It was after dark the next day before Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu arrived in 
Pallet Town. They stood in silence, staring at the ruins that had once been a 
thriving village. Every building was nothing but a pile of rubble, and people 
stood huddled together looking forlornly at their destroyed homes. 

The only building that was still standing was Professor Oak's lab.

Misty and Brock looked at Ash sympathetically. His expression was a mixture of 
anger and pain, and he kept clenching his fists. Without saying anything he 
began walking through the town, heading towards his house. Pikachu sat on his 
shoulder, his ears flattened sadly. Misty and Brock followed him, remaining 
quiet because they couldn't think of anything to say. 

Whispers from the townspeople followed him as he walked, but he ignored them as 
best he could, concentrating on where he was going. Ash stopped in front of what 
used to be his house; he took a deep breath before he began digging through the 
rubble. Misty and Brock helped, and the townspeople began to gather in the 
street, watching the effort in silence.

Brock uncovered a pink faced pokemon. "Ash," Brock said. 

Ash stopped digging and quickly picked his way over to where Brock stood. 
"Mimey," he murmured, pulling the pokemon out of the ruins and setting him on 
his feet. The pokemon looked shaken, but otherwise fine. Ash returned to digging 
once he was sure the Mr. Mime was okay. 

Misty heard a sharp intake of breath from Ash and stopped digging. She and Brock 
watched as Ash gently lifted the limp body of Delia Ketchum from the ruins. He 
slowly walked over to a clear spot of grass and laid her down. He knelt next to 
her in silence, his eyes closed. 

"Ash." Ash opened his eyes to see Brock kneeling next to Delia, a small smile 
upon his face. "She's still alive." Ash felt his heart leap as she began to 
stir. 

Delia awoke to see Mimey and three stranger's hovering over her. Two men, one 
with brown hair, one with black, and a red headed woman. The man with black hair 
helped her sit up slowly. She gasped when a yellow rodent jumped onto his head 
saying, "Pikachu!" 

She looked into the man's warm golden brown eyes before saying, "Ash?"

He smiled and nodded. Tears formed in her eyes as she said, "I knew it. I knew 
you were alive." Misty and Brock smiled as the two embraced.

Ash helped his mother up, and whispers rippled through the crowd of gathered 
townspeople. "It's really you isn't it?" A male voice piped up from the crowd. 
Ash glanced at the man, who had stepped forward from the crowd, his arms 
crossed. 

Ash didn't answer, instead he began walking, supporting Delia, while Misty and 
Brock followed him. The man didn't like being ignored. "You don't remember me, 
Ash?" 

Ash stopped, and after turning back to the man he said, "I remember you, Tracey. 
I just don't have time to get into anything right now." The crowd broke into 
whispers once more, their suspicions about the stranger's identity now 
confirmed.

Misty looked at Tracey, surprised. She hadn't realized how much he had changed. 
The white T-shirt he was wearing showed his lanky body was now muscular. His 
black hair was cut much shorter and was spiked, and he lacked his red sweatband. 
His dark blue eyes were narrowed maliciously at Ash, who's expression remained 
emotionless. 

Tracey cocked his head before continuing. "Everyone thought you were dead."

Ash shrugged, his countenance impassive. "I've been getting that a lot lately." 
Furious whispers began to flow through the crowd. 

"I don't suppose you know who the asshole that destroyed our town was?" Tracey 
said, his eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. 

"Suddenly Pallet is your town?" he said.

"You've been gone for three years, while I have been here." Here he stopped, his 
eyes narrowing to little slits. "Of course, I would have still been at Indigo 
had it not been for your self-righteousness."  

Misty watched as the two men glared at one another. She had known that Ash and 
Tracey had had a falling out, but Ash had never told her the specifics.

Ash shook his head before responding. "My self-righteousness had nothing to do 
with it," he said, his tone annoyed. You were embezzling millions of dollars 
from the Pokemon League." Tracey looked furious as a sudden hush fell over the 
crowd and both Misty and Brock's jaws dropped. 

Professor Oak had been walking slowly through the town, helping anyone who had 
been injured in the attack. He frowned when he saw a large crowd gathered near 
Delia Ketchum's. He shook his head, couldn't they just leave the poor woman 
alone? He pushed his way to the front of the crowd in time to hear a stranger 
accuse his assistant of embezzlement.  

The stranger's back was to him. A long black trench coat obstructed most of the 
professor's view, although he could see the man's hair matched his coat, even in 
the darkness. Two other unknown people stood on either side of him, a woman with 
long red hair, and a tall man with short brown hair. 

"Excuse me, but who are you to be dragging people's reputations through the 
mud?" Professor Oak interjected, wondering why a stranger was insulting Tracey. 

The man turned and glanced at the professor than turned back to Tracey. "I did 
what I had to, Tracey. You broke the law, you were punished. You're lucky I 
didn't have you put in jail."

