Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Legend:

"Someone is talking."
'Someone is thinking.'
"A technique/ability."

Chapter 30:

(Saffron City—Pokémon Gym—Training Room)

"Are you ready, Anabel?" Ms. Sabrina asked.

Anabel didn't, but she nodded anyways. Ms. Sabrina had taken time out of her personal schedule in order to help her learn how to control her powers and Anabel didn't want to waste anymore of her time. It was important that she finished learning how to control it, but Ms. Sabrina could have been doing a lot of other, more important things than helping her. And it wasn't as if the purple-haired girl particularly wanted to—

No, she shouldn't be thinking like that. She did want to finish her training. It would allow her to walk through towns without being constantly bombarded by emotions, to be able to turn off her power when she wanted, and free up the time she had been training with Ms. Sabrina to catch and/or train more Pokémon.

The problem, however, that another part of Anabel didn't want to finish the training. It would mean that Ms. Sabrina would be able to try to break her mind's dependence on Ash's power to keep it safe. From there, Ash could want her to leave and she didn't want to do that. Leaving her first friend was something at, this point in time, scared the wits out of her. Still, it wasn't as if she had much of a choice; everybody was counting on her and, as much as she hated and was afraid of leaving Ash, she didn't want to disappoint them.

"Very well, then." Ms. Sabrina said before gesturing with her hands for Anabel to sit on the tan carpeting and assume her meditative position. The position wasn't necessary, but the process of meditation helped those learning how to control their psychic/empathy powers. "If the emotions that you sense become too much, think about and I'll stop the test." She waited until Anabel had nodded and then smiled. "Let's start."

Following Ms. Sabrina's instructions, Anabel closed her eyes and focused on evening out her breathing. She slowly felt herself become less aware of her surroundings and more aware of herself. Distantly, she heard Ms. Sabrina guide her as she envisioned her mind, the mental barriers she had set into place, and the constantly flowing and changing wind that represented her powers. She made sure that the barriers were as strong as they could be and then, slowly, allowed the "wind" to start flowing over them. And then it began to flow around her.

The first emotions that Anabel sensed were Ms. Sabrina's; a mixture of anticipation and pride. She then felt the "wind" around her strengthen as more emotions emerged—a small part of Anabel absently realized it must have been Ms. Sabrina letting in other people to help with the test—but it was nothing that she couldn't handle. Compared to the hurricane of emotions she had been trapped in during the attack, this was easy.

Happiness, hope, joy, pride, anticipation, nervousness, boredom, satisfaction, irritation, wonder. These emotions ebbed and flowed around Anabel, but none of them were demanding of her attention. She felt them as they came and then allowed them to flow past and rejoin the flow. It was the smoothest flow she had ever experienced, a peaceful and controlled display of her powers she wished she had always had.

Why had she been so worried?

"Okay, Anabel." Ms. Sabrina's voice called from the distance. "You can stop now. The test is over."

Anabel frowned, but complied. She stopped focusing on her empathy and slowly, ever so slowly, the "wind" was cut off by her mental barriers. She could still feel them like she heard Ms. Sabrina's voice, asking for her attention, but it was distant and she found she could ignore it without too much trouble. It was nice. She then started to focus on Ms. Sabrina's voice and, slowly, exited her meditative trance and opened her eyes.

Ms. Sabrina smiled, "Very well done, Anabel. You pass."

A moment later, the clapping started. Anabel startled and turned around to see Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum, Ash, Willow, and Harry all standing near the doorway. Each of them were clapping, smiling, or offering her congratulatory words. She smiled back at them hesitantly, feeling happy and accomplished. She had passed Ms. Sabrina's test.

'What was I so worried about before?' Anabel wondered.

"I think it would be best if we took a break before we continue. The test may have exhausted Anabel and it would be better if we allowed her to fully recover." Ms. Sabrina said as things began to quiet down, "That is why I suggest a small thirty minute break and, if Anabel is feeling well enough by then, we can then move on to trying to separate her power from Ash's power."

"That sounds reasonable." Mr. Ketchum agreed.

Anabel felt a little shell-shocked. She had barely heard Mr. Ketchum speak as Ms. Sabrina's words had allowed her to remember her earlier anxiousness. A potent mixture of dread and panic started to curl around her heart before she felt someone touch her shoulder. She tried to plaster a smile on her face before turning around to see it was Mrs. Ketchum standing behind her and, behind Mrs. Ketchum, her friends. The look in Mrs. Ketchum's eyes told her that the woman knew her smile was fake.

