This is the one hundred forty-seventh chapter in Pokemon Heroes. Such a long wait for chapters, and I apologize for that. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the songs.

(Opening song)

Grunts, fists connecting with faces, and the cries of pain rang throughout that entire forest. Pain, anguish, and regret were evident on those boys' faces.

What started out as a normal day with the two boys arguing their asses off turned into a full on fight between Ash and Brendan. At some point, Dawn got involved in it as well.

And May and Pikachu were sitting on a large rock with smiles on their faces as they watched the whole thing go down.

Ash and Brendan's escalating argument made Dawn try her best to stop it. But right now, as May watched Ash and Brendan run for their lives while Dawn swung around that colossal ice sword made Dawn look like the biggest bully of them all.

"You guys done yet?" asked May, taking a bite out of the sandwich she had made with the ingredients within Brendan's backpack.

"May, those are for later!" said Dawn.

"I know, and I'm eating it now."

Ash then jumped onto the ice sword Dawn held. This irritated the girl, making her swung the sword down to crash Ash and the sword above him on the ground.

"Don't kill each other!" called out May.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful!" yelled Dawn, and she took Brendan by his hair and brought him into a chokehold while giving him a harsh noogie.

"Pika," said Pikachu, telling them to quit it. May pet it on the head and gave it a piece of her sandwich.

Now, Dawn was giving Brendan a noogie while also ramming her foot over and over again on Ash's head on the ground.

"Now what are you gonna say to me?!" she yelled.

"We're sorry!" they both yelled. "We surrender!"

"That's what I fucking thought."

Blissful Ignorance

The kids found themselves within Teakwook Forest. This was the shortest way toward Academia City. This forest is best known for having plenty of trees but not a lot of wild Pokemon, so this made it a bad place for catching Pokemon or training.

Right now, they were on a thin path. The path was only thin enough for a single file line. Ash was in front, and his friends were all behind him in order from May, Dawn, and Brendan. Brendan held his aching head after receiving Dawn's furious noogie.

"And when you want to talk about bunny girls in the most stupidest way possible, make sure you talk about that crap when May and I aren't there!" scolded Dawn.

"Aye," mumbled Brendan.

"Kiss my bunny ass," whispered Ash, and if Dawn was the one behind him, he would've already been dead.

"There's nothing we can do about it though," said May. "Boys will be boys. They may be thinking about bunny girls 24/7, but we will never know. Who knows, they might even think of us in bunny girl costumes."

Ash's mind opened up, and he saw the image of May, then saw her clothes getting replaced with a bunny girl costume. He then pictured the chest area, and saw nothing but flat.

His expression turned grim.

"Hey!" yelled May. "I saw that! Why did you make that face? Ash?!"

Ash ignored her.

He then noticed Pikachu on his shoulder looking around suspiciously.

"What's wrong?"

Pikachu sniffed a bit more, and then it stopped and shrugged, as if it gave up. Ash, not feeling to look into it more, just shrugged, and they kept walking as he felt fists being continuously thrown at his back by the girl behind him.

Then, they heard a loud thud from within the forest trees, and following that sound were the rustling of leaves.

They all stopped and turned. They stayed quiet as the leaves shook less and less. Then, the sound stopped.

"What was that?" asked Dawn.

"Probably a Pokemon," said Brendan. "Let's keep going."

They then started to move again. Ash turned to Pikachu.

"Do you still smell nothing out of the ordinary?"

Pikachu nodded.

They walked on for three more hours. They were taking wrong paths, resulting in them getting more and more lost. Ash had lost the compass they needed within this forest, so they had to follow a certain path. But this narrow path always split into many other paths and some others led to complete dead-ends.

"You know what," said Brendan after they reached yet another dead-end. "I think we should have a lunch break. I've got sandwiches."

"Yes," said May, reaching for Brendan's bag. She was stopped by Ash's hand that grabbed onto hers and pulled it up.

