The Blue Spirit

by silentplayermc03

A vision has been seen by Arceus; a world covered in darkness, corrupting both humans & pokemon alike but it also showed two heroes fighting against it. Plans are formed, old & new friends meet, relationships are made, emotions run high, secrets are revealed & an inevitable world war engulfs them all against the darkness…

40. Chapter 39 - The Skull Brothers Strike

THE BLUE SPIRIT

CHAPTER 39 – THE SKULL BROTHERS STRIKE

An almost twenty year old brunette was sleeping in her bedroom shared by two other girls but she was the only one in the room at the moment. She was tossing and turning a bit as she kept dreaming about what happened inside Club Indigo and outside in the middle of the dirt path. She kept seeing the love of her life disappear into the dark rainy night as he left her on the ground while she was calling out to him, crying her eyes out but he never even glanced back at her. She screamed and yelled for him to come back but he never did.

"Ash…come back…Ash…" she whimpered out loud in her sleep. A strong hand was placed softly onto her shoulder before gently shaking her to wake up. "Ugh…what…" The brunette girl woke up and slowly opened her eyes. It took a little while for her to realize that she was seeing a nightmare before she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slowly to the side to see who the hand belonged to.

"Hey Leaf," said the raven haired young man kindly.

"ASH!" Leaf shot up instantly and hugged him tightly as she started crying. She couldn't believe that he had come back and that he was right here next to her. He returned the hug as he started talking to her.

"I'm so sorry Leaf. So sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have gotten so angry. I shouldn't have insulted you. You were scared. You had a rough life. You wanted to get away from your mother. I shouldn't have blamed you for all that. Please forgive me Leaf," pleaded Ash as he stroked her back with one hand and the other was placed softly on the back of her head.

"I do. I do forgive you Ash. And please forgive me. I never wanted to hurt you. I know now that I messed up many times and I would've had a much better life if I waited for you. But as long as I can still have a future with you, I'll be happy and I hope you feel the same way," she replied back, sobbing into his chest.

"I thought about it all night and I realized I was being too harsh. I'm so sorry for being such an asshole to you Leaf. Our friends were right. I'm so sorry and I understand now why you felt the need to do that. You don't have anything to worry about. I'm not going to leave and I do feel the same way Leaf," replied Ash quietly as he pulled away a bit.

Leaf kept her gaze down with tears still falling from her eyes. He placed his right hand underneath her chin and gently raised her head to look him in the eyes. Tear streaks were left on her face that he wiped away gently and the brunette enjoyed his touch immensely. She looked into his eyes and saw what she's wanted to see for a while now. She saw the love in them for her and a small smile appeared on her face. He couldn't stop looking at her green eyes, seeing how beautiful and unique they were. Both of them were feasting on the sight of the other and neither one of them wanted to look away.

Ash slowly leaned in closer, making Leaf's heart beat a million times a minute and placed his lips softly onto hers. She was stunned at first but soon reciprocated, kissing him back. Both of them loved tasting each other's lips and they were soon enflamed from it. He couldn't believe he was kissing his childhood crush and she couldn't believe that it had taken her so long to see him for who he truly was; the man of her dreams. She climbed onto his lap as his hands went up and down her sides with her hands cupping his face. They stayed like that for a moment before Ash got up, making Leaf wrap her arms and legs around him while they were still lip locked with their tongues now involved. He pressed her up against the wall and she moaned into his mouth. She was burning up from him wanting her so badly and that she wanted and needed him too.

She tugged on his shirt a moment later and in response he lifted up his right knee between her legs and had her sit on his thigh, leaning his knee against the wall. He let her take off his black shirt and she caressed his body with her soft hands and Ash shivered a bit before she kissed him again. He kept her sitting on his suspended leg as he kissed her back. He ran one hand through her hair and the other hand he slowly ran up her leg before slipping it underneath her pajama shirt. Leaf trembled in delight when she felt his strong hand on her bare, flat stomach. She kept kissing him furiously while he raised his hand higher and higher before he reached her breasts and grabbed one.

She squeaked in surprise, stopping the kiss and looked at him. He smirked at her and she grinned back before crashing her lips against his again. He started playing with her breast and Leaf heated up from it. He alternated playing with her chest for a little bit before he withdrew his hand, making Leaf whimper at not feeling his touch anymore but what he did next completely surprised her. He placed both his hands on her rear and squeezed her ass, making her squeal and moan. He lowered his knee and kept her up from her ass as she wrapped her legs around him again. He kept her up for a moment like that as they continued their kiss before he lowered her back onto the bed and he went on top of her. They continued their passionate embrace before separating and eyed each other. She admired his body before caressing his long diagonal scar on his front torso, making him shiver and locked eyes with him.

"You are the handsomest and most courageous man in the world and I'm lucky to have you. I promise I will never do anything to hurt you ever again and I promise to always be there for you as you have been for me. I love you Ash with all my heart," stated Leaf as she placed her hand on his cheek and Ash smiled.

"You are my childhood love Leaf and nothing will ever change that. I'm glad that we are finally together. I promise to always protect you and I promise I will never hurt you or leave you again. I love you Leaf," replied Ash and Leaf gave a happy smile.

The raven haired man grasped the brunette's hand and moved it to his lips, kissing it. That made Leaf's heart beat faster to the amount of affection he was showing her. He slowly lowered himself and then kissed her forehead, then her cheek, then pressed his lips against hers. These actions made Leaf melt and she never thought she would have someone so incredible be hers. She felt like all the things she went through in her life were nothing and had washed away in his embrace. They kissed for a long time before they stopped and Ash raised himself enough for the two of them to look into each other's eyes with ease. They smiled at each other and let their eyes do the talking for a moment.

Ash's smile faded away and turned into a grimace as he suddenly felt extreme pain. Pain unlike anything he ever experienced before. His eyes lost the passion in them that was there a second ago and quickly filled with fear and confusion. He tried to say something but couldn't as only choked up sounds came out of his mouth. Leaf's happiness instantly vanished and was quickly becoming consumed with fear.

"Ash?! What's wrong?! What happened?!" she asked as she cupped his face. He tried to answer but instead of words, all that come out were whizzing breaths before something else came out. Blood started trickling out from his mouth before dripping onto Leaf. "ASH! ASH! WHAT'S HAPPENING?! ASH!" screamed Leaf. "SOMEONE HELP US! HELP!" Leaf was screaming for help while unable to tear her frightened eyes away from Ash who was starting to choke on the blood, coughing and making some of it fly onto her face and stained her with it. He felt like something had gone right through him. The young man slowly lowered his gaze to his chest and Leaf copied him and what she saw made her scream. The tip of a large, sharp blade drenched with blood was protruding out from his chest. They stared at it for a couple seconds before Ash was abruptly lifted up off of Leaf who tried desperately to hold onto him but failed. She was about to jump out of bed to follow him but instead froze at seeing who was responsible.

It was the Skull Brothers. Their leader with the white headband, Edmond, was the one holding the blade's handle as his brothers Eddie and Edward were holding up Ash from his arms. The other two, Ed and Edwin, were eyeing Leaf with evil glints in their eyes. "STOP! PLEASE STOP! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" screamed Leaf as she started crying hysterically.

Edmond only laughed sadistically before plunging the machete deeper, making Ash let out a mangled cry that sent cold shivers down Leaf's back that completely silenced her. After pushing in his large knife in all the way, he twisted it before pulling it back out that made the young man let out agonizing and garbled sounds before he dropped to the floor, whizzing as life slowly and painfully left him.

"NOOOOOOOO!" shouted Leaf as she finally found herself able to move again. She jumped out of bed and quickly knelt beside him. "PLEASE NO! ASH! NO! DON'T DIE! SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE HELP!"

"Scream all you want," remarked Edmond. Ed and Edwin grabbed the brunette who desperately tried to free herself from their grasp but couldn't. They slammed her against the wall, making her cry out in response before giving a furious glare at them while tears flowed down her cheeks. "Go ahead. Call for help. Try and escape. That won't help you. Nobody is here to help you. We have you now," said Edmond as he drew closer to her but stopped next to Ash's body and knelt down beside him. "I told you nobody messes with the Skull Brothers. Not even an Aura Guardian." He stabbed Ash in the back again who could do nothing but make awful sounds of pain.

"STOP IT! PLEASE! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" pleaded Leaf in vain, letting out fast and heavy tears.

Edmond stabbed Ash once more, stood up and began kicking the fallen man's side a few times before he finished it by spitting on the raven haired young man. He glanced at his group before he signaled to his brothers for them to leave. They began moving Leaf out of the bedroom as they stepped over Ash with each Skull Brother leaving their mark. They kicked him on the floor as well who could do nothing except groan from the hits.

"ASH! ASH! LET ME GO! ASH! LET GO OF ME! ASH! ASH!" screamed out Leaf as she cried for him and struggled to get out of their iron grip.

"L…Le…Leaf…" croaked Ash as he tried to lift his head. Leaf saw him trying to get up and called out to him again even louder. Edmond moved back to him after glancing back and seeing him trying to get up.

"He's like a fucking cockroach! Die damn it!" shouted Edmond as he pulled out his gun and fired at the surprisingly still alive man several times. Ash let out mangled shouts for the first two shots before becoming dead silent as the rest of the bullets tore holes into him with blood splattering everywhere from the force of the bullets.

"AAASSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!" screamed out Leaf before breaking down completely. She bawled loudly without care while hanging limply from the two who were carrying her. Edmond rejoined them and they moved out of the room to leave the empty suite. "Ash…no…Ash…no no no no no…Ash!"

"LEAF!" Someone yelled out her name but she didn't hear it. "LEAF! LEAF!" She still didn't hear it. She was lost in shock by what just happened right in front of her.

"Ash…dead…no…it can't be…Ash…"

"LEAF!" Someone slapped her hard and she cried out as she snapped out of it. She felt intense pain on her cheek. She opened her water filled eyes, then looked around and saw Sarah and Anabel beside her. She shook her head, trying to regain her senses and clear her mind. She felt something soft under her. She looked down and saw she was still in bed. She glanced up at the two again who were giving her very frightened looks. She finally understood. She had a nightmare. A very realistic nightmare. A few last tears escaped from her eyes.

"Oh thank Mew you're alright," breathed out Sarah.

"What the hell happened Leaf?! You were screaming in your sleep!" asked Anabel in a worried tone.

"A nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare," whispered Leaf. She sat up, drawing her legs close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She rocked back and forth, not even bothering to wipe away her tears. Anabel and Sarah glanced at one another, exchanging concerned looks before they each sat on either side of Leaf and hugged her. Leaf felt a little better from that but it wasn't enough to make her stop trembling.

"It's alright Leaf. It wasn't real. You're okay," said Anabel, trying to comfort her friend.

"I saw Ash die. I saw him get killed by the Skull Brothers," whispered Leaf, making them gasp at that as they tried to not picture it. They hugged her even tighter.

"It was just a nightmare Leaf," said Sarah. "You know they can't hurt him. You know he can't be killed by a bunch of lowlifes like them. You remember how easily he took them down, don't you? He's an Aura Guardian so no need to worry okay?" reminded Sarah and Leaf nodded after a moment.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Anabel gently.

