Chapter 2

"Yes, it's me, Ash." Misty replied.

"What are you doing here?" Ash accused, his voice sounding weaker than normal.

"Calm down," Misty said, raising an eyebrow, "I came here to investigate."

She fiddled with the end of her braided orange hair, "I've heard about underground, illegal activities and I figured I could see if someone was bluffing or not… Needless to say, they're telling the truth."

He nodded, swallowing and shifting uncomfortably. Misty had been a good friend of his since childhood and he would loathe trying to explain why he had come up from underground. He could almost imagine the exchange and feel the impact of her hand against his face. This made him wince while trying to look anywhere but at her.

"Why are you here, Ash?"

Misty's question made Ash's mouth snap shut. He did not dare admit that he had only been in the Underground for sport. On the other hand, he did not want to look desperate. Before Ash could say a word, a group of men in black outfits came up behind Misty. Ash shoved her out of the way, telling her to run to a safer place. Misty just stared for a moment before hiding behind a building while watching Ash and Pikachu, who ended up battling the men that possessed Pokémon of their own.

Thankfully, Ash and Pikachu beat the men, but not without sustaining injuries of their own. Pikachu had several bleeding gashes and Ash had been attacked by one of the Pokémon when Pikachu had dodged a Rollout attack. Ash saw that Pikachu was blanching fast and scrambled to pick him up and carry him to the Pokemon hospital in Viridian City. However, Ash had unknowingly sustained a broken ankle when he was hit by the Rollout attack but ran on it anyway, despite his body and brain's frantic messages of painful protest. Just before entering the hospital, Ash's wounded and swelling ankle gave out and he fell to the ground, hearing a very loud "crack" before his world abruptly turned black. The last thing he heard before black consumed him was the cry of his wounded Pikachu.

A bright light made Ash's eyelashes flutter clumsily as he awoke from the dreamless "sleep" he had been in. His eyes were greeted by a reflection of light off of the white ceiling, which made him grumble to himself. He heard a female voice and sat from his reclined position abruptly, turning his head in the direction of the sound. The voice belonged to an unfamiliar girl who sat beside Misty in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the room.

The girl could not have been more than ten years old, with caramel ringlet curls pooling around her shoulders. Her irises were a striking middle-of-the-spectrum amethyst, though it was hard to see them clearly because her eyes were narrowed. Her skin was slightly darker than his, which was probably due to excessive exposure to the sun. She wore denim shorts and a black t-shirt with Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pikachu on it. Her sneakers made a quiet noise against the floor as she approached Ash.

Before Ash could introduce himself, the female reached over and smacked him hard upside the head. He let out a noise of displeasure before speaking.

"What the hell?" he demanded, rubbing the back of his head.

"You jerk!" the girl hissed, "What have you been doing to that poor Pikachu? Do you know how many injuries he has?"

"Anna, what did I say about interfering with patients?" a calm voice interrupted as woman stepped into the room.

"I don't understand, Mom," the girl said exasperatedly, "Why do adults think they are above the law? You taught me to always follow the rules because they keep us safe."

"I understand, dear," the girl's mother replied, "But people have a hard time adjusting."

"I hate to interrupt," Misty interjected, "But is Pikachu going to be okay?"

The woman adjusted her labcoat before narrowing her gray-green eyes and speaking, "He will make a full recovery, no thanks to your friend's negligence. Constant fighting has bruised some of that Pokemon's internal organs. His spill on the sidewalk caused a few broken ribs and a fractured ankle. You are one lucky trainer, Mr. Ketchum; any of the broken ribs could have punctured one or both of that poor Pikachu's lungs. Needless to say, he needs to recover in the hospital."

Ash just sat in the bed, biting his lower lip. How could he have been so blind? Surely, constant fighting after a hiatus of thirteen years would cause problems. He pinched the bridge of his nose in shame and looked at the floor.

"I-I'm sorry," he murmured, running his hand through his hair.

"Don't apologize to me," the doctor replied coolly, "I pray this was the only Pokemon you battled with because his injuries are so extensive."

"I need to go," Ash said, starting to stand up but yelping as he put pressure on his left leg.

"You need crutches. You have an ankle fracture and a pulled hamstring as well as overall weakness in your muscles," the woman added, handing Misty crutches.

"Sorry, Mister Ketchup, but you're down and out for the count," the girl added snidely, earning a glare from her mother.

