The Adept Prologue and explanation: This is a alternate universe where trainers have or usually learn to have a near psychic bond with their pokemon (usually of one type) and some can even use pokemon attacks. Also, Ash is a martial arts master of shotokan karate(Ryu and Ken's style but he also uses techniques from other games as well) whose attacks increase in strength depending on his opponent's strength of attacks. He also has a photographic memory. He received Pikachu as a 8th birthday present. Ash caught Pidgeotto. Ash found Bulbasaur and freed him from a trap in the forest. Ash beat the crap out of Damien for beating Charmander. Ash found Squirtle running from a bounty hunter for leading the now decimated Squirtle Squad. He trains his pokemon rigorously in martial arts-like training, but since there are few good trainers near Pallet, they gain few levels but are super strong none the less. This is unusual since he has an affinity to each, despite type differences. His mother is a Normal affinity trainer who has a minimal affinity with psychic. Ash's father and mother are separated and Ash never met his father, who is a Dragon adept(hint, hint). Ash has been accepted into Pokemon Tech on an academic scholarship. We join Ash on the day he leaves to Pokemon Tech, which is hidden in the Violet Mountain (Vermilion and Cerulean color mix) Range… Book 1: Beginnings Ash yawned loudly in unison with his pokemon. "Okay, guys, warm up time." "Char." "Bul." "Squir." "Pid." "Pika." The sextet walked into the backyard and started flexing. After that, they broke up into separate exercises. Ash was doing a complex kata at breakneck speed, breaking wood board and stone plate targets as he goes and once firing a blue fireball at a distant boulder, destroying it. Charmander smashed small boulders with mega punch then melted the fragments into a tower, which he had to jump over in order to connect with the next target. Bulbasaur threw medium sized boulders up and either sliced and diced them with razor leaf or shattered them with vine whip and either way melted the shards with rapid fire solarbeams. Pidgeotto used gust attacks to lift medium boulders up, then shattered them with wing attack and broke the fragments into small gravel with razor wind. Squirtle sent small boulders flying with bubblebeam and turned it into mineral water with water gun. Pikachu shattered large boulders with thundershock and slammed the fragments with an Agility and Swift enhanced Slam crushing them into powder. Needless to say, they could not keep up this level of activity for more than 25 minutes. They then, with the help of Mrs. Ketchum's Mr. Mime, gather up the rock pieces. Mr. Mime holds the rocks in a barrier as squirtle dissolves them. Then Pikachu splits the water into oxygen and hydrogen, which are ignited by Charmander, melting the grit into a solid rock, which Bulbasaur and Charmander cut into boulders and plates, which Ash places, with Razor Leaf and Slash respectively. "Ash! Breakfast!" "Come on guys, this is our last home cooked meal before I have to go to school." The exhausted pokemon nod and walk over to their places at the table. After breakfast the Pokemon are returned and Ash changes into his school uniform consisting of trousers and a collared shirt. "Ash! The bus is here!" "Coming!" Ash hefts his trunk onto his shoulder and walks downstairs. "Oh, my boy is so grown up!" "Ma!" "Sorry." "Mr. Mime!" "I'll miss you too Mime. 'Bye!" Ash places his trunk in the bottom of the bus and climbs into the bus itself. "Name?" "Ash Ketchum." "Affinity?" "Good question." "Huh?" "I have 5 'mon all of different types." "Oh well, get in. You're the only one from Pallet so come on!" Ash takes an open seat with Pikachu next to him. Soon, the bus heads for the Pallet harbor with its complement of 15 kids from Viridian, Pewter and Cinnabar. The rest would come by other buses to the harbor where Pokemon Tech's private boat, the Lapras, is in dock. Ash departs and finds his cabin where he released his pokemon. "Hey, guys. This is our room, number 204. Here are your tags. They'll open the door, so you can go around the ship. Just watch for kidnappers." Ash's pokemon laugh. "What did I tell you about over confidence?" Ash's pokemon break down in laughter! "Alright, you made your points. Get going!" Ash's pokemon exit. Ash yawns and stretches before opening his trunk and taking out a laptop. He flicks it on