The Awakening, The Return

"What's wrong, Melody?" Bianca asks her still awake friend, Melody was just sitting next to the window, staring at the sky.

"If I play my song," Melody asks Bianca. "Do you think they'll hear it?"

"You mean Ash and Anabel?"

"Yeah," Melody begins. "It's the only thing I can do for them now."

"I'm sure that where ever they are, they'll hear it." Bianca tells her.

"Thanks, Bianca."

Melody puts the shell up to her mouth and she starts playing her song.


"My name's Ash Ketchum and I'm from Pallet Town."

"Pikachu says that when you do certain things, you act a bit rash."

"Uh I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mmmppggghhh..." Anabel slowly stirred. Her head ached. She sits up slowly holding her head.

"Ash, I think you're the amazing one."

"Huh? Why me?"

"Well you only risked your life to save Pikachu didn't you? I don't think any trainer would've gone that far."

"Yeah, I could do stuff like that."

"PIKACHU!" Ash jumps in between Volt Tackling Pikachu and the wall.

"He did it again!"

"What happened?" She looks around herself, but doesn't notice the sleeping white and red Pokemon hiding in the bushes. The stars above her glistened beautifully.

"Huh?"

"AAAAHHH!"

"Ash?!"

"I did again Anabel!" Ash runs from a flock of Beedrill.

"How could you?!" Anabel runs too.

Ash and Anabel managed to get out of the lake, covered in mulch.

"Man you look funny."

"So do you!"

"Ahahaha!"

After adjusting to the darkness, she realizes where she is, "This place is... that hill in Tili Bay. Huh?"

Anabel looks right beside her to find a boy, sleeping. With his cap completely covering his face.

"Hey, Anabel. How are you able to talk to Pokemon the way you do?"

"I don't even know how I do it. I guess it's been happening since I was a little girl. I'd come to the forest and talk to everything, trees, grass, the stars and all the wild Pokemon. And that's how it all started!"

"That's totally amazing!"

"It's getting your ego out of the way to truly get to know someone else."

"Yeah... I-I think I know what you mean!"

"So see if you can sense what's in my heart."

"You got it!"

Ash takes a long hard stare at Anabel, it takes everything she had not to blush or smile.

"Oh no! I'm not sensing a thing!"

"That's okay, you're fine the way you are!"

"Man!" Ash sounded unhappy, but Anabel smiles.

"Hey Ash, that Frontier Brain is strong. So good luck! I'll be rooting for you!"

"Anabel, thanks!" the two trainers shake hands.

After Anabel waves goodbye, she stares at her hand and brings it closer to her. (It looks like you still can't sense feelings yet Ash, or you would've sensed my feelings for you.)

"Ash..." Anabel leans over the sleeping boy slightly.

"You're challenging the Sinnoh League, right Ash?"

"Yep!" Ash proudly tells her. "I have 7 badges so far and I'm sure I'll win this one!"

"Hahaha, good luck Ash."

"Can you hear it Ash? It's a wonderful song."

"Hear what?"

"The song of the wind."

Anabel crawls over the sleeping boy's body, she gently takes off his hat off of his face. His eyes were shut, his breathing was clam. He was at peace.

"Yeah! We did it!" Ash jumps around joyously and instinctively hugs Anabel.

Anabel's face turned beet red, "A-Ash! P-please let me go!"

"Oh," Ash calmed down a little and released Anabel. "So sorry about that, I guess I got a little too excited."

"Y-yeah," Anabel twiddled with her fingers.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Huh? What is it Anabel?"

"If I end up making too much, is it okay if I can ask for your help with them?"

"Sure! I know my Pokemon would love some food from you!"

"Oh Ash…" Anabel's eyes became teary. She softly rubs her hand against his cheek.

"Ash?"

"I'm just going for a walk," Ash tells her.

"Is something wrong?" Anabel herself gets up.

"I think I just need some air," Ash opens the door.

"Let me come with you," Anabel hurries over with her Espeon right beside her. "I don't think I can sleep knowing you're somewhere else."

"The sky is so beautiful tonight," Anabel stares upwards as they stroll. The stars were shining down on them.

