Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Nintendo's Pokémon franchise.

Legend:

"A human or a Pokémon is talking."

'A human or a Pokémon is thinking.'

"A machine is being used."

Chapter 22:

(Pallet Town—Ketchum Residence—Living Room)

Half way into Sabrina's explanation, Delia had sat down in the rarely used chair she kept by the Video Phone. She was grateful she had put it there, as she would've probably fallen to the floor otherwise when she fell backwards. The comfort of the plush chair, though, brought no comfort to her mind or heart.

On the ground beside the chair, Foongus looked up when her mommy made a weird sound. She saw her mommy bring her hands up to cover her face and make another weird sound as her chest shook a little bit. Drops of water slowly escaped from in-between mommy's fingers and across her hand and she knew. Mommy was sad. Very, very sad. Why was mommy sad?

"Gus?"

Sabrina's eyes softened on the Video Phone's screen, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Ketchum. I know that this must be difficult."

Delia felt like the weight of the world had been dropped on her shoulders and she didn't have the strength to hold it all. It crushed her underneath its cruel weight, forcing the air out of her lungs in heaving sobs. Underneath it, her crushed body shook with tremors as her chest was flattened as it tightened.

How could this have happened to her child? Why had it happened to him? Why did things like this keep happening to him? First it was the run-in with Team Rocket in Viridian City, then Mt. Moon, dealing with an abused Pokémon, and now this? Had she not prepared Ash for his journey enough? Had she not done enough? Had she been a bad mother?

"Mrs. Ketchum..." Sabrina said, trying to draw her attention.

Delia had done her best to take care of and raise Ash, as Jonathan had been busy with his work. She had been frustrated at times because of this but she knew it was irrational anger. Jonathan was one of the leading experts in the field of archeology. He was away most of the time because of a tip he got about something or a friend had called him in to help explore an excavation site.

So, it wasn't Jonathan's fault. He couldn't help the fact that he was so good at the job he loved. She knew this and was one of the reasons she had never said anything about it to him. Jonathan was the type of man who would do anything to make her happy and, if that meant quitting his job and finding a new one he hated close to home, he would've done it. She couldn't bear doing that to him.

And, really, it wasn't that hard to raise Ash on her own. Sure, Ash had been a bit of a rambunctious and excited child, but he loved her and Jonathan so much. He had never yelled at either of them or said that it was unfair. Or run away. To be honest, Ash was the best thing that had come from her and Jonathan's marriage, and she had been honored to be his mother.

What would Ash be thinking right now? Sabrina had informed her she had told Ash and Anabel what was going on, as it was their right to know. What would they be thinking? The poor dears must be terrified of the situation they were in. And Ash would be feeling responsible for it, too, as he was Anabel's 'anchor' and if they separated now, Anabel would most likely go insane.

Despite how irrational it was, Delia felt a spike of anger towards Sabrina. If only that woman had called her with this information before she told Ash and Anabel. She could have tried to break it in to them easier. Or maybe she could've hired Sabrina to teleport to Pallet Town so she could go to Saffron City and be there when the news was to be broken to the two ten year-olds.

"Mrs. Ketchum?"

Delia startled a bit before she removed her hands from her face. "O-Oh..." She probably looked like a royal mess; red-rimmed eyes, patches of wet dirt from where she hadn't been able to wash off yet, and a brown-spotted white blouse. Sabrina must think of her as some kind of joke. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, Mrs. Ketchum." Sabrina waved it off with a look that bordered on understanding, "I would probably need a moment or two myself, if I was in your situation. In fact, I would probably be worse, as I don't think I would be able to prevent myself from losing control of my abilities."

Delia nodded meekly, wiping her eyes with her hand in an attempt to wipe away her tears. "D-Do you mind if I call my husband before we continue this any further, Sabrina? I... I... Jonathan needs to know what is going on."

"Of course, Mrs. Ketchum. I'm sorry as well, as I should've realized that, as this is a family situation, I should've called Mr. Ketchum as well." Sabrina responded without the offended air that Delia had expected, surprising her. "Forgive my oversight?"

"... I don't need to forgive you, Sabrina. You must have so much on your plate and now this mess just falls onto your lap..." Delia sighed as she got up, Foongus trailing her like a puppy. She bowed her head to Sabrina as she pressed a button and the screen spilt in two. She then punched in a quick series of numbers, all-to aware of the eyes on her forehead.

"Hello? Delia...?"

