no one there. How peculiar. Something, however, catches his eye on the floor. His glances down, and gasps as he spies a false banana leaf, folded into a bowl shape, lying on the floor behind him, piled full of freshly picked berries. Curious, the child swivels round on the stump, and eyes the bowl of fruit inquisitively.

From the edge of the clearing, the figure watched the human boy with interest. He seems surprised at the sudden appearance of the fruit. Mind you, that's probably common in humans, they might not have such acute senses as Pokémon do. The boy looks around the clearing, probably trying to spot whoever brought him this fruit. Better stay hidden, though.

"Hello?" Ash called out to the clearing. Who was it behind him? Who put this fruit here? And in exactly the same way his mother used to do, as well. No reply. Ash turned back to the fruit, piled neatly into the folded leaf. He made his way back to the tree stump, picking up the leaf – with a touch of precaution – as he passed. He sat down on the stump again, and returned to ogling the berries again. He glanced round one final time, to see if anyone would return to the clearing. When no one came, he picked up a Pecha berry, and popped it into his mouth, chewing delicately into the berry's soft, fuzzy skin. As the tender berry was punctured by the boy's teeth, the sweet inner juices squirted into his mouth, lapping over his tongue like a nectar-flavoured ocean, sending tingles of comfort down his spine through his taste buds.

From his hiding spot the second figure smiled at how happy the human now looked, as he started to tuck into the berries he left him. It made him happy to be able to cheer someone up. The character stood up from his leafy hiding spot, and walked off into the forest.

Ash finished eating the berries that were left for him, and was now getting ready to continue on his walk. But as he was making his way out of the clearing, there was the sound of a scream from deep in the forest. As soon as Ash heard the scream, and turned to face the direction in which it came, a blue and black fox-like creature came barrelling out of the shrubbery on the opposite side of the clearing from him. However, the little fox was so busy running, it wasn't looking where it was going, and ended up smashing face-first into Ash, sending the pair of them flying to the ground.

Ash unclenched his eyes, after noticing how tightly he'd screwed them shut from the impact.

The little blue fox pushed its face off the ground, and held its body up in the press-up position, slowly opening his eyes.

The pair of them froze when they saw who was before them. Ash looked up at the fox lying on top of him. And he looked down at the human child beneath him. The Pokémon was the same height as him, which was a foot taller than he should normally be. The first thing Ash noticed was the Pokémon's eyes. They were blue as sapphires… and full of apparent terror. The Pokémon gave a yelp, and leapt back from Ash, staring at him like he was the biggest, venom-spitting, Arbok on PokÉarth. And speak of the devil… in came crashing the cause of the fox's blind panic. A giant, hissing, snarling Arbok. The second the serpent caught sight of the fox, it snarled evilly, licking its lips with its forked tongue.

When Ash's eyes fell upon the giant cobra, he froze solid as a rock in terror. Normally, Arbok measure in at three and a half metres long. This brute was double that size. Its scales were golden, and its eyes were glinting evilly in the sunlight, red like fresh blood.

"Charbok." The snake growled, viciously, eyeing the trembling fox up and down with hungry eyes.

"Rio-" The fox gulped, and started backing away, clutching desperately at the little leafy pouch it wore strapped around its shoulder. Ash clocked the pack, and realised now where the mysterious bowl of berries came from. But now wasn't the time for thank-you's… this is get the flipping heck out of here!

The gargantuan Arbok lunged leapt forth towards the fox who managed to dive to the side at the last possible second, causing the snake to smash its skull against a rock where its target once stood. The fleeing Pokémon ran towards Ash, grabbed his hand in his paw, and dragged him away from the clearing as fast as the pair of them could run. Ash stared at the walking fox that was pulling him, in awe. He'd never seen a Pokémon like this before. What species was it? Where did it come from? Maybe the professor would know. Hey! The professor! This Pokémon wants to escape that Arbok, and they are running in the direction Ash was going to complete his walk.

"Hey." Ash shouted, trying to get the frantic fox's attention. But the Pokémon was panicking so much it could only hear his own heartbeat pounding in his eardrums. "HEY!" Ash shouted, louder. The fox turned to face him. "I know of a safe place. We can go there." The human child offered. Desperate to get away from that Arbok, no matter what it took, the fox nodded.

"Riolu." It agreed.

The pair were just reaching the edge of the forest, where the trees met the edge of town.

