An elderly man sat late into the night working. The only light in the room was 
coming from the computer he was working on; the small blue glow illuminated the 
man's weary face as he typed. Sighing he removed his glasses and rubbed his 
eyes.

"Muk," a low voice came from behind him.

Professor Oak spun his chair around to see the large purple blob that was Muk. 
"I didn't know you were here, Muk."

"Muk," the pokemon said sadly, pointing to the computer screen.

The professor turned to see the source of Muk's dismal attitude. A large picture 
of a handsome young man with golden brown eyes and ebony hair looked back at 
him. Under the picture were the words: Have you seen Ash Ketchum? Professor Oak 
looked at Muk heavy-heartedly. "I know you miss him. God knows we all do."

Ever since Ash had disappeared, all of Ash's pokemon, especially Muk, had been 
very downcast. Muk hadn't tackled him in a very long time. 

A sudden sharp knock jarred him from his thoughts. He glanced at his watch, 
wondering who would be visiting him at twelve thirty in the morning. Professor 
Oak flattened his disheveled grey hair as he walked towards the door. He flicked 
on the porch light, pulling the door open. 

A young man, no older than twenty seven was leaning against the doorframe, his 
arms folded across his chest. He wore black pants, and a grey short sleeved 
shirt that showed off his muscular frame. The man smiled a smile that barely 
reached his cold grey eyes before saying, "Hi Gramps."

~*~*~

Brock, Misty, and Pikachu sat around a small campfire, eating some of Brock's 
cooking. Misty cast a worried glance at Ash, who was sitting a little ways off, 
leaning against a rock. He had his knees hugged to his chest, and was looking up 
at the star filled sky. He hadn't spoken since he had asked Zapdos to fly them 
to Pallet Town.

The pokemon must have sensed the urgency in Ash's voice because he had flown 
twice as fast and twice as far than normal. Zapdos was now perched in one of the 
many trees in the forest, asleep, his head nestled under his wing. Despite his 
effort they were still at least a day away from Pallet. 

Misty stood up, shrugging her hair off of her shoulders. She walked over to Ash 
and gingerly sat next to him. Ash looked at her, his brown eyes filled, not with 
the coldness they usually possessed, but with worry. He returned to gazing up at 
the velvet black sky.

"Ash," Misty said softly. When he didn't look at her she continued. "We'll stop 
Gary, don't worry."

Ash didn't say anything, or acknowledge that he had even heard her. She studied 
him for a few moments, then prepared to leave him alone. Misty was about to 
stand up when he said, "It's too late. Gary has already destroyed Pallet."

She looked at him in surprise. "How do you know?"

Ash tore his eyes from the sky and stared at her intently before saying, "I know 
my enemies better than I know my friends."

Misty leapt to her feet, thinking the comment was directed at her. Her blue eyes 
blazed with anger as she cried, "I don't know how much you want me to suffer, 
Ash!" 

Brock stopped eating, his fork halfway to his mouth, and stared at Misty, 
surprised at the sudden outburst. Pikachu too, looked over in her direction, 
prepared to see a classic Ash and Misty fight. 

Ash looked up at her, confused. "What are you talking about?" 

"I know I hurt you with that letter and I'm sorry. Why do you hate me?" Misty's 
expression was a mixture of hurt and fury. 

Ash stood up and considered her for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed. "I don't 
hate you," he said.

Brock and Pikachu were surprised. So far this had been a one sided argument; Ash 
hadn't even raised his voice. 

"I know you'll never be able to love me again," Misty said, her voice lowering. 
"I just wish we could still be friends."

Ash's eyebrows arched as he said, "Who said I ever <stopped> loving you? I may 
have been angry with you, but I never stopped loving you." A long silence 
followed this comment. 

Misty stood, frozen in place by the shock of Ash's statement. Brock's jaw 
dropped in surprise, but Pikachu, who had known Ash's feelings, returned to 
eating. 

The silence was broken by a female voice saying, "What do you mean you love 
<her> Ashton? I thought we had something special." A red headed woman stepped 
out of the shadows, followed by a blue haired man, who looked completely 
perturbed. 

"He must have a thing for red heads," Jessie said, a playful smile on her face. 

Ash rolled his eyes at the remark. Jessie liked to flirt with him, even though 
she was happily married to James. Ash was sure she couldn't resist flirting in 
front of Misty. Unfortunately, Misty believed her, thinking Ash and Jessie were 
involved. Ash watched as she pursed her lips and angrily stalked away. He 
clapped his hand to his forehead saying, "Thank you Jessie, you just made my 
life ten times harder." 

"Oh," Jessie said, her eyes widening. "Did she actually believe me? Sorry, 
Ashton, dear."

Ash shook his head before saying, "What is it you two want?" 

James spoke up, "Persian wanted us to tell you that Team Rocket is completely 
out of business. Most members were killed in Rocket headquarters, and any 
remaining members have disbanded." 

Ash nodded in approval. Jessie sighed. "I don't know what we'll do now Twerp. 
We've spent over twelve years following you. We might just have to drop in on 
you every now and then." She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek, 
surprising everyone, especially Ash, who blushed. She winked at him then 
rejoined James, who now looked extremely disgruntled. They disappeared into the 
shadows, but Brock, Ash, and Pikachu could hear their conversation. 

"Do you have to flirt with him in front of me? You know it drives me crazy."

"Oh, James," Jessie snapped. "Stop being so insecure."

Ash and Brock exchanged perplexed looks before settling down to sleep.

~*~*~

Delia Ketchum sat down at her kitchen table with a cup of tea grasped in her 
hand. She adjusted her red bathrobe before flipping through the pages of an old 
magazine. Delia often had trouble sleeping and usually could be found sitting in 
her kitchen at one thirty in the morning. 

She stopped aimlessly flipping pages when she saw a picture of a familiar face. 
Delia smiled sorrowfully down at the picture of her son. It wasn't uncommon for 
magazines to write articles on him, he was, after all, the most well known and 
loved Pokemon Master. His sudden disappearance was also a huge mystery.

Her heart wrenched as she looked at her son. For the first year and a half, she 
had had no doubt Ash was alive, but now, after three years, she was running out 
of hope.

A loud noise that sounded remarkably like a building collapsing, pulled Delia 
from her thoughts. She heard her neighbors screaming, and saw bright flashes of 
light outside her window. 

She walked to her door, and gaped at the sight that met her. A man was floating 
about ten feet off the ground, surrounded by a silver glow. Every time he passed 
a house a beam would emit from him, destroying the entire building with one hit. 
As he neared and unnatural wind picked up, blowing Delia's auburn hair back from 
her ashen face. 

Gary smiled with satisfaction as he destroyed another house. It belonged to the 
Sandburgs, he believed. That boy had always annoyed him. He stopped in front of 
the house he was most looking forward to destroying, only to see his rival's 
mother standing on the front porch, backing into her house in fear.

"Oh, Mrs. Ketchum," he said in a singsong voice. "Do you remember me? I'm just 
the boy next door."



A/N: You will all be happy to know that I have two more chapters, both a decent 
length, already typed. They will be posted after I have proofread them. Thanks 
for sticking with me.