Ash sat in his office in Indigo Plateau. He was faced with something he had never been faced with before. Somebody who he didn't know showing that they could be useful to him. Him, the Pokémon Master famous for never needing anybody. He groaned slightly, rubbing his temples with his palms. He had resolved to stay in this room until he knew what to do about Sonia. Thus far it wasn't going well. He wanted to be able to trust her, but was naturally cautious.
"I trust her." Espeon said from the corner. "And Pikachu does. What is stopping you?"
"My knowledge of humans." Ash answered. "They are not in general trustworthy. They usually want something for themselves."
Silence reigned in the office. Ash drummed his fingers on the desk as he thought back to Cerulean City.
"What did you do?" Ash asked as he stepped towards Sonia.
"I know Rhydon." Sonia answered. "And I knew the Pokémon who were with him. They would not fight against me."
Ash considered the answer for a moment. He knew that there was something she wasn't saying – any Pokémon that would fight against him he thought would fight against anybody. He had a long history of respect with wild Pokémon and very few Pokémon would ever want to jeopardise that. Yet apparently they now were.
"What were you doing here?" He asked.
Sonia smiled. "I was in Cerulean after our meeting. When I realised what was going on I knew I had to get to wherever the focus against the Pokémon was. I could stop any fighting."
"This was the only city that Pokémon invaded." Ash said. "Every other city was merely blockaded. It seems to be quite a coincidence that you were here."
"Call it luck." Sonia said. "In fact, in your case it was good luck Champion."
"Yes." Ash said before turning slightly away. "I suppose I should thank you. I appreciate you risking your life to attempt to protect mine Miss Rukan, but allow me to assure you that there was no need."
"No need?" Sonia said in disbelief.
"No need." Ash repeated. "I had the situation under control. Now please excuse me one moment while I deal with the local gym leader. I will need to speak to you again afterwards."
"Of course." Sonia said as Ash started to walk away, before causing him to turn back by speaking again. "And Champion, I prefer to be called Sonia. If you want to show any gratitude that would be a good start."
Ash nodded as he fully turned away, heading towards Daisy Waterflower who still seemed surprised at what had just happened in front of her.
"Was it a coincidence?" Ash said out loud. "Could she have known?" He shook his head. "Impossible. There is no way she could have. Maybe it was just a coincidence. It does happen…" His voice trailed off again. Without knowing more about Sonia it was very difficult to actually judge what she wanted and what her motives were. It was possible that she was genuinely interested in helping, but to assume so would be a risk. And when it came to humans Ash did not take risks.
"You could just ask her." Espeon said mildly. "You are remarkably hard to lie to. Maybe you could ask what she wants and see if she is lying?"
Ash looked at Espeon thoughtfully. "Interesting idea. But leaves us open." He said. "But I will get another opinion."
The door to Ash's office opened and in the corridor walking towards it were Sam Fernandez and Mellanie Rigger. Ash smiled as they came through the door and took seats in front of his desk. Once he had gotten back to Indigo Plateau he had sent Alakazam to collect them from Fuchsia City. He knew they would be heading back after what had happened, and so he had sped their journey up significantly.
"I need your opinions." Ash said, before turning his gaze onto Sam. "And yes, I mean…" he broke off as the two youngsters exchanged a look. Ash leaned back in his chair before focusing on Mellanie.
"You told him?"
"He wanted to help." She said defensively. "You never said I couldn't."
Ash sighed. "I need help from both of you, but there was a reason I never pushed Sam in training like I did to you that day Mellanie."
"You don't think I'm strong enough?" Sam said, his tone showing what he thought of that. Ash shook his head.
"No. I think you are training to become the leader of Kanto, at which point you will be one of the four people in the world who report directly to me. At that moment, you cannot be my equal."
Neither youngster said anything as what Ash said settled in. He expected Sam to become the leader of Kanto, but in doing so Sam was locking himself into a level. Unless he one day defeated Ash as Kanto leader, he would always be reporting to the Pokémon Master.