XXXXXX

(Opelucid City—Pokémon Center—Room #200)

This week had been very good, Jonathan decided. He had returned from his vacation home a couple of days ago and had received news about a recently discovered cavern. He and his team had travelled there and, while it was nothing they hadn't seen before, it was the first cavern filled with unknown-based writing that had been found in Unova.

What was more was the fact that it was almost completely preserved. The entrance to the cavern had been sealed over a couple hundred years ago, judging by the way the earth had shifted around it and the fact it took a couple of minutes for new air to enter it. In fact, if it wasn't for some Trainer stumbling over it when she was training her team how to use Explosion, and then reported her find, they would never have known it was there.

The preservation of the cavern had made his team very, very happy. For the first time, they were able to see untouched walls of unknown-based writing. It would be a lot easier to translate what the walls said because of this fact. And knowing this had excited everyone on the team into scribbling frenzies as they went between staring at the walls and recording the sequence of letters onto spare notepads.

'It is only a matter of time.' He had thought.

Now, though, he had just gotten back to his room at the Opelucid City Pokémon Center. Sure, he could have afforded to get a room at a nearby hotel but, this way, he would be staying for free. All of the money he had earned for this trip would be able to go, 100% untouched, back to Delia for her to put into their account.

"Time for a bath and then—" Jonathan began to say.

Jonathan was interrupted by the sound of his PokéGear ringing. He sighed a bit, having looked forward to that bath, before he looked down at his wrist. He was surprised to see his wife's number flashing on the screen like miniature, urgent beacons. What could Delia be wanting at this hour?

"Hello. Delia...?" He trailed of at the end as he saw the miniature screen spilt into two instead of one. "... What's going on?"

Little did he know that the following conversation would shake his world. Or the fact that he would be calling his team and telling them to continue on while he went home for a 'family emergency' and leave before any of them could protest. If they had, he would've told them that family was more important than the cavern, something they, childless, would call blasphemous.

XXXXXX

(With Ash and Anabel)

Despite the fact that it was already 11:00 am, neither Ash or Anabel had made an attempt to get up yet. It had been a long night for them as they began to deal with what Sabrina had told them last night. In fact, they hadn't left each other's arms since they had started to comfort one another, leading them to fall asleep in the same position.

Also, it seemed that their Pokémon had sensed their inner troubles because, when they woke up, they were surrounded by eight bodies. They would've woken up earlier from the lack of sheets but the warmth from their Pokémon had lulled them into a continued slumber.

Eyes red-rimmed and face dry, the two looked around themselves at the Pokémon around them. Sleeping close to them were Eevee, Clefairy, Butterfree, and Abra, who formed an 'inner ring' around them, two on each side. Beyond them were the Paras, Rattata, Pidgeotto, and Beedrill, who formed the 'outer ring'.

"W-wha... what happened?" Ash yawned.

Anabel blinked half-lidded eyes, "... I think they came out of their Poké Balls last night..."

Ash nodded a bit and then sagged forward. He still felt really tired and he didn't want to get up. Getting up would mean that he would have to face the reality of what Sabrina had told them about last night and dealing with it. And he didn't known if he had the strength to do that. Not yet. No so soon after the bombshell had been dropped.

"I'm still tired..." Ash complained with another yawn, sagging forward a bit.

"Me too..." Anabel agreed, allowing her head to fall back onto Ash's shoulder. "Wake me up when I'm not..."

Moments later both exhausted ten year-olds slumped over as they returned to pleasant unconsciousness. Neither of them noticed how their Pokémon shifted around them, now awake, and made sure that their Trainers were comfortable.

None of the eight knew why their Trainers were so upset. They did know, however, that they needed this. They needed to forget about the world for a moment. To slowly accept and then deal with what had upset them in the first place. And when their Trainers did that, they would be there to help them, every step of the way.

XXXXXX

Right now, Jonathan could be found on the back of his Mandibuzz as she flew them ever-closer to Kanto. It had been a long journey so far, having already taken up the majority of the previous night, and both were a little tired. Still, he had to hand it to Mandibuzz for being up to such a journey, as she had never wavered since they had left at 6:00 pm yesterday evening.

Mandibuzz was a large, vulture-like creature with a pink neck, head, eyes, and legs. The upper portion of Mandibuzz's wings, tail, back were black, with grayish-white feathers on the lower half of her wings. Also, there was a creamish collar of fur around Mandibuzz's neck, followed by a patch of black feathers, and then a 'skirt' of cream feathers that stuck outward like spikes. The strangest thing about her was the white bone stuck into the tuft of black fur at the back of Mandibuzz's head.

