Chapter 2

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Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or its affiliates.

An older couple stood at the window of their small home looking out at the young man interacting with the group of Pokémon surrounding him. The older man had his arms crossed and an expression of deep thought on his face as he watched the "boy" as he called him. Next to him was his wife, who had her head on his shoulder and a smile on her face as she watched her "son" play with his Pokémon. She was so focused on watching him actually smile and enjoy himself, two things he very rarely did, that she jumped when her husband cleared his throat.

"Geez dear, don't do that!" she exclaimed as she lightly slapped him on the shoulder."You scared me."

"Sorry Yellow." he said quickly never taking his eyes off of the scene outside which Yellow noticed with a smirk.

"You really are proud of him aren't you?" she asked already knowing the answer. Her husband, Red, wasn't good at expressing his emotions, but they had been together for a long time. A lot longer than Yellow would like to admit, but all that time together gave her quite a bit of experience in knowing what her husband was thinking and feeling.

"Yes, I am. But also worried about what will happen to him." Red sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry dear, he isn't the same as he was three years ago. We have helped him recover and grow into a new person." she spoke as she rubbed his shoulders to ease some of his anxiety. "I've helped him with heal his body and get his mind sorted out. Plus I've taught him how to cook, use computers and be a gentleman. All the while you helped him with Pokémon and his aura problem."

Red chuckled "I think I made that problem worse, not better."

It was true, when the boy showed up he was basically an animal in almost every way. His hair was long and thick like a Luxray's mane, he only walked on all fours and his eyes held a fierceness that only predators have. The biggest problem though was his aura, humans normally can't control aura without proper training but animals can from birth albeit they don't do it consciously. The aura flows through their body giving them heightened senses and reflexes along with increasing their physical strength. Somehow, the boy had done the same thing but his aura was conflicted in his body. He would be blazing with white, radiant aura when his state of mind was in a good place and then recede and curl up to a pitch black darkness that would consume him when he was hurting emotionally. Red had, with the gentle hand of Yellow, helped regain the boy's humanity but the issue with his aura wasn't a quick fix. Even with Red's years of experience with aura he could only do so much to help, the rest was up to the boy. He had improved greatly but in moments of weakness or anger, the darkness would creep up and consume him and only gentle and soothing words could bring him back. The biggest problem now was that he was better trained in aura and therefore far more destructive. Red shivered slightly at the thought of the last time the boy had a "bad day". There was a large wasteland where a forest used to be.

Red was brought back from his thoughts by Yellow turning his face towards her. "You did what you thought was right. Now he just needs closure to heal the wounds in his heart."

"I know, I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Yellow chuckled "I know dear, I don't like it either but he needs to go back to the Five Regions. It's where he belongs, not out in the wild with two old folks. Now go tell him the news while I get supper ready."

"Yes dear." Red grumbled as he walked out to tell his apprentice, Ash Ketchum, that he had to return to the Five Regions. It wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.

Pokémon are amazing creatures. I've always thought this even when I was little and saw my first Pokémon. They have amazing powers and can survive so much damage but bounce right back and keep going. However the thing that I find truly amazing about them is how different their personalities are when they are in a battle and when they are playing and relaxing. I was watching a prime example of that right in front of me as four of my largest and most aggressive Pokémon: Steelix, Tyranitar, Rhyperior, and Aggron were letting the two babies of the group, Pichu and Igglybuff, run on top of them. It was strange to see the massive Pokémon, who could destroy mountains, be so careful and gentle with the little ones. But our fun was interrupted by the older man who walked up behind me. It was Master Red; I didn't have to look to know it was him for a few reasons. One of them was that we were on an island with only three humans, so not a lot of choices and the other reason was the more mature Pokémon gave a slight bow of respect as he approached. Red, the Pokémon Master and the long absent Champion of Kanto, commanded respect from both human and Pokémon alike with just his presence. He was so good with Pokémon it was unreal, big or small, aggressive or sweet they all loved him. A few years ago he would have been everything I wanted to be but now I'm not so sure. Things have changed so much, my situation has changed, and I've changed. I'm no longer the short scrawny kid that I was. Puberty had done wonders for me. I am about five foot nine inches with a lean muscular build; my hair is longer and covered my eyes which I'm thankful for. I may have been blessed physically but I knew I was conflicted in my soul. I used my long hair to hide my eyes from my Pokémon, Red and Yellow so they don't see the conflict in them. This internal conflict comes from the events that brought me to this wilderness. The explosion, the death of my mom and Pikachu, the betrayal of most everyone I know, the trial and the conviction. After that I don't remember the first two years of my exile, just flashes of images that come in my nightmares. A flash of claws, gnashing of teeth, and blood, so much blood.