"Anyway." Ash said, pressing on. "I need your opinions on a woman who has an affinity with wild Pokémon that I do."
"That you used to." Sam corrected. Ash raised an eyebrow. "Ash, I had to nearly burn a forest down to get out of the Wilds in one piece. Some wild Pokémon are turning against you."
"I know." Ash said heavily. "And that hurts. Do you know how long some of those friendships have been? A few Pokémon in very remote places are still loyal to me, but they know nothing. It is like whoever is targeting me knows which Pokémon are the most loyal and are completely avoiding them."
"Where does her affinity with them come from?" Mellanie asked.
"She claims she was once a Pokémon Ranger." Ash said. "I think there is more to it than that, but I can't be sure. It is possible that if she carried on helping Pokémon after she stopped being a Ranger they would react in the way they have now."
"So what do you need our opinion on?" Sam asked. "This woman, what has she done?"
Ash launched into the story of what had happened in Cerulean, up until he went to talk to Daisy. As he finished the two teenagers seemed surprised.
"She threw herself in front of those attacks to save you?" Sam asked.
"Yes, but she didn't need to. I was in no danger." Ash said
"And you still don't trust her?" Sam pressed.
"We've been telling him that he is being stupid." Espeon said from the corner of the room. Sam and Mellanie laughed as Ash frowned down at his Pokémon. In the years on Mystery Island an easy relationship of camaraderie had formed between the teenagers and Espeon, with Ash often being the butt of the jokes. He didn't mind as it was helping Espeon develop, but sometimes he felt that the Sun Pokémon was crossing bounds. Espeon looked up and met his gaze with a calm and confident look. Not quite challenging, but enough to say that she knew what she was doing and she wasn't going to apologise. Ash knew he would have to speak to her about interfering in his public life, but he couldn't really stop her when amongst friends. And among others, as long as she kept her comments to just the two of them, he couldn't really stop her. Ash did have to admit that they were somewhat amusing at times, and helpful as a way of bouncing his thoughts off somebody else.
"What else would she have to do to earn your trust?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure." Ash said. "I don't trust coincidence, and it seems very convenient that she appears at this moment."
"Have you asked her about Professor Oak?"
"No Sam, I haven't." Ash answered. "And you should be able to work out why."
"It's because nobody else knows about Professor Oak going missing." Mellanie said, answering for Sam. "If she was going to betray you, that would be a good way to do it, revealing to the world that the Pokémon Master has lost one of the most famous researchers."
"But even if she did, what harm would it do to you?" Sam argued. "There are mssing people and you cannot be expected to find all of them, surely?"
"If the world found out that Professor Oak as missing, there would be questions as to why I'm not taking a more active role in the world. If we are losing people like him then there is a strong case for the Pokémon Master to be more involved."
"Still, you could survive that." Sam persisted. "It would be a good way of finding out if she can be trusted; it is big enough that if she was going to break your trust she will, but not so big that it would hurt you permanently."
Ash didn't answer, lost in thought until Mellanie spoke up again. "What happened next? After you dealt with the Cerulean Gym Leaders?"
Ash approached Sonia once more, flanked by Espeon and Alakazam. She smiled at him, but got no reaction from the emotionless Pokémon Master. The smile slowly faded as he drew closer, the lack of a reaction unnerved her.
"Miss Rukan" Ash said, before hesitating. "Sonia."
"Yes?" She asked.
"If you are willing, I would like you to come to Indigo Plateau with me. I will need another meeting with you."
"Of course Champion" she said, the smile back on her face. Ash held up a hand.
"I have other matters to attend to first, but if you are willing to wait at Indigo then I will attend to you as soon as possible. In the meantime I will need you to give a full account of what happened to Cynthia"
Sonia nodded. "I would be happy to if it would help." She stepped forwards, closing the distance to Ash and lowering her voice. "Last time we spoke you suspected Tobias might be a trigger for these attacks. Have you managed to find him?"
