Chapter 2: Suspicions

By the time the alarm clock went off, Anabel smashed it with her pillow and quickly went back to sleep. She was snuggling more comfortable than usual. She just realized that there was a giant pillow right beside her that she didn't know about.

Ash was also in the same mood. He never realized that a pillow could be so comforting before. "Man this pillow is great" he thought.

The two of them were actually hugging each other on one bed. Their faces were so close to each other that could almost feel each other's breath. Their eyes were closed because they weren't ready to greet the sun light just yet. They snuggled closer and closer having bodily contact. Everything was going smoothly until, "Pikapi?" Ash and Anabel quickly remembered that sound and woke up. Their eyes made contact but they didn't flinch. Anabel glared at Ash's deep dark eyes that almost felt like black holes. Her soul was sucked up and before she knew it she was already paralyzed.

By the time both of them got to their senses they yelled, "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" so loud that the wild Pokemon around the forest ran from fright.

Ash: "You!"

Anabel: "You! What are you doing on my bed?"

Ash: "I should be the one asking that question!"

After getting up from the shock, Ash felt a sudden pain coming from all parts of his body. His bones were so tattered that any sudden move would prove fatal for him and so his mind did what the only thing that would prove useful. It shuts down… which caused Ash to fall unconscious.

What in the world was she thinking? She was fifteen years old and she had nothing but her PJs and undergarments on. To be sleeping with a non related person was absolutely not in her category of good behavior. After remembering why and how the boy was here she sighed. "Scott's gonna kill me if he finds out" when you're a Frontier Brain member, relationship with others are a little sketchy which was fine at first since Anabel wanted to be single for life but now she was having second thoughts on that agreement.

Knock knock knock…

"Coming!" 'That had better be the dry cleans and it had better be good news!' the morning wasn't looking too bright for our little Frontier Brain member and now her day was just about to worsen.

She opened the door, "Oh hello Scott" she said slightly angry, "Hey Anabel, are you ready for the challenge yet?" the man said with a smile.

"Don't you think it's a bit early for a battle Scott?"

"Early for you. It's actually haft past noon if you remember"

Anabel looked at the clock and was immediately shocked. She had never woken up this late before in her life, "Oh I'm soooo sorry! I'll go and battle the challenger right away!"

"Well you might as well get change first. You're not exactly dressed for combat now are you?" Anabel took a minute to notice herself in her PJs. This was embarrassing. She blushed brightly and quickly slammed the door on Scott's face. This really wasn't her day. After getting change and a quick breakfast, she poured down a bowl of cereal and said to Pikachu, "If Ash wakes up, please tell him not to go anywhere until I return ok Pikachu?" the little yellow mouse nodded in agreement.

After getting dressed, Anabel walked out and locked the door, "Alright, I'm ready!" Scott looked at her with a brow raised, "Umm… Anabel, where are your Pokemon?" Anabel searched her pockets and belt and quickly realized that she left them in her room, "Oh! I forgot about them. Wait here, I'll be right back!" she quickly unlocked the door and stormed right back in with haste.

Scott grew more and more suspicious about the girl's actions but he didn't want intrude on her privacy. However… Anabel wasn't the kind of girl who would be this thoughtless. She WAS and IS a respectable member of the Frontier Brains and no one would dare to look down on her. Scott would usually see her gardening or training in her Battle Tower but now she was… how should I say this… clumsy. She forgets her Pokeballs, waking up late, not reporting for work at the Battle Facility and more. This is was very unnerving for Scott since he is the owner of the Battle Frontier.

"Hmm… maybe I'll ask what's wrong after the challenge is done" he thought as Anabel came back with her Pokemon. "Are you ready now?" he asked annoyingly.

"Yes, I'm ready now hehehehe" and with that they head towards the Battle Tower where the Frontier challenger awaited them.

(Back inside the house)

Ash had woken up a few minutes after Anabel had left. He crawled on his aching stomach through the door and up a small chair. Every move he made felt like an eternity of pain but nothing would stop this boy from living. He was finally able to get up but his mind was still quite a blur. All of his memory was scrambled up like a large jigsaw puzzle with tons of missing pieces scattered along the floor.

He panted heavily on the chair like he was dying but luckily he was ok. "Pikapi" Pikachu jumped on his master's lap lightly so he wouldn't hurt him. Ash struggled to remember what he was doing this morning but nothing seemed to fit. It was until he saw a small picture frame hanging on the wall. It consisted of a group of people who seemed to be veteran Pokemon trainers but they looked oddly familiar.

"Hey… those are…" he then saw a Battle Frontier logo next to the picture frame, "I remember now!" he thought silently to himself, "Those are… the Frontier Brains!" everything began to sink back. He remembered the land slide, being Pokemon master, his adventures… everything! It was like a black hole spitting every thing it ate back out!