"Buzz..." Mandibuzz muttered as she readjusted her wings. Seconds later, she began to descend towards the ground as a small town slowly came into view. "Mandi-Buzz Di Buzz."

Jonathan petted Mandibuzz on the head and scratched just underneath her tuft of hair, just where she liked it. Mandibuzz began to croon at his administrations, finding them deeply soothing and relaxing, especially after such a long flight. Maybe her master would give her a special treat once they landed? She sure oped so because she was really tired and her wings and back were aching her something fierce.

"As soon as I have the chance, I'm getting you something special, Mandibuzz..." Jonathan said, finishing his petting with a small pat to the head. Mandibuzz crooned again, pleased, and Jonathan allowed the first smile to come onto his face when he heard the news. "Yes, you like that idea, don't you?"

"Mandi. Di Di Buzz Mandi~!" Manbibuzz agreed.

Jonathan laughed a little bit. He couldn't help it. Despite what Delia and Sabrina had told him about, it was a bit hard to remember now. Hard to remember when he was flying on the back of his Mandibuzz, allowing the wind to blow through his short black hair. To make all of his current problems not seem so big or important as he embraced in the feeling.

"What would you like?" He asked in a thoughtful manner. "Maybe that special brand of PokéChow that you like? A steak? Or maybe something else...?"

What most people didn't know about Mandibuzzes, and their previous evolutions, was the fact that they weren't born with the bones. Mandibuzzes and their previous forms scavenged for the bones in the area around them or something similar to it. Once they found it, though, they never parted with it. Like how Cubone never went far or let their bones out of their sights.

"Mandi Mandibuzz Buzz Di!" Mandibuzz responded quickly.

Jonathan's smile grew a little bit, "I knew that you couldn't resist steak."

"Di?" Mandibuzz squawked, offended.

"Well... you do have the habit of devouring every bit of spare meat that I have with me." Jonathan replied. And it was true, too. Mandibuzz practically attacked him when she smelled any spare bit of meat on her. She would even ignore that special Flying/Dark-Type PokéChow mix if she even got a whiff of it. "I can't even have sandwich meat when you're around."

Mandibuzz huffed, "Mandi Di Di Mandibuzz Mandi-buzz, Di-buzz!"

'It's not her fault that it's so good'? Really, is that all she had to say about the issue? It was a weak argument and he could easily tear it to shreds but the fact was he and Mandibuzz were in the air. If he offended her, she could decide to roll over and drop him. Not a very pleasant thought but it was true nonetheless.

"... You're just lucky that we're so high in the air, Mandibuzz." He muttered sulkily.

Besides Mandibuzz sounding her agreement with him, nothing else was said as they descended. They did, though, get to slowly see Pallet Town take shape and form. It was kind of magical, the way that the miles of greenery transformed into familiar places. Professor Oak's Laboratory, his and Delia's house, and a few, small stores, to name a few. It was made even better due to the fact that the sun was shining and the sky was clear of any rain-clouds.

"Jonathan!"

Mandibuzz trailed to the ground and encircled her chosen landing spot before coming to land in it. Jonathan clambered off her back as Delia rushed in from the wooden porch. He had to lean against Mandibuzz as his legs felt like pulverized jelly, but his arms were strong enough to embrace his wife in a loving hug. And bring her close to him as his right hand reached up to her hair and they kissed.

It felt wonderful.

Mandibuzz rolled her eyes, "Mandi buzz buzz? Di Mandi!"

"Thank you so much for coming home, Jonathan." Delia whispered once they had finally separated. She looked up at him with adoring eyes and panted, slightly out of breath. "I know you just left for work and now this..."

"It's fine, Delia. Even if my boss threatened to break my contract over this, I still would've come home. I couldn't live with myself if I had allowed you and Ash to deal with this mess alone." Jonathan said as he wiped away a tear of Delia's face. "What kind of dad would that make me? What kind of guy would that make me? I'll tell you: a selfish, cruel man that only cares about his job. And I'm not that kind of man."

That was the truth. He enjoyed going in with his team to study a historical excavation site, translate the unknown-based language, and learn things that had been forgotten to history. He was happy that he had a family that allowed him to pursue his dream—even supported it!—but, if they were unhappy, he would gladly throw it all away for them. They were his family and he would do anything to make make them happy.

"Oh, Jonathan..."

Jonathan put a strong hand on his wife's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "Hey. No more tears, okay? You aren't responsible for anything that's going on between Ash and his friend." She looked up with wide eyes and he leaned forward to kiss her forehead, "You couldn't have known, so don't tell me how you would've done everything differently. You did perfectly."