Ash didn't answer at first. The proximity of Sonia was discomforting, there were not many who would willingly get this close to the Pokémon Master. His aura of power tended to mean that he got his personal space. After a moment he decided.
"My Pokémon are hunting him down now, but we do not think that he is the trigger."
"Really?" Sonia asked, stepping even closer until her head was inches away from Ash's shoulder. Her voice got even quieter, so that only Ash would be able to hear it. "Do you have any other theories?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss those here." Ash said his voice just as quiet. "Perhaps at Indigo, unless there is something you need to tell me that is urgent?"
"Such as?" Sonia asked.
"If you think there might be another attack, or an underlying cause for these attacks, I need to know." Ash said.
Sonia thought for a moment then shook her head. "Sorry, nothing."
Ash nodded. "In that case, Alakazam?"
The four of them vanished in a flash of light, returning to Indigo Plateau."
"I sent her to Cynthia and I came here." Ash said. "And sent Alakazam to find you both."
"I still think you should tell her about Professor Oak." Sam said. "It is as good a test as any, and there aren't many alternatives."
Ash nodded. "Thank you Sam. Mellanie?"
She still seemed lost in thought, but reacted to her name. "I…" She took a deep breath. "My instincts say trust her. But be cautious. If she could help you get a lead on Professor Oak that would be a big point in her favour."
"But?" Ash asked.
"But before you do, find out what she wants." Mellanie finished. "She must want something." She giggled slightly. "Maybe she just wants a chance to spend time with the Pokémon Master? I'm sure that the whole mysterious and powerful image has her interested."
Ash raised an eyebrow as Sam, Espeon and Pikachu burst out laughing, while Mellanie kept an impressively straight face as she met his gaze. He turned his eyes onto Espeon and then Pikachu, but his piercing gaze had no impact on any of them. Eventually Ash sighed.
"Thank you for that Mellanie."
"You're most welcome Ash." She said sweetly, before giving in to the inevitable and bursting out laughing herself. Ash just shook his head.
"Remind me to scare the living daylights out of any boys you are interested in." He muttered, causing his Pokémon to laugh even harder, even as Mellanie and Sam both started to calm down.
"Back on topic, do you want to sit in on the meeting?" Ash asked, returning his voice to usual volume. Sam and Mellanie looked at each other and then nodded in unison. "Good. I'll get Cynthia to bring her up."
Ash turned to his computer as the two youngsters started chatting in front of him once more.
A few minutes later the door opened once more. Cynthia walked in, Sonia just behind her. Sonia looked around taking in the fact that Ash wasn't wearing his hat. She saw Espeon in the corner, and took a step towards the Pokémon before seemingly realising what she was doing. She turned back and met Ash's eye, smiling slightly. Ash just nodded before gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. As Sonia took a seat, Ash started talking.
"Firstly Sonia, I would like to go on record and thank you for your help in Cerulean." He said. "Cynthia said that she has debriefed you on the events sufficiently. I trust her judgement, so if you wish you may depart as we have no further questions."
Sonia nodded slowly before looking around the room again. She looked at Sam, the young man that she recognised from his victory in Kanro. He was lounging in his chair slightly looking at her. His entire body posture exuded confidence. She supposed he was still a teenager, but he didn't look it to her eyes. He looked far more mature than most teenagers that she had met. Her gaze moved on to Cynthia, the ex- Pokémon Master, but the person who had remained the face of the Pokémon League for the last five years. Finally her gaze moved onto Mellanie. Unlike the other two, she looked more withdrawn, less likely to dominate the room. But when their eyes met, Sonia saw a determination hidden behind her gaze. She turned back to Ash.
"You said if I wished to leave I could." Ash nodded, without saying anything. Sonia gestured to the rest of the room. "I do not wish to."
Ash raised his eyebrow slightly, but didn't say anything. Sonia took it as an invitation to carry on.
"You are doing something here." She said. "I'm not sure what, but something is going on here. And I want to help."