and starts to type. Dear Diary, I'm now on the boat to Pokemon Tech. My perfect score on the entrance exam and P.A.T. got me a major scholarship. Pikachu and co. are romping around the boat doing who knows what! I finally pulled off my Hadoken attack in my kata with out losing my speed! I hope I can reliably pull off Ashurasenkuu soon, if I could, I wouldn't need to go by boat. Oh well, I'll pull it off one of these days. I wish Gouken stayed a few more years before he headed to Japan to fight his brother. This is Ashura, the future Pokemon Master, signing off! Ash closed his diary file and logged on to the net. He quickly hacked into the Pokemon Tech student dossier files. He searched by test scores and found the top 3 students entering this year were he, a girl named Giselle Rocket, and another girl named Duplica Imite. All three of which were entering that year. He then searched by affinity tests and found that he was not the top there since he had a deduction from his score because of his unknown affinity. The top two scorers were a Cerulean girl named Misty(a new student), who had a strong water affinity and a slight psychic one, and the son of the Pewter Gym leader, Brock(a 4th year student), who had a rock affinity. Ash came in third with Giselle, a strong ground adept with a slight poison affinity, in fourth. Fifth was Duplica Imite who had a normal affinity and a morphing ability due to her bond with a ditto. In both tests, the other finishers were far behind. Ash sighed and snapped off his laptop. He then took out a strange eye shaped object that snapped open into a bow. Ash popped open a panel on the grip, took out a few small tools, and started to assemble small mechanisms inside. Several hours later… "Knock, knock." Ash looks up from his meticulous work and calls. "Who is it?" "Hello? I'm the school councilor. I'm supposed to get acquainted with the new students." "Could you give me a sec? I'm in the middle of building something." "Legoes?" "No, a Fission/Fusion reactor." "Huh?" "Nevermind, it's a prototype anyway. I'll be done in a minute." Ash makes the last connection, collapses the bow, and puts it away before opening the door. "I just wanted to introduce myself to the new students. I'm Jo, the school councilor." "Hi." "Well, I have to get going. But here's the schedule for when we arrive." Ash takes the offered sheet. "Thanks." Ash closes the door and looks at the sheet. It read… '5 mi. race to the School Separating Banquet 1st years' Orientation' "Hmmmmmmmm, short race. Oh well, lunchtime." On que all of Ash's pokemon re-enter… "Hungry?" They all nod. Ash chuckles and heads toward the restaurant. When there he gets some food and allows his pokemon to choose their own. Ash walks to an out of the way table and sits down. A red-head walks up… "Hello, may I sit here?" "If you want." "Thanks." The red-head puts down a plate filled with ice cream. "You either workout a lot, or have a really high metabolism." "Both. I'm Misty Waterflower, a water adept and the 4th Sensational Sister." "Ash, of unknown." "Unknown?" "Char!" "Bulbas!" "Squitle!" "Pidgeo!" "Pikapi!" Ash's pokemon pull up chairs(or perches) and sit down with their plates. "I see." "Pika, Pikapi?" "No, she's not my girlfriend." "Good point." "What do ya' mean 4th Sensational Sister? There're only 3." "Well, I'm the runt, but imagine my family's surprise when I, the ignored and neglected sister, turn out to be not only the only sister with an affinity, but also the strongest in the family!" "I imagine so. You ate all that ice cream in less than a minute?" "Yep! I loooooooooveeeeeeeee ice cream!" "Figures." "Be seeing ya'!" Misty walks off. "Attention all students! We will be arriving in 15 minutes! Please prepare for arrival!" "Come on guys, let's head back." Ash and his 'mon head back to his cabin. Upon arrival… "Hello students! This is our 500th annual 5 mile run! The prize is a 10000 dollar credit at the school Pokemart!" "You guys wanta' race?" Ash's pokemon nod. "Got it. Give them a head start or no?" Ash's pokemon shake their heads. "Fine." "Students! On your mark! Get set! GO!" Ash and his pokemon run, easily passing the others at a cruising speed of 25 mph. Ash easily out runs the other students. After about an hour, the students gather in the main hall, which was circular with a large crystal pillar in the center with a white marble statue of an Alakazam in front, it started to talk… "I