There is no rest for the weary, be it in body, mind or heart. The same fire that drives us to greatness can drive us to insanity. Where will the flame drive Ash too? Time can only tell...
"Use Rock Smash!"
"You use Rock Smash too, Excadrill!"
Ash braced himself against the shockwave from the two powerful blows. It had been a fierce battle already. Oshawott's courageous duel with Krokorok and eventual overpowering at the nonexistent hands of Palpitoad, Snivy's effortless victory and then crushing defeat beneath the iron claws of Excadrill, had come down to this.
His idea with Roggenrola had been sound. He knew that Roggenrola's sole rock type would be doubly vulnerable to Excadrill's dual ground and steel type. He had seen exactly how powerful and formidable the old Subterrene Pokemon truly was. He knew that this last battle was going to be difficult.
He also knew that Roggenrola's defences and endurance were just as strong. He knew that Roggenrola would never give up in the face of such a powerful opponent. He knew, and trusted, that the Mantle Pokemon would pull through.
He had guessed that Roggenrola would get thrown around a bit, but he hadn't thought that it would be so bad. Excadrill had wiped the floor with Roggenrola, but he still got back up.
And neither he nor Clay had expected that Roggenrola's response to Excadrill's Horn Drill would be to evolve into Boldore, nor that he would learn new moves in the process.
Evolution had proved to be the tipping point that Ash had needed. After beating back Excadrill with Rock Blast, they were now engaged in a battle of wills. Ash could see that their power was evenly matched.
"Come on, Ash! You can do it!" Iris yelled.
"Stay strong, Boldore!" Cilan shouted.
"Pika pika!" (Hang in there!) Pikachu added.
Ash stared at the flashing crystals on Boldore's back, pulsating with new energy. Come on, Boldore. Don't give up on me. I know you're strong. We can pull through this. All you have to do is PUSH!
Finally, after almost a minute of stalemate, Excadrill winced. With an angry, triumphant cry, Boldore pushed his spike-like leg passed Excadrill's claws, and brought it down on his opponent's head.
The blow was so powerful, Excadrill was smashed into the ground. Boldore remained standing, then stepped back, revealing an utterly dazed Excadrill.
"Excadrill is unable to battle, Boldore wins, which means Ash is the victor!" The referee called out, raising his left hand towards Ash.
Ash stared for a moment, then pumped his fist. "Alright!"
He happily hugged his newly evolved Pokemon, then shouted in surprise when Boldore jumped on him. As he laughed, a part of him couldn't help feeling a little sad, though he didn't know why.
Much later that day, Ash found himself once again gazing up at the sky, watching the changing colours as the sun lowered in the sky, a considerable contrast to the brightly lit tunnels of Clay's underground battlefield. Pikachu had chosen to take a nap next to him, while his other Pokemon rested around the campsite.
He glanced back at them. Snivy, as usual, had chosen to sit a part from the group, taking her place on a low branch of a nearby tree. She had easily reconciled herself with her defeat by Excadrill, having a clear understanding of just how powerful the Subterrene Pokemon had been.
Oshawott was practicing with his scalchop. He had been satisfied with beating Krokorok, though he had been irritated with himself for how easily he had fallen to Palpitoad. Thankfully, he had been happy to learn how easily Palpitoad, in turn, had been thrashed by Snivy.
Tepig was still eating. He had understood why Ash had not chosen to include him in the battle, and was eagerly anticipating the next battle that he could fight in.
Scraggy was fighting against Boldore, though it was entirely one-sided. Boldore was simply sitting in the sun, absorbing the light with his crystals to add it to his core. He barely moved as Scraggy repeatedly used Headbutt, and didn't notice at all when he used Leer.
Ash chuckled. It was kind of hard to notice a Leer when you didn't have eyes, as he had been surprised to learn from Cilan.
Turning back to look up at the faint wisps of cloud in the sky, he sighed. He had enjoyed his victory, of course. It was always satisfying to win a Gym battle.
But, there was something different about this one, like something was missing. It felt, hollow. He looked down sadly at Pikachu, curled up next his foot, snoozing peacefully.
"What is going on, Pikachu? I can't even feel good about winning a Gym battle anymore. I only train to make everyone better, not because I enjoy it. I've never been like this, not since I lost to Paul, and even then, I bounced back from it. So what's wrong with me now? What's changed?"