"A break sounds good, doesn't it?" Mrs. Ketchum asked and Anabel nodded. The brown-haired woman smiled, "I'll be taking Anabel for a little girl's chat."

Ms. Sabrina glanced at Mrs. Ketchum for a moment along with the others, confused as to why Mrs. Ketchum had said that, before she inclined her head. Anabel realized at once that Ms. Sabrina must have read Mrs. Ketchum's mind and, agreeing with whatever she had found, had given Mrs. Ketchum her permission.

Anabel suddenly found herself disliking psychics.

XXXXXX

"Why didn't Mom want to talk to Anabel in here?" Ash wondered as he looked at the door his mom had gone through with Anabel. It was kind of sudden and strange as his mom hadn't talked about needing to talk to Anabel before now and everything seemed to be going just fine. So, what did she and Anabel need to talk about? And why couldn't his mom have talked to Anabel with them around? "We wouldn't have said anything..."

"It is kind of strange." Harry agreed.

Willow looked thoughtful, "Maybe your mom wants to talk to Anabel about something private? Something that she didn't want you guys to hear?" Her two friends turned to her with confused expressions, clearly not understanding what she had meant, and she sighed. "You did hear that Mrs. Ketchum said she wanted to have a girl talk, right? Meaning no boys."

"Oh." Ash said.

If that was the case, then Ash wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Anabel and his mom were talking about. He would listen if they told him about it, but he wouldn't ask. There were just some things that guys were supposed to know or talk about. And if it was important and he had to know, they would tell him. Right?

"Then why didn't Ash's mom talk you and Sabrina with her, Willow? You guys are both girls, too." Harry stated before he paused and gave Willow a thoughtful look. Willow flushed angrily, apparently knowing what Harry was thinking about, and hit him on the shoulder, "Hey! Why'd you hit me?! I didn't say anything!"

"You deserve it for thinking that." Willow said.

"Personally, I don't think you should worry about your friend." Sabrina stated as she approached the three Pokémon Trainers from behind. "Mrs. Ketchum just wants to talk to Anabel about how things have been going and how she feels about them. This whole process has been very stressful for her and, now that it's nearing its completion, she doesn't know what to feel. Mrs. Ketchum saw that and went to talk to her about it." She smiled at them reassuringly, "Don't worry about it, though; they'll be back soon."

"If you say so..."

XXXXXX

After Anabel had walked out of the "training room", Mrs. Ketchum led her to a nearby room before opening the door. Anabel walked into the room and Mrs. Ketchum turned on the lights before closing the door to give them some privacy. Anabel wondered about what was going on and what this "girl's chat" would be about.

"I noticed that you didn't look to be very happy back there, Anabel." Mrs. Ketchum began in a concerned tone. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

Of course. Mrs. Ketchum had seen her plastered-on smile and had known something was wrong; Mrs. Ketchum was using this "girl's chat" to ask about what was wrong with her in private. Anabel didn't really want to talk to Mrs. Ketchum about what was wrong, but she couldn't find it in herself to lie to the woman either. She couldn't lie to her. Not after all of the concern that Mrs. Ketchum had shown her.

Anabel looked down at the ground and began to rub her shoe against it, "Nothing's wrong, Mrs. Ketchum. I-I'm just... I'm just feeling kind of scared."

"I know what has happened recently has been scary, but there is no need to worry. Everyone is doing everything that they can to try and find Jessie and make sure that something like what she did won't ever happen again." Mrs. Ketchum assured. The brown-haired woman then frowned when Anabel shook her head, appearing confused. "Isn't that what you were worried about?"

While Anabel would always be a little wary (terrified) of Jigglypuff, that wasn't the reason. "No, that's not it." She admitted, "I'm just... I'm just afraid that once this is all over..." She swallowed a heavy lump in her throat and had to hold back some tears, "I'm just afraid that... that Ash won't want to be friends with me anymore. That he would want me to... want me to leave." Shaking her head, Anabel turned away. "I-I know it's stupid, that Ash isn't like that, but part of me can't help but be scared that... that it could happen. And I really don't want that to happen."

Mrs. Ketchum's eyes widened at the admission, but did nothing else. It was obvious that Anabel had held all of this in, even if only for a little while, and needed to get this out. So she kept her mouth closed and allowed Anabel to do so.

"I mean, besides Kadabra, Ash was my first friend. We went through a lot together. He stood up for me, talked to me, and actually... he actually listened to me. He didn't tell me that I was wrong or that I could and should have been doing something else and—and he was just there." Anabel crossed her arms over her chest and breathed in, desperately trying not to cry. It didn't work. "I-I don't want that to stop. I don't want him to stop being my friend."