'Yes!' Ash thought to himself, hopefully. But his hope was to be immediately dashed. Their pursuer, the giant shiny Arbok, tore his way out of the soil beneath them, flipping the young defenceless infants into the air, sending them somersaulting to the grass. Ash glanced up, and started to quake in unearthly fear. The ghastly snake was bearing over him, fangs glinting, eyes hungry, tongue flickering. The boy could feel the snake's beady stare boring into him, making him want to scream in abject terror. But try as he might, his voice failed him. Caught in his throat like a starter Pokémon in its pokéball. The Cobra Pokémon was now just inches away from Ash. Even if he were able to jolt his terrified joints into movement to try and escape, the snake was bound to strike, and he'd be dead quicker than one can snap one's fingers. The terrified boy clenched his eyes shut, awaiting the feeling of fangs being plunged deer into his soft pink flesh. But it never came.

Ash's eyes snapped open upon hearing the sound of something whizzing through the air at high speed. His gaze became fixed on the Arbok that was once on top of him, now laying sprawled on the floor, after having a blue sphere smack into its face painted hood. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw the fox Pokémon standing behind him, paw raised – obviously the source of that blue sphere. The fox smiled at the boy, who breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered a thank you. However, the snake wasn't going down that easily. The serpent coiled its long, scaly body into a tight spring, building up striking energy, staring the infants down. Riolu – as the fox figure shall now be called – growled as he saw the snake prepare for strike, and assumed a defensive position.

"CHAR!" The snake screeched, as it dove forward, fangs outstretched, ready to sink into Riolu's soft flesh. The small fox started to charge a ball of blue energy between his paws once more. As the giant cobra neared, he fired the orb into the hissing aggressor's jaws, blasting it into the dirt. Ash scrambled to his feet, and ran over to Riolu, smiling.

"Thanks." He sighs in relief. Riolu nodded, happily, in response. The pair were thrown apart, however, as Arbok emerged from the soil below them. The young were thrown onto their backs, rendering Riolu heavily injured, as it fell rather nastily on his shoulder blades.

The angered snake eyed the stricken fox, hungrily, licking its lips with the forked tongue its jaws held. With a glint in its eye, the snake dove towards its weakened target, fangs dripping venom, ready to deliver the final blow.

"NO!" Came an unearthly loud cry, and a raven haired human child, who came leaping behind Arbok, gripping onto its hood, and clinging on for dear life, as the now truly livid snake shook and bucked violently, forgetting about Riolu, trying to shake the pest. But the more the cobra shook and bucked, the tighter Ash held on, determined to protect the stricken Pokémon who was laying unconscious on the ground.

Just as Riolu regained consciousness, his eyes snapped wide open at the sight of Arbok slinging Ash off its back. The snake reared up, and spat a giant Toxic attack in the human's face. The child desperately scrubbed the purple goo from his face, choking and spluttering at the taste. He roll himself onto his belly, and pushed himself to his knees, staring wide-eyed at the coiled cobra, terror blazing through his russet orbs. The hissing serpent made a final lunge for Ash, intending to polish him off in a concluding strike. As it zeroed in on him, however, Ash clenched his eyes shut, giving a scream of terror. As he screeched, the young boy was enshrouded in a blue glow. Soon after, the glowing azure energy pulsed violently, sending out a vicious shockwave, which blasted into the serpent, sending it flying through the sky, disappearing into the distance in a sparkling twinkle.

The two male infants stood perfectly still, dumbfounded. Riolu gazed at the human wide-eyed, jaw to the floor. Ash stood looking at his hands, wondering what just happened. As they stood, Ash's muscles started to tire and strain, shaking now with the increasing effort to hold his body on his feet. The Toxic attack Ash was struck with was taking effect. He started feeling woozy, and groggy. He staggered, trying to find what little balance he may have left. Riolu dashed to the stricken human, and scooped him into his arms. The boy glanced up at the concerned Pokémon through half-open eyes, which were growing ever heavier. He managed to raise a weak, and trembling, finger to point towards the Pokémon Research Lab of Professor Oak.

"My… Grampy… lives there." He struggled to croak through the poison that was slowly claiming his body. "Take me… there. Please." Riolu nodded, and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Oh no. Ash's luck with poisonous snake Pokémon is pretty bad, isn't it? Will he be fixed in time this time? Tune in next week to find out.