She was quiet for a moment before speaking. "It felt so real," started Leaf. "I was having a bad dream in my dream. And then I felt someone wake me up in the dream and saw it was Ash. I hugged him and apologized to him and he apologized to me. We started to make out and we told each other we love one another." Sarah and Anabel withdrew from her and looked at her with small smiles before she continued. "We were kissing on the bed with him on top of me before we took a break. He then started choking and blood came out of his mouth and…and…and we saw a knife sticking out of his chest!" Leaf broke down at that and sobbed as Anabel and Sarah tried to soothe her and calm her down by rubbing her back even though they had fearful looks on their faces. "And…and then he was lifted off of me and I saw the Skull Brothers were the ones who did it! One of them pushed the knife in deeper into his back and Ash let out such a horrible sound that it made me freeze!" Anabel and Sarah shivered as they heard that and involuntarily pictured what she just said in their minds. "He fell to the ground and he stabbed him again two more times! He then kicked him over and over before they dragged me away! I was screaming for Ash and trying to get free when Ash raised his head a little and called out my name." Anabel and Sarah were listening with widened eyes and they were holding in their breath. "The leader went back and…and…and said he was like a cockroach who just wouldn't die and shot him many times before he finally died!" Leaf finished recounting her nightmare and it got to her again as she started sobbing once more. Anabel and Sarah quickly hugged her and let her cry it out. They had silent tears fall down their cheeks as they involuntarily pictured what Leaf told them. Finally, after a long time, Leaf stopped crying and took in deep breathes as she pulled herself together. "I'm sorry guys," apologized Leaf in between her ragged breathing. "I'm sorry for scaring you and for telling you about my terrible dream."

"It's okay Leaf. We're friends. We're here for each other and that's what matters," remarked Anabel.

"She's right so don't worry about it," agreed Sarah.

"Thanks. You two are so nice to me and I don't even deserve it," replied Leaf as she hugged them tightly.

"Hey, don't think like that. We all make mistakes but let's not go there alright?" advised Sarah and Anabel quickly agreed. They separated and they each began calming down and relaxing. Leaf noticed that it was still dark out. She glanced at the clock and saw that it read 630am.

"I didn't even notice it was barely morning. I'm sorry for waking you guys up so early."

"Eh, it's alright. Just don't do it every day," joked Sarah, trying to lighten the mood.

"Alright. You gonna go back to sleep?" asked Leaf.

"Nah, no point. Might as well do something productive," replied Sarah.

"Good point. Should we train?" asked Anabel and the other two shook their heads, remembering the last time. They would only train if they found a safer place near the hotel or with more people with them. "Breakfast?" Sarah and Leaf nodded. "Okay. Let's wash up, get dressed and get some food."

Leaf, Sarah and Anabel each went to a different restroom and washed up before they came back and changed into some day clothes. Leaf changed into a blue skirt, blue tank top with a black poke ball symbol on the chest area, wore her blue tennis shoes and put on her blue cap. She smiled a little when she put on the blue hat. Sarah wore her white skirt and white button down blouse with white tennis shoes. Anabel put on a pair of light purple pants with a light purple shirt that had a picture of an Espeon on it with purple shoes. The three of them then got out of their room and went to the kitchen, careful not to wake up anyone as they started making a simple breakfast of boiled eggs, toasted some toast bread, cut up some cheese and put the kettle on to make some tea. They decided to make more after they finished with their breakfast for the others as they would soon wake up. Unknown to them though, a few people were up already.

One of those who were already up was the young pokémon researcher. He stayed in bed, lying on his side for a bit as thoughts whirled around in his head. He couldn't take it anymore so he opened his eyes and turned his gaze to stare at the ceiling. He felt some pain from his movements when he turned, making him grimace. His old rival's punch from last night had really hurt him. It made him scared that he was able to damage him so much with a single strike that it still hurt the next morning. He thought of how his horrible secret was revealed to everyone, how it caused him and his girlfriend to split. He couldn't stop seeing Ilene's disappointed and disgusted face even when he closed his eyes. He had never felt this way before, this overwhelming feeling of guilt and shame. Gary is no good for you. He heard Ash's voice in his head and it maddened him and frustrated him. What the fuck Ash?! Why'd you do this to me?! What have I ever done to you?! As if to answer his own question, his mind started replaying all the things he had done to him.

Playing pranks on him and making fun of him with the other kids when they were younger. Taunting him and calling him a loser while on their pokémon journey through out Kanto. How he kept making fun of him and belittling him, making him look bad in front of his friends. How he kept rubbing his accomplishments in, that he had cheerleaders following him, that he was popular, well liked and that he traveled in red convertible sports car. More and more flowed in front of his mind's eye of what he did to him. Not able to take it anymore, Gary shook his head and sat up, grimacing as he did so because of his chest pain. I guess I do deserve all this. I've been nothing been a douche to him, I've broken girls' hearts and I even cheated on Sabrina and never even apologized to her. Why did I ever even ask her out? I knew that she was different from other girls and wouldn't give me what I wanted. What made me think that I could get with her? And what about Ilene? I finally found a girl who I want to spend the rest of my life with, who is always on my mind but my past came back to bite me in the ass. How can I get her back? Ilene…What can I do to show you that I have changed and I'm willing to do anything for you? Gary sighed and thought about everything. He lied back down on the bed and ignored the constant pain in his chest. He tried to plan something, to figure out some way to show the only girl he ever truly cared about that he is more than his past actions.

While Gary was thinking about that in his shared room with his grandfather, in another room shared by four girls, one of them was awake. Daisy Waterflower was sitting up and leaning against the headboard with her back. She was one of the few who didn't know what happened between Ash, Leaf and the club goers. But right now, she wasn't thinking about what they did last night. In her hands was a stuffed Squirtle doll. She was looking at it with a smile on her face. She was thinking about how an incredible young man won it for her and surprised her with it. She was thinking about how great a guy he is. She glanced at her other two sisters and at Gary's sister Daisy who were still asleep in the room they were sharing together. She smiled, happy that her sisters found great guys to be with. Hell, she was even happy for Daisy Oak as well since she knew her a bit. She then thought of how happy her youngest sister Misty is, finally being with the man of her dreams who was her first and only boy she had ever truly liked and had feelings for. She turned her gaze back to the doll she was holding. Her smile widened, thinking of when he first gave it to her, surprising her and how she was beyond thrilled over it. How she tackled him to the ground with Sarah and Anabel and what happened afterwards with Serena getting mad. She chuckled quietly a bit.

She felt happy for them all but then sadness crept up on her as she began thinking about some things. She was wondering why she didn't feel like going to the club with them last night. She was wondering why she couldn't find a great guy for herself as well. She thought of all the guys she went out with and how they were all the same and did the same things. Pick her up in an expensive sports car, then movie or if they were feeling a little brave, out dancing a bit at some club. A few tried to do things differently like take her out bowling or go to an amusement park, museum or something else. But every single one of them had a hidden agenda and sooner or later, it came up. Every single one of them wanted to get her into bed, to lay claim to being with one of the Sensational Sisters.

That was something that she, Violet, Lily and even Misty had to deal with constantly because of their water plays and being gym leaders. They were too popular for their own good. But in Misty's case, after having her pokémon attack would be suitors who tried to make a move on her a couple times, they stopped asking her out. She had already found her prince charming, holding onto him and it paid off in the end since she got with him. But she, Lily and Violet had to deal with the other kind of heartache; the kind that was felt when guy after guy they went out with turned out to be total douche bags. They had to start carrying around tazers with them during their dates. It must've been over a dozen times she and her sisters had to fight off a lust filled man and get a restraining order on who thought they owed him a night in bed with them just because he took them out. Because of their many dates and being in clubs frequently, since they did like to dance even if it was just between them, the three older Sensational Sisters were thought to be easy to get with. That they were always down to just mess around. But that was far from the truth. They weren't like that and hated those rumors but all they could do was just hold their heads high and ignore it as best they could.

Daisy sighed after thinking about all that. She couldn't dwell on that stuff or she'd go crazy. She had to stay positive and think of better things. Her sisters Violet and Lily found great partners, Chili and Cress, who are also friends of Ash. She approved of them, seeing how they are and also since Ash knew them and he wasn't friends with any bad people at all. She just hoped that it would become something more for her sisters. She didn't want them to become heartbroken after a while and she didn't want them to suffer through meaningless dates again. She hugged the doll and closed her eyes to say a prayer. Please Arceus…let this work out for them. I'll even give up my future love life to you to make sure that happens for my sisters. For Violet…For Lily… She opened her eyes and looked at the Squirtle doll again. And for Misty…who found a one of a kind guy and deserves it the most after all we made her go through. I'm actually envious of her but I wish her the best. Make sure their lives are filled with happiness and I'll be alright as I watch from the sidelines. She shimmied down her bed a bit and lied back down, facing the wall while hugging the doll after drawing up the covers. I'll be fine. Please Arceus. As long as their happy…and I still have my Squirtle doll, I'll be fine. Daisy closed her eyes but didn't sleep. She just stayed that way thinking about everyone and everything. And every once in a while, her lips would curl upwards into a smile whenever a certain someone's image appeared in her mind…

In another room of the hotel, another girl was awake, having woken up a short while ago, but she was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. She glanced at her roommate who mumbled something in her sleep. She returned her gaze back to the ceiling and thought of what happened last night. I can't believe my Knight and my boyfriend fought. She shook her head a bit all of a sudden. Wait, did I just say boyfriend? Why would I still think of him in that way? I don't want him anymore! Ilene closed her eyes and tried to think of something else, such as the tournament or the coming war that she would have to get her kingdom prepared for. But it was no use. The face of Gary Oak kept appearing in her mind with his sullen look and how he kept asking for her forgiveness and to give him a chance because of what he did. She snapped her eyes open. No! I will not give in! He did something horrible to Sabrina! How can I be with such a…such a… She couldn't finish her thoughts since she just pictured Ash punching Gary hard in the chest again in her mind. It made her heart skip a beat before thumping loudly when Gary dropped to the ground. I'm fooling myself. I still care for him. But how can I still have feelings for him? I am a queen...I can't be with someone like him. Someone who doesn't care about others…someone who constantly insults and ridicules others…someone who never apologizes for their mistakes…how can I ever forgive him? How can I still have feelings for him? How can I have a future with someone like that or continue my reign as Queen with someone like that with me? She thought of Gary a bit more, heart beat increasing before forcing her mind to go onto something else. She thought of many other things, calming down a bit before her mind landed onto Ash…

Ash. A Knight. Her Knight of her very own kingdom. Her Knight who is also the last true Aura Guardian and Arceus's Knight as well. She remembered how she slapped him, insulted him and then stripped him of his title and status in her kingdom over him hurting Gary. How she chose to support her boyfriend who she loved but barely knew over her Knight, her friend who she knew, respected and thought highly of. She couldn't believe what she did. Even if she did apologize to his girlfriends, she didn't apologize to him. In her blind love and devotion for the young pokémon researcher, she hurt the raven haired guardian. She remembered seeing how angry he became, how his face twisted with fury. But she also saw how his eyes were filled with hurt and sadness over what she did to him. And then she remembered what he told her, what he told everyone else before he said he was done and fed up with everything and what happened after. Her heart skipped a beat at that too, remembering how he walked away into the darkness of the night. What have I done? How could I have done that to him when all he wanted was to be treated fairly and with respect? When he was just trying to protect me? She took in a long breath, trying to calm herself, to not break down. All the things that Gary isn't, Ash is. All the things I despise and hate, Gary has done but Ash hasn't. But why does Gary hold my heart? I shouldn't be having feelings for someone like him…I should have feelings for someone like Ash…who is my Knight, an Aura Guardian…a man who would give up his life for others and would never even think of putting someone else down…Ilene's heart started beating faster again as she pictured Ash in her mind now. Ash is the exact opposite of Gary and someone who I would have no problem being with. Even in sharing him…I can do that right? But why is Gary still in my heart though? Why? Why Arceus? Why would you do this to me? The choice should be easy to make, to choose. After what he did…but I just…can't….I have feelings for Gary…but Ash would be the wiser choice... The young queen's eyes began to water and she faced the wall, turning onto her side. She let out silent tears as she kept battling over what she should do in her mind, and who she should pick. Should I follow my heart or my mind? Gary or Ash? Ash or Gary? Gary…or…Ash? Ash…or…Gary?