am the sorting 'mon! You can hide nothing from me! I can tell your affinity! Be it normal, ghost or electric! Come forth and find your secrets! First up is…" The white Alakazam calls off names in alphabetical order. The chosen kneeled in front of the 'mon and glowed a hue appropriate to their affinity. "Ketchum, Ash!" Ash knelled in front of the Alakazam, and glowed a rainbow hue. "Forbidden…" whispered the Alakazam in a shaky voice. Suddenly a wavy light envelops the area around them, but Ash is able to see through the illusion. A pentagram of white light appears around the pillar, one by one the points fill partly with color, one grey, another black, the next white, yet another gold, and the column partly filled in silver. The Pillar glows slightly, but everyone else seems to be oblivious to it. Ash rises and walks back into the crowd. A few ask Ash his affinity, but Ash brushes them off. Until an annoying voice says… "Don't bother asking, he's probably embarrassed that it's a weaker element, like his Pikachu's electric." Ash's eyes narrow. "Didn't you hear me?" Ash didn't answer, but started to radiate heat and glow red, the smarter students backed off. "Nice trick, good to disguise the fact that you're weak." "Care to put actions to those words?" "Frankly, I'd been insulted if I had to fight you." "What? You're afraid of me?" "Why you! Go! Nidoking!" Ash smirks. "Pikachu, thunder wave." "Ha! Don't you know all that does is—" "Watch." "Pika!" The largest thunder wave ever seen is released by Pikachu, it was almost 10 feet tall. The wave envelops Nidoking, and when it dissipates, a blackened Nidoking, who blinked twice, then fainted. Pikachu growls at Giselle, then jumps onto Ash's shoulder. Giselle's jaw drops. "Got another weakling?" "Why you! Fissure!" Giselle glows dark brown, raises her fist, and brings it down, striking the ground, creating a large fissure heading toward a still glowing Ash. "Shakunetsu Hadoken!" Ash fires an ethereal orange fireball that hits the growing fissure dead on, resealing it as it travels, until it stops, inches in front of Giselle, just before it dissipates. Giselle faints in shock, having seen that a small boy had stopped the most powerful ground attack, one that had even defeated her father's dugtrio in a single blow! Pikachu chuckles as Ash walks off. Meanwhile, the sorting had finished, and the first years gathered around a large man. "Hello first years! Name's Lt. Surge! I teach the gym classes here during the gym's off- season. I'm here to show you around." Later, after the tour… "This is the first year dorm. There are 3 levels with 5 halls in each, one for each type. There are also 4 rooms in the center of each level for double affinities. Those are Giselle Rocket, Misty Waterflower, and Ash Ketchum. Now, your luggage has already been delivered to your rooms. Get a good sleep, tomorrow's a big day. By the way, there's a training room on the roof for those who like to exercise to wake up. 'Bye!" Ash enters the northeast facing room on the top floor and picks up his schedule. It read… "Period 1: Physical training Period 2: Affinity training Period 3: Pokemon battle strategies Lunch Period 4: Pokemon facts Period 5: Pokemon history Period 6: (Yet to be decided, decided by Sabrina on first day) Period 7: Free time." "I guess they test us for psychic abilities here." "Ka, Pikapi?" "Because Sabrina, the psychic gym leader, decides period 6." "Chu. Pika chu pi ka?" "Alright, but try to stay on this floor." Ash releases his pokemon who say goodbye and walk outside. Ash takes out his bow and walks outside. He finds an archery range and draws back the string. A neon purple arrow forms between the string and shaft. "Explosive, lowest setting," whispered Ash. Then the arrow flashed briefly before he released it. The arrow struck the target and exploded, destroying it. Ash smiles and snaps his bow into its collapsed state. "Whatdya' know, it worked." Ash walks back to his room, moments before a group of teachers came out to see what happened. They gape at the destruction… The next day… Physical training "Hi, babies! I'm Lt. Surge, the physical trainer here. I'm here to pump you weaklings up!" Ash chuckled. "What you laughing at!" "You." "Why you!" Surge throws an amazingly fast punch at Ash, only to have Ash lazily dodge, grab his arm, and send Surge flying into the opposite wall. "You see my point?" "You!" Surge flies into a