"Oh, yes," Tracey said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You were a wonderful 
friend, you only ruined my career and reputation in Indigo."

Professor Oak was a well respected citizen of Pallet Town and he wasn't used to 
being ignored. "Young man," he began. 

The stranger turned to him once more and said, "Yes, professor?"

It was only then, Professor Oak saw the pikachu at his feet. His eyes widened as 
he looked from the pikachu, to the man, to Delia. "Ash?" he said, putting 
everything together. Then he noticed the other two strangers. "Misty?" he said 
looking at the woman, who smiled at him. His gaze fell on the other man. 
"Brock?" The brown haired man waved at him. Professor Oak was at a loss for 
words. 

The townspeople weren't though. Whispers buzzed through the crowd, as Ash walked 
over to the professor. "Do you mind if we go to the lab?" he asked quietly.

Professor Oak stared at him for a few moments before stammering, "O-of course." 
He led the way to his labs, and they left the chattering crowd, and an angry 
Tracey behind them. 

Professor Oak opened the door and gestured for them all to come in. As soon as 
Ash entered, a large purple blob tackled him. "Muk!" it cried happily.

Ash laughed, trying to push the pokemon off of him. "It's good to see you too, 
Muk." 

After Muk released Ash, Professor Oak led them to the living room. Ash sunk onto 
the couch and sighed contently, it had been a long time since he had sat on a 
couch, especially one as comfortable as this one. He had closed his eyes, and 
when he opened them he saw Delia and Professor Oak both staring intently at him. 

"Where were you?" Delia asked.

"I suppose you want to know everything?" Ash said, sighing, because he wasn't to 
thrilled about telling the entire story. When Delia and Professor Oak nodded, he 
took a deep breath and began the story. 

They talked for hours and Ash managed to explain most of what had happened, 
although, Misty and Brock noted, he had left out the part about the crystal and 
his powers. Eventually they got onto the subject of the previous night's attack. 
Delia was shocked to find that the floating man had been none other than Gary.

"What I want to know," Professor Oak said. "Is where Gary gained the ability to 
wield elemental power."

"The Crystal of Nine," Brock said. He was sitting between Ash and Misty, most 
likely to keep peace. Misty had refused to speak to Ash since Jessie made her 
debut in the forest. Professor Oak and Delia, who were sitting across from them, 
looked confused.

"The Crystal of Nine," Ash said, resting his head in his palm. "Allows any human 
who touches it to gain elemental powers."

The prospect of such an object obviously intrigued Professor Oak. He leaned 
forward in his seat and began talking excitedly. "Really? How does it work? 
Where is it? It would be a magnificent object to study."

Ash shook his head saying, "Believe me, it is better if it stays where it is." 
Zapdos had returned the crystal to it's ledge after Gary had disappeared. 

"How did Gary get it?" Delia asked.

Ash sighed. "He wouldn't have if Nine hadn't pulled me off the edge of that 
cliff."  Noting the look on Delia's face he added, "I didn't fall mom."  

Brock smiled, thinking it would probably be better not to tell her Ash had died 
earlier that week.

"Professor," Ash said, pulling Brock from his thoughts. "Do you know where Gary 
was heading?"

"He said something about killing his second biggest threat," Professor Oak told 
him, although he seemed unsure of what that meant. 

Apparently Ash understood though. "I have to get to Indigo quickly then." 
Everyone looked at him in confusion. Ash sighed before launching into an 
explanation. "Gary's second biggest threat is the current Pokemon Master. He has 
enough influence to rally the strongest Pokemon Trainers together and, although 
they might not defeat him, they would definitely cause him some problems. I have 
to stop him before he gets to the Master." 

"Ash, there is no way you can stop him. He's too powerful," Professor Oak said.

"That's right," Delia agreed. "Look what he did to the town."

Ash opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by the professor. "There's nothing 
you can do." Both Delia and Professor Oak took turns telling him how powerful 
and dangerous Gary was.

Ash rolled his eyes and looked at Misty and Brock, who shrugged. He closed his 
eyes and concentrated his energy. Both Delia and Professor Oak stopped talking 
and watched as a large ball of electricity formed in Ash's outstretched hand, 
crackling with energy. He slowly opened his eyes then powered down, letting the 
electricity recede back into his body. He had more than made his point. Delia 
and Professor Oak sat, speechless, their jaws hanging wide open. 

"As I was trying to say," Ash began. "Gary is not the only one with powers."

This of course caused a barrage of questions from them. 

"How long have you had powers?" Delia asked.

Before Ash could answer Professor Oak said, "How long did it take you to develop 
them?"

"-Does it hurt when you use them-"

"-Is electric the only attacks you can do-"

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu looked as if they were watching a tennis match. 
Every time a new question was asked, they all looked in a different direction. 
Ash held his hands up to silence them. They both stopped talking and awaited 
answers.