Far away from what was happening in the Indigo Plateau Hotel, a raven haired young man was lying down on his king sized bed on New Island. It was his own private island that he used for training in secret and to get ready for the war against the coming darkness. Right now though, he was in extreme pain as his head was still pounding, he was dehydrated, his side was killing him and the worst part was that he still couldn't bring out his aura. His Blissey was standing next to him as he lay on the bed, groaning in pain with dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't slept all night and his pokémon were standing beside his bed with concerned looks on their faces.

"Bliss blissey bliss lissey liss," said Blissey with a sullen look on her face.

"You have got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Ash before groaning again after hearing the round pink pokémon explain what his results were.

"Well, you did drink heavily like a mad man," said Mewtwo, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"Will he recover?" asked Gardevoir in a low voice, greatly concerned.

"Alcohol poisoning is serious business in normal humans. In Aura Guardians though, it's worse as it doesn't just affect the body. Even though aura breaks it down quickly, if someone ingests too much, they can completely shut down their aura for a while until the alcohol is naturally expelled, leaving them completely vulnerable. Even their natural physical strength will be less as their bodies try to heal. He'll recover but his aura has been suppressed as a result and his liver has been damaged as well. We have to wait for him to expel it naturally before his aura can manifest again and then we can work on healing his liver with it," explained Lucario.

"Nice going oh Chosen One," commented Mewtwo sarcastically as he sighed.

"Shut up!"

"Can't you just leave him alone?!" asked Gardevoir with an angry look at Mewtwo that made him widen his eyes at her. "He already feels bad over what happened last night! No need to make him feel worse!" she shot at him.

"When did you become so assertive and outspoken Gardevoir?" asked Mewtwo out of curiosity, making the psychic and fairy pokémon become pink but kept her glare on him.

"Alright, enough you two," interrupted Lucario as Ash slowly sat up. "Master, you need to rest."

"Can't. Even though I feel like shit, I promised the girls I'm gonna go get them in the morning. As you've noticed, it's morning. And I have to go tell Goodshow I'm not competing anymore. Are you sure there's no way for me to recover quicker Lucario?" asked Ash as he slowly took off his black shirt that smelled like alcohol and sweat. He was unable to move quickly because of his side hurting so much and being very exhausted.

"There is one way and it's very painful. It would involve me using my aura to expel the alcohol out of your body but that requires a lot of power, can hurt both of us if done for a long time and you'd still only be able to use a fraction of your power until your body fully recovers. Not something I want to do unless absolutely necessary," answered Lucario and Ash nodded, saying he agrees.

"I still can't believe that you're leaving the tournament," remarked Mewtwo, glaring at Ash. "What happened to sticking with the plan?" he asked. Ash just sighed as he shook his head.

"I know buddy. But what's left? Our biggest challenge was when the stadium was attacked. Everyone else that I faced was too easy. My pokémon are on a completely different level. The tournament was to test our strength and we're much stronger than the rest. I don't think there's a point anymore in competing. And I'm not sure I can even stay there much longer either after what happened yesterday and last night," replied Ash. The three shook their heads with disappointment. This didn't sound like him at all.

"You're blowing things out of proportion Ash and you're making it sound like the whole world is against you," said Mewtwo and the young guardian glanced at him.

"Look who's talking," shot back Ash and Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. Lucario and Gardevoir became a little uneasy from the staring contest between the two. After what seemed like ages, Mewtwo sighed and shook his head.

"You're right. I did behave that way, doing something foolish in the past. But you helped me open my eyes," commented Mewtwo. "And right now, I'm trying to return the favor. I understand what you're feeling and what you've been through. But that's no reason to drop everything half done. No reason to just give up and not try to fix things. This isn't you. You never quit before. Why start now?" he asked. His question made Ash lean over a bit in his seat, bury his head in his hands and take a long breath.

"You're right buddy….but…it's because I don't know if I can take it anymore Mewtwo," revealed Ash while staring at the bedroom floor. "I've done so much for others, sacrificed so much for others…yet all it's done for me is cause me more problems, more anguish, more nightmares, more stress and more doubt. It's never done me any good…"

"Never done you any good?!" Mewtwo was outraged. He lifted up his first and best human friend from his shoulders and shook him while he continued talking. "Who made the world's most dangerous pokémon change and become his ally?! Who earned the love of several beautiful girls?! Who made many friends from all over the world?! Who has literally an army of pokémon standing by his side?! Now tell me how you doing all that, doing so much and sacrificing so much for others didn't bring you any good!" Mewtwo let Ash go and he dropped to his hands and knees on the floor. Images were racing past his mind's eye, both good and bad, making him remember what the psychic feline was talking about. A couple minutes later Ash stood up and looked at his friend with a sad gaze, slowly shaking his head.

"You may be right, but I still can't Mewtwo. I can't take any more betrayals. I can't be taken for granted anymore. I can't be taken advantage of anymore," said Ash sadly and that caused his pokémon and the legendary to have sullen expressions form on their faces. "It's hard enough worrying about the world, the future and whether or not we can triumph. We've only glimpsed it and had a small taste of it. I can't worry about that and if certain people actually have my back or not. I can't. No more. I'm going to go to Goodshow and tell him I'm exiting the tournament, pick up the girls, say goodbye to the others and then we're coming here. We'll start on the next part of our plans tomorrow." Lucario, Gardevoir and Mewtwo sighed. They believed he was doing something foolish but respected his decision since he was their friend and had his reasons.

"I still believe you're making a huge mistake Ash and I'm disappointed in how things turned out," said Mewtwo. "But I'm still with you." Ash nodded but didn't comment back.

"You should at least take a nice hot shower first before going back. You stink worse than Muk and Weezing combined," commented Gardevoir. They raised their eyebrows and brow in Mewtwo's case at what she just said. Gardevoir went pink in embarrassment and of the awkward attention. Ash just smiled a bit then he nodded since he knew she had a point. He slowly made his way over to the bathroom as he tried to ignore the pain on his side where his liver is and his throbbing headache.

"I swear I'm never drinking again," stated Ash as he reached the bathroom door, leaning against the wall with his hand stretched out and taking a breather.

"Don't make promises you can't keep. Especially one that you will break the moment an attractive female challenges you to a drinking match again," remarked Mewtwo. Lucario shook his head and sighed but Gardevoir smacked the legendary psychic pokemon against his shoulder. She couldn't reach his head.

"I said leave him alone!" snapped the psychic fairy and Mewtwo flinched under her very rare stern gaze.

"Alright, alright!" gave in the purple feline, making Ash's jaw drop at what he just saw. "What?" asked Mewtwo after seeing Ash's stunned expression before he recovered.

"Nothing. I'm just making sure I never forget the first time you became scared of Gardevoir," quipped Ash with a chuckle, making his friend cross his arms and scoff while the other two chuckled. Ash entered the bathroom and closed the door. He turned on the shower, waiting for the temperature to become just right and looked in the mirror. He looked like absolute shit and he sighed. "I'm definitely never drinking again." Right after, Mewtwo sent him a mental message; yeah right. Ash shook his head and told him to shut up mentally in return before getting ready to shower.

Whimpers. Whimpers and painful gasps. Whimpers, painful gasps and sobs. Those were the sounds that were coming from a red headed woman. She was tied up naked and left on the cold basement floor of a wooden cabin. This particular cabin was relatively unknown since it was hidden away in the deep part of the Indigo woods next to a small lake that wasn't even named. The gag that used to be in her mouth was on the floor as she was just recently violated again by two members of the Skull Brothers. They were too lazy to put it back into her mouth after harshly gang raping her again. They figured that she wouldn't be stupid enough to call for help and they were right. But it was also because she didn't even have the energy or the will to do so.

After Edmond and Ed finished up, they went back upstairs and Edmond told Ed to get some food ready. After Ed checked their stock, he said they were about to run out. The leader told him and Eddie to go get some more supplies but to not be recognized or start trouble. After those two brothers left, Edmond, Edwin and Edward discussed what they were going to do about their situation and recent humiliation.

"We'll get our revenge back don't you worry. We just need to lie low for a bit until they forget about us and then we'll strike. We have entertainment with us," said Edmond as he pointed to the basement and the other two smirked. "We found out where they're staying at from our search last night. We have our equipment and our pokémon are fully healed and ready for battle. We'll strike at the right time. That was our mistake. We knew better but became greedy and impatient. We will get revenge on this Ash Ketchum, even if he is an Aura Guardian. Nobody messes with us! We're the Skull Brothers! The most feared mercenary group in the world!" he finished with a shout and Edward and Edwin shouted in agreement.

Edmond nodded at the two who went to do different things. One went to the basement for his own session with their personal sex slave and the other went to check on their equipment while Edmond went through Natasha's belongings in her bag. He found six poke balls that he didn't open, knowing that they would attack them. When he first disarmed her yesterday afternoon and tossed the bag aside, Eddie had picked up the bag and went through it. He found the poke balls and clicked the lock button on them so they wouldn't come out on their own. Edmond found a book with a bookmark in it titled 'The Journey' and set it aside. He found a small box of extra bullets for the gun he took from her. He put that on the table. He found a smart phone and went through it. While checking through it, he found her notes, pictures, videos and her list of contacts.

She didn't have many pictures, barely ten of them but they were all of a certain raven haired guardian and some of his friends that she used to gather information on him. Edmond thought they might come in handy as he would get an idea of who is around the Aura Guardian. He thought maybe they'll use them as bait or something else. Her notes were mostly extra unnecessary bullshit in his eyes about random things that didn't interest him. Her contacts list was short. One of the contacts said 'Boss', another that said 'Bitch', another that said 'Annoying Pilot', another that said 'Nerd', another that said 'D' and one other that said 'J'. He wondered about the contacts for a bit. 'Boss' had to be Giovanni. He would call him and tell him if he wanted his bitch back, he would have to pay for her. The last two contacts made him think for a second before moving on. He hit the call button for 'Boss'. The phone rang a few times before being picked up.

"This better be good," said a rough voice.

"Oh it is good," replied Edmond.

"Edmond?! What are you doing with her phone?"

"So you do remember me…I'm flattered Giovanni."

"Never say my name again on the phone! Now answer my question!"

"Well Boss man, if you really want to know, your hot bitch is tied up at the moment."

"You're not one for metaphors. Why?"

"I see you're still as sharp as ever. Let's just say she tried to cheat us and play one over us. Now, we could let her go and perhaps finish the job she gave us if…"

"Whatever you want, I don't care. She let herself get captured so get whatever it is you want from her. I don't negotiate and remake deals. And she's not one of my own anymore since she failed me."