rage, attacking Ash! But Ash just dodges every blow(Think Goku vs. Nappa in Dragonball Z). Finally, Surge stops, sweating heavily. "Finished?" "Ne—gasp—ver." "Guess I'll have to finish this then, Red Enkoduken(Attack belongs to Jago, who in turn belongs to Rareware)!" Ash throws a one-handed red fire ball that flips Lt. Surge over it on impact. The other students continue to stare in amazement. Ash walks to Lt. Surge's side. "Truce?" said Ash, sticking out his hand. "O-ok-kay," replied Surge, taking it. "Good, the lesson?" Affinity Training… "Hello, I am Agatha of the Elite Four. Between League tournaments I train students here. Please show me your staffs." Ash brings out a 5 ft. tall, 1 1/2 in. diameter thick black staff with a 1 ft tall crystal at top with a gold cross hilt connecting the two. Agatha inspects the staffs one-by-one in no particular order. Misty had a light silver-blue Trident with an ocean blue sapphire at the joint of the prongs and the shaft. Giselle had a 5 ft. brown staff with a sickly green emerald at the top. Ash realized that the staff's colors represented the elements that it could gather, focus and amplify. Agatha's eyes widened at the sight of Ash's. "That's a Forbidden Battle Staff! Where did you get that, boy!" "My sensei gave it to me as a going away present. He said that he found it while he traveled." Agatha looked a tad disbelieving, but shrugged. "I am forced to believe you, since the only other intact battle staff belongs to Lance, and I know his hasn't been stolen. You have a rare and powerful staff there, young one, can you use it?" Ash shrugged and did a quick kata with the staff, the crystal glowed a fiery brown color as the kata's speed and strength increased. Ash stopped and the glow faded. "I can only use the fighting part of it." "I see, what is your affinity?" "I haven't a clue." "Didn't the Sorting 'Mon tell you?" Ash felt the urge not to say that the Sorting 'Mon had said "Forbidden." "No." "Well, that has happened before. Will you fight me? I always wanted to test a Forbidden battle staff's strength." "Fine, you'll probably win for type if nothing else." "Over here." They step into a 15 ft. diameter Circle as Agatha draws a dark purple/black cane. "Begin! Night Shade!" Ash jumps into action, dodging the dark beam. "Good job. But try this! Confuse Ray!" An ethereal yellow beam fired at Ash and was too big to dodge. Ash's vision spins and he become dizzy. Ash forces himself to sense his balance, not see it. He concentrates as Gouken taught him and shakes off the confusion. He opens his eyes, much to Agatha's surprise. "Impressive. Lick!" A black tongue appears and tries to lick Ash, who backflips away. Much to Ash's surprise his staff swings at a nightshade he hadn't seen coming, dissipates it, and fires a Thunderbolt. Ash felt his energy drain into the bolt that plowed through and struck Agatha as he blacked out. Ash woke. "You okay?" "Yeah, Misty. How's Agatha?" "Fine, boy. You're the first to defeat me for a long time." "Who cares! He passed out performing a basic attack! He's weak!" yelled Giselle. Agatha fired a Nightshade at her, knocking her into the wall. "He was able to block one twice that power. I advice not to insult yourself." Ash gets up. "You sure you're okay?" "I'm fine, Agatha. But you better check on Giselle." "I'm fine." "No, your not." "Yes, I am." "Look at your staff." Her staff's jewel had cracked. "You did that!" "No. Agatha's Nightshade is very powerful." "That's enough you two. Now, Misty. Your turn." Misty's trident glows as a rush of water, like a waterfall's, is heard. A small beam of water fires at a stone target, eroding a hole in it. "Impressive. Next up is, Tracey Sketcher." And so the class progressed. Pokemon Battle Strategies Ash was impressed at the number of rare pokemon he saw in this class, but all seemed to be little more than pampered pets, a pity. Some could have been formidable with a good trainer. Ash's pokemon calmly surveyed the others as a muscular man walked in. "I am Bruno. Your teacher," he said in a harsh voice. "I may look like all muscle and no brain, but my battle strategies rival Lance's. Now, I see all of you have some rare pokemon. All but this one," Bruno pointed at Ash. "His pokemon look weak to some of you, but my trained eye shows them as superiorly trained. Shall we see how well?" "Fine. Go! Pikachu!" "Go! Onix! This is a good example of strategy since electricity is totally ineffective against rock/ground types." "Wanta bet? Pikachu! Thunder Shatter!" Bruno turns very pale remembering one of his most difficult battles. 