Delia practically collapsed into his chest then, sobbing. She didn't know how Jonathan could've known what she had been thinking, what she had been feeling, but he did. His words and his touch made her feel like everything was going to be okay. That, maybe, it was going to be better than 'okay'.

"Sshh, it's okay..." Jonathan whispered as he wrapped his arms around his wife's shoulders. "It's okay, Delia. Shh... It's okay."

XXXXXX

(Later—With Ash and Anabel)

The next time that Ash and Anabel woke up was much more different than the first time. For one, both of them didn't feel tired anymore. Another thing that was different was the sudden, urgent realization that they had to go to the bathroom. The two pre-teens, eye wide, glanced at each other for a moment before springing into action.

Anabel let go of Ash as he slid forward on his knees, waking up Eevee and Clefairy. The two bleary-eyed Pokémon looked around as Ash began to crawl over them on his way towards the latter as the same time as Anabel did. Eevee and Clefairy's startled chatter, when the realized what was going on, roused the others who then repeated the process.

Ash was the first to reach the ladder first. He slipped on a rung on his way down and fell off, seconds before Anabel jumped to the ground. Her feet missed his back by a foot but came uncomfortably close to his fingers. "No you don't!" He reached out and grabbed her by her pant-leg, sending her sprawling towards the nearby clump of plastic bags. "I'm going to the bathroom first!"

While 'the enemy' was down, Ash hurried to his feet as Anabel slowly removed herself from the bags. He raced towards the bathroom, Anabel hot on his heels. He reached the door to the bathroom first, threw it open, and hurriedly slammed the door behind him as soon as he got inside. Anabel pounded on the door, actually yelling, which caused Ash to lock the door. If he didn't, then Anabel might open it and throw him out.

Of course, it was also a possibility that she could order one of the Pokémon outside the door to break it down. It was a sad fact but most places weren't built to be resistant to a Pokémon attack. Especially a bathroom door in a Pokémon Center. Who knew how long it would last until one of them managed to break through? Four moves? Three moves? One move?

He decided not to think about it.

Ash quickly walked over to the toilet and lifted the lid. Before he could sit down, however, Anabel teleported inside the bathroom with Abra. He stared at her in horror—how bad did she have to go?!—for a couple of moments.

"Get out of the bathroom or I'll have Abra Teleport you out." Anabell warned with an all-too serious expression on her face. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"I was here first!" Ash protested.

Ten seconds later found Ash outside the bathroom, switching from glaring at the bathroom door to glaring at Abra. He had never expected for his shy, kind Anabel to do something like this. It was something that Willow would have probably done, had she been there, but not Anabel. And why had Abra listened to her? Abra were Psychic-Type Pokémon, so surely it could have read his mind to see how much he needed to go?

'But, nooooo...' Ash mentally grumbled as he crossed his legs in an attempt to halt the incoming flood. 'He had to take Anabel's side! Stupid Pokémon-Trainer loyalty...'

Abra glanced at him for a moment, or as close as he could get to a glance with his eyes constantly in little slits, before turning away. He then glanced at the spoon that Anabel had gotten him and made a small 'aba' in thought. Seconds later, his eyes began to glow blue and so did the spoon. Ever so slowly the tip of the spoon began to bend backwards.

It seemed taxing to Abra, Ash observed, as he watched beads of sweat appeared on Abra's forehead. This was followed by Abra taking in deeper and deeper breathes the longer that he bent the spoon. In reality, the breaths were closer to pants one would hear after they had finished a grueling excercise. It could be, for all Ash knew; he had no idea how Psychic-Type Pokémon were trained.

Ash turned around as soon as he heard Anabel undoing the lock in the bathroom before she opened the door. He was instantly hit with the combined smells of hotel soap and shampoo. He was then hit by the feel of the humid air that drifted out of the bathroom, a tribute to the shower that Anabel had a couple minutes ago. He could seethe fogged mirror above the sink, the condensation on the metal nearest to where Anabel had taken her shower, and the discarded towel that Anabel had thrown to the floor.

And there, standing in the doorway of the bathroom, was a rejuvenated Anabel. Her usual chin-length, purple hair reached its wet ends to the tips of her covered shoulders. She was decked out in the new collared, white long-sleeved shirt she had gotten alongside a pair of formfitting purple pants. To finish it off, her eyes seemed to be sparkling and there was a relieved smile on her face.

"Thanks for letting me use the bathroom, Ash."