"I figured as much. But if that's the case, we won't be coming for payment from you then. We'll just get paid by her in all sorts of different ways. She even started on that payment plan last night. But we could continue the…"

"Don't care what you do and I don't have any jobs for you either. But if you ever call this number again, I will have you hunted down and killed. And tell that red headed whore that she's on her own since she failed me and has allowed herself to be violated. My organization has no room for such weak and broken people."

CLICK. Giovanni hung up the phone and Edmond smirked. He knew it was going to go like that but he did it anyway. He didn't care about Giovanni, the red head, their organization or anything. All he cared about was his pay. But since he wasn't getting any more cash, he and his brothers would just have to settle with her paying it off. Bit by bit until they had enough of her and send her on her way with a bullet to the skull.

He went back to going through the phone and opened up the video folder. It only had two videos, one which was a news video and the other was of Natasha's first gang rape that Eddie recorded while they violated her. He laughed as he watched the rape video, seeing her scared and pleading to be let go before whimpering as they continued fucking her into submission.

He stopped that video mid way and then played the news video. He found out that the video was of the stadium attack and he decided to watch it. His group wasn't able to catch up on world affairs as they were on another mission. That mission required them to be cut off from the outside world and it's events as they were attempting to find a secret artifact for another client out in the desert. They were called and told the mission was canceled but still got paid for it. Not even a day later, the red head contacted them and told them of a simple kidnapping mission for them with a good amount of pay in it. Unfortunately, nothing went according to plan. The video showed what happened at the stadium attack from start to finish while commenting on it.

He watched the men and their pokémon attack the stadium and then face three of the Champions who were Lance, Steven and Cynthia along with this Ash Ketchum. He knew who they were and saw that they were powerful but then saw what the raven haired man was capable of. As he continued watching the video, his eyes became wider and wider. When the video finished he was stunned still for a moment before he snarled, angered over what he just saw. He got up and headed to the basement.

When Edmond reached the basement, he saw Edward roughly plowing into the redhead from behind. She was crying and whimpering as he violated her with reckless abandon, feeling the pain from his harsh movements and the humiliation at being used like a freaking object. He moved towards them and when Edward noticed Edmond, he was going to motion for his leader to join in. But then he noticed his leader's angered gaze on the red head. He knew that look, which meant something was up. He pulled out of the woman and put his pants back on without a word.

Natasha was feeling relieved that he stopped, taking the opportunity to take a breather and rest on the table. She was enjoying the warm wood against her bare body more than the cold cement floor. Something else happened though that made her wish that he had continued instead. Edmond handed Edward the smart phone and he started playing the video. Natasha heard the sounds from the video she had practically memorized and her eyes widened with fear. By the time she realized she was going to be in even deeper water, Edmond grabbed her arm, lifted her up into a standing position and then delivered a punch straight to the side of her head. The force of the strike sent the woman crashing to the hard floor with cries of pain. "YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU KNEW HOW POWERFUL HE IS AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US! YOU OFFERED US CHUMP CHANGE TO STEAL A GIRL FROM THIS FREAK OF NATURE WHO'S STRONGER THAN SOME LEGENDARY POKÉMON! I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE THESE NEXT MOMENTS OF YOUR LIFE ARE AS PAINFUL AND HUMILIATING AS POSSIBLE!" roared Edmond. He kicked her while she was on the ground and Natasha shouted out in agony when he connected against her side. He kept kicking her and during that time, Edward watched the video and was quickly becoming angrier with each passing second at what she hid from them. Edmond struck her all over her body but when he went for her face, the red head shielded her face with her arms and he stumbled back a bit.

He roared with rage at that and she tried to futilely crawl away. He quickly reached her, flipped her over onto her back with another kick to her side and then sat on top of stomach. He used his legs to pin her arms to her sides, giving him clear access to strike her. He slugged away at her face several times and the red head kept crying out after each strike. He finished up with one more strike and looked at his handy work, panting. She had a cut lip that was bleeding, there were black and blue bruises on her face and her nose was broken and it was bleeding. The blood was seeping into her mouth, causing her to cough as she cried. She slowly turned her head to the side to look away from the dangerous man and to have the blood flow away from her mouth.

"Oh no you slut. You're not done yet," said Edmond with a dangerous snarl. He got off of her and picked her up before roughly slamming her against the wooden table face first with her crying out in pain once more. He took out his switchblade and then called both Edward and Edwin to him. Edward put the phone on a shelf as he reached him and Edwin came hurrying down the basement steps. "Hold the bitch down," said Edmond and both Edwin and Edward held her down as he started cutting the skin on her back with his switchblade. Natasha let out high pitched shrill screams as he carved out the word 'WHORE' on her back. When he finished he put away his switchblade after cleaning the blood off with a towel but Natasha was still screaming from the pain, crying her eyes out. "It ain't over yet," remarked Edmond when her screaming died down a bit. He unbuttoned his pants, let out his shaft and rammed into her forcefully all of a sudden, making her scream out in pain again. Her screaming was at first shrill and high pitched before changing into a hoarse tone of voice as her vocal cords were becoming damaged from all of her shrill screaming. Edward and Edwin held her down as they struck her a few times while their leader continued violating her. She pleaded to them to stop in vain with a hoarse voice now in between her sobs, barely able to speak the words but they didn't as they kept doing what they were doing. Nobody noticed that her contact 'Annoying Pilot' was calling her on the phone as the phone had been put on silent after recording their first time with the red head. "I'm going to make sure you never forget this! You will never feel anything else ever again except for pain, fear and humiliation!" swore Edmond as he continued violating her and his brothers struck her while they kept her pinned. Natasha did the only thing she could; she cried. She cried and she cried, wishing for it all to stop…

While the three were tormenting and torturing the red headed woman, the other two Skull Brothers were heading through the Indigo Woods to go get some food from the nearby market. They had put on disguises that consisted of different clothes, wigs, sun glasses and beards.

"Ah man, I can't wait until we get our revenge against that fucking prick," commented Ed.

"Me too but keep it down Ed. There might be others nearby," advised Eddie.

"Who gives a shit? We'll just kill them."

"And then that would draw the cops. We don't need that shit now. We need to be patient so we can get that fucker. And then we'll get our hands on those girls too!"

"Fine damn it! But only because I like the plan. I'm gonna have so much fun with them! HAHAHA! But I need some action now!"

"When we get back just fuck the slut again."

"You're right but I'm getting tired of her already. I want to find another."

"You always get bored quickly. But just wait till after the revenge and just make the whore do different things till then. You like experimenting with the bitch don't you?" asked Eddie that made Ed think a bit before he nodded and laughed. The two made more idle yet horrible and disgusting conversations as they continued through the woods.

A few floors below the penthouse suite of the Indigo Hotel, four girls were in their beds in a single room shared together. One of the four was wide awake and thinking about the one who helped her change in the past. She kept seeing him in her mind in many different scenarios. Dancing with her, talking with her, kissing her and other images that made her fill up with such emotion that she couldn't explain it. But then she started picturing him angry, sad, hurt and being pushed away from everyone. Her heart ached for him and yearned for him. That was when she realized something. She couldn't have him leave. She couldn't have him disappear. Not without her. She had to go with him too and that's when everything clicked in her head. This was the reason why she never really cared about her ex-boyfriend Gary, why she stopped him from making a move, why she moved on easily enough and why it would never have worked out anyways no matter what happened. The reason why was Ash. She has feelings for him and him alone because of what he's done for her. He was the only one worthy of her. She only hoped that he would see her worthy of him as well.

Some movement caught her eye and she glanced towards it. It was her friend Liza and she was starting to wake up. The green haired girl turned onto her back and glanced towards her right. She saw Sabrina wide awake, sitting up and looking at her. She smiled a bit at her and received one in turn before the purple haired girl faced forward. Liza sat up and that was when she felt her inner thighs were a little wet and sticky. Oh shit, I forgot about that. She became embarrassed, remembering the how and why before stopping her thinking all of a sudden, hoping that her thoughts weren't read. She slowly faced the psychic and saw her with a lost look on her face. She titled her head.

"You alright?" asked Liza.

Sabrina turned to face her, recomposing herself. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About what happened last night?"

"Yea." She thought it would be better to just go with that for the moment. No need to have her dilemma go under the spotlight.

Liza nodded. "Yea, me too. I hope he doesn't really leave for good…"

"He'd be an idiot if he does." Both Liza and Sabrina turned to face Clair who had gotten up as well. The blunette didn't want him to leave either but didn't want to admit it. "Leaving the tournament when he has a spotless record; that's just stupid."

"Look who's talking," shot Liza, making Clair narrow her eyes and redden. "I remember you hiding in your room for some time after what that prodigy Dragon trainer did to you. You could've still beaten him, put him in his place and yet you stayed home, letting him win. You wouldn't even pick up your phone. At least Sabrina functioned well enough after her breakup with Gary."

"Shut up Liza and don't ever bring that up again!" snapped Clair angrily but Liza was unfazed. The blunette looked at the purple head, her expression softening. "I can't believe he did that to you of all people. I'm sorry you went through that." Liza shared the sentiment with her as well. Before the psychic prodigy could respond, another voice was heard.

"That must've sucked. Can't believe anyone would cheat on you." The three turned their heads to see Giselle getting up. "Sorry, but you three were kind of loud and woke me up." The three smiled a bit and apologized for that. "It's alright. I usually wake up early anyways. But, I am truly sorry that you had to experience that Sabrina."

Sabrina smiled a bit. "It's alright. It taught me a lesson and I got my revenge on him by giving him nightmares for a month." Clair, Liza and Giselle gasped and had their eyes widen. "But honestly, I wasn't even that mad to begin with. I only did that so he wouldn't feel like he got off without a problem so he wouldn't do it again. I realized afterwards that I never really liked him or had any feelings for him at all."

"So why even go out with him?" asked Giselle, confused.

Sabrina sighed. "Well, because of two reasons. First was because nobody else asked and I thought he seemed nice enough. Looks like I was wrong. The second was because of Liza constantly teasing me about not even going on a date yet."

Liza felt bad for that and also because Giselle and Clair were glaring at her. "Sorry Sab. I just didn't want you to stay cooked up at home all the time. You barely get out to help out the G-Men or visit me or Clair but that's like once every few months. I didn't mean to make you go out with an asshole." Liza hung her head.

"It's alright Liza. I know you were just trying to help me out," replied Sabrina.

"Though in your own twisted way of doing things," joked Clair and the four of them chuckled a bit.

"Hey, if I wasn't like that, we wouldn't have so much fun together," defended Liza.

"I guess you're right about that," replied Clair. She debated internally on something before speaking. "But Liza, next time you want to have some 'alone' time, make sure you're actually alone."

Liza's eyes widened and her face went scarlet. Sabrina and Giselle were looking at her with astonished faces. "When and how the hell did you find out?!" she asked, embarrassed.

"Well, you proved it just now. And that stain on your blanket gave it away. You should seriously clean up after yourself." Liza's jaw dropped before she looked down and saw the stained mark on her blanket and the other two girls burst out laughing.