"Help?" Ash asked. "By doing what?"
"I'm not sure." Sonia said. "Because I don't know what you're doing. But something is very wrong in the world; that is why I came to you originally. I'm sure that you will be attempting to tackle it, and I want to help."
Ash seemed to take a moment to think it through, before glancing at Mellanie. She took the hint and leaned forwards.
"Why?" Mellanie asked.
"Why what?" Sonia countered, twisting in her chair to look at Mellanie.
"Why do you want to help?"
"I… err…. I…" Sonia said, flustered by the question and trying to buy herself time to think. She hadn't expected this kind of quizzing, and it coming from somebody other than Champion was making her nervous. "I just want to help protect people." She said. The look from Mellanie confirmed what she feared – they didn't believe her. She didn't blame them, it sounded pretty weak even to her.
"That is unlikely."
This time the voice came from Cynthia. Sonia twisted around to look at the Sinnoh Leader who had a serious expression on her face.
"Unlikely?" She asked.
"I've been working for the Pokémon League for a long time now." Cynthia said. "And I can tell you that nobody just wants to help. They want something, even if it is just to have curiosity sated. Humans are by their nature, selfish."
"What do you want from me?" Sonia blurted, before turning back towards Ash. "I am here to help you, I don't need this interrogation." She stood up and headed for the door, but after only a single step, a voice came from behind her.
"Sit down Sonia."
She turned around to see Ash looking at her, his gaze level, his voice completely calm but commanding. Without really knowing how or why, she found herself drawn back to her chair. She sat down, only then realising what she had done.
"If I tell you why we are asking these questions, will you tell me the truth?" Ash asked. Sonia nodded nervously. "Very well."
Ash gestured to Cynthia. "I have worked alongside Cynthia for six years, ever since I became Pokémon Master. I also knew her from years before. She has earned my trust and my respect." Ash then gestured to Sam. "I first met Sam when he was collecting his first Pokémon. It was the last Pokémon that Professor Elm ever gave out. I followed his progress up to his first tournament and was impressed with what I saw, sufficiently so that I invited him to train with me. Since then he has given me no reason to regret my decision."
Ash stood up and came around the desk, standing behind Mellanie and resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Finally Mellanie. I met her on the same day that I met Sam, and over the last six years I have watched her develop as a trainer. She was my first ever student and recently broke the record for most consecutive wins in the Johto League."
Ash took his hand of Mellanie's shoulder and returned to his seat. Mellanie looked down as she felt something nudging her hand. Espeon had moved to her side and was nuzzling her gently.
"I have seen them all go through hardships." Ash continued. "And yet one thing has not changed about them. They all put others first. They all have their own reasons for it, but it would have been understandable if any of them had changed. None of them did, because they are all more than top trainers. They are good people and I trust them implicitly. Trust that has been earned over years of work."
Ash leaned forwards, focusing all of his attention onto Sonia. "You were asked those questions because I need to know if I can trust you. I need to know your motives."
There was a silence throughout the room as Sonia processed what she had just found out. As the silence drew on, Ash leaned back into his chair and waited. Sam started to fidget, the silence getting to him, although at a glance from Cynthia he stopped. Eventually Sonia started tried to answer, her voice quiet and timid.
"I came to you before because I knew that there was a danger." She started. "From when I was a ranger, I knew that these kinds of dangers shouldn't just be ignored. I came to the Pokémon League because I believed that I was doing the right thing."
Sonia paused to take a breath. As she continued, her voice gained in strength.
"When I was interviewed by you Champion, I could tell that there were things you weren't telling me. I had worked out that you already knew something about the problems when I spoke to Cynthia, but I didn't mind. I expected it somewhat; you're the most secretive man in the world."
She paused again. This was a difficult situation to manage; one wrong statement and she was liable to be thrown out, but if she got it right she could find a way into the confidence of the Pokémon Master. She felt that Sam and Mellanie were both ready to trust her, and Cynthia was considering it. The person who she had to convince was Champion. She knew she would have to gamble if she was to convince him that she was trustworthy.