"Didn't you have yours while I was getting my ass kicked?"

May stared at him, and then shock filled her expression slowly.

Minutes later, everyone was eating sandwiches while May curled up into a ball near Ash.

Before Ash could give her a sandwich in pity, they heard metal crashing against something, releasing a very screeching noise that caused Dawn to fall backwards from the log she was sitting on.

Brendan stood and looked around.

"What the hell was that?"

Then, a powerful Hydro Pump burst toward the sky. Immediately, a Pokemon that was made of metal tore through the Hydro Pump with its steel wings, cutting it in half and destroying the attack. It then flew across the sky even faster.

"That's a Skarmory!" yelled Ash.

Another Hydro Pump came out of nowhere as well, but then that Skarmory that flew around the sky came crashing down on its attacker. They saw the Hydro Pump disappear after they heard a roar that sounded much like Gyarados.

The kids sat down for a few more minutes, waiting for another attack from another Pokemon, but they heard nothing. May got away from behind Ash and looked around.

"It's over?"

They then heard large trees crash to the ground hard. They flinched, hearing a body crash and knock down trees.

"Ash..."

Ash turned back to the girl behind him. He looked into her worried eyes and sighed.

"Brendan."

Ash had called out to the white haired boy, and he turned to Ash and nodded.

"Dawn, you stay here and protect May," Brendan ordered. "I'll go with Ash and find out what the fuck is going on over there."

"Alright, but come back safe," said Dawn. "I'll freeze your face if you come back late."

"Whatever."

After looking at Ash, the two boys started running inside the forest.

They saw destruction.

Trees were knocked down, destroyed ground rose up, and the atmosphere of battle was still lingering in the air.

Ash and Brendan slowly walked across this destroyed battlefield, trying to not fall over anything as they looked around carefully. Brendan proceeded to scratch the back of his head.

"What crazy shit went on over here?"

Ash looked at the destruction and then at Pikachu.

"Pokemon were fighting. The battle's over though."

"You think it involved that Skarmory?" asked Brendan.

"I bet," said Ash. "Just a normal Pokemon battle."

"This seems too gruesome for a Pokemon battle."

Ash saw that too, but as he kept taking looks at the electric mouse on his shoulder, the only response it gave was a shrug. It was just the shrug of confusion, as if it didn't know what was going on as well.

They stood within the wreckage for a while, and then Ash turned to Brendan.

"Let's head back."

Twenty minutes have passed since Ash and Brendan left. Dawn was standing guard, and May was munching on the leftover sandwiches Ash left behind.

"Where are they?" Dawn asked as she tapped her foot repeatedly.

"They'll be fine," said May after she finished the boy's lunch. "They should be back any second now."

"Alright then," said Dawn.

They stayed in peace now. May lied down after filling up her stomach until dinner, but the process of doing that caused her to drop Brendan's sandwiches to the ground.

"Whoops."

Dawn prepared to turn, but as soon she got to 90 degrees, she saw Gary suddenly appear next to her on one knee, coming in as fast as a spark.

Time felt as though it stopped, and there was nothing for that first two seconds.

Then, out of shock, Dawn reacted fast and placed her palm on her hand, creating a blue light, and forming a large, icy hammer. She swung it at Gary, but all the boy had to do was elbow it, destroying it completely. He then launched up to her collar, took it, and swung her over to the ground away from him.

He then quickly turned to May, who was in the process of sitting up. She didn't have time to do anything because Gary had already took her by the back of her shirt and held her in the air.

"I'll just finish with you, and then go for what I'm really here for."

He said this with no emotion, and May saw him moving his sword into a position so that he could directly pierce his stomach.

"W-What?" was the only words that escaped her mouth.

Gary moved the sword forward, but then he quickly moved aside as a powerful Aura Breath brushed past him. He quickly threw May to the ground and prepared his blade, and then he turned to the boy he was searching for this whole time.