"Ketchum," Misty corrected with a silent snicker.

"Annabelle, go sit at the front desk," the doctor said sternly.

The young woman left obediently, shutting the door behind her. The doctor looked at the Pikachu laying on the other bed in the room and sighed. At the same time, Ash looked at Pikachu with a contorted look of pain on his face.

"You were involved in those rings, weren't you, Mister Ketchum? And please, don't lie. Mothers know these things."

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Ash demanded.

The doctor's eyes sparkled with tears, "My son joined them… He hasn't come home. Anna is distraught and my husband is traveling through all other regions to make sure he wasn't kidnapped or is not being held hostage. M-May I ask you a favor?"

"Absolutely," Misty responded, cutting Ash off while giving him a glare that said to 'shut up'.

"I'm sure you have other Pokemon. Could you please investigate who is behind the rings?" the doctor asked as she wiped her eyes to hide her falling tears, "I-I just want my little boy back…"

Ash frowned slightly and whispered, "It's okay. We'll find him and bring him back safely."

"Bless your souls," the doctor said before her pager went off and she exited the room.

"C'mon Ash. We need to get to the bottom of these rings," Misty insisted, helping Ash out of his bed and throwing his clothes at him as she left the room, "I'll be out in the lobby.

The door closed behind her as she left. Ash looked forlornly at Pikachu, gently leaving a kiss on his nose. Despite the fact he had grown out of public affection since childhood, he could not leave his closest friend without comfort. He knew better then to touch the little Pokemon's head; the Pokémon had also suffered a mild fracture of the frontal bone from the impact of the duo's epic fall. Ash shakily rose from the side of Pikachu's bed, picking up the clothes Misty had handed to him. He sighed, dressing himself and wincing as he moved his leg to put on his jeans. He had been on his legs so much that some of the muscles in his leg gave out due to overuse. He also remembered something about an over stretched hamstring, but he wrote it off as insignificant. He finally left the room after scratching behind Pikachu's ears as a 'so long'. As he shut the door quietly, he was met with a glare from Misty.

"You sprained your ankle AND pulled your hamstring, you idiot! You should be on crutches," the redhead scolded, shoving a pair of metal crutches at Ash, who rolled his eyes.

"Misty, you're overreacting," he said calmly, trying to keep his temper under control, "I'll be fine. I have to figure out who's behind those underground battling rings and find that doctor's son..."

"Like hell you're going to!" Misty declared, "I refuse to stand by and watch you be an idiot. I'm coming with you, end of story. You can't handle whoever by yourself without Pikachu."

Ash grit his teeth as he felt the control over his temper wane, "She asked ME, Misty..."

"You can't face this alone," Misty insisted, reaching into her pocket for a ponytail holder to put up her hair, which had gotten longer since Ash had last seen her.

"Yes, I can!" Ash snapped, throwing one of the crutches aside, "I've faced Pokémon thieves and crime syndicates trying to take over the world before as a kid. Why do I suddenly need help?"

Misty stood silently, watching Ash as he rubbed the bridge of his nose to calm himself. She swallowed; the slightly younger male had NEVER been so vocally aggressive, not even when he had battled Giovanni all of those years ago, when he was only ten. However, the redhead knew the raven-haired male well enough to know that something else was bothering him. She could see a sparkle in the corner of his russet eyes that could only be tears. She could also tell something was wrong because of the creases in his forehead.

"Ash..." she said softly, looking at him with pleading eyes.

He shook his head, turning to walk toward the hospital doors, "I have to do this alone, Misty. I-I can't let another friend get hurt because of me..."

"THAT'S what you're worried about?" Misty snapped at Ash, though he could not hear her because the hospital doors closed in her face.

Misty huffed in frustration, storming out of the hospital and heading home to get some Pokémon. Whether Ash wanted a companion or not, Misty was going to fight beside him, because friends never abandoned each other.

Meanwhile, Ash headed back to Pallet Town, blinking the tears from his eyes. He could not be anything but strong; he had an image to keep up. Besides, men were supposed to be tougher then women, though he knew deep down that the culture he lived in was not perfect. He shook his head and started to run toward home, ignoring the shooting pain in his left leg. He NEEDED to uncover the secrets of the Underground and find Michael before something terrible happened to him. When he reached Pallet Town, he passed his own home and walked into Professor Oak's lab.

"Professor? I need-"

"Ash... It's nice to see you again..."

"Gary?"