"It really is," Ash agrees. "But it's strange."

Anabel looks at him, "What's strange?"

"Tonight," Ash replies. "For some reason it looks... different."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know myself," Ash looks back at her. "I can't find the right words to describe it."

"Well," Anabel stopped. "Why don't I try to find them for you?"

"Huh?"

"Let me search your feelings," the girl lets out a hand. "I'll find the words for you."

Ash silently lifts up his hand and hesitates a little bit, he gently places his hand on top of hers.

Ash and Anabel just look into each other's eyes.

"You were right Ash," Anabel starts, smiling. "It is hard to describe your feelings. But 'vibrant', 'stunning' and..." Anabel suddenly pulls her hand back, placing it on her heart and shyly turns around.

"Anabel?" Ash takes a step closer.

"'Lovely'," the girl suddenly says aloud.

"Huh?"

"Those are the words... that I feel,"

"If only I could've told you how I felt, would you have accepted my feelings?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"ANABEEEEEEEEEL!!!"

"I'm so sorry I worried you," tears fall from Anabel onto Ash. "But I didn't want to see you get hurt. And yet, you…"

Anabel's eyes open to see Ash's face in front of hers, to feel his lips on her own. Anabel can feel... something warm flowing within her, she can tell that it's coming from Ash. She closes her eyes willingly, to take in everything Ash is giving her.

Anabel opens her eyes once again and places a hand on Ash's cheek. Ash feels this and opens his eyes, seeing Anabel awake. He blushed furiously and jerked back.

"I wanted to save you Ash, but you saved me instead…" Anabel wipes her face with her arm. She then feels her lips. "And when I lost my memory, you stayed with me."

The girl pushes the boy back down into the water. Ash opens his eyes to see Anabel staring right back at him. There was something in her eyes, she wanted something, she yearned for it.

Anabel?

Ash feels Anabel wrap her arms around his neck, she pulls him closer to her as she closes the distance between their faces. Ash feels her press her lips against his

"You were tossing and turning in your sleep," Anabel tells him. "I was getting worried."

"Hmm..." Ash looks down.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"No..." Ash answers softly. "A memory."

"About me, isn't it? About last night," Anabel crawls closer to Ash.

"Yeah," Ash keeps his head low, he doesn't want to look at Anabel.

"Ash..." Anabel places a hand on his cheek and lifts his face to see into his tearful eyes.

"Anabel I-"

"Shhh..." Anabel floats her head closer to Ash.

"I'm sorry I couldn't-"

"Shhh..." Anabel drifts closer to him...

"I... I..."

"Shut up Ash," Anabel presses her lips onto his once again.

Ash quietly takes the kiss.

Anabel slowly pulls away and smiles, "I warned you."

"Even though I wasn't me, you still accepted me. The only part of myself I kept was my feelings for you. I couldn't tell you how I felt because I was worried, worried that you might not accept me because I wasn't whole. But now... I can't bring myself to admit my feelings for you."

"This time... I'll fight with you."

"Huh?" Ash looks at her puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine," the girl replies happily. "I have you with me after all."

"I may not be able to say this ever again, and I don't think I'll ever be able to say this when you're awake. But Ash," Anabel brings her face closer to Ash's. "Please know that..."

A tear falls from her face...

I love you...

A gentle wind blows through them, lifting up leaves and grass into the sky. The stars glittered brighter than before.


Melody slowly finishes the last bit of her song. She finds that Bianca is asleep. "Ash, Anabel..."


Anabel slowly parts her lips from Ash's and lays her head down quietly on his chest. His heart, Anabel closes her eyes. I can hear it. Such a wonderful beat. She uses one of her fingers to draw an imaginary heart on his shirt. His chest is so big, and warm... Anabel snuggles herself up right next to him and quietly drifts off to sleep.


"Good morning Dawn!" May greets her friend.

"Morning May!" Dawn returns. "Lyra, Marley, Melody, Flint-"

"Just say good morning everyone," Flint tells her. "Much easier that way. Huh?"

The group makes their way to the front foyer to find Lucian sleeping in a chair with a book over his head.

"I guess he was waiting for them to return," Ritchie laughes.