"I wasn't sure if you would be willing to trust me." She continued. "But I wanted you to. Ever since I stopped being a Ranger I've wanted to continue helping Pokémon. I quit because the politics that came with the job. We had so many considerations of what we could and couldn't do, I found it too restrictive. I quit but effectively continued my work outside of the Rangers."
"So why did you come to me?" Ash asked.
"Because you operate outside of political constraints." Sonia replied. "Everything about you shows that while you consider the constraints, you frequently ignore them because you do what needs to be done. That is something that I wish I could have done whilst a Ranger, and it is something that I want to carry on doing now. When I came to you, I knew that I had to have something. Something that you might not have thought of. Which is why I suggested Tobias. I don't think that he had anything to do with it, and I don't think you do either, but I needed something that would make you think and make you remember me."
Ash nodded slowly. "So you admit that you lied?"
Sonia hung her head slightly. "Yes."
She looked up again to see Ash's face. Surprisingly, he didn't seem angry at the fact that she had lied. In fact, she felt that the fact that she had admitted it had gotten her some credit with the Pokémon Master. She risked a glance at Cynthia who was watching her cautiously.
"So what do you want now?" Ash asked. "If you could have anything, what do you want from me?"
Sonia hesitated, something that Ash didn't miss.
"Ask." He said. "Ask anything."
"I want to be able to help you." Sonia said. "Not just you, I want to be able to help the Pokémon League. There are some very powerful trainers, but many of them ignore what they can learn from the world around them. If I had a choice, I would want to help teach the next generation of trainers coming through about that."
"So why come to the Pokémon Master?" Cynthia asked, causing Sonia to turn again. "There are Gym's in every region, and regional leaders who could help you push it through."
"I know." Sonia admitted. "But if you want something done you go to the best."
"Then why did you go to Champion?" Cynthia pressed. "Surely I would have been the better option to push that through? I teach, Champion stays aloof. To get to the best trainers surely you would go through me?."
"No you wouldn't." Mellanie said quietly, causing all to turn and look at her. She flushed with embarrassment. "No disrespect Cynthia, but the best trainers train with Champion."
"Well that was a surprise." Espeon said to Ash in the silence that followed. "Maybe we are seeing Mellanie realize that she actually has things to say?"
"Perhaps." Ash sent back. "She is right though. It would explain why Sonia came to us."
"It is an interesting idea she has." Espeon said. "I learned that particular skill from you and the scouts, but I've been surprised how few trainers seem to consider it."
Ash clenched his jaw slightly so he didn't laugh. "Trust me that was never a problem I had. Things around me I've always noticed."
"Yes, Sam showed me videos of your earlier battles. Charizard laughed when I told him that his way of heating up a battlefield was inefficient." Espeon sent a laugh down the link. "You were interesting to watch."
Ash had to bite his retort back when Sam started speaking as he wrenched his attention back to the conversation at hand.
"If she wants to change attitudes, then the trainers who most people listen to will be in the best position to do so are those trained by Champion." Sam said, leaning forwards from his position of lounging in his chair. "I mean, Lance fully expects me to replace him as Kanto Champion at some point, and Mel has just won three Johto Leagues in a row. And we are just two of Champion's students."
Cynthia slouched into her chair slightly. The point that the teenagers had made was valid, but it hurt slightly. She had devoted the last five years towards teaching, almost completely ignoring her position as the head of Sinnoh, even though she had only been challenged on three occasions in those five years. She knew that the absolute best were with Champion, but she also knew that he took on very few students. For all intents and purposes she had always thought of herself as the place where the best went. Now it looked like those with only the knowledge available to the public still thought that she wasn't the answer. It hurt.
"Yes, but how many students do you have Champion?" she asked, almost peevishly.