Pikachu made no response, merely continuing to sleep. He smiled. Pikachu never had such worries. He was always ready to battle, to help, but he never worried, except when someone was in trouble. Pikachu was the ultimate optimist.
Ash smiled. Kind of like I used to be. It confused him to no end, and he hated being confused.
Sighing, he climbed to his feet and started walking, going nowhere in particular. He was wrapped up in his thoughts, discarding one after another, growing more despondent with each that he left behind.
But each new thought that came into his head brought with it memories, some happy, some sad. Each new thought brought Dawn back into his mind.
Why do I keep thinking about her? We're friends, yeah. I've got others. Brock, Misty, Richie, May, Max, Morrison, Barry, Tracy, Gary. They've never been like this. Is it because I worry about her? She's 16, she can take care of herself. I got into more trouble than she did, and she never worried about me like this.
He paused. Or if she did, she never told me.
He grimaced, then lashed out and slammed his fist into a nearby tree out of frustration. "Arrgh, what is wrong with me!"
"Nothing."
Ash whirled around to find Cilan standing a few feet away. "Cilan! I didn't hear you coming."
Cilan nodded. "Let me guess, you're thinking about Dawn, aren't you."
Ash looked at him, then turned off to the side. "I don't know why. I've never had this problem before, and it's messing up everything. I can't focus on training properly, and that's not fair to my Pokemon. I can't figure out what's wrong."
Cilan smiled at his friend. "Ash, nothing is wrong with you. You miss your friend. That's normal."
Ash grunted, unconvinced. "I've never missed anyone like this. I traveled with Misty for three years, and I don't miss her like this. I traveled with May for two years, and I don't miss her like this. So what's different?"
Cilan's smile grew sad. "I can't tell you that, Ash. You know her better than I do. You tell me."
Ash leaned against the tree he had punched, massaging his knuckles. He remained silent.
They stood like that for several minutes, Cilan waiting patiently, Ash absorbed in his thoughts. Finally, Cilan spoke again.
"Describe her for me."
Ash blinked and looked at him. "What?"
Cilan leaned against a tree of his own. "Tell me what she looks like."
Ash hesitated, then sighed. "She's the same height as me, and her skin is a bit lighter than mine." He paused. It wasn't that he couldn't remember what she looked like, her image was fixated in his mind, he just didn't know what details to put first. "She's got blue hair that she's kind of obsessed with. She refuses to let anyone see her in the morning until she brushes it just right. It normally comes down to her chest, but she has these gold triangular hair clips to keep it up, so it's usually a couple inches below her shoulders."
He turned his face towards the sky. "She's got these blue eyes that you can get lost in. They're so dark, almost like the sky just before the sun turns it orange. They're really beautiful."
He sighed again. "She wears a black armless shirt with a pink mini-skirt. She also has this white beanie hat with a pink Pokeball design on it. She always wears these pink boots, almost like snow boots, and she never takes her pink Poketch off, or her black bracelet. She wears a red scarf tied around her neck."
He suddenly chuckled, causing Cilan to look at him curiously. "She keeps more clothes with her than anyone else I've ever met. First off, there is her contest dress, but she has to keep that with her to compete. Then there's her cheerleading outfit, which I have no idea where she got it from, that she usually wears when I have a really important battle. She did different routines every time. Her mother, Johanna, also sent her a red snow jacket and a bigger, white scarf when we were heading up to Snowpoint City. She carries all of it in her yellow backpack. Sometimes, I wonder how she can manage to even carry it, she has so much stuff in it."
His face took on a more serious look, but he was still smiling. "She never runs out of confidence. She's absolutely determined to become Top Coordinator, and she's always thinking about new combinations, new ways to show off her Pokemon. She's always optimistic, and is always ready to laugh or cheer someone else up. She's the best friend you could ever have."
Cilan listened quietly. He had never heard someone describe a person so completely, and with such fondness in their voice. She must have been really something to make an impression like that on him, he thought. "Ash, why don't you call her?"
It took Ash a couple seconds to respond, then he jerked his head. "What?"
Cilan smiled. "Call her, Ash. There is a unique flavour that runs in this recipe, one that runs much deeper than I think either of you realize. Call her, see what she's doing. Talk. Perhaps that will give you some incite into your thoughts."
Ash looked at his friend, pondering his words. "Maybe later. It's kind of late now, and besides, we're starting out to Mistralton City tomorrow."