Ash's eyes burned, "I didn't let you use the bathroom. You used Abra to Teleport you in there and then Teleport me out." There came a harsh reminder of why he needed to go to the bathroom. "But-get-out-of-my-way! Have-to-go-to-bathroom! Talk-about-this-later!"

He practically threw Anabel out of the doorway and slammed the door in her face. He then ran over to the sacred toilet, opened the lid, and finally went to the bathroom. He heard a knock on the door outside of the bathroom but was too caught up in the sudden feeling of relief that he really didn't register it. If it was important, then Anabel would tell him about it once he got out.

XXXXXX

When Ash finally came out of the bathroom, he was greeted by a very unexpected sight. The things he and Anabel had gotten yesterday—had it really been yesterday?—had been separated into two piles, one on each bunk of the bunk-bed. Sitting on his bunk was the familiar face of his mother who was sitting next to a tall, black-haired man.

"Dad!"

Jonathan Ketchum, his dad, was a black-haired, blue-eyed man that looked to have spent too much time inside. He was wearing a plaid red shirt, dusty black pants, brown boots, and had a small row of Poké Balls clipped to his black belt. To finish the look of, there was a massive grin just above the man's stubbled chin. "Hello, Ash."

Not a second later, Ash ran past his six Pokémon—who were playing near the couch with a small group of other Pokémon—and into the open arms of his dad. His dad's arms closed around him as they hugged one another. Ash's face became buried in his dad's shoulder as he smelled him for the first time in what seemed like forever. He still smelled like an odd mix of aftershave and dusty old books.

"How's it been?" His dad asked.

Ash was moved to sit in-between his dad and mom with one of his dad's strong arms over his shoulder. He didn't need any further prompting to begin telling his dad about everything. He told of the first day he became a Pokémon Trainer and got Eevee, how he captured each of his Pokémon, battles he had participated in, and the strategies he had used to beat Brock and Misty.

His dad made all of appropriate number of 'oohs' and 'ahs' in all of the right places. He even enthused about the move he had made with Rattata, Quick Swim, though he was sure that his mom had already told him about it. And then he told him about what he had been doing. How his team had been traveling around Unova and the new cavern that had been unearthed. His dad also told him about each of his new Pokémon that had caught while in Unova: Mandibuzz, Sigilyph, and Yamask.

Apparently, his dad had caught Mandibuzz when it was a Vullaby near one of Unova's numerous port towns. He had caught Sigiyph and Yamask when he, and his team, had been travelling through ancient ruins in Unova. Yamask and Sigilyph had attacked them for disturbing the ruins and dad had defended, leading to their individual captures.

At the same time, all of Ash's Pokémon were getting to know his dad's Pokémon. Or, at least, they were trying to. Pidgeotto and Mandibuzz were having a staring contest, with Mandibuzz looking down at the smaller Flying-Type Pokémon. Eevee, Paras, and Rattata were conversing with Yamask over something. They seemed to be having an interesting talk too, judging by how Yamask's eyes had widened. Off to the sides hung out Clefairy an Sigilyph while Beedrill hovered in-between them.

Everything seemed to be going well, but something nagged at the back of Ash's mind. "Where's Anabel?"

"Your friend went to a room just next door that Nurse Joy was happy to give her and her parents for their reunion." His dad answered. "We were unsure about separating you two, especially after what Sabrina told us, but she said that it would be safe as long as you two don't get more than 100 meters apart."

"Why 100 meters?" Ash asked, confused.

His dad's grin faltered for a moment, "Because... 100 meters seems to be the range of the field you seem to have, Ash."

There it was. Not that Ash was ungrateful or anything, but he had wondered why his mom and dad—and apparently Anabel's parents too—had come here out of the blue. His mom had told him that he had come home recently and spent a week with her, so his dad shouldn't have been able to come visit so soon. His mom could've come to visit but she had a lot to do back in Pallet Town and it was "his Journey" as she told him.

They had come to help him and Anabel deal with what Sabrina had told them last night.

To be honest, though, Ash had put the whole mess out of his mind. He hadn't even thought about it this morning. The reminder was a like harsh slap to the face and brought reality down on his head. He would have to start dealing with it now, as Anabel probably already was doing with her parents. But how could he deal with it?

Besides telling him the basics of what she believed his field to do, Sabrina didn't seem to know that much about it. She didn't have the ability to train him like she was going to train Anabel in her powers or know what would happen if he and Anabel separated. She didn't know how his field would react to that loss. How could he deal with it if he didn't know everything about his field?

He couldn't.