"Gary!" yelled Ash, and he ran at the boy to punch him. Gary moved backwards at every punch Ash threw. When the opening was clear, the boy punched him right on the face, sending him to the ground. Ash held his face and looked back at Gary, Brendan came out of the forest and immediately ran for Dawn.

"You alright?" he asked as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"Gary came out of nowhere and attacked us. He was aiming his sword dangerously at May, too."

"Again," said Brendan in a low voice.

He turned to Gary, who was pointing his sword at all three of them. Brendan let his teeth grind and stood.

"I'm getting answers right now," said Brendan. "We have to kick his ass together!"

"Hell no!" yelled Ash, and he got back up and dashed at Gary. "This one's mine!"

"Ash! We don't have no time for rivalry! This is serious!"

"I'm hella serious!"

Ash materialized his Aura Blade within his hand. He swung it at Gary, and the two metallic weapons collided. Ash struck over and over and over again, but Gary parried all of them.

"Put that sword down and fight me fist-to-fist!"

Ash swung his Aura Blade downward, pushing Gary's sword lower to leave him open. Aura engulfed the boy's fist, and he launched it toward Gary. Gary's hand went in front of his face, and it held the fist that was supposed to hit him. A large shockwave resulted from the attack. He then used the bottom of his sword to hit Ash on his side. When Ash was off guard, Gary released his hand holding Ash's fist and then engulfed his own fist in lightning, and he punched Ash across the face, sending the boy on the ground as he skidded toward a tree. His back hit it, and he lied on the ground.

"Ash, you alright?" asked May, and she was already running toward him.

Gary extended out his hand and shot out a bolt of lightning right at her. Dawn placed her hands on the ground and created an ice wall to block the attack, but Gary's power destroyed the wall, knocking them to the ground.

"Hey!" yelled Ash. "Your fight is with me, dammit!"

He created an Aura Sphere and launched himself at Gary, bringing down the ball of spiraling aura on the boy. Gary moved back and took Ash's hand. He elbowed Ash on his face, resulting in making the ball on his hand disappear. He then lifted Ash and proceeded to flip him over and ram him on the ground. He picked Ash up again and knocked him to the ground on the other side. He proceeded to do this over and over again.

The final time he rammed Ash to the ground, he moved back and summoned a lightning bolt to come from the clear sky and strike Ash, electrocuting him. Gary turned back to May as he heard Ash yell in pain. When it stopped, Ash's body twitched.

"You son of a bitch!" said Brendan, and then his eyes turned emerald-green. He ran at full speed toward Gary. He threw his iron hard fist toward Gary's face. Gary moved aside, and then he threw lightning fast punches at Brendan. Brendan fell to the ground. He rolled to the side before Gary's foot crashed down on him. When he looked at Gary's foot, he saw it in the ground, up to the boy's ankle. When he looked up at Gary, the boy had already summoned a lightning bolt to crash down on Brendan. He yelled in pain, and when it was over, he twitched.

"Brendan!" Dawn yelled. She placed her fist on her palm, but then she saw Brendan's hand raise slowly.

"D-Don't..." said Brendan. "He's...not holding back."

Dawn felt a shiver. She still didn't remove her battle posture. May stood behind her. Gary looked at her.

"Yeah, Dawn..."

Gary turned to Ash, who was getting up. He then looked at Gary and smirked.

"He's not holding back. That means much more of a win to me if I kick his bitchy ass!"

Gary turned and charged at Ash.

Ash's aura covered fist came up and collided with his face when he got close enough. Gary quickly regained his balance and kneed Ash. Air left his lungs.

Gary cupped his hands together over his head and crashed it down on Ash's, sending him to the ground. He then kicked Ash with his leg covered in lightning, making Ash spiral around in the air.