"I've had powers for about three years, it took me about six months to develop 
them to full power, it doesn't hurt to use them, and I can do any attack Pikachu 
can," he told them.

A long silence followed this as Delia and Professor Oak processed all the 
information. "Why can you only do what Pikachu can?" the professor asked, 
breaking the silence. 

"You have to choose a pokemon to receive your powers from. I choose Pikachu," 
Ash explained. 

"What pokemon did Gary choose?" Delia asked.

Ash leaned back and closed his eyes before saying, "His Alakazam."

Professor Oak's aged face paled. "Ash, an Alakazam is much more powerful than a 
pikachu. How can you expect to beat him?"

Pikachu let out an indignant, "Cha." 

"For one thing," Ash began, his expression indifferent. "Gary has had two days 
of experience, where as I have been using powers for three years. For another, 
Pikachu is no ordinary pikachu. He has powers even you have never heard of."

Brock nodded, remembering when Pikachu had turned him invisible. 

Ash continued, "One day when I have time professor, you can examine him. I 
imagine he is somewhere over level two hundred by now."

"Chu," Pikachu agreed proudly. 

Misty rolled her eyes at Ash's usual cockiness, but was surprised to see he 
wasn't wearing his annoying cocky grin, but an expression that made her believe 
he was dead serious. 

"Ash," Brock said. "What if Gary already teleported to Indigo Plateau and killed 
the Master?"

Ash stood up and walked to the window looking down at the destruction Gary had 
caused. "With the power Gary used, he'll need at least two days to recover 
before he is strong enough to teleport,"  he explained, his back to them.

"You'll never make it to Indigo in two days," Professor Oak pointed out.

Ash glanced at him before pulling a pokeball from his coat. He pressed the 
release button and Zapdos appeared. "We have a ride," he told Professor Oak, who 
seemed to be in shock. They watched as the legendary bird groomed himself with 
his beak. 

"We had better go," Ash said, a touch of sadness in his voice. Professor Oak 
tore his eyes from Zapdos and looked up at him.

Everyone stood up and said goodbye to one another. Delia reached up and pulled 
Ash into a hug. "Be careful, okay?"

"I will, mom," he promised. 

~*~*~

Ash laid on the top of a hill, propped up on his elbows watching the sun 
disappear behind the horizon. They had stopped to camp for the night in order to 
give Zapdos a break. Brock had gone to collect firewood and Pikachu had opted to 
go with him, telling Ash he didn't want to be around if another fight erupted.

Misty climbed up the hill and lay about ten feet away from him, crossing her 
arms behind her head.

He shot her a sideways glance before saying, "Did you come up here to talk, or 
for the view?" 

She kept her gaze on the rapidly setting sun, saying nothing.

"So how long are you going to give me the silent treatment?" he asked. Ash 
looked at her for a few moments before returning his eyes to the darkening sky. 

He was surprised when he heard her say, "Why did you date Jessie if you still 
loved me?"

Ash sighed. "I didn't date Jessie."

Misty sat up glaring at him. "Why would she lie?"

"She was flirting," he explained. "She does it all the time. It doesn't mean 
anything," he said, also sitting up. 

Misty stood up. "So you guys flirt huh?" she asked, her voice rising.

Ash looked up at her, exasperated. "I didn't say that. I said <she> flirts. 
Jessie and James are happily married." He rested his elbows on his knees. 
"Besides I don't know why you're so upset, you and Chris were pretty tight 
before you found out he was a Rocket." 

She looked at him in disbelief. "I thought you were dead!"

"Well I thought you ended it, so if I had wanted to date, it wouldn't really 
have been any of your business," he snapped angrily. 

Misty screamed. "I really hate you, you know that?!" 

"So I've been told," he said bitterly. He laid down again.

Misty opened her mouth to say something, but she appeared to be out of insults. 
She plopped dejectedly down onto the grass and hugged her knees to her chest. 
The sun was completely gone and a few stars were beginning to twinkle. Misty 
felt tears sting her eyes, so she buried her head in her arms. 

Ash glanced over and saw Misty's silhouette shaking, in what was unmistakably 
sobs. He bit his lip. If there was one thing that made him uncomfortable, it was 
when women cried. Even when he was younger he couldn't stand to see a girl cry. 
He stood up and went over to her.  He knelt next to her and cautiously pat her 
back. When she didn't pull away or try to hit him he said, "Misty... I'm sorry." 

Misty looked up at him and used the heel of her hand to wipe her eyes. "So am 
I," she said. He looked into her clear blue eyes and suddenly had the 
overwhelming desire to kiss her. He leaned towards her, but the romantic mood 
was broken when Brock called out to them.

"Hey guys, you didn't kill each other right?" 

Ash looked at her for a moment then stood up and headed down the hill, leaving 
Misty sitting alone and wondering what had been about to happen. 



A/N: The next chapter is very close to done, not to mention the things I have 
written but not typed yet. Please review.