"Calm down boy!" Red yelled. I opened my eyes and saw my aura visibly flaring around me like a black flame that would burn me to nothing. I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Yes Master I'm sorry."

"Don't let the hate and anger consume you boy."

"Yes Master." I spoke quietly. I looked up at Red and saw he was hesitant and nervous about something. "Is something wrong Master?"

He hesitates for a second before answering "No nothing's wrong. Can we talk in private, just the two of us?"

Something strange was definitely going on. Red never asked if we could talk in private before. He believed that you shouldn't keep secrets from your Pokémon. It showed that you trusted them and in return they would trust you. Whatever he wanted to talk about must be very important or possibly dangerous. "Of course Master." I said and then turned to my Pokémon "I'll be right back guys. Just keep playing ok."

Red lead me to a clearing about two hundred yards away from the house and turned to face me. "Ash, you have been my apprentice for two and a half years, you have grown to be a fine young man and one of the best aura students I've ever had."

"Thank you Master but I had a good teacher."

Red chuckled "Yes well not good enough. There is something I've known for a while now about you Ash. About why you were out here in the wilderness in the first place."

Crap! Crap! Crap! Why does this have to happen now when everything was going so well? I had a new family, new Pokémon that I cared about and a new home. Now my past was coming to take it all away. The panic and fear must have showed on my face because Red continued quickly.

"Don't worry boy." Red said with a smirk "I know that you didn't do those things those idiots said you did. If I thought you had done that do you think I would have let you stay with us for the past few years?"

"Well, no but how did you even know about all that? There's not TV, phone or internet out her, so how did you know what happened and that I was innocent?" I said, glad that someone else finally believed me.

"Well when you first showed up, I started looking into who you were. I sent out courier pidgy to a few contacts of mine that can find out anything about anybody. By noon the next day I knew everything about you, from what your first Pokémon was to who the last person you talked to was. My contacts also did some snooping and figured out what really happened that day."

"Did they find out who was behind the bombing?" I interrupted with a glimmer of hope in my voice.

Red sighed at the question. He knew it was coming and had hoped that Ash would be able to accept it and not do something rash. "Yes Ash they did. My sources uncovered evidence that Team Rocket was behind it. Team Rockets boss, Giovanni was captured and executed for crimes too numerous to count."

Ash just stared back with a blank expression, waiting for Red to continue. "After everyone found out that it was Team Rocket and not you, you were pardoned." Red paused to let that sink in then after a nod from Ash he continued "That was two years ago."

"Two years?!" I exclaimed "Why didn't you tell me then?" I asked slightly angry that he had kept this from me.

"I'm sorry Ash, I really am but the way you were back then I didn't think you would be able to handle it." Red explained. "The reason I'm telling you this now is that you are better than you were and can handle it. Now that I've told you this, you need to use this information for the next thing I'm going to say."

"And what's that, Master?" I spoke with my voice cracking slightly.

Red looked at Ash for a second before working up the nerve to say what he didn't want to say."Yellow and I have talked about this and came to a decision. We think it would be best for you, if you were to return to the Five Regions."

There was a silence in the forest that followed Red's words that lasted for about five minutes before Yellow's voice broke the silence "Dinner time!"

"Come on boy. Let's eat and you can think it over." Red said in a somber tone as he put his arm around Ash to usher the silent boy to the house.

Dinner was a quiet affair with men just staring at my food with the occasional bite here and there. Yellow had given Red a questioning look when we came in which he had answered with a nod. Yellow had looked at me but I avoided her gaze mostly so I wouldn't have to see the sympathy in her eyes. After I had eaten dinner I went to my room to clear my head and figure this all out. What was I going to do? How could I go back to a place that I had hated for years? Where would I go and more importantly who could I trust? Most everyone I knew had thought that I was guilty. Did they still think that and if they didn't could I forgive them for what they did to me? Forgiveness was a rare thing in the wilderness and I wasn't sure if I even knew how anymore. All these questions were making my head hurt so I laid down to sleep on it. Maybe tomorrow everything would be clearer.