The Aura Guardian landed on his feet. He looked up and already saw Gary in front of him. He moved his arms to cover his head, and Gary threw punches, hitting Ash's defense. When Ash saw an opening, his aura covered knee uppercutted Gary. He then created an Aura Sphere and crashed it against Gary's stomach. The boy was sent back as the ball on his gut prepared to explode, but suddenly, he disappeared, and the Aura Sphere crashed into the forest and exploded.

Ash looked up and saw Gary in the sky, with both of his arms covered in electricity.

"That's what I'm talking about!" yelled Ash, and both of his arms were engulfed in aura. Gary came down on the ground and charged at Ash, and the boy ran at him. Their fists collided, and then they threw punches over and over again, connecting their powers and causing huge explosions that sent aura and lightning into the sky.

Gary found an opening and crashed his fist on Ash's stomach, sending him back. He then sent dangerous currents of electricity toward the boy. Ash retaliated by shooting out his Aura Breath, destroying the electricity that was coming to him.

Gary ran at him with his sword. Ash's Aura Blade returned to his hand, and their weapons clashed once more. Gary's sword was covered in lightning, and he moved at a fast pace, swinging his blade multiple times to strike down Ash, who was struggling to block them all.

Then, which only happened in a second, his sword released a burst of electricity that almost blinded Ash. Gary swung his even more powerful sword at Ash, but he luckily held his Aura Blade in a place so that he blocked it.

This resulted in a large, destructive explosion that almost blew the other kids down, but the trees were easily pulled out of their roots.

Smoke surrounded Gary, and he looked around for Ash. He heard the sound of burned leaved getting crushed beneath someone's foot behind him, and when he turned, he saw Ash coming at him with his aura covered fist. Blood was coming from his hand that went bare because the glove that covered it was burned off.

Gary ducked as Ash's fist went over his head, and he directed a powerful punch into Ash's gut. The force of it was heavy, and his insides screamed out in pain.

He yelled and fell to the ground while holding his stomach. His Aura Blade de-materialized by him.

"Y-You cheap son of a-"

His head was pushed to the ground after Gary's foot stomped on it.

The smoke cleared up finally, and Dawn and May looked over at the fight. Brendan, who was still recovering from his fight, looked up as well, and saw the conclusion.

Gary then lifted his sword and positioned it to pierce right through Ash's head.

"That's it!" yelled Dawn, and she placed her fist on her palm, and then sent out icy lances toward Gary. Gary's power destroyed them without him looking.

But that was only a distraction, because Brendan had appeared before him and slammed his iron hard fist into the boy's face, pushing him away from Ash. Dawn stood by Brendan, and they both glared at Gary, who was wiping the blood that fell from his mouth.

Ash looked up and saw his friends, and rather than gratitude, anger covered his expression.

"What the hell is wrong with your damn ears! I said this bastard was mine! Get your own!"

"Are you freaking serious?" asked Brendan. "He was prepared to kill you without remorse."

"I was gonna kill him, too! Just in case you haven't noticed, that's what we do around here!"

Gary looked back at them. Brendan and Dawn stood in his way, and he didn't care less about them. Ash was behind them, and May was off to the side, watching the whole thing go down.

"I want to finish her first, and then take down Ash, or vice versa," he thought. "I have no business with them. Fighting them will only prolong time, and I'll be too late before Sephiroth sends me back. I should just take them all down at once. Ash might survive it. The others won't..."

He then positioned himself, and the kids guarding Ash got ready.

"...but that's fine by me."

A whole surge of yellow lightning surrounded Gary in that instant. Gary held up his hand, and a large electrical spear started to form. It was much larger than the one he threw before. May covered her eyes. Winds were getting fiercer.

Ash broke out from behind his friends and went toward his target.

"Ash!" yelled Brendan.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Dawn.

"Come at me, asshole!"

Ash yelled this at the top of his lungs, and he pulled his fist back.

Gary positioned himself to throw it. The attack would strike Ash and the explosion would engulf his friends.