5 months ago… "Return! I haven't had that much damage dealt to Golem since a kid in Pallet used Thunder Shatter on it." End flashback. "Onix! Look out!" Too late, the destructive blast had shattered Onix's tail! "Onixxxxxxxxxxxxxx!" "Pikachu! You used too much power! Go! Charmander! Bulbasaur! Reassemble!" Bulbasaur puts the pieces back together and Charmander melts them back into place. Bruno's jaw decides that the floor looks comfortable, so do the jaws of everyone else. "Sorry about that Onix, Pikachu still needs to figure out how to control that," he turns, "What are ya' all gaping at?" Lunch Several others accosted Ash, trying to find out why he was so good, but he shooed them away and sat out-of-the-way. One girl was adventurous enough to come to him. "Hello? We met on the ship." "Misty, right?" "Yeah. Why you sitting so far away, like this? Half the kids in the school want to be your friend." "My pokemon are my only friends." "Why are you so cold?" "My friends turned on me." "It can't be that bad." Ash looked at her with haunted brown eyes, full of pain and age. They closed and his head shook back and forth. "You could never understand." He left the room. "What was that about?" Pokemon Facts "Hello! I'm your teacher, Seymour the Scientist! I specialize in fairy pokemon! Today we will take a test to see where you are." Seymour passes out a fairly thick test, most groan but a yellow mouse blinks… "Pika pi?" "Yes, that's all." "Pika chu pi!" "Maybe to you." "Pi Pikapi." "SH!" shouted Seymour. "Sorry." Ash opened the test, the first question was "Name the evolution of Pikachu." "Pika chu pi chu ka." "They're not." Ash barely finishes the test in time. "Now everyone, don't feel bad that you didn't finish, only a 3rd year student has been able to complete it in this amount of time…Yes, Pikachu?" "Pikapi chu." "Huh?" Pikachu points at Ash, then to the test, then out the window at the end of the racing track outside. "You actually finished!?!" Ash sheepishly scratched his head, after giving Pikachu a glare an Arbok would have been proud of, and replied meekly, "Yeah." The entire class stared at him. "What? I probably got most of them wrong." PokeHistory A tall, balding man taught the next class. "Hello, I am Blaine. So far your other classes may have been pushovers, but I assure you, mine will not be. The others see beauty in power and battle knowledge, ignoring the people and events the found knowledge. Turn to chapter one and prepare to take notes." Many students groaned, but Ash did not. Finally, a strict teacher! Thought Ash. Ash copied Blaine's words exactly. Once the class was over he headed for the psychically shielded building on the other side of the campus. Oddly, upon entering, he felt as if a weight was lifted from him, a weight he never knew exsisted. A strange young man in a paper surgical mask stopped him with an outstretched arm. "We don't like fighters here." "I don't have time for this." Ash grabbed his arm and flipped him into the air! Ash glowed momentarily and fired a chi ball into his chest. The ball didn't explode, but kept on flying through the halls with the psychic on it. There's a flash, and a young lady of about 16 appears and looks curiously at Ash. "I hope you didn't hurt him too much." "Nah. He may be psychic, but his fighting level is low. So I only used a movement ball. It'll dissipate after it gets outside. Sabrina I assume?" "Yes." "Sorry I'm late, but that guy stopped me." "Yeah, Joseph is a empath. He's just following the combined emotions of every psychic he feels." "Shall I meet you in class?" "No need." Sabrina teleports them to class. Geez! I'll stick to Ashura Warp! That 'port turned my balance topsy-turvy! Thought Ash "Now class, today I'm going to see which of you are psychic. They will be diverted to another class while the others get an affinity strengthening class. In other words, a free period with your pokemon." "Pi Pikapi chu." "Be quiet, Pikachu." "Now, let's see." Sabrina looks at the class carefully. Ash feels a pressure on his mind. Out of reflex, Ash lashes out against the touch. Sabrina reels back as an aura of purple forms around Ash. Misty was also glowing, a blueish purple. Sabrina sits up, rubbing her temples. "Apparently, I found the two psychics in this