Ash didn't even realize that he was shivering until his mom and dad enveloped him in a small group hug. He looked up at their concerned faces and felt something within him break. He didn't know what it was but, soon enough, he started to cry. His parents hushed him gently and patted his back, whispering words into his ears that he couldn't hear.

Clefairy was the first to walk over and hug his leg, offering whatever comfort she was capable of giving her beloved Trainer. The rest of Ash's released Pokémon followed suit: Rattata and Paras snuggled against Ash's leg, Beedrill and Pidgeotto flew to the spot behind Ash to watch over him, and Eevee squeezed her way past the entwined arms to rest of Ash's lap. Jonathan's Pokémon watched for a minute before they moved to stand guard at the doorway.

XXXXXX

If one was to compare Ash and Anabel's room and the room next door, they wouldn't be able to find two different situations. Jonathan and Delia Ketchum had greeted their son happily, asked about how he was doing, and then brought up what was going on. Emily and Daniel White, however, had taken Anabel out of 'her' room, sat her down, and began to scold her over what she had done.

"You told us that you had it under control, Anabel!" Daniel White—a man with dark-purple hair, black eyes, and business man-like clothes—snapped. He started to pace in front of his increasingly teary-eyed daughter, "You lied to us!"

Anabel recoiled.

"You had us believe that you had your powers under control when they weren't! Your headaches weren't 'gone'! And for what?" Daniel continued, whirling around to face his daughter. "So that you could become a Pokémon Trainer on time? Is that it?!"

"Daniel, honey, maybe you could—" Emily began.

"I will not calm down, Emily! Our daughter deliberately lied to us when we were only concerned about her well-being! If she hadn't lied to us, then we wouldn't be in this mess!" Daniel interrupted, elaborating his point by lashing out with his right hand towards the wall that separated them from the Ketchum family. "That boy wouldn't have become her 'anchor'! And her 'powers' wouldn't make her insane if we took him away from her!"

This is one of the reasons that Anabel hadn't wanted to tell them. Or pretended she was busy with something else or something had come up so she could end a Video Phone call if her dad answered the phone. She knew that he loved her but, when he got mad, he started shouting and didn't take into account anyone's objections. If you talked back or ignored him, it only made him angrier, which left whom he was angry with in a lose-lose situation.

"Daniel—"

Daniel lowered and then crossed his arms, "She hasn't even answered me yet, Emily. So, no, I will not be calming down anytime soon! She needs to explain herself and take responsiblity for her actions! The actions that drew our family into this mess!"

"I-I'm sorry..." Anabel whispered, bowing her head.

"You're sorry, Anabel?!" Daniel demanded in a tone more resembling a scream. "'Sorry' doesn't take into account all the lies you've told us and the mess you've gotten us into!" He was so angry he started pacing again, glaring at the wallpaper. "When this is all cleaned up, we will be taking her home."

Anabel felt as if someone had just stabbed her in the chest with a rusty knife. Take her home? After all she had gone through to get her mom and dad to let her go, the constant struggle with her powers, and meeting Ash? Go home after all she and Ash had gone through? Go home after she had promised to stay with him for 'as long as he needed her'?

Her mother fretted with the hands in her lap, not looking Daniel in the eye. "Daniel... I think you're being a little rash..."

"I told you, Emily—" Daniel began.

"—I'm not going back home." Anabel boldly stated as she stood up from the couch. Her mother gave her a pleading look that Anabel didn't see, too busy starting eye-to-eye with Daniel with her red-rimmed eyes. His nostrils flared. "I'm g-going to stay with Ash and continue my Journey."

Anabel knew what would happen if Daniel and her mom took her home. They would come up with a longer list of rules and chores to keep her busy, take her with them to the office so that they could keep an eye on her, and maybe even confiscate Abra and Butterfree. They would never allow her to leave their sights again.

It would spell the end of her Journey if she gave in now.

This match, however, was not going to be as easy as some of the other battles she had. This time she was facing Daniel. He wouldn't give up until he had his way and she came home with him. He would do anything to make her listen to him and hede his orders 'as a daughter should'. He also had three decades more experience than her and a lot more ammunition than she did.

"What did you say?" Daniel demanded, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I said t-that I'm going to stay with Ash and continue on my Pokémon Journey." Anabel answered softly but firmly, not backing down an inch. "I'm not going to be dragged back home. At least not willingly. You'll talk to some of your office friends and revoke my Trainer License and take away my Pokémon!"