Truly, it didn't even matter if the things that had happened to them had happened at all. Those things had only accelerated the growth of their friendship. They could have easily built their friendship up to its current level by travelling together for a few months. There was no question of if Anabel would have stayed with Ash; he was her friend and she wanted to be with him. Not like how her parents were together, not yelling or bossing each other around, but walking through the woods and enjoying each other's company.

A part of Anabel knew that she was being silly, that Ash wouldn't care about their powers linking them together. Still, she was scared and wondered if Ash would want her to stay with him when this was over. She was scared that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't want to be her friend anymore.

If Ash didn't want to be her friend—

The pre-teen Pokémon Trainer was startled by the feeling of Mrs. Ketchum's warm, loving arms wrapping around her midsection before pulling her close to the older woman's chests. Shocked, she looked up to see Mrs. Ketchum looking down at her with a kind though somewhat sad expression on her face. "Oh, Anabel..."

"M-Mrs. Ketchum?"

"No matter what happens, I know that Ash won't stop being your friend. He won't stop talking to you, he won't stop listening to you, and he will be there whenever he can. So don't allow yourself to ever think that he doesn't want to be your friend." Mrs. Ketchum stated in a comforting, but firm tone. "He would miss you if you ever left, as you would, and I think he would jump at the chance to see you again after you left."

"B-But—" Anabel protested.

"—Do you think that Ash would ever demand you leave him alone? Do you think he would ever stop being friends with someone he liked and enjoyed being around?" Mrs. Ketchum interrupted like a cold-hearted politician assassin, tearing through enemy objections like one would rip through tissue paper and leaving them to gape. "Do you?"

Anabel opened her mouth to respond that maybe, just maybe, Ash might do those things but couldn't force the words past the lump in her throat. Forcing someone to leave when they didn't want to wasn't something that Ash would do. In some situations, he would demand that people left but those people were usually people who antagonized him or those he considered his friends or family—like Jessie and James. And Ash also wasn't someone to stop being friends with people he knew and liked.

"... No." Anabel finally admitted. "Ash wouldn't do that."

Mrs. Ketchum smiled, "You see? Ash will still be your friend and he won't force you to leave? So what do you have to worry about, hm? Worry about your powers being separated? Well, that will just allow you two to go further away from each other than you have been in the past few weeks. To find a separate area to train your Pokémon Team in, to find another bathroom if the one you're using is full, and to go shopping for things you don't want Ash to know about."

Cheeks turning an interesting shade of pink, Anabel turned away from Mrs. Ketchum who chuckled at her back. Despite that, however, Anabel began to feel a little better. Mrs. Ketchum was right; there really wasn't anything to worry about. Ash wouldn't force her to leave if she didn't want to leave. And, more importantly, he would still continue to be her friend.

Things might have been changing, but that didn't mean it was a bad thing.

"I think I get it." Anabel said as she turned around and smiled, "Thank you for helping me, Mrs. Ketchum."

"No problem, dear. I couldn't let one of my son's friends be sad, now could I?" Mrs. Ketchum stated before the two girls began to walk out of the room, "Speaking of which, I feel the need to ask you about how he acted during your travels together through Mt. Moon and Cerulean City... Did he change into a fresh pair of clothes every day?"

Anabel began to smile.

XXXXXX

It took ten minutes before his mom and Anabel finally returned back to the training room together. Ash had been getting a little anxious about how they were doing and what they were talking about, remembering what Sabrina had told them. His concern for his friend grew when he saw that Anabel's eyes were a little red and puffy but held himself back from questioning her when he saw she was smiling.

Seeing her second-favorite person walk into the room while her first was distracted, Eevee quickly abandoned her position near Ash's legs and rushed to Anabel. The Normal-Type Pokémon hit Anabel's legs in a rush and chattered until Anabel picked her up. Eevee turned and then started to lick Anabel's face.

Anabel laughed and Ash finally started to relax. Still, he had to ask. "Is everything okay, Anabel?"

"Everything is fine." Anabel said after readjusted Eevee in her arms to get more comfortable. Anabel looked down at Eevee, "I just needed to talk to someone for a little bit. Mrs. Ketchum really helped and, really, it's nothing to worry about."

Ash hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should ask what they were talking about, but decided not to. If Anabel said that everything was alright and that it was nothing to worry about, he should and would believe her. What she talked about was her business and if she wanted to talk about it, she would. He was just relieved that everything was okay and that his mom had been able to talk to his friend and help her out.