She looked back up and saw her smirking at her. "You're such a bitch Clair! Ugh! I'm gonna get you back for this!" The blunette just laughed and Liza got out of bed and went into the bathroom with some fresh clothes in her hands, feeling very angry and embarrassed. While the caretaker of the Charicific Valley cleaned herself up and got dressed, the other three girls decided to get up and get dressed as well. They talked a bit and decided to give Cynthia a call a little later to see if they could get an update and if she had left the penthouse suite already with Ash.

In the dining room at the top floor of the hotel, three girls were sitting next to each other at the table. "Ah, that hit the spot!" Sarah was leaning back against her chair when she said that. She felt full from the breakfast she, Leaf and Anabel made. The other two nodded in agreement as they too felt that they were stuffed from their simple breakfast. Each of them was letting the food settle in their stomachs as they sipped on their warm tea. Leaf glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 8am.

"The others should be waking up soon," commented Anabel as she too looked at the time.

"You're right. Maybe we should start getting breakfast ready for them since it'll take us a while to get enough ready for everyone," suggested Sarah and the other two agreed.

The three got up, cleaned up after themselves and then worked on getting breakfast ready for everyone else. They worked mostly in silence as they prepared the meal but did talk a little here and there. Most of the time it was just asking for something that they needed though. As the three friends worked on getting breakfast ready, some of their friends were starting to awaken and get ready. They were almost done preparing breakfast for them, waiting for the eggs to boil when several of their friends appeared and joined them in the kitchen. They were already dressed in their normal day wear, following the wonderful smell of food.

"Ah, that smells delicious," commented Lucy as she, Brock, Richie, Joy, Daisy Oak and Gary appeared. The latter was taking his time as he was still in pain from Ash's hit. Gary had refused to go to the hospital and so nobody knew what the extent of the damage was.

"Thanks! It's just simple stuff but we hope you like it and enjoy it anyways," replied Sarah.

"Thanks for making food for us. I really appreciate you guys taking over for breakfast," said Brock, thankful that he could take a break from making a meal, especially after what happened last night.

He wasn't able to sleep all that well at first and neither had Lucy in the beginning as they shared a bed together and he was restless. She had woken up in the middle of the night from his tossing and turning and woke him up as well. He asked her what was wrong before she asked him if he was that restless when they were separated. Brock said he had but also felt embarrassed at that. He explained he was worried Ash, knowing him for so long and loved him as a brother and hated how things turned out last night. Lucy understood and hugged her boyfriend before kissing him and telling him that things may seem bleak but everything will work out somehow. He had thanked her for understanding and being positive. He suggested they go back to sleep and that he would not bother her anymore. They ended up sleeping comfortably with Brock sleeping on his side and Lucy did the same as she backed up into him with his arms around her. They had woken up in that position and had agreed that it was the best sleep they ever had and would continue sleeping like that together from now on.

When Gary saw Leaf, he became a little angry, believing her to be just as responsible as Ash for his break up. He didn't like how her and his fight also caused his secret to be let out and make Ilene leave him. He decided to give her a piece of his mind. "I'm surprised Leaf knows how to do something right without causing problems and fucking everything up for others," remarked Gary with a growl. Leaf looked down at the floor with a hurt expression and the others gave Gary a 'WTF?' look but he didn't care.

"You would think that after last night he would've learned his lesson or at least try to be decent but no. He's still an inconsiderate and thoughtless jackass." They all turned around to see Ilene as she entered the kitchen with Riley. Both were wearing proper clothing, but not their royal and guardian attire. When Ilene first saw Gary, her heart skipped a beat and she wanted to talk to him. But after hearing how he spoke to Leaf, she decided to punish him instead. Her jab at Gary made Daisy glare at Ilene but Gary looked down in shame.

"Thank you Ilene," said Leaf quietly with a small smile for the backup. But when Ilene turned her gaze to the brunette and gave her such a glare that it made her smile vanish instantly. She also felt that it was her fault for causing so much crap to happen that caused her Knight to leave.

"Don't thank me Ms. Green and that's Queen Ilene to you as well. Gary may be inconsiderate, but he's right. Everything that happened last night, everything that was revealed, was because of your inability to act like an adult and deal with your feelings in a responsible way," responded Ilene harshly that made Leaf drop her head and hide her face in her hands in guilt. Ilene moved to the dining room with Riley slowly following from behind with a saddened look on his face. Leaf started to cry as Joy, Sarah and Anabel went to her side to try and calm her down.

"How can you be such a bitch?!" burst out Daisy Oak in anger, making Ilene whirl around furious. That caught everyone's attention, including Leaf's who looked up with a wet face from behind her hands.

"How dare you insult me when your brother goes around breaking girls' hearts and when that girl goes around betraying the trust of everyone she meets!" shouted Ilene.

"Please stop both of you!" begged Gary, taking a step forward. He didn't want his sister and the only girl he cared about to fight but the two blonde girls kept at it, insulting each other. The others were stupefied and didn't know what to do…

"ENOUGH!" shouted Riley getting angry, letting his aura flare out and that stunned everyone into silence before anyone else can add fuel to the fire. "There are more important things going on right now than your petty squabbles! The only other person who was truly hurt last night other than Leaf isn't even here! You two may have been hurt too but not to the degree of them two! Who knows where he's gone or when he'll return even though he promised! And yet your fighting and arguing changes nothing that's happened!" fumed Riley. They were looking at him with fear on their faces that he had let loose like that since he almost always had an aura of calmness around him. "What happened in the past is important and we should learn from it. Yet you're dwelling in the past, just like Ash is, letting it control you instead of trying to find a way to fix things, to learn from it or at least move on damn it! All of you are acting like spoiled children who didn't get their daily new toy! You're all adults so start fucking acting like it!"

Riley glared at them all with his glowing blue eyes that made them all flinch before the glow and aura went away and he moved to the large balcony patio and leaned against the rails as he looked out into the distance. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. He didn't like doing that at all but sometimes enough was enough. He could only take so much. He was beginning to understand how Ash felt, how he couldn't take it anymore. That's when Riley realized that Ash had a point and that his patience had more of a limit than his since he didn't even last a week with them before blowing his top. A few minutes later, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He glanced back and saw it was Daisy Oak with a sullen expression on her face.

"You're right Riley. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that especially when my brother is at fault. We've been blaming and pointing fingers at one another instead of owing up to what we did wrong ourselves. I'm sorry. Please forgive me," she said in a sullen tone of voice, making Riley turn around and pull her into a hug.

"I'm sorry too Daisy for getting angry and losing my patience. And I do forgive you. Do you forgive me?" asked Riley and she nodded while her face was buried into his chest. "Thank you."

The ones in the kitchen were left standing in shock over what Riley just did, watching him go to the balcony. They watched in silence as Daisy Oak went up to him and they apologized to one another. Gary glanced at Ilene and she looked at him but then turned away. She walked up to Leaf and stood in front of her. "I'm sorry Leaf for being so cruel to you. You didn't deserve that."

"I'm sorry too Leaf. I shouldn't have said what I said to you. Please forgive me," added Gary. Ilene was surprised he apologized. She wanted to glance back at him but prevented herself from doing that.

Leaf sniffed and shook her head. "No, you're both right. I'm bad luck. I fuck up everything. And all this happened because of my mistakes and foolishness. I'm so sorry!" apologized Leaf. She burst into tears and then ran out of the kitchen. Her friends calling out to her to wait and stop but she didn't listen to them. They heard the suite door open and slam shut. Joy turned to the others.

"I'm gonna go with Richie to find her and talk to her," she told them and several offered to go with her but she shook her head. "I think it'll be better if it's less people. That way she won't feel overwhelmed. Anabel, Sarah; I know you're her friends but she needs to know that we're here for her too." The others agreed and they watched the couple leave the suite. Right when they left, they set to work on slowly setting the table for everyone. They didn't talk and Gary and Ilene didn't say another word though they did glance at one another every so often but never caught the other looking. Riley and Daisy Oak stayed in the balcony until their remaining friends and family trickled in. With most of them there, they started filing in around the dining tables with their usual morning greetings with the table finally set. Everyone who was there sat down and began grabbing their share of food.

While they ate, four girls had just finished getting dressed in the master bedroom. They were about to leave the room when the door was opened and three other girls stepped into the room. Misty, May, Dawn and Serena greeted Cynthia, Shauna and Lizabeth who just entered.

"Thanks for the pajamas," said Lizabeth, handing the girls their clothes.

"No problem," replied Dawn with a slight smile.

"Did you guys get any sleep?" asked Cynthia and the four shook their heads.

"No, not really. We kept waking up throughout the night," replied May with the blonde Champion saying she went through that as well.

"You ready to leave?" asked Dawn.

Cynthia nodded. "Pretty much. I don't really have anything important to take with me other than my pokémon of course. Are you?" she asked them and they nodded.

"I can't believe you all love him, he loves you and are going to leave with him," commented Lizabeth.

"Not an everyday thing huh?" asked Serena with a slight smile making them all chuckle a bit.

"No, it's not," agreed Shauna. Her smile went away before she continued. "I never thought he felt that way. Hearing what he said last night was a brutal eye opener." She was thinking about everything he said last night, how he was always doing everything for everyone but was never truly appreciated.

They all sighed but the red head spoke up before the rest. "He's always doing everything for everyone and never expecting anything in return except perhaps for some respect at the very least. After everything other people did to him, what Leaf did to him in the past and what she did to him now, he just couldn't take it anymore," stated Misty.

"Speaking about Leaf, she went through some crap too. What about her?" asked May.

"We'll try to make him see how sorry she is but first let's see how he is. It won't do her, us or him any good if we try to reason with him if he hasn't cooled down yet," advised Cynthia.

"Good point," remarked Dawn.

"I just hope he hasn't hurt himself while out wherever he went," said Serena quietly and the other girls nodded solemnly.

"C'mon. Let's go get some breakfast. It won't do us any good staying here and just hoping for things to happen or not happen," advised Lizabeth.

"She's right. Let's go eat and wait for Ash to come back and get you five," added Shauna and the girls agreed with her. The seven of them left the room and went to the dining room with the four girls leading the way.

Both blunettes followed after them with neutral expressions but inside they were conflicted. They had woken up before Cynthia and talked together privately in the bathroom. They wanted to go with them too. But, they didn't know if they should. They didn't want Ash to leave. But they didn't know if they should ask him if they could go with them. They wanted to find out if what they were feeling for him was true or not. But how could they ask that? How could they let him know? And how could they do that to their friends, especially May who they know better than the rest? And what if they hated them for that? Or caused something else to happen? Not knowing what to do, the two blunettes just decided to not say anything unless some sort of sign showed otherwise. When they joined the others and they saw Shauna, Lizabeth and Cynthia, their group was at first surprised that they were there. After a quick explanation and introductions for the two blunettes, leaving out certain details in the process, the others shrugged it off and they quickly told them to join them for breakfast.

"I'm surprised Ash isn't here. I'll go get him," said Delia as she made to get out of her seat until May stopped her.

"Oh Ash isn't here. He spent the night with his pokémon and said he'll come back in the morning so he'll come a little later," lied May and Delia thanked her for updating them and continued on with her food. May felt guilty for the lie but the ones who knew the real story didn't blame her at all and they merely glanced at one another before eating. It was mostly silent, with few conversations here and there to not raise too much suspicion until the blonde Champion of Sinnoh got a call.

"Hello? Oh morning Clair. No, not yet. Oh, you wanted to see me before I left? Well, I'm having breakfast with them though at their suite," commented Cynthia.