It was a sad truth. While every ten year-old had the chance to become Pokémon Trainers and go out on their Pokémon Journey's, their Trainer License could be revoked. It didn't happen all the time but Trainers who abused their Pokémon had their license taken away and their Pokémon sent to nearby rehilabition centers. The only other, legal, instance would be taking away Trainer Licenses from Trainers who had commited a crime, major or minor, with the option of earning it back once they had paid their debt to society.

Daniel, however, had more power than the average parent. He worked in a high-end law firm and had made many connections over the years. If he had evidence to a Trainer needing their license revoked, or could fabicate it, he passed it along to his 'friends' and that was that. They didn't make sure the evidence was real or not, simply revoked their Trainer's license and took away his or her Pokémon.

"And why shouldn't I do that, Anabel?" Daniel countered with narrowed eyes, taking a single step forward. "You lied to me and your mother about your 'powers' all so you could become a Pokémon Trainer. Why shouldn't I take away your reward for lying and decieving me and your mother from you?"

Anabel flinched for half a second before quickly schoolin her expression. "... Because you can't do that. Me and Ash need to be together for however long I need to master my powers and for him to learn how to control his powers." It was a hastily thought-up argument but, the more she thought about it, the more firm it became. "Ms. Sabrina doesn't know what could happen if we seperated before he learned to control his powers."

"You... You..." Daniel was seeing red. He had caught the implication within his daughter's words and it upset him greatly. 'However long I need to master my powers'; she could take much longer than she needed to learn and how to control them, just to spite him. And she knew that he had to get back to work soon. "You little..."

"I'm not a little girl anymore. I am a licensed Pokémon Trainer out on my Pokémon Journey." Anabel stated with a confidence she didn't know she had. She then felt her feet move and take her away from her red-faced father and horror-faced mother, towards the door. "... I'm tired of letting you boss me around."

"You get back here right this instant, Anabel! We're not done with this conversation!" Daniel shouted as soon as he had been able to 'reboot'. "Anabel... Don't pretend you can't hear me! We will be talking about your rudeness and cheek, young lady!"

Anabel opened the door and turned around to face him a bit. This allowed Daniel to see, as if for the first time, the tears running down her face. Her hand shook around the handle and her shoulders shook, but she kept a firm gaze on him. "No. You just want to yell at me and boss me around."

Daniel made to go after his daughter and drag her back into the room, but her parting comment stopped him cold. 'Just like you do to Mom', she had said. He stared at the opened doorway where she had left, trying to process what that short little sentence meant, but was unable to. He never yelled at or ordered his wife around. He turned to talk to Emily, to get her agreement on this, only to find his wife looking into her lap.

Her long, purple hair covered her face as her head was bowed but there could be no mistake in the way her shoulders were shaking. Nor the soft 'plunk' of tears as gravity took hold of them and sent them sailing towards the growing, tear-spotted floor.

XXXXXX

(Saffron City—Police HQ—Interrogation Room #5)

The chief of Saffron City's police force, Chief Jenny, could currently be found standing on one side of a metal table, overlooking the bound criminal on the other side. Said criminal was a brown-haired, black-eyed man in his early twenties, dressed in the standard 'Grunt' garb of the villanous Team Rocket.

"You don't have the right to keep me here, lady." The grunt scowled.

Chief Jenny's eyebrows twitched ever-so-slighty, '... 'Lady'? He's going to pay for saying that.' She slapped down a manilla folder on the table, numerous pictures sliding out of it and into the grunt's face. "You think I don't have anything to keep you here? Wrong. I have more than enough evidence to keep you here... to send you to jail for a very long time."

The pictures caused the grunt to pale. And why shouldn't they? Those were all pictures of said grunt robbing a bank, running away from a downed woman, and various other crimes. The reason that the grunt could tell it was him was because of the brown hair that peaked out from underneath his black cap and his special black-trimmed boots. He should never have worn them.

"... What do you want?" The grunt asked, whispering.

"What makes you think you have anything I want to know, Grunt?" Chief Jenny asked, turning on her heel as she began to walk towards the room's exit. "I just showed you those pictures to show you how deep you are in. I mean, you seemed to want to know what evidence we have on you."

The grunt looked at her back, horrifed, before trying to get up. This was difficult as his hands were hand-cuffed to the table, leaving him in a humorus hunch-like stance as he called out to Chief Jenny. "Hey! Stop! Stop!"

"Why should I?" Chief Jenny asked while, internally, she was smirking. Show how much trouble the suspect was in, leave him to stare at the evidence, and threaten to leave. If the suspect wasn't that strong-willed then it would cause them to try for a deal as, once she left, there would be no deals. "Like I said before, you don't have any information I want."