"Can you guys get on with it? I want to see what happens next." Harry complained impatiently, tapping his foot against the ground. Willow whacked his head a moment later and he recoiled, muttering about getting hit for no reason and how "un-hot" it was. "I just wanted to know since that whole test earlier was boring."

Anabel probably wouldn't have agreed with that, but to outside observers it had been a little boring. They had been slowly called into the room one-by-one to see Anabel sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. Sabrina would wait for a few minutes and then call someone else in until she had determined that Anabel had passed the test. The Gym Leader had then told Anabel to open her eyes and everything was over. Like Harry had said; it was a little boring.

Harry, though, seemed to be expecting something more. This was the first time that he had met people with special powers use their powers and he probably thought that it could be something he could see. Too bad that only some psychic abilities could be seen and empathy couldn't be seen at all. He didn't even include his own power because 1) he hardly believed he even possessed one and 2) he didn't know if it would be visible, but doubted it.

"That depends on if Anabel and Ash are ready to progress, Mr. Cinn." Sabrina answered as she turned to look at the two aforementioned pre-teens. "Are you two feeling ready? If not, we can take another break until you both feel ready to attempt this."

"I'm ready." Anabel said.

Ash nodded, "Me too."

Sabrina inclined her head. "Very well." She directed Ash and Anabel to sit close together after handing over the Pokémon they were carrying to Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum before having them settle into loose meditative positions. She then had them connect hands and close their eyes. "I will open the connection between your minds and create a "mindscape" from which you will see the mental representations of your powers. I will join you there and, together, we shall try to separate your powers."

"Okay."

Moments after he and Anabel had said that, Ash began to feel the weirdest sensation. It felt like, somehow, a pitcher of cold water was being poured over his brain. Following this weird sensation came a faint tingling behind his eyes and an increase of pressure around his brain. He shifted a little in his discomfort, but that motion seemed to trigger something. He began to feel like he was falling and, opening his eyes, all he could see was darkness.

'What's going—?!' Ash wasn't even able to finish his thought as he felt the pressure over his mind increase before feeling himself being yanked forward. 'I don't—' He slammed against something else and they both recoiled, falling backwards. A spec of white brightness formed in-between him and whatever he had hit and then began to quickly expand towards them. 'What is that?!'

Everything went white.

Ash opened his eyes a couple seconds after closing him, disoriented and confused, to find himself in a completely different place. He was sitting down on an expansive, bone-white landmass with a light-gray colored sky hanging above him. A moment passed before he felt a pulse and saw something translucent and blue flow off of his body and into the distance. He followed it with his eyes and watched confusedly as the blue something washed over multiple previously-invisible hooks in the ground.

"Are you okay?"

Looking up, Ash saw Anabel sitting down a fair distance away from him. She was surrounded by a translucent ring with small holes in it while, around the ring, was a multitude of colors he could barely see. It took him a moment to understand what he was seeing—emotions—before realizing that the pulsing blue something must have been his powers. And, based on that, it meant that those hooks were a representation of Anabel's mind's attachment to his power.

He then belatedly realized that Anabel had asked him a question. "Oh, sorry." He said, "I'm just feeling a little dizzy..."

"That is to be expected; this is, after all, the first time you have had a psychic do anything other than a surface scan of your thoughts." Sabrina stated as she faded into view in-between the black-haired boy and his purple-haired friend. She looked at him for a moment or, more specifically, at his power.

"Oh." That would explain why his brain had felt like water was being poured over it; that "water" was Sabrina's own power/energy. Everything that had happened afterwards was probably a result of whatever she had done. "You said you would create a mindscape..." He looked around at his surroundings again, "Is this it?"

Sabrina nodded. "Yes, it is." She took a moment to look around herself before looking back at the two pre-teens. "Now that we have appeared here, however, the true work for us will begin. Have you seen those hooks?" She pointed towards the hooks just as another blue wave washed over and revealed them once again. "Or the holes in Anabel's mental defenses?" Once again, she pointed out the things she had mentioned before drawing attention to herself. "Those two things are connected."

As if to elaborate on what Sabrina was saying, another wave pulsed outwards from Ash's body and across the mindscape. It seemed stronger than before, though, as it clearly revealed the hooks as washed over them. It also allowed them to see the lengths of material tied to the ends of the hooks, growing increasingly small as it went backwards until the material was able to fit through the holes in Anabel's shields. And then, once past the shields, the material connected to her body.

"Whoa."