Ash chuckled slightly, a barely audible sound. "I have seven tutees at the moment. I accept your point Cynthia, you teach far more than me. But perhaps we should let Sonia answer why she came to me instead of you?"
Sonia flushed slightly as the attention in the room focused back onto her. It wasn't easy being the centre of attention for such powerful people.
"Before I answer, can I ask you something?" she said to Ash who nodded. "How many times do you think you have been watched while training in the Wilds?"
Ash blinked as the voice of Espeon echoed in his mind once more, laughing. "Oh she is very good. I really do like her. Can she join us?"
"Shut up." Ash answered mentally, although without anger. "Not many. I usually am aware, and don't train near other humans."
Sonia nodded, a smile playing across her face. "But Psychic Pokémon could theoretically hide humans from you?"
"From me yes." Ash said. "From my Pokémon, it would require a fair number of Pokémon, and they would have to be powerful."
"Haven't you seen it yet?" Espeon said, her voice almost teasing. "She's been spying on you."
"I know that." Ash retorted. "The question is how. How haven't you or Alakazam noticed?"
"Because she has a similar rapport with wild Pokémon that you have. They could easily hide her. Those times we've had unusual concentrations of Psychic Pokémon near our training in the Wilds. That must have been her."
Ash blinked. It was obvious. He smiled inwardly. At least that solved one mystery that he had been wondering about over the last few years. Initially when they had noticed the concentration of Psychic-Types Espeon and Alakazam had tried to track them down. However they always vanished before his own Pokémoncould reach them. Ash had given up trying after a while, assuming that the Pokémonwere just curious. He glanced over at Espeon who met his gaze with a confident look. Almost challenging, partially mocking. He groaned inwardly. She would be teasing him about this for a long time. And he didn't think she'd see the irony of teasing him when she hadn't been able to track them either.
"Is this why you came to me?" He asked. Sonia nodded, almost guiltily. Sam, Mellanie and Cynthia were looking at each other in confusion, but Ash ignored them as he focused entirely on Sonia for the first time since she had arrived.
"I have to admit, I am impressed." Ash said. "Not many people could manage to get that close to me without me knowing who they are."
"Thank you?" Sonia said cautiously, waiting to see if the Pokémon Master was angry with her.
"You claim that you wanted to ensure that trainers learn as much as they can from the world around them." Ash continued, ignoring what she had said. "And you think that I could help. And while Mellanie and Sam are right in the sense that the best trainers are those I teach, you yourself also admitted that I am the most secretive man in the world. So what do you think I could do?"
"You could have gotten Cynthia to help…" Sonia started, and then stopped. It sounded weak to her and she knew that the man in front of her would see straight through it. This had proven to be one of the hardest meetings she had ever had and she was beginning to feel mentally drained. "No, you and I both know that isn't really true."
Ash inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement.
"It is somewhat true, but that isn't the real reason. I wanted to know how you do it." Sonia said in a rush. "I wanted to learn how to get Pokémon to respond like you do. I wanted to see if I could learn anything from meeting you. I wanted to…"
"You wanted to learn from me." Ash said quietly.
"Yes." Sonia said breathlessly.
"Sorry, can I have some things filled in?" Cynthia cut in. "Sonia are you insinuating that you spied on the Pokémon Master?"
Sonia laughed nervously as what Cynthia said sank in. "Well technically…"
"Yes, she did." Ash said cutting across Sonia but not taking his eyes off of her. "As a way of getting me to train you, I have to admit it is unique."
"Will it work?" Sonia asked, almost not wanting to know the answer. She had put in a lot of work to get here, and the man in front of her could negate it all with a single word.
Ash seemed to consider it for a long moment. "Not completely. I want you to work with Cynthia for a while."
Sonia's face fell before she could hide it. She knew that Champion had seen it and there was nothing she could do. All of her work to get close to him and he was pushing her away again. Then again, she shouldn't be surprised. Even she had to admit, this had been a long shot. Champion was famous because he was so hard to reach – he pushed everybody away.