class. Nice hit by the way you two. And don't react so much, Ash." Ash looked sheepish and scratched his head, "Sorry, bad habit." "It's all right. The rest of you, head to the field next to the dorms." The rest of the class nervously shuffles out. Only Ash and Misty remain. "Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum, right." "Yes." "Yeah." "Hmmmmmmm. Misty, you have a Starmie, right?" "Yeah, it was my first pokemon." "That explains your Psychic powers. Your bond to a part psychic type pokemon has unlocked the latent powers everybody has. Since Starmie was your first pokemon, the bond unleashed a lot of power. I believe you're a good telepath, a medium strength telekinetic, and a powerful telempath. Ash, you, however, are a bit of a mystery," Sabrina turns to Ash before continuing, "None of your pokemon have the power—" "Chu!" Pikachu blasts a hole in the wall(which was about 4 feet of solid stone) to prove the he was strong. Sabrina gulps, Misty gapes. "Allow me to rephrase that. The *ability* to use psychic powers, yet your powers are highly developed. It might be possible that you were a psychic to start with, but not with that much power unlocked. I surprised that you aren't insane yet." Ash turns and looks at her in the eyes. "My body and mind have been trained. But I know what you mean, I felt a weight lift from my mind when I entered the building." Sabrina looks oddly at Ash before continuing, "I see. You are a strong telepath, telekenetic, telempath, and teleporter. You actually have more potential than I!" Ash felt a surge of what he thought was jealousy. "Huh? What was that?" "Hum. Your shields are failing now that there isn't any pressure on them for you to instinctively strengthen them. Let me try something." Without giving Ash a chance to respond, Sabrina lashes out with a telepathic blast. Ash counters both physically and mentally. He felt himself lash out and "bat" away the lance of telepathy, and he felt his chi gather and fire in a concussive pulse that send Sabrina into the wall behind her. After she had regained her breath she shook her head. "You really need to dampen those reaction times. And don't be jealous, Misty. Power like his is more of a burden. Come, let's go get your rooms changed—" "Oh no you don't! You aren't teleporting me again!" "Then how are you going to get over there without walking?" "Like this, Misty. Ashurasenkuu!" Ash levitated into the air with a thrust knee. He hovered for a moment, his face pinched in tight concentration, as a small wind kicks up. Ash and Pikachu, who was hanging on for dear life to Ash's shoulder, explode into a streak of shadow images! "Okay. Remind me not to piss him off." "You said it!" replied a shaken Sabrina before teleporting them to Misty's room. Misty gathers her stuff and together they teleport back to a waiting Ash. "You teleported?" "Nah, too much weight. I ran." Misty eyes the stack of trunks behind him. "With all that?" she asked incredulously. Ash shrugged, "It's only a couple hundred pounds. I left my pokemon to spar outside." Sabrina looks at Ash, "This should be interesting. I never met a Psychic fighter." Ash shrugged again, "Its only weakness would be bug, but a Shakunetsu Hadoken would finish it off." "A what?" Ash glowed momentarily glowed red and thrust his hands at the wall, firing a partially unformed energy ball that destroyed the wall anyway. "We're gonna have to talk about that." "Fine. I won't blow up anything else…unless I have to," said Ash in a chilly, foreboding tone. Misty looked at him and demanded, "Why are you always so cold hearted!" Ash looked at Misty with haunted eyes, "As I said, you would never understand." "Understand WHAT!?!" Misty struck at Ash with her wild, untrained power that dodged through Ash's instinctive defenses and strikes his darkest memory, causing him to relive it… Flashback… A small boy of about 6 is chained in a dark room. His throat was dry, he had had no food for over a day. His wounds hurt where clubs and boots had hit him. A door opened. The boy tried to will his eyes to see, but the swelling only allowed him to open them a crack. He saw a boy of similar age, flanked by a dozen large men. "So freak, having fun?" "G-g-g-gary-y-y-y? I th-thought-t w-we w-were fr-friends." It hurt to speak, his lungs and throat ached. His words only enraged the other boy, identified as Gary. He walked up and viciously smashed the boy in the