"Those hooks are the mental representation of the connection between your powers. It is through them that your subconscious mind ensured your safety by creating these hooks and then hiding underneath itself underneath Ash's field. In a way, your mind was trying to create a mental barrier to protect itself from harm." Sabrina directed towards Anabel before she frowned. "It is dangerous, however, as you admitted that you had no idea when this connection formed and, if you had ever gone far enough away from each other, the connection would snap."

There was no need to tell them about the consequences of that; she had already done that before. Both Ash and Anabel knew that the breakage would've stunned Anabel before she would've faced an onslaught of emotions that Ash's field had been somehow protecting her from. Anabel most likely would've been caught within a flood of emotions that she couldn't escape from, gone insane, or have even been killed by the feedback. What effect the break would have caused Ash was unknown as the nature of his powers themselves, but it was believed that it would have been lesser than what would've happened to Anabel.

So it was really good that they didn't have to worry about any of that happening anymore.

"How are we supposed to remove them? Ash asked.

"To remove them, you both will have to simply grab onto them and pull them out. The hooks will naturally snap back towards Anabel and could cause a momentary sense of discomfort when they "hit", but your mental barriers should protect you from any emotional backlash." Sabrina answered before, seeing Anabel nod, turned her attention to Ash. "You will probably experience a small lifting feeling as the hooks are removed."

"... Okay." Ash had honestly been expecting something much more difficult or hard to do, but he wouldn't complain. The process sounded relatively easy and, really, if Sabrina didn't think they were capable of doing the job she wouldn't have had them try. "Let's do it."

Anabel nodded in agreement and stood up to join him, expression firm and a little eager. The two Pokémon Trainers locked resolute gazes and, just as another wave pulsed outwards from Ash's body, they began walking to the closest hook. They reached it together just as the second blue wave passed over it. Anabel took a deep breath and Ash gave her an encouraging smile.

Together, they leaned down to grab a hold of the first hook and pulled.

Ash's Pokémon Team:

Eevee (Female): Level 29.
Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Sand Attack (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Tail-Whip (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), Growl (Normal), Bite (Dark), Charm (Normal), Quick Attack (Normal), Covet (Normal), Take Down (Normal), and Quick Swim (Normal).

Pidgeotto (Male): Level 25.
Attacks: Sand Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal), Gust (Flying), Peck (Flying), Quick Attack (Normal), Whirlwind (Flying), and Twister (Dragon).

Rattata (Male): Level 24. "
Attacks: Bite (Dark), Tackle (Normal), Quick Attack (Normal), Crunch (Dark), Hyper Fang (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Pursuit (Dark), Quick Swim (Normal), and Sucker Punch (Dark).

Beedrill (Male): Level 23.
Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), Bug-Bite (Bug), Fury Attack (Normal), Pursuit (Dark,) Twineedle (Bug), and Rage (Normal).

Clefairy (Female): Level 20.
Attacks: Sing (Normal), Pound (Normal), Encore (Normal), Metronome (Normal), DoubleSlap (Normal), Defense Curl (Normal), Follow Me (Normal), and Bestow (Normal).

Paras (Male): Level 22.
Attacks: PoisonPowder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), Sleep Powder (Grass), Spore (Grass), Leech Life (Bug), and Fury Cutter (Bug).

Anabel's Pokémon Team:

Kadabra (Male): Level 27.
Attacks: Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), Confusion (Psychic), Psychic (Psychic), Disable (Normal), Miracle Eye (Psychic), and Ally Switch (Psychic).

Butterfree (Female): Level 23.
Attacks: Confusion (Psychic), Poisonpowder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), Harden (Bug), Sleep Powder (Grass), String Shot (Bug), Gust (Flying), and Supersonic (Normal).

A/N: Author's Note: I know that this was another filler chapter, but it was needed. I had to destroy the power/mind-link between Ash and Anabel so that I could continue on with the story and get them out of Saffron City. It was annoying because it just didn't want to be written and, well, it took a long time because Anabel needed time to train. Anabel is also a very insecure person who will continue to believe something until someone corrects her (though it doesn't mean she won't still have doubts about her relationship with Ash in the future).

In the next chapter, we get a glimpse at what Team Rocket is up too, President Wilson making his announcement, the reactions to it, and the separation of the people as they go on their different ways. Off to new cities, towns, and roads filled with new Pokémon, roaming Pokémon Trainers, Team Rocket plots, and a continuing adventure!

On a more personal note, I think I'm going to need your guys' help. I made a Worldbuilding Forum to help me (and you guys) out in writing this story... but I can't do it alone. My autistic brain cannot handle it and produce the quality of work that you guys want and I believe you deserve. So please, if you can, stop by the forum (link on my profile) or just offer tips to help me out in your reviews.

Thank you.