Before he could, a certain girl broke through the trees.

"Gary!"

Gary moved his head toward the sound, and saw Misty limping quickly toward him.

"She's alive?!"

Ash's fist connected with his face, and he was thrown back. His attack disappeared immediately. He stopped wobbling and turned to Misty, who had fell to the ground on her knees.

"Misty!" called out May, and she was already running toward the injured girl.

Gary looked over at Ash, and saw the boy smirking while cracking his knuckles, with a smug smirk on his face. Gary glared at him.

"It's time to return, Gary."

Sephiroth's voice that was coming from the earpiece made him grim. He was too late. Any further attempts to fight would cause Sephiroth to be angry, and he wasn't a peaceful man when he was angry.

"Bring back Misty as well. It turns out, she left the island to follow you. Such a bad girl. Don't worry, you'll have your chance to beat Ketchum, just not now, alright?"

"Fuck," thought Gary, and then he placed his sword back in its sheath.

"You're finally gonna start fighting me hand-to-hand, huh?!" yelled Ash, and he ran toward Gary to throw a punch. Gary jumped into the air and did a back-flip before landing on the ground. Then, he sped toward Misty at an amazing speed, got her, and then jumped into the trees within the forest.

It took Ash a little while to understand what happened.

"What the fuck, man?! That was unexpected! What is wrong with you lately?! We fight until one of us falls, dammit!"

He heard no answer. He sighed and fell to the ground on his knees. His body still ached, and his hand needed to be bandaged up. Now he needed a new glove.

Brendan and Dawn walked toward him.

"Ash," said Dawn after she crossed her arms. "This is the second time now. Something's going on."

"What's going on?" asked Ash, and he got up on his feet and turned to them.

"Gary!" said Brendan. "The dude attacked us again! He was out for May's blood! Did you not see any of that?"

"Seemed the same to me."

"How?!" asked Dawn. "You know something's wrong with him, Ash! We have to do something about it, or else it might get worse."

"What might get worse?"

"Are you trying to avoid it?" asked Brendan.

Ash was annoyed now.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about," he said. "That was the same Gary, and that is the Gary that I'll beat the fuck out of. He must've hit you guys really hard."

"Ash, this isn't a game," said Dawn. "What if he comes back?"

"Then I'll beat the crap out of him."

Dawn was ready to argue, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw May, looking at Ash with a smile.

"He's right, guys," said May. "There was nothing wrong with him. It was just a simple fight between boys. I told you before, Dawn. Boys will be boys, and there is nothing much we can do about it."

Dawn and Brendan looked at her astonished.

"Exactly," said Ash. He got Pikachu on his shoulder and then turned around. "Let's get out of this forest. I need my hand bandaged, too. It hurts like hell."

He walked on.

Dawn and Brendan's heads were still on May. As Ash got further, her smile slowly diminished into a frown.

"You see it, too, don't you?" asked Dawn.

May slowly nodded.

"Yeah, and I know Ash knows it, too."

"Then why won't he admit it?" asked Brendan.

"Because Ash is trying to avoid it," said May, and her eyes focused on the boy talking to his Pikachu.

"He doesn't want to go through that experience once again."

(Ending song)

Next Time on Pokemon Heroes: The kids enter Academia City, and trouble already starts up again. The face of the man that was pushed into the back of Brendan's memories return to haunt him once again, and it returns in an unexpected way. What is this weird turn of events, and how will Brendan once again break though the pain he felt for all those years? Next Time: Return of the Forgotten Face.

That was that chapter. I made this chapter right after the last one, so that's why I didn't say much about my lateness on the last one. I just feel like a huge jerk, going on a month hiatus without telling everyone. I didn't even write anything on my profile, and I apologize. Anyway, the main plot of this season is starting to pick up, with Ash slowly realizing what is going on. Next couple of chapters will focus on Brendan and Dawn. See you next chapter!

Read and Review please :-)

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