The grunt hesistated for a moment and then licked his suddenly dry lips. "I-I may have... something... that you don't know."

'Got you.' Chief Jenny thought as she turned around, raising a delicate eyebrow. "Oh? You, a disposable grunt, have information I might want?"

"I'm not disposable!" The grunt hissed angrily, hands clenching within their restraints. A couple of seconds passed in silence before the grunt realized what had been going on looked at the table. He grimaced at the photographic evidence and licked his lips again. "My superior might have told me something... but I aint telling you nothing about it unless I get a deal!"

Chief Jenny pulled her chair out an sat down, right leg moving to rest on her left. "Of course. But the deal I offer you will depend on the quality of information that you can provide me. And if this information is something I already know, you won't be getting any deal at all."

"Hehehehe..." The grunt chuckled knowingly. "I really doubt that you know of—"

The grunt's sentence was cut off when a purple-pink blob was finaly noticed crawling up the grunt's chest. Chief Jenny quickly got up from her chair, hand reaching for her gun as the blob—a Ditto—surged forward and latched onto the grunt's face. The grunt's screams were muffled as started jerking around, but futiley; he was still restrained and the table was heavier than he was.

'It's trying to suffocate him!' Chief Jenny thought as she rushed over to the grunt.

Chier Jenny was halted when another, unnoticed Ditto launched itself from underneath the table and wrapped itself around her legs. She tried to rip it off as quickly as she could but, by the time she had, the other Ditto dropped to the floor. It sat on the floor underneath the result of its horrible deed with the second Ditto.

The chief stared at the former grunt for a moment before she had to turn away, "Damnit!" She had been so close, too. Four of her officers burst into the room at that moment, quickly apprehending the two blob-like Pokémon. The last thing that Chief Jenny saw of the Dittos were the orange collars around their 'necks' and the blank expressions on their faces.

Ash's Pokémon Team:

Eevee (Female): Level 20.

Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Sand Attack (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Tail-Whip (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), Growl (Normal), Bite (Dark), and Quick Attack (Normal).

Pidgeotto (Male): Level 17.

Attacks: Sand Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal), Gust (Flying), Peck (Flying), and Whirlwind (Flying).

Rattata (Male): Level 19.

Attacks: Bite (Dark), Tackle (Normal), Quick Attack (Normal), Hyper Fang (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Pursuit (Dark), and Quick Swim (Normal).

Beedrill (Male): Level 18.

Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), Bug-Bite (Bug), Fury Attack (Normal), and Twineedle (Bug).

Clefairy (Female): Level 14.

Attacks: Sing (Normal), Pound (Normal), Metronome (Normal), DoubleSlap (Normal), and Defense Curl (Normal).

Paras (Male): Level 17.

Attacks: PoisonPowder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), Sleep Powder (Grass), Spore (Grass), Leech Life (Bug), and Fury Cutter (Bug).

Anabel's Pokémon Team:

Abra (Male): Level 22.

Attacks: Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), Confusion (Psychic), and Psychic (Psychic).

Butterfree (Female): Level 17.

Attacks: Confusion (Psychic), Poisonpowder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), Harden (Bug), Sleep Powder (Grass), and String Shot (Bug).

Jonathan's Pokémon Team:

Mandibuzz (Female): Level 35.

Attacks: Fly (Flying), Gust (Flying), Leer (Normal), Fury Attack (Normal), Pluck (Flying), Nasty Plot (Dark), Flatter (Dark), Faint Attack (Dark), Punishment (Dark), and Defog (Flying).

Sigilyph: (Male): Level 19.

Attacks: Gust (Flying), Miracle Eye (Psychic), Hypnosis (Psychic), Psywave (Psychic), Tailwind (Flying), Whirlwind (Normal), Psybeam (Psychic).

Yamask (Female): Level 20.

Attacks: Astonish (Ghost), Protect (Normal), Disable (Normal), Haze (Ice), Night Shade (Ghost), Hex (Ghost), and Will-O-Wisp (Fire).

A/N: Author's Note: A little dark there at the ending, hm? Now we have further evidence of just why Team Rocket is a villianous organization... and how far they are willing to go to protect their information. But, to order the Assassination Dittos to attack... the Dittos needed to have been planted there and then ordered to attack, right? Neither the Chief or the grunt ordered it, so how could they have...?

On a lighter note, we have been introduced to Jonathan Ketchum and know what he does for a living. A bit sad, however, about Anabel's dad... but it does explain a few things. If you can figure out what, then kudos to you. For the ones that can't... well... it'll be revealed in time.