"Friend of yours? You can invite her over if you want," offered Delia and Cynthia relayed the message to Clair.

"Ok sounds good. See you in a bit," said Cynthia before hanging up and facing Delia. "She said thank you for the invitation and she'll be coming soon. She has a few friends coming with her if that's alright."

"No problem. The more the merrier and I'm sure they're good people like you. I'll get some more food ready for them," said Delia but then Brock offered to do it so she can eat peacefully and she thanked him for that. Lucy got up to help out her boyfriend and because she couldn't just sit idly and have her thoughts annoy her as she had finished her food.

While they were enjoying their breakfast, Joy and Richie were running through the woods near the hotel as they chased after Leaf. They hoped that they could find her before something else happened cause they really couldn't take anything else at the moment. She had a decent head start on them but they soon caught up to her and found her leaning against a tree sitting on the dirt in a small clearing. Her legs were pulled into her chest, her arms were wrapped around her legs and her head was hung with the unmistakable sounds of crying coming from her. Joy and Richie took seats beside her on the ground and stayed quiet for a bit. Leaf raised her head and glanced at the two beside her after she stopped crying.

"You should go back and enjoy your breakfast," said Leaf quietly.

"Nah, I'm not hungry. I'll just send Richie to get me some food later," replied back Joy.

"What am I, your slave?" he asked her and she confirmed it, making him scoff but also chuckle. That also made Leaf smile, though it was a very small one. "Leaf, remember what I told you?" he asked the brunette and she faced him with a confused look. "Before your match with Ash, how we talked a bit and I asked if you there was something you wanted to talk about? And you told me you're not sure. Remember?" She nodded. "That's why Joy and I are here. We're here for you Leaf and so are your other friends. We decided to just have us two be here because we're cooler than them," he said with a cocky smirk that made her and Joy laugh a bit.

"He's right though Leaf," said Joy and Leaf glanced at her. "We're here because we care and to let you know that everything isn't your fault. We understand your reasons. So please, don't be sad."

"Thanks you guys," said Leaf quietly, sniffling a bit as she hugged both of them and they hugged her. "I'm just so sad that things turned out so badly. It's not what I had wanted at all. I never even dreamed or thought that it could go like that. I'm such a fool. And you didn't have to come after me but thanks and I appreciate it."

"Oh they definitely shouldn't have come after you since you led them to their anguish," said Ed as he and Eddie stepped out from behind a few trees across from them as they took off their disguises.

"Who are you?!" asked Richie, standing up and moved to be in front of Leaf and Joy. The brunette started cowering at the sight of them, remembering her dream and her previous encounter with them.

"Ah I'm touched darling that you remember me," remarked Ed with an evil smile and Eddie sniggered, both of them seeing Leaf's reaction. Joy glanced at Leaf but Richie kept his attention on the two bald men.

"Leaf, who are these…"

"They're the Skull Brothers!" Leaf interrupted the pink haired nurse, making Joy and Richie's eyes widened. He immediately tossed out all of his pokémon's poke balls that he had with him and his Charizard, Raichu, Swellow, Butterfree and Tyranitar appeared.

"Zippo, Sparky, Rose, Happy and Cruise; on guard!" ordered Richie and his five pokémon took up defensive positions in front of them. "Joy…Leaf…get back to the hotel right now as we hold them off!" he told them but before the two girls even registered what he said, Eddie reacted.

"We didn't say you can go!" he shouted as he and Ed tossed out all of their pokémon who quickly surrounded them. There were two each of Machamp, Weavile, Aggron, Shiftry, Crawdaunt and Ursaring.

The dozen pokémon around them were smirking and grinning at them evilly while taunting their prey. Richie's pokémon were baring their teeth and snarling at them. Richie motioned for Leaf and Joy to get closer and stand behind him. The three of them were looking all around them, hoping to find a way out.

"Hey," said Richie very quietly so only Joy and Leaf could hear him. "We won't win unless you have some pokémon with you Leaf." Leaf shook her head. She had run out of the hotel without any pokémon, realizing right then that she made another stupid mistake. "Shit. Okay, I'm going to force an opening and when I do, run. Run back to the hotel. Get help. I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"Richie, don't…" started Joy but Richie silenced her with a look as he turned his gaze to her and she understood; he wasn't asking them.

"Be ready…" he said quietly as he faced forward again. He narrowed his eyes at the two sneering Skull Brothers who were enjoying what they were doing.

"As fun as this is, it's time for you to-" began Ed.

"FIRE BLAST AND THUNDER!" shouted Richie, interrupting the bald man and his Charizard and Raichu let out powerful attacks at their pokémon who didn't react in time to dodge the sudden attacks. Crawdaunt and Shiftry cried out in pain at the full power attacks and dropped to the floor. "RUN!" shouted Richie right when his pokémon launched themselves at the remaining ten. Leaf and Joy sprinted away from the spot through the hole in the circle.

"AFTER THEM WEAVILE! CATCH THEM!" shouted Eddie once he saw the two girls making a break for it.

"COVER THEM SPARKY!" roared Richie, seeing the night pokémon dash after his girlfriend and friend. His Raichu ducked under Ursaring's Slash attack before he tore after the two Weavile.

Joy and Leaf were running as fast as they could through the forest in a zigzag pattern as they used the trees for cover so the pokémon chasing after them wouldn't get a clear shot. They were already beginning to lose their breath but kept going. Their legs were screaming in protest as they felt them becoming heavier and their panting became worse. Joy tripped on a tree's root, landing onto the ground with a shout of surprise and pain. Leaf skidded to a stop before running back to help her.

"C'mon Joy we gotta go!" encouraged Leaf as she helped her back up to her feet but before they could take another step, two Weavile appeared in front of them with nasty sneers while flexing their claws at them.

"RAI…CHUUU!" A powerful bolt of lightning struck one of the Weavile who shrieked out in pain before dropping to his knees and panted heavily. Sparky appeared, jumping through the bush and took up a defensive position in front of the girls. Sparks were shooting out of his cheeks as he growled at them. The two Weavile narrowed their eyes at the electric mouse and attacked with Raichu charging forward. The three pokémon fought fiercely and brutally with Leaf and Joy trying to get away. Both Weavile struck Raichu at once sending him flying back into a tree before dropping down. He got back up and fired another Thunderbolt that took down one of them for the count. Raichu fell to the ground after, breathing hard, unable to get back up.

"Sparky!" cried out Joy as she went to him and Weavile took this opportunity to launch himself at the pink haired girl.

"Look out Joy!" shouted Leaf. She pushed the pink haired girl out of the way but then Weavile struck her instead, sending her flying into a tree before slumping down unconscious. Her hat fell off her head and dropped to the ground in front of her.

"LEAF!" shouted Joy as she saw her not getting up. Her attention then focused on the advancing Weavile before glancing back at Raichu who was still unable to get up but conscious. Weavile vanished from sight as he used Agility before reappearing behind Joy and struck her on the head, knocking her out in addition. The claw pokémon noticed Raichu slowly getting back up and quickly fired an Ice Beam at the yellow mouse that encased him in a large block of ice. The dark and ice type pokémon smirked at his doing before he went to his brethren and shook him awake. The second Weavile woke up and shook his head before standing up. He saw Raichu frozen in solid ice and the two knocked out girls and grinned in approval. The two Weavile picked up one girl each, threw them over their shoulders and then dashed away into the forest to get back to where their trainers were.

Richie and his pokémon were doing their absolute best to hold them off as long as they could but they were quickly becoming over powered. His Butterfree and Swellow were out cold and his Charizard and Tyranitar were on their last legs. Ed and Eddie had lost a couple of their pokémon during the fight but still had the upper hand. They enjoyed the sight of them crushing this insolent little pest as they were nearing victory.

"Wea weavile!" Ed and Eddie turned to see their pokémon coming back with both of the girls over their shoulders.

"Good Weavile. We might as well finish this and leave," said Ed and Eddie agreed. "Aggron and Ursaring; Hyper Beam!" ordered the two. Their pokémon quickly charged up the attacks, drawing Richie's attention at their sudden orders as they had remained mostly quiet from the beginning. What he saw made his heart drop to his stomach; they had captured Joy and Leaf.

"Protect!" shouted Richie after seeing his Charizard Zippo drop to the ground from a Water Pulse sent by the Crawdaunt and hearing their order. His Tyranitar, Cruise, brought out a protective shield in front of them all even though he was barely standing in time to meet the two beams of white energy that exploded on contact and brought up smoke. When the smoke finally cleared, he saw that the Skull Brothers and their pokémon were gone with the girls and that his Tyranitar was on his knees, gasping for air before dropping to the ground.

"Cruise!" Richie limped to his fallen pokémon. He was hurt by one of the Skull Brother's pokémon landing a sneak attack on him. Though they only grazed him since he was able to move out the way mostly, the cuts were still deep, they hurt like crazy and it was bleeding. When he reached his pokémon, he was relieved that he was only unconscious after using up all of his energy to protect them from the two Hyper Beams. He let out a sigh before he remembered that he saw they had captured Joy and Leaf. "FUCK! SHIT! FUCK!" Richie swore loudly, hitting the ground with his fist. That made him cry out in pain again, putting pressure on his side in the act. He swore again, returned his pokémon and limped back through the woods towards the hotel while holding his left side with his right arm. "I need to get back as fast as I can. I need help and I need to find out what happened to Sparky. I'm so sorry Joy. I couldn't protect you…some boyfriend I turned out to be…and Leaf…I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you either…" Richie kept moving with his eyes watering from thinking about how he might never see them again and how he had let them down until he entered the area where his Raichu was frozen solid.

"SPARKY!" cried out Richie, moving to his pokémon. He saw the look of shame that was plastered on his pokémon's face when he realized that he was going to lose and fail his trainer and friend in protecting the girls. "Sparky…don't worry buddy. I'm gonna get you healed up soon." Richie returned his pokémon while he was still encased in the block of ice and was about to hurry back to the hotel when he noticed something on the ground. He went towards it and saw it was a blue baseball cap. He recognized it as Leaf's and picked it up and then left the area. "I need to hurry and get back before they're gone for good…and before they do something to them…" Richie shuddered at the thought of them hurting them or violating them. Unable to push the dark thoughts out of his head, he quickened his pace, not letting his injury slow him down even though he was in awful pain from it.

A raven haired young man was walking down a brightly light hallway with Lucario and Gardevoir beside him. While he moved, he looked at all the pictures that were hanging on the walls. Some of them were of trainers in mid battle, others were of just pokémon and some others were of trainers playing with their pokémon. He smiled a bit but then it faded away when he saw the next several photos. They consisted of different trainers with their pokémon holding up a trophy.

Lucario noticed the look on his face. "Are you sure you want to do this Master?"

Ash turned to look at him while they kept walking. "Yes. I have more important things to worry about instead of a trophy." Lucario said no more but glanced at Gardevoir who had a sullen look on her face.

The three continued down the hall until they reached two large doors and went through them. The first thing they noticed was a pink haired female league official slouched in her chair reading a magazine with a bored look on her face. She was dressed in her black and white league uniform of a skirt, blouse and blazer. She looked up behind the counter and her eyes widened in surprise. "OH MY GOD!" Even though he looked pretty exhausted and in bad shape, he still looked pretty good to her and she knew who he was. She hurriedly sat up straight, tossed the magazine aside and fixed herself up as best she could. "Good morning Aura Guardian! How may I assist you?" she asked with a soft voice before a pretty smile appeared on her face. Ash rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment. Lucario and Gardevoir, even though they kept their expressions stoic, were amused at her reaction.