"Did they come back?" Lyra asks.

"I don't know," Red answers. "I don't want to disturb them if they did. Pika, can you go check on them?"

"Pika!" Red's Pikachu agrees.

"You too Chuchu," Yellow lets her Pikachu follow Red's.

"Sparky," Ritchie turns to his partner. "Go with them too."

The three Pikachus happily make their way to the room Ash and Anabel were supposed to be in.

"Wake up cousin," Bugsy pokes Lucian with his bug net. "It's morning already."

"Hm?" Lucian slowly gets up from the chair. "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!" Lucian stretches. "That was a nice sleep."

"Good morning," Winona smiles.

"Good morning," Lucian replies. "So, what's happening today?"

"We don't know yet," Flint answers.

"We're probably going to get the day off today," Volkner adds. "They need to repair the damages done to the stadium."

"Oooh, to think that Ash had that kind of power," Flint wraps his arm around Volkner's head. "You're going to have one heck of a battle during your Gym match."

"I can't wait," Volkner smiles. "But we have to get through this tournament first. Who knows, we might be facing them in the next round."

"Don't speak about the future yet," Lucian intervenes. "You still have to get past me."

"I'll go outside and grab some air," May stretches herself.

"Sounds like a good idea," Lyra follows.

The two of them leave the building and breath in the fresh air.

"Aaaaahhhh," May relaxes. "Huh?" She notices a giant shadow coming down from above! "Aaaaaahhhh!"

A Metagross drops right in front of her, panicking her as she falls to the ground.

"What's going on?" Zoey and the rest come out of the building.

"Meta-" Metagross begins. "Meta-meetaaa."

"Uhhh, Yellow?" Red turns to his friend.

"Okay," Yellow places a hand near Metagross' head. "This is... Anabel's Metagross!"

"Anabel?" everyone moves in to listen better.

"Umm..." Yellow concentrates harder. "She's saying something, 'Okay Metagross, this might sound weird but I'm sure they'll have Yellow read your mind. Yellow, if you're there, please tell everyone that we're alright. Ash is still asleep and I don't want to disturb him. Just put some breakfast on Metagross' head and he'll come over and deliver it to us. We'll be back whenever we're done. Okay Metagross, you know where to go right?' And that's it."

"So Ash and Anabel are okay," Dawn sounds relieved. "Phew."

"I better go and start cooking their food," Brock smiles. "You know Ash."

"Hahaha!" everyone joyously laughs.

"Piiikaaa!"

Ritchie turns around, "Sparky!"

"Pii! Pikachu!" Sparky was panicking and pointing inside.

"What's wrong Sparky?"

Sparky runs off and Ritchie goes to give chase.

"Pika!" Sparky points into Ash and Anabel's room.

"Huh?" Ritchie looks in. "HUUUH?"

"What's wrong Ritchie?" Melody walks up to him. She looks into the room he was looking in, "Whoa! Well, you know what they say about trainers and their Pokemon, they can often act alike."

"Chaaaaa!" Ash's Pikachu begins to wake up. He trots over to Espeon and cheek nudges her awake.

The other three Pikachu make their way over to them. They all begin chatting with each other.

"Pikachu, Espeon," Ritchie leans over to the two Pokemon. "Anabel's Metagross is here to deliver some food to Ash and Anabel, do you want to go with it?"

"Pika!" Pikachu replies happily, he turns to Espeon. "Pikachu?"

"Piii!" Espeon shouts joyously.

"Here," Melody pulls the covers off one of the beds. "Use this."

"Are you sure about this?" Ritchie asks her.

"Don't worry," Melody answers. "I'll explain it Nurse Joy later. Alright you two." Melody directs Pikachu and Espeon. "You better get going. We got this."

"Pikapika!" Pikachu runs off.

"Espii!" Espeon follows.


"Alright! That should be all of it!" Brock places the last bit of silverware on top of Metagross.

"Piiika! Pikapii!"

"Meta?"

"Espi, espi!"

Pikachu and Espeon run out of the Pokemon Center and hop on top of Metagross.

"Don't forget this!" Ritchie comes out carrying something completely wrapped in a blanket.