ribs with a steel-tipped boot. The boy felt several bones break. "Don't ever call me a friend, freak!" Gary spat in Ash's face. "Let's show him what we do to liars. Especially freak liars." The men surrounded the boy and began to beat him with clubs and feet and slash him with knives. The boy, named Ash, screamed in pain. This went on for what seemed an eternity, before they stopped. "Let's have some fun boys." The man laughed with cruel anticipation… End Flashback Misty returned to the present, being shaken by Sabrina. "What happened?" There was an inhuman howl as Ash leaped up, his eyes full of pain. He howls once more and disappears in an Ashura Warp. Ash's pokemon burst into the room as he does! "Ash!" Misty leaps up, but Sabrina holds her down. "I gotta find him!" Sabrina shook her head, "No. Do you know what you did?" "No. I think I relived one of Ash's memories," said Misty, rubbing her head. Sabrina looked gloomy and replied, "I thought so. You unwittingly made Ash relive his most painful memory. What was it?" "He was…kidnapped…beaten…and raped, I think. How could they do that to a kid!" Sabrina looked sad and said, "You're too young to remember much of the news, but about 4 years ago, there was an anti-affinity group called the Defenders of the Human Race. They believed human-pokemon bonds were unnatural and devil-spawned. They group was finished off when they kidnapped a young boy of about six and held him for three days. In those three days, they performed unspeakable acts on that boy. The group of 15 was found and captured, but the boy was barely alive. He survived, however, but retreated into himself for 3 years. He did nothing but train in that time. According to rumor, he only spoke to his pokemon and his sensei during that time. They managed to convince him to again become part of the world. That boy was Ash. The worst part was that the group got off with a fine, then disappeared, reportedly into Team Rocket." "My God. I made Ash relive that?" "Worse, you trapped him in a loop of it." "Is there anything we can do?" "Not till we find him." Ash's pokemon nod and focus on their bond, tracking Ash. Misty and Sabrina follow as the pokemon dash out of the room. Book 2: Healing Ash wandered in pain. He did not care where he ended up, only that the pain would stop. He Ashura warp had taken him to the middle of the sea. He smiled and shut off the warp, crashing and sinking into the waves. Blessed rest, I come. A white-blue, winged form rises from the depths. Just let the pain end. I am not worthy of being saved. Lugia nudged him gently, With that, Lugia shifts shape into that of a young Lapras, a wet Ash on her back. The Lapras sets off toward land. As they traveled Lapras ended the loop of pain and comforted Ash into a deep sleep… Soon… Pikachu snapped to a stop in his searching. "Pikachu? Why did you stop?" asked Misty. "Pikapi chu pika pi chu." "Huh?" "He said that Ash is fine and a Lapras is bringing him back," answered Sabrina. "Huh? How'd he know that?" "Bul ba saur," called Bulbasaur as she and the others walked up. "Your bond is that tight?" asked Sabrina. Ash's pokemon nod. They head for the cliffs near the school to meet Ash, leaving Misty and Sabrina behind. "Come on Misty. You need to get some sleep." "Oh all right. I just feel sorry for him. This was my fault." "In a way, I think you helped him." "How?" "You forced him to have to come to terms with himself. You may have just cracked the icy shell that traps Ash." Misty didn't answer. She just stared toward where Ash's pokemon had gone. May you find peace, Ash. The next day… Ash stirred, half-awake, muttering, "W-what? Who?" Ash shot up from lapras' back shouting, "What!" The "young lapras" twisted its long neck to get a good look at Ash. Ash seemed to ponder this for several minutes before smiling, "Yep! I actually feel better than ever before!" Lapras smiled, "Where're we headed?" "How'd Pikachu and co. tell you where to go?" "What!?!" he yelled jumping to his feet, there he paused, and fell back down, laughing hard. "I guess that's the 7th element!" Ash hugged Lapras's neck tightly, whispering into his ear, "Thank you." "What do you mean half-insane!?!" yelled an irate Ash, hoping up and down on Lapras's back, until he fell into the water, of course. Ash crawled back up onto Lapras's back uttering, "All right. All right. I admit it. That was slightly nuts." Lapras chuckled at his newfound friend…