"Good morning to you too. I'm here to see Mr. Goodshow," replied Ash.

"No problem. It will be my pleasure Mr. Ketchum to let him know you're here," she said.

"Please, just Ash is fine. I'm definitely no old guy and I'm not a father yet," he joked.

"You can be my children's father," she said suddenly before clapping her hands to her mouth, turning beet red. She couldn't believe she said that out loud. Ash turned red as well and his pokémon had stunned looks appear on their faces. "I'll go get Mr. Goodshow. Please have a seat while you wait," said the girl, standing up before bolting through the door behind the counter, not even giving him a chance to reply back. Ash shook his head while chuckling, not believing what just happened before going to sit on the couch with his two pokémon.

"I'm going to miss this," remarked Gardevoir.

"Miss what?" asked Lucario with both him and Ash looking at her.

"I'm going to miss how Ash just makes girls go crazy without even trying," she said, making the two laugh a bit. "You said you're bringing the five girls, but what about the other ones who have feelings for you?" she asked Ash when they stopped.

Ash sighed. "You mean Sarah and Anabel?" he asked.

Gardevoir nodded. "Yes but also the ones besides them."

"I don't know what to do about Sarah and Anabel. Should I ask them to come too? And what others? Are you talking about Leaf?" asked Ash, getting a little angry and Gardevoir gave him a look of disbelief.

"I'm not talking about Leaf even though I think you're blowing it out of proportion. And do I really have to go into it?" Ash relaxed a bit but also gave her a confused look. "Mewtwo showed us what happened with your memory so you didn't have to explain but we noticed some things." Ash was still a little lost. Gardevoir let out a sigh. "Giselle? Liza? You even got pretty close with Sabrina and told Shauna and Lizabeth that they are beautiful. You didn't do much with Clair but we still noticed her facial expressions. Like how she looked after you pinned her to the wall," reminded Gardevoir.

"Oh that's what you're talking about," replied Ash, feeling disappointed with himself for doing that. Him with alcohol and his emotions on edge was not a good combination. "You know I'm sorry I did that. But before, I was just being friendly and I was a little drunk." She glared at him. "Fine, very drunk and mostly friendly until shit hit the fan."

"I'm not talking about your arguments and fights!" snapped the psychic fairy. "Don't you realize how you're making girls just fall for you? Whether it's you being famous, being handsome or just being who you are, girls are tripping over themselves to just talk to you! This was a perfect example! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them have already have feelings for you before all this happened! Do you even try to be attentive, to notice what's going on around you? Do you like any of them?" she asked him.

Ash shook his head. "You got it wrong Gardevoir. I'm not trying to make any other girl fall for me and that's not what's happening around me." Gardevoir was glaring at him now. "Look, just because we had some fun and spent some time together, doesn't mean feelings are involved. It was just friendly interactions before the fighting. And I do pay attention around me," explained Ash but the white and green pokémon gave him a look that clearly said he was wrong and crazy. "Will you just drop it please?" pleaded Ash.

Gardevoir crossed her arms and turned her face to the side, her nose in the air. "Fine. I will. For now." Ash glanced at Lucario with a disbelieving look but Lucario told him not to get him involved. Ash huffed out some air before leaning back against couch. They waited for a little while longer before the female official came back, still with a flushed face. The three got up and went up to the counter.

"I'm sorry Ash but Mr. Goodshow is in a board meeting right now to address some new things that came up. One of which is how to repair the stadium after the last match. That's why the tournament has been placed on hold now," informed the girl acting like nothing happened.

"I didn't know the tournament was on hold...I guess I'll just come back another time then to talk to him. And what happened to the stadium?" asked Ash.

"It was just announced. After your match yesterday, it was between the Dragon Master and another trainer whose name I can't remember. Anyway, during the match, the Dragon Master had his pokémon completely pulverize their opponents and in the middle of it all, wrecked the stadium pretty badly on one side." Ash had his eyes widen and the two pokémon glanced at one another. "That's why there hasn't been any match updates since the tournament's been on hold for repairs. Goodshow and the board members are trying to figure out a way to keep this from happening again and also come up with something to reward the fans for being so patient," she explained.

"Damn. That trainer must be strong," commented Ash. He was about to re-think his decision to leave the tournament but stopped himself. He couldn't go back on it; he did too much already last night. "Do you know what they might do for the fans?" asked Ash.

"No idea yet. But…if you do face him…I'll be cheering for you," she said, her face going dark red.

He couldn't tell her he's not competing anymore so all he did was smile. "Thank you…" He looked at her name tag that was pinned onto her jacket. "Natalie. Have a good day," he told her. He barely turned around when…

"Wouldyougooutwithme?" she blurted out hurriedly but Ash understood what she said. He turned back around, rubbing the back of his head. He glanced at Gardevoir who was giving him a 'I told you' look. He narrowed his eyes at her but the official didn't notice it. He looked at her again.

"Natalie…I'm honored that you asked me out. But I have to say I cannot. I'm sorry. I am already in a relationship and…it's complicated." The official looked down, crestfallen. "Hey…" She raised her head slightly. "Don't be down. You did a brave thing just now. So chin up alright?" She smiled a bit and nodded. "That's the spirit. Take care of yourself Natalie." Ash, Lucario and Gardevoir disappeared in blue glows and the official gasped at what she just saw happen right in front of her. She sat back down, placed her elbows on the desk and rested her head on her hands. She let out a sigh before allowing herself to day dream to pass the time since she had nothing to do except greet visitors.

Back at the Indigo Hotel the others were having breakfast with no clue what was happening in the woods whatsoever. When Clair, Liza, Sabrina and Giselle arrived and joined them, they talked with the group as they calmly ate their meal. The four newly arrived guests didn't bring up anything since there were others who weren't there last night and didn't know if they were told of it or not. Gary glanced at Sabrina when she came in, some thoughts going through his head.

Why is she here again? Is she here to gloat at me? To make me feel worse? Or does she want an apology from me for what I did to her? Is she going to cause more problems between me and Ilene? Seeing that his ex-girlfriend barely paid any attention to him, only saying hello to him among the group in passing when she came in, he pushed those thoughts aside as that couldn't be it. She didn't strike him as the type of girl who would want an apology from someone. She had moved on and had gotten her revenge already so to speak. Seeing her talking with the others comfortably made him feel uneasy. Something's up. Why would she be here again, being so talkative, even with her friends here for the moment? Is she here to say goodbye to Cynthia before she leaves with Ash? That doesn't sound like her. Then again I never really knew her. What or who is she after…

Gary was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that Ilene had turned her gaze at him a couple times. She was wondering why he was so quiet and why he was looking at Sabrina when she came in. Could he be feeling bad for what he's done to her? She stole another glance at him and saw him staring at his plate now. Does he miss her? Does he want her back? Does he want to apologize? Wait, why do I care? He cheated on her and lied to me. There's no way she'll get back with him. And there's no way I'll…I'll… She couldn't finish that sentence in her head. Ilene felt a little angry at herself, wondering why she would still feel something for the young pokémon researcher.

You don't need to worry about me or worry about him wanting me back. Ilene's eyes widened as she looked around slowly, doing her absolute best to not freak out or draw attention. It's me Sabrina. Ilene snapped her gaze at her and saw her talking with Cynthia, surprised. Yes, I can speak with you mentally while talking with her. Like I said, you don't need to worry. I have no interest in him at all and he's only worried that I'm here to make him feel worse but that is not the case. I've moved on and I'm here to be with my friends.

How can I believe what you say? I don't know you. And who said anything about me worrying about him?

True, but what else do you have to go on? And did you really forget who you're talking to? I shouldn't be telling you this by the way but he feels awful and misses you. Ilene hurriedly looked down unto her plate so no one would see her reddened face. It's true. He's wondering right now if me being here will cause more problems between you and him. He wants to fix things and make it better between you too.

Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't you want him to suffer for what he's done to you?

I'm not a grudge holder. Mostly. I punished him by giving him nightmares for a month. But because of what he did to me, I've learned a lesson to be more careful in who I let in my life. But he has changed. I know because he's never tried to get me back and honestly, I never wanted him too. He has feelings for you and you him. He's never had feelings for me and that's fine as I didn't have any feelings for him either. He has done wrong in the past but perhaps you can have him earn you back if you still like him.

I see…please don't tell anyone. And if you're not here for Gary, why are you here then? Is it really to say goodbye to Cynthia? Or is there something else? Or someone else?

You're a clever queen I'll give you that but I will not tell you. But if you do figure it out, I request you keep it to yourself. Queen or not, I won't hesitate to give you a splitting headache at the very least. Ilene gulped and agreed mentally before their covert conversation ended. She felt a little afraid that the psychic prodigy had so much power and could easily tell whether she was lying or not. But, she also felt a little better as well. Her conscious felt a little less burdened in thinking about Gary instead of Ash. She didn't dwell on it though and finished her meal.

As the group of family and friends finished up their breakfast, some of them kept glancing at the clock, wondering when Ash was going to come as he promised he would. The door was opened and then slammed shut unexpectedly with loud shouting heard making everyone jump in their seats before getting up and moving towards the door hurriedly. When they arrived they saw Richie leaning against one of the couches for support with cuts and scratches on him with his side bleeding.

"Oh my Mew! What happened?!" asked Delia as Brock and Cilan hurried forward to help Richie to one of the couches and made him sit down. Brock inspected his wounds as Lucy went to get the first aid kit while the others crowded around him.

"We were attacked by the Skull Brothers," groaned Richie, causing them to gasp after hearing that. Lucy returned and handed the first aid to Brock.

"Wait, where's Leaf and Joy? Where are they?" asked Sarah, noticing that they were missing.

Richie shook his head as he stared at the floor. Brock was about to administer first aid and Richie was about to explain what happened when three glowing blue spheres appeared in the balcony that caught their attention. Next second, Ash, Gardevoir and Lucario appeared. Pikachu jumped off of Misty's shoulder and scrambled to Ash. Richie got up and made his way to him as well, ignoring Brock's advice to stay seated with everyone else following after the two.

"Pikapi!" cried out Pikachu as he jumped into his best friend's arms with a concerned expression.

"Hey buddy, what's wrong?" asked Ash with a tired voice but before Pikachu could say anything, the others appeared in the balcony and he looked at them. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked them as he saw that they had frightened and worried expressions with Richie looking like he had just seen a ghost.

Seeing him there made some of the group feel a bit relieved and slightly chipper than before. Even with just hearing about something terrible happen to their friends. Clair and Liza however, went instantly red at the sight of him, remembering their erotic fantasies and dreams with him in it. They stayed in the middle of the group to not attract so much attention as they became embarrassed from that and hoped no one would notice. Ilene had a pained expression form on her face. She wanted to talk to Ash, to apologize but didn't know if she could since she felt so bad about what she did, it wasn't the right time and she was conflicted over what to do and who to choose.

Gary however, was becoming increasingly angrier seeing Ash in front of him again. He wanted to rage at him, to hit him and shout at him for causing his break up with Ilene. He knew it was his own fault for not telling her the whole truth, for trying to hide his past from her but he thought by raging at his old rival, he might feel better at least. With that in mind, Gary took a step forward towards Ash but a sudden image appeared in his mind that made him stop.