(Time Skip 3 hours Still at Anabel's house)

Anabel returned with Scott a few hours later after the challenger was defeated again. Scott had noticed many flaws in Anabel's battle today and was quite upset to say the lease. He had a good reason to be upset though. First, Anabel was becoming clumsy this morning. And when they got to the Battle Tower, she brought the wrong Pokemon to battle. She left her Metagross and Alakazam back at home while she brought her weaker ones to the fight. It was because of her Espeon that she was able to beat the challenger.

"Is something bothering you Anabel? You haven't been acting like yourself this morning" Scott sounded a little harsh but it was reasonable.

"I'm sorry Scott. It's just that… my day just hasn't been a perfect one since yesterday" she said in a depressing tone.

"Oh? What happened yesterday?" Anabel had to think quickly or risk getting exposed. She kept a cool, calm face when she answered, "There was a mud slide yesterday and I was nearly caught in it. I actually thought I was gonna die and by the time I got home I was breathing heavily.

Scott seemed relieved to hear her story and was even more relieved that she was ok, "That must've been one shocking event for you" he said with his smile back on his face, "It's good to see that you're ok. I'll tell the challenger to meet you when you calm down alright?"

CRASH

Something broke inside Anabel's house. Scott looked and realized that the lights were on, "Is someone inside?" he asked

Anabel quickly waved it off, "Oh It's probably one of my Pokemon loose. They sometimes do that when I'm not around. Well see ya bye!" she immediately closed the door and shut the curtains.

Scott's eyes sharpened with great suspicions, "Ok that does it. I'm coming back and see what's really going on!" with that he jumped onto his car and drove off. Anabel peeked through the window and sighed once again. "This is really not my day" she moaned annoyingly.

"Anabel?"

Her eyes quickly widened in surprise as she turned around. Ash was standing right in front of her. "Hi" he said with a smile. Anabel didn't know if she should shout or just plainly scream, "Hi…" was all she able to do.

"Umm… sorry about the mess. Pikachu found ketchup in your cabinet and he went a little wild ahehehe" he rub the back of his head in embarrassment. Pikachu came out of the kitchen with the sane bucket on its head.

After a quick explanation on both sides they finally came to a mutual understanding. "… and that's what happened" Anabel took a sip off her tea as she finished explaining what happened yesterday, "After that I brought you home and bandaged you"

Ash tried sinking in all the info into his small head but he was able to get the gist of the story, "Wow… I guess I should thank you Anabel"

She blushed slightly, "Oh not at all. You did save me from the mud slide. So it's the least I could do"

"So why didn't you call the hospital?"

"I tried but connections from the woods and the city isn't that good" she took a bite off a cookie she managed to prepare. "Wait here, I'll try again" she dialed through her cell phone but sadly… it ran out of battery, "Oh wonderful Give me a minute, I need to-" she was cut off when the whole house went out. The lights turned off and the air con stopped. "charge…" a black out couldn't have come in the worst possible moment. "Hold on, I'll try and find some candles" Ash noticed that she was acting more and more… well… clumsy. When he met her the first time, she was cool, calm and collected person. A girl who had the will power of a hundred trainers combined. But now she was like… a rookie who just got her starter Pokemon.

Ash quickly summoned out Cyndaquil and let the fires on its back illuminate the room, "Here, let me help" He quickly got up and grabbed several candle sticks from the cabinet. The fire from Cyndaquil's back really helped save matches. In moments they were able to light up seven candles that were enough to keep the house lit.

"Wow… what a rain" Ash took a look over the curtains and saw that it really was pouring from the sky. "You can sleep here tonight. I have a guess room at the back" Anabel showed him the way to a nice two bedded room that was almost twice the size of Ash's old bed room. "You can sleep here for tonight. Oh and sorry about your shirt. I had to rip it to patch you up" Ash blushed as he noticed that his inner black shirt and jacket were torn. The only thing covering his skin was a large number of white bandages. "Oh… uh that's ok. I have an extra pair in my bag. So I guess… uh… thanks"

Anabel turned a quick blush but she turned away so that he wouldn't see, "Umm… Dinner will be ready in ten minutes" she closed the door and left Ash at alone. She ran to the living room and held her hand against her chest. Her heart was beating at least three times faster than before. Her breathing became irregular as if she was suffocating. Her muscles tightened as if they were being squeezed by an enormous pressure and her face was as red as a tomato. "What's wrong with you Anabel?" she screamed in her mind, "Calm down just relax and act like he was just an old friend. He'll be gone by tomorrow" she relaxed her mind and put herself at ease.

The advantage of being a telekinesis is that you can use the power of your mind to relieve whatever stress but this one was different. In all her life Anabel had used this method to keep her mind cool and calm but this stress seemed to be unnatural. It kept increasing and decreasing at the same time that it was difficult to calculate. After finally relieving some part of the head trauma out she quickly head to the kitchen and prepared dinner.