The morning had been peaceful with eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast with little conversation between the two people at the table. Red and Yellow had been up since seven in the morning waiting for Ash to come in. Normally Ash was up at six to begin his training before breakfast but it was almost eleven and he still wasn't up yet.

"He's fine hunny." Red said in a soothing tone to calm his anxious wife. "He will come down when he is ready. It was a lot to take in, I'm sure he's just trying to sort it all out."

"I know, I know. I'm just worried about him that's all."

"I understand dear." Red said as he turned to the hallway to see a familiar shape coming toward the kitchen. Red grinned as he saw the two small Pokémon perched on Ash's shoulders rubbing against his cheeks trying to cheer him up. Giving them to Ash was Yellow's idea to help Ash regain his compassion and caring for others. It had worked surprisingly well, the little Pokémon were only a few days old at the time and when they had looked at him with those big cute eyes you could see him melt. The two little Pokémon had brought him out of the darkness and given him something to care about. The Pichu was the daughter of Red and Yellow's Pikachus, while the Igglybuff had come from Yellow's friend, Green. Igglybuff also helped Ash with his insomnia which was an added bonus. Those three were good for each other, Ash became a dad and the babies got a dad. Win, win.

"Good morning Ash. Sleep well?" Yellow spoke in a caring, motherly tone as she set down the book she had been reading.

"Yes fine thanks for asking. Listen there are some things that I want to ask you two." Ash answered in a serious business like tone of voice.

Red and Yellow shared a look before Red spoke "Ok what do you want to know?"

Ash was silent for a moment, like he was choosing his words carefully. "Paul. Tell me what you know about Paul."

"Well that's an easy one." Red smirked. "About two years ago he challenged and defeated Cynthia becoming the new Champion of Sinnoh. He has improved the region in the last two years, strengthening the gyms and trainers throughout the region. He is a somewhat distant nonpublic Champion, very different from Cynthia."

"So he actually did it." Ash whispered to himself. "Ok now next question, Lance?"

"Ha!" Red exclaimed in amusement. "What's to know? Lance is still the same stubborn, arrogant Champion of Johto that you knew. Anymore?"

"Just one, Lily Waterflower." Ash asked guiltily almost embarrassed.

Thankfully for Ash, Yellow spoke up for this one. "She began training seriously after you left. She was Cerulean Gym leader for two years before she became an apprentice to Juan in Hoenn. After a year and a half with him, she was selected to replace Aaron in Paul's Elite Four."

Ash sat silently soaking up all of this information. The part about Lance had made him smile but the other parts had really surprised him. Paul becoming Champion and keeping his word proved how much he had changed from the cold, arrogant boy that he used to be to the leader of a prospering region. It made Ash very proud to call Paul a friend. If what Ash heard about Paul was a shock then what he heard about Lily was unbelievable. When Ash knew her, she was never much of a battler, mostly focused on show business. The fact that she was not only a trainer but an Elite Four member was incredible and Ash felt happy that she was so successful. Thinking about Lily had caused Ash to blush slightly. He had thought about that night Lily and Paul had come to see him a lot. Her kissing him was something that had puzzled Ash for years. Why had she done it? What had it meant? But most importantly if she did have feelings for him, had they gone away over the past five years? Ash's head was so puzzled that he almost didn't feel Yellow hold his hand and ask "Are you ok hunny? You've been awful quiet."

"Sorry, just thinking. But I think you are right I need to go back, I need to be with the people I care about. Don't get me wrong, you two have done so much for me. I can never repay you for all you have done. Thank you, both of you."

"Don't worry about it boy." Red spoke from his chair across the table. "Just go and get a life and when you do come back and I'll buy you a drink." Red smiled a genuine smile that Ash returned. Seeing this exchange between the two men, Yellow started crying making both men uncomfortable. Red moved up and held Yellow till she calmed down. Once everyone was calmed down, Ash turned and asked Pichu and Igglybuff. "What do you two think?" The two Pokémon shared a look and then nuzzled Ash's cheeks. "Ha ha I'll take that as a yes." Turning back to Red and Yellow, "Well looks like I'm going back. Sinnoh here we come."