It was Ilene's disappointed gaze from last night. That's when it hit him. She wouldn't get back with him at all if he fought with Ash again. He remembered what she told him when they first revealed how they felt about each other. That she doesn't have time for games and as a Queen, she had an image to uphold. He realized that if he truly wanted to be with her, he would have to own up to his mistakes and not blame Ash or anyone else for them. He would have to grow up, become mature and wise. He would have to change into the man that she deserves, that he can be. He would have to prove himself worthy enough for her…for Queen Ilene.

"Ash, are you okay?" asked Serena suddenly, snapping Gary and everyone else out of whatever funk they were in. The honey blonde girl noticed the dark bags under his eyes and his pale face. The others then noticed it as well after her question. Several of them became worried about him too, especially his girlfriends and mom.

"I'll be fine Serena. What happened here?" he asked them. His tired tone of voice didn't convince them but no one replied.

"It's about time you got here Ash," said Richie seriously as he limped forward holding his side.

"Richie! What the hell happened to you?!" asked Ash as he moved to his friend, having just noticed the state he's in.

"Oh now you notice?!" asked Richie angrily and Ash was taken aback. He looked at everyone else and they were stunned as well. He glanced back at Richie when all of a sudden his friend grabbed his shirt's collar with both hands and started screaming at him. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT ASH! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED HELP?!"

"Whoa, hold up! I don't know what's going on! What the hell happened?!" asked Ash, completely lost and startled by his friend who started shaking. Richie looked down at the floor while still holding onto Ash's shirt. Everyone else was completely taken aback from Richie's sudden outburst. He was almost always calm even in the middle of trouble. He kept his gaze down while speaking, his voice on the verge of breaking from all the emotions he was feeling.

"Joy…Joy and I were…in the woods with…with Leaf and…"

"I don't want to know what Leaf's been up to Richie," interrupted Ash. He didn't want anyone to try and force him to talk to her right now as he was trying to overcome it all. He had a long, slow and painful night. Unable to sleep because of the pain from his liver and his mind replaying everything that happened last night. He just wanted to let it all go and not think about it anymore. His statement made many, both knowing and not knowing of the situation, stare at him. Richie raised his gaze back at him; anger etched onto his face but kept his voice calm.

"Yes you do Ash and you want to know what happened," shot Richie hurriedly as he tried to keep his cool, though his patience was wearing out by his friend's childish behavior. "We're wasting time. I needed help. I needed your help. Joy and Leaf have been…"

"You're right! We are wasting time with this as I don't care what Leaf's doing, who she's with or where she is! After all she did, I don't care about her anymore! And this just proves that you and everyone else only want me around when you need something!" shot Ash angrily. Everyone gasped at that and it also made the ones who don't know what happened became startled over what he just said. Ash was suddenly punched hard in the stomach by Richie with all the strength he could gather, making everyone yelp in surprise. His strike made Ash take a step back and drop to a knee with Richie stumbling forward and falling to his hands and knees. The punch had knocked the wind out of Ash and made Richie hurt his side even more. The young guardian was not expecting it at all. "What was that for?!" groaned out Ash from the floor.

"Because you wouldn't listen to me damn it!" snapped Richie making everyone stare at him. He slowly got back up to his feet, holding his side. "Joy and Leaf have been kidnapped by the Skull Brothers! They attacked us when we were in the woods trying to cheer Leaf up! She was sad over what happened last night! She's a complete mess, crying her eyes out because she believes herself to be worthless! She believes it's her fault that everything went bad last night! We wouldn't have even been there if you hadn't blown things out of proportion Ash and making her feel so terribly about all of it damn it!"

Everyone who wasn't with them at Club Indigo last night had no idea what Richie was talking about but kept looking from Ash to Richie and to the others, expecting someone to explain but nobody did. Ash looked at his friend, seeing him furious but with a worried expression too. He understood now that he wasn't playing a game or trying to get him to just talk to her. Joy and Leaf had truly been taken. He shook his head as realization hit him and his heart began beating like a jackhammer.

"No…this can't be…I…I drove them away…"

"Not for long. Because of you, because of what you told her, she ran away into the woods crying, broken, thinking she is worthless and not important after some stupid words were said in the kitchen earlier on in the morning today. Words that wouldn't have been spoken if you hadn't opened up a can of worms last night! Joy and I followed after her to make sure she was alright, to let her know it's alright, that we forgive her and we'll help her because that's what FRIENDS and MATURE people do Ash," remarked Richie in such a way that Ash winced, feeling like he was just hit by him again. "But that's not all. When we were trying to cheer her up, the Skull Brothers attacked us. I tried to hold them off so Joy and Leaf could at least get away and be safe and maybe get some help…BUT THEN THEY HAD THEIR WEAVILE CHASE AFTER THEM, KNOCK THEM OUT AND THEN THEY DISAPPEARED WITH THEM ASH!" roared Richie, causing everyone to gasp when they heard how they were taken.

Ash hung his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. Lucario and Gardevoir exchanged worried looks. Pikachu had his ears lowered and his eyes were filled with sadness as he liked both Joy and Leaf. Even though the brunette had hurt his best friend, he knew that she didn't deserve this to happen to her. Ash's mind was racing with everything he was told and he felt like he was going to throw up.

"This can't be happening…" whispered Ash to no one but they all heard him. "No…it can't be…"

"But it is happening Ash," replied Richie. "They kidnapped Leaf…they kidnapped Joy…do you know how badly it hurts to see your loved one taken away from you right in front of your eyes Ash with you unable to do anything about it?" asked Richie and Ash raised his gaze to his friend and saw that his eyes were filled with water but he was holding them back. Nobody could answer him. "I know you witnessed your loved ones taken from you in your nightmare…but this happened to me in real life. As bad as you felt in your nightmare, I can say that it's ten times worse in real life. I had promised her that I would always protect her and wouldn't let anything happen to her after the incident at the lake. You were there to help me. You remember that?" asked Richie and Ash nodded slightly as he closed his eyes.

"I do remember…I'm…I'm sorry Richie. I truly am…" began Ash but then Richie exploded.

"SCREW YOUR APOLOGIES!" yelled Richie, making everyone jump in their skin. "WHERE WERE YOU HUH ASH?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT SHIT LAST NIGHT? WHY DID YOU THROW SUCH A FUCKING TANTRUM? WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU? TOO BUSY MOPING AROUND OVER WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?! I DON'T CARE! I DON'T CARE IF LEAF STOLE YOUR POKÉMON! I DON'T CARE IF SHE WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND AND SLEPT WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND AND LIED TO YOU ABOUT IT! I DON'T CARE IF SHE TOOK HALF YOUR MONEY AND RAN AWAY WITH IT! BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT SHE DID ASH!" Ash's eyes started to water and he was doing all he could to keep his tears at bay. "ALL SHE DID WAS CONFESS THAT SHE HAS FEELINGS FOR YOU AND THAT SHE KISSED YOU WHILE YOU SLEPT!" Richie telling the truth, revealing what had happened, made everyone in their group that didn't know about that widen their eyes and took in sharp breaths at the revelation. The families of the girls had their jaws drop and they were unable to recover from their slightly humorous states while they continued to listen to Richie. "WHY TURN THAT INTO SUCH A BIG DEAL THAT SHE DID THAT?! YOU SAY SHE BROKE YOUR TRUST, THE GIRLS' TRUST AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF YOU? FINE! SHE DID THAT! BUT HER REASONS WERE VALID AS SHE WAS SCARED ASH!" Ash closed his eyes and slowly shook his head while Richie continued. His friend's words were slamming into him and each one felt like a wake up slap that was opening his eyes. "SHE APOLOGIZED AND SAID SHE'LL DO ANYTHING TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU! TO MAKE IT UP TO THE GIRLS! BUT INSTEAD YOU THREW A TANTRUM LIKE A FUCKING PRICK! BUT RIGHT NOW I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT! RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO FIND THEM AND SAVE THEM BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO THEM! BECAUSE ALL I CARE ABOUT IS MY GIRLFRIEND! JOY HAS BEEN TAKEN! THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS! YOU SAY WE ONLY WANT YOU AROUND WHEN WE NEED YOU FOR SOMETHING?! THAT'S BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS USED TO SAY THAT YOU'RE HERE FOR US NO MATTER WHAT! SO WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU DAMN IT WHEN I NEEDED YOUR HELP?!"

Richie finished up his long and loud rant, taking deep breaths and Ash hung his head in shame, going on his hands and knees. His almost twin was right. His rant had shown how he had blown things out of proportion. That he had acted like a damn asshole. He knew that Leaf had issues since they were kids. That she wasn't like him. That she couldn't handle what was going on between her parents. That she wasn't able to hang on like him. He knew that she had trouble with expressing herself when it came to feelings and emotions, kind of like him. Yet he let his anger, his sadness and his disappointment control him, control his actions and control his thoughts. It didn't help that he was completely drunk like a damn alcoholic either and lashed out at everyone. But that was no excuse either. He has to make things right, to own up to it. He shook his head in shame, his breathing uneven, trying to get his mind to focus.

Delia wanted to go to her son to speak with him and to find out what happened. Misty, May, Dawn, Serena and Cynthia understood Richie and wanted to help Ash understand and to take action. But they were held back by something. They didn't know what, but they felt that they should wait and be silent for the time being. Many were beyond shocked at what they just learned had happened. That Leaf had kissed Ash while he slept and how he was angry with her taking advantage of him so much that he had caused her to become a crying broken shell of her former self.

It was quiet in the balcony. Nobody made a sound or moved, all of them trying to process what they just found out. A ragged breath was heard and they all locked their gazes onto the raven haired guardian on the floor. Ash let out a few sputtering breaths. He punched the floor suddenly, starling the group. "What have I done?!" he cried. Joy's image appeared in his mind and then Leaf's appeared. His heart hammered and he felt like he was going to throw up. He thought about Leaf…the brunette next door…his childhood friend...his childhood crush… He gathered himself and stood back up after several long minutes, finally pulling himself a little back together. He decided that he has to find her, save her and when he did he was going to do whatever it took to make it up to her. "Richie…you are absolutely right. My actions were uncalled for and I behaved like a damn fool. I'm sorry for everything. I swear I'll find them. I swear they'll be fine. I swear to make things right. And I swear that the Skull Brothers will pay dearly for this. You have my word," promised Ash.

"You better Ash. If anything happens to either of them…especially to Joy…you can consider our friendship over and I'll never forgive you," replied Richie in a serious tone. That statement made everyone look at Richie with astonishment that he would even say that. Richie hesitated for a second, not knowing if he should give it to him or not but in the end he decided he should. He held out his hand that was holding a blue cap and Ash reached over with a shaky hand and took it.

Ash looked at the blue cap as he held it in his hands. The red stains on the hat. The three claw marks on the side of it that shredded the fabric. There was some dirt on the bill. As he took in every inch of the cap, he realized who it belonged to. He looked up at Richie, and then glanced at everyone around him with tears in his eyes before looking at the hat again. He clutched it tightly in his hands, letting his head hang, his heart aching. He let out a single word in a whisper that was coated with great sadness as he could no longer hold back the tears in his eyes, letting them fall.

"Leaf…"