Cilan laid a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Call her tomorrow morning. It'll only take a few minutes."
Ash shrugged off his hand. "What about Iris? You know how impatient she can get, I won't hear the end of it if she knows that I'm calling Dawn."
Cilan chuckled. "I'll tell her I sent you to grab some things for me. She'll wait."
Ash turned and looked at the darkening sky again. Cilan patted his friend's shoulder, then walked back towards the camp.
"She was the only one who asked."
Cilan paused, and turned back towards Ash, who hadn't moved. "What?"
"She was the only girl who asked to travel with me. Misty, May, they both guilted me into letting them come with me because Pikachu destroyed their bikes, though they both did forgive me eventually, May sooner than Misty. Iris, well, you know, kind of invited herself."
He looked down at the ground. "But Dawn actually asked me if she could come with me. She figured that Brock and I knew what we were doing, and she wanted to learn from us. She forgave me right away after Pikachu destroyed her bike, even though I wasn't even there when it happened. She was..." he paused, "...different. Is that weird?" He turned and looked at Cilan, who could see the real questions in his brown eyes.
Cilan smiled. "No, Ash. That's not weird at all."
He left the teen standing alone to ponder his thoughts.
The next morning, Ash stood in front of a video phone, anxiously shifting his weight from one foot to another. Pikachu was perched on his shoulder, as usual, wondering why they had come back to the Pokemon Center.
Finally, Ash sighed. "Might as well get it over with." He pulled the folded up photograph from the inside pocket of his hoodie, and punched in the number written on the back. As he waited for the phone to dial, he took one quick look at the photo, then slipped it back inside his hoodie.
The screen flickered, and a dark haired older woman appeared on the screen.
"Hello?" Her eyes widened slightly, and she smiled. "Ash, what a surprise!"
Ash smiled. "Hi, Ms. Berlitz."
She laughed. "Please, I've told you, call me Johanna."
His smile turned slightly sheepish. Pikachu leaned forward off of his shoulder. "Pika pika!" (Hi Johanna!)
Johanna smiled at the Mouse Pokemon. "Hello, Pikachu. How are you both?"
Ash grinned. "We're doing good. Um," his grin turned serious, "is Dawn around? I was wondering if I could talk to her."
Johanna's smile vanished, and Ash's heart plummeted. "I'm sorry, Ash, but Dawn left a few weeks ago for the Hoenn Region, after Buneary's Pokemodeling article wrapped up. I haven't heard much from her since."
Ash slumped over slightly, and Pikachu gave him a worried look. She could be anywhere by now. "That's okay. I kinda figured she wouldn't be home."
Johanna looked at him kindly. "If she does call, would you like me to tell her that you called?"
Ash smiled weakly. "Yeah, that'd be great. Tell her that Unova's awesome, and that I hope her journey's going great. Thanks."
He cut the connection. He hated saying good-bye.
He slowly walked out of the Pokemon Center to where Cilan and Iris were waiting. Iris was hopping from one foot to the other impatiently, while Cilan stood calmly next to her. Axew sat on the ground next to his trainer, watching her eager dance.
Cilan noticed Ash approaching from the corner of his eye, and turned to greet him. "Ah, Ash, did they have what I was looking for?"
For a second, Ash looked despondent, then he fixed a smile on his face. "Nah, they were all out."
Cilan frowned. He guessed that the call hadn't gone well. "I see. Well, that's too bad. Maybe I'll find some in the next town we come across."
Ash nodded. "Maybe. Well, we should get going. I've got my next Gym Badge to win."
Iris jumped impatiently. "Finally. For someone eager to get his Gym Badge, you sure are slow. Lets go already." She reached down to get Axew, who climbed up her arm and into her hair.
Ash chuckled as the group left Driftveil City, heading north. As they crested the hill, Ash paused to look back at the city, his eyes zeroing in on Pokemon Center. He gazed at it for a couple seconds, then sighed and turned back towards the path.
"Race you to Mistralton!" He shouted as he took off. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and hit the ground running, Iris and Cilan in hot pursuit.
Awww, Ash didn't get a chance to talk to Dawn. Soon, I promise. I don't excarberate misery for nothing. And I apologize for the shorter chapter. I have less ideas of what to do with Ash than I do with Dawn, but things should improve once our two lost loves reunite and merge their flames. Make of that what you will.