"Cynthia will show you how things work around the Pokémon League." Ash continued, ignoring her reaction. "And if you can impress her, I will consider taking you on as a student."
Sonia nodded, her face set in an emotionless mask. She was determined not to show any more weakness in front of the Pokémon Master. Ash turned to Cynthia.
"You have another training camp coming up in a couple of weeks?"
Cynthia nodded. "It's one for Kanto trainers." She hesitated, before turning to Sam. "Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to help out with it? You're a powerful trainer despite being young, and a Kanto winner so most trainers would listen to you."
Sam shook his head. "Sorry, I would genuinely like to but I would only be able to make the end. I'm meant to be in Viridian helping out with the tournament there. Perhaps Mel?"
The girl threw a look at Sam that could only be described as filthy. Cynthia laughed out loud. "It is fine Mellanie, you have time off. If it's not too much trouble though, if you could help out in the next Johto one?"
Mellanie looked at Ash who gave no indication either way. She sighed. "Of course. I suppose that it is somewhat expected of me."
Ash coughed slightly and Cynthia turned back. "Sorry." She said. "Why were you asking about the camp?"
"I would expect an evaluation of Sonia to be completed at the end of the camp." Ash said. "I assume that won't be too much trouble?"
Cynthia shook her head. "Of course not. She can help me run it and see if she is as good as she claims."
"Good." Ash said, rising from behind his desk. "I might be around on this camp as well Cynthia, in which case I will join you for a day."
Cynthia mirrored her superior, standing up. "Thank you Champion." She turned to Sonia. "I assume you'll want to be staying around Indigo?" Sonia nodded again, this time slightly nervously. "Then come with me. I'll find you some accommodation."
As the two of them left the room, Pikachu leapt up from where he had been sitting by Ash's feet. He stood on the desk and stretched, yawning slightly as Ash took his seat again.
"Will you teach her?" He asked, looking at Ash.
"I'm not sure." Ash said. "I need to know what she could bring. Cynthia will give her a fair assessment and we shall see." He turned to Mellanie. "What do you think?"
"Me?" Mellanie asked, surprise registering on her face. "I think you're doing the right thing."
"Shocker." Pikachu commented, getting a glare from Mellanie.
"Because?" Ash said, reaching out and petting Pikachu, causing the Pokémon to let out a happy "chaa".
"Because Cynthia will be fair, and will get to know her." Mellanie said. "It means you can get a better look at her person without having to actually get to know her."
Ash smiled. "When you put it that way it sounds pretty bad."
"It's a skill of hers." Sam said, grinning. "She can make anything sound terrible. Ouch!"
Ash watched as Sam turned to glare at Mellanie who had just punched his arm. The two of them carried on bickering as he watched, a fond look on his face. He had grown very protective of his first two students, watching them grow from the nervous children he had met in New Bark Town, just after he had become Pokémon Master. They were now both highly capable trainers, and mature individuals. Except when they were with each other. They brought out the best in each other. He had wondered if their friendship would ever develop into something more, but he was yet to see any clear indication of it. Although he conceded, after spending so long away from human society he was probably not the best at noticing things like that. Ash continued to pet Pikachu as he felt Espeon graze against his other hand, dangling to the side of his chair. He started to scratch her behind the ear as well, causing her to start purring. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was how he had imagined it, all those years ago. When he knew he had to return to civilization, to face Tobias and end his control of legendary Pokémon, Ash had feared what might happen to him as Pokémon Master. He had dreaded the idea of being forced into a desk job, or being forced to be the face of the Pokémon League. After every battle in the World League, he had gone to his accommodation and lain awake, dreading what might happen. Sometimes he allowed himself to dream, to think about what he wanted. This was close to it, with his Pokémon, with a few people that he could trust implicitly. People who shared his love of battling, and to an extent his skill. Where he had found himself was, he knew, about as good as it was ever going to be.
"I think we are done here." Ash said, cutting across the conversation in front of him. "Unless you two need a little longer to flirt?"