Since there was no power, she had to cook things the old fashion way, "Cyndaquil, can you come over her for a moment?" the young little fire Pokemon came as she requested, "Sorry Cyndaquil, but can you cook this pork over here?"

(With Ash)

After putting on his usual cloths (black T shirt and long pants but NO jacket) he quickly left the room with Pikachu on his shoulder and head towards the dining room. It felt strange to be a guess in a house in this kind of situation but it was ok… I guess.

Anabel placed some candles on the table to make it look like some sort of French dining taste. Dinner went a little uneventful. They talked about regular things like Pokemon training, battles and several random stuffs. After they finished their plates Anabel began with more… detailed questions. "So Ash, where's May?"

"Huh?" she was referring to May Maple of Petalburg city, "Oh you mean that May. Oh, she won the Hoenn and Johto cup last year. She's planning to move on to Shinou to win the contest festival there" he wiped his mouth with the handkerchief that was prepared for him.

"Oh? And how about your friends and family back in Pallet Town?" Anabel took a sip from her drink and smiled. Ash smiled back in return, "They're ok. My mom just got married to professor Oak a few months after I became master. Even thought my name should've been Ash Oak, they still call me Ash Ketchum" he blushed with a slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, I heard about that marriage too. But what about that girl? What was her name again? She was there when you were battling the Elite Four in Johto?" she tried recalling the name but Ash cut her off, "You mean Misty…"

"Yeah that's the one" Anabel could see the pain and sadness swelling up inside the boy. Every word he was going to speak about her seemed like another needle striking his heart, "Is something wrong Ash?"

"Huh? Oh nothing" only a pure idiotic idiot wouldn't see that he was lying. Something was wrong with the boy and whatever it was it had something to do with the girl in question, "So… what's with…" she was gonna say 'Misty' but she rather not, "…Pikachu! Did he get bigger or what?"

"Yeah, Pikachu got a little bigger (Pika!) and stronger too. He and I have been through a lot in this journey and now I've completed my goals" he held out a small badge that was extremely rare to see. The Master Badge. It represented that he was indeed a Pokemon master and no one could say otherwise. Anabel slowly observe the badge and was quite fond of its beautiful colors. Seeing a Master was indeed rare and holding one would be nearly impossible. The small piece of accessory was so expensive that you could buy the whole Mt. Moon with it.

After she gave the badge back to its owner the power came back. "Oh, the power's back. I'll go and call the-" the power went out, "…hospital" it seemed like if she wanted to call, the power would go out. Perhaps she should take this as a sign or something. Ash giggled at this funny scene. "Well, I'm going to bed. I have a long way to go tomorrow" he quickly stood up from his chair and walked towards the guest room. Anabel sighed and agreed that sleeping wasn't such a bad idea. After a few minutes, they both changed into their PJs and went to sleep.

(Time skip 1 hour still at the house)

While Ash was snoring his way to dreamland Anabel was having the opposite effect. She found herself in a very uncomfortable position. She tossed and turned like she was looking for that comfortable pillow this morning. She then remembered that it was Ash, not a pillow. "I have to sleep or else I won't have the energy to fight tomorrow" she forcefully covered herself with the pillow and slept… well… if she could.

Just when she was already half asleep…

CRASH!

"What now!" she yelled out. She immediately put on her fluffy sandals and head towards the kitchen where the crash originated from.

"Ash, is that you?" she flick open one of her portable flashlights and scanned the living room. There was no response. The air seemed colder than usual which frightened her a little bit. The cold chilling breeze made her shiver in her PJs and yet she felt hot at the same time. "Espeon, if that's you please tell me" there was a slight hint of fear in the tone of her voice. "MMMMMMMMMMM" a strange sound came across from the kitchen. Anabel pointed her flashlight at the door way and saw it slightly opened.

A few minutes later, she remembered that there was another entrance into the house from the kitchen. "Wh…who are you Come out!" there still was no response. A few minutes later she heard some grumbling sound coming from the inside. Her heart beat rate increased, her sweat glance began acting up and her hands were shivering. She was so frightened that she dropped her flash light on the ground, "Oh crud!" she said.

The batteries flew out of the sockets and rolled down the carpet. Anabel managed to pick one up but when she reached for the other one… she noticed that it was next to a… foot? Her heart stopped. She slowly gazed up on who the foot belonged to. Since there was no light she couldn't see the man's face or figure. By the time she looked up, her eyes froze in terror. The man had blood spilling on his lips and a butcher knife on his hand. Anabel stumbled back. She desperately tried to scream but the voice escaped her. The man slowly approached with both his arms like he was gonna rape her. And so… Anabel did the only logical thing. She screamed.

The man got closer and closer… he touched her PJs which caused the light in Anabel's eyes to disappear. She was frightened and shock and paralyzed. The man really looked like he was gonna rape her here and now… until…

"HEY! You keep your hands off of her!"