"Espi!" Espeon uses Psychic to lift the object and place it down right next to her and Pikachu.

"Okay!" Melody comes out. "Now make sure you're extra careful Metagross, and you two, don't let anything fall off."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu acknowledges.

"Meeeta!" Metagross begins to walk away with silverware, food, Pikachu and Espeon on top of it.

Everyone watches as Metagross leaves.

"Hey Ritchie," Lyra walks over to the boy. "What was that you gave them?"

"Oh... ah... um... You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."


"Huh?" Riley was walking towards the Pokemon Center, but he stopped when he saw a Metagross with dinner ware on top of it. "What was that?" He asked himself as the Metagross walked away.

"Hey! Riley!" Brock calls.

"Hello!" Riley calls back as he makes his way to the group. "How is everyone?"

"Good!" Dawn answers. "What brings you here? You caught the bad guys right?"

"That's right," Riley answers. "It won't be long before we get the rest of them in Sinnoh at least. Where's Ash and Anabel? There's something important I need to tell you."

"Something important?" May looks puzzled.

"Well not really," Riley scratches his head. "Just a message from Wallace. So where are those two anyway?"

"They're somewhere else right now," Yellow tells him. "Metagross is just taking breakfast to them."

"I see-wait," Riley does a double take. "You mean the Metagross I saw earlier was on its way to Ash and Anabel?"

"Yeah!" Yellow answers. "Um... I think it was somewhere on a hill."

"That'd be the hill in the park," Melody informs. "If it's a hill, then that's the closest to the arena. I'm sure they're there."

"Okay," Riley takes out a Pokegear. "Let me make a call then."


"The wind is so beautiful this morning, isn't it Ash?" Anabel talks to herself while Ash's head rests peacefully on her lap. She strokes his chins a little and looks around. A nice breeze was blowing through, several small Pokemon were playing around, and a young boy was lying asleep on a girl's lap. "Heeheehee."

"Piiiikaaaaa!!!"

"Huh?" Anabel turns to see Pikachu and Espeon riding Metagross and coming up this way. Anabel waves at them. "Pikachu! Espeon!"

"Piiii!"

"Pikachuuuuu!"
"Hahahaha!" Anabel waits until the three Pokemon make it to where she is. Pikachu and Espeon jump off of Metagross and run up to the girl. "Mmm... Breakfast smells good. How are you two?"

"Pii, pikachupii!"

"Espii-espeon!"

"That's good to hear," Anabel smiles happily.

"Pika-Pikapika!"

"A surprise?" Anabel looks confused. "What is it?"

Espeon and Pikachu smile and nod at each other. Espeon turns around and uses Psychic to lift up something from on top of Metagross. It was something wrapped in a blanket. Espeon brings it to Anabel and the girl takes it.

"What's this?" Anabel begins to unravel blanket. "It's... an Egg?" Anabel looks closely at the brown Egg in her hands, there was a big lighter brown zigzag at the middle of it. "What are you doing with an Egg?"

"Espi, Espeon!"

"It's YOURS!?"

"Es, Espeonespi!"

"You and Pikachu did WHAT?"

"Mmmmppprrrrrggghhh..." Ash begins to churn. "AAAAaaaaahhhh!" He stretches his arms out. "For some reason that felt like the best sleep I ever had. Huh?" He realizes that he's looking straight up at Anabel. "Anabel!" Ash suddenly gets up.

"Waaa-!" Ash got up so suddenly that Anabel nearly dropped the Egg. "ASSSH!" Anabel yells angrily at the boy. "You almost made me drop our Egg!"

"Ahh! I'm sorry!" Ash quickly apologized. "OUR EGG!?" Ash's jaw dropped.

"Piikaa," Pikachu scratched his head, Epseon giggles.

"Hehehe," Anabel giggles softly. "Ash..." the girl smiles, there was strangely more happiness and beauty in this smile than ever before. "I'm back."


Author: Yep! Anabel's back! And they've got an Egg, what could be inside? Also, there's still the last few battles of the tournament! With Anabel's memories restored, this duo is sure to prove themselves powerful! Who will make it to the top?