Both teenagers turned bright red, causing Pikachu and Espeon to laugh as Ash stood up.
"We weren't…" Mellanie started, but Ash just cut across her.
"Of course not. Either way, we need to get home. Sam, are you staying with me or are you going home for a while?"
"I was planning on going home for a bit." Sam said. "I'll be in Viridian in a couple of weeks so I thought I'd go and see my parents for a bit."
Ash nodded, before turning to Mellanie. "I assume you're coming with me?"
She hesitated, before nodding.
"I'll wait for you downstairs Mellanie." Ash said. "And I shall see you soon Sam."
The door swung shut behind Ash and Mellanie turned to Sam.
"Do you have to go home?" She asked. "It's been great having you around for a bit."
"I'm afraid so." Sam said. "I spoke to Mum before we went to Fuchsia, she was asking when I was going to visit. Given I have a couple of weeks before the Viridian tournament, it makes sense to visit now."
"I guess." Mellanie said, trailing off. "I guess it's weird for me… You know…"
Sam nodded. He did know. As far as he was aware, Mellanie had not returned to her childhood home once since they had started their journeys. She had never needed to. She had been to New Bark a few times, but had only gone to visit Sam's parents, and other friends. Her own parents had effectively disowned her years ago, and her escape when she turned ten had been one of the best things to happen to her. He looked at his friend, and sighed. She always looked slightly sad when their hometown came up. Sam had only good memories of it, whereas for her childhood Mellanie had never felt at home.
"Fancy coming with me to the Viridian tournament?" Sam asked.
Mellanie immediately perked up. "What are you doing there?"
"I volunteered to help organize it." Sam said. "Lance told me it would be good experience. Although it hasn't been hard. The usual organizers have done a pretty good job, but they like to have somebody famous there. I guess I was the best they could get this year."
Mellanie laughed as they turned and left the office, heading for the elevator.
"I'm sure that's not how they see it." She assured him. "To get a Kanto League winner can't be easy, surely?"
Sam grinned. "I have no idea. But Misty is competing, so we'll get to see her and Gary."
"Maybe I should enter…" Mellanie said. "See if Misty can beat me."
"I doubt it." Sam said. "Although I'm sure you could fight her if you wanted. She'll probably not say no."
They reached the lift and it started to descend.
"Either way, I'll come." Mellanie said. "I'm sure Ash can spare me for a few days."
Sam grinned as the lift doors opened. "Fantastic."
Mellanie followed him out of the lift and gave him a quick hug. "I'll see you there then."
Sam nodded and stepped away. As he headed for the exit he glanced back. "It's a date." He said, before disappearing out through the doors. Mellanie stared after him a slightly forlorn expression on her face, before a voice caught her attention.
"Are you coming Mellanie?"
She turned to see Ash waiting for her. "Sorry…" She said. "Yeah." She turned and followed him towards the car that would take them home.
A/N
Firstly apologies for this chapter being slightly late. I've had an exceptionally busy week coupled with some family problems which have left me struggling to find time to write. Such is life I guess. I'm still aiming for next Friday with the next chapter so this should just be a blip on my update schedule. (Let's face it, if I didn't have one you'd all probably be wondering if I am still the guy that took two years to write the Lost Master!) Still, this chapter is longer than the usual for this story so please accept that as a peace offering! On the note of chapter lengths, they will start to vary a bit more. They should still exceed 4,000 words but some of them will be longer as there is more that I want to have happen in them. Just depends on the chapter really.
There have been some interesting ideas in the reviews as to what the underlying root of the problems might be. I am trying to strike a balance between advancing the plot at a good rate coupled with still including features of Ash in his position of power, similar to the earlier chapters of the Lost Master. This does mean that the plot won't necessarily be advancing as quickly as some might hope, but I'm doing my best! Feel free to keep speculating as to where this is going, I am enjoying seeing some of the guesses, with some varied levels of accuracy in them!Until next Friday then,
Iama2p