Plotbunny fic! Yes, another one.

Disclaimer: I don’t own pokemon. Really. But I do own Destiny and Charlotte and the Triple Guardianship and anything else I come up with.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics for pokemon talking.

Who has read ‘Poke genie’ by Disruptor? That plotbunny arises from the fic.

Timeline: After the Orange League, Ash was required by law to go back to school. So he took 4 years of classes before he was allowed back on his journey. Ash is 16 and traveling on his own.

Title: The inside of a poke ball

Chapter 1: Like a phoenix from the ashes

Ash cheered as he opened his mail. “Yes! I can go on my pokemon journey again!”

“That’s nice, dear.” His mom said.

“Well, I mean, school is important and all that, and I was really good at biology and chemistry, but now, I can go back on my journey.”

His mom nodded and smiled. “That’s nice, dear.”

“So I’m going to pack and I’ll probably be leaving tomorrow after I get my pokédex re-registered and my pokemon back from Professor Oak.”

“Don’t forget about the ones your uncle sent you, dear.” His mom reminded.

Ash stopped. “What?”

“Your uncle Preston has been sending you a pokemon each year for your birthday since you started your journey. Didn’t you get them?”

Ash blinked. “He has?”

“Yes, dear. Oh!” Delilah stared at the air for a second. “I forgot! He sent them to me, so I have all of them. Here, I’ll go get them for you.”

Ash waited. Soon, his mom returned with an intricately detailed rosewood box. “Here you go, dear. They should all be inside.”

“Thanks, mom.” Ash replied.

As he opened the box, light glinted off six little balls inside.

“I’ll finish doing your laundry, dear, so you can pack.” Delilah bustled off.

Ash nodded and opened the poke balls.

The first was empty. Ash blinked in puzzlement before he shook the ball. Something rattled inside.

“… What?”

Ash pressed the release button. Out fell four elemental stones.

“Cool…”

The second poke ball contained a dark pokemon. Ash didn’t recognize it at first, but soon his poke-knowledge kicked back in.

“Sneasal? Wow.”

The next poke ball held a Houndour, followed by an Absol.

“My uncle must have really liked dark pokemon….”

The three pokemon chirped and waved at him. They did not seem the least bit concerned.

“Laid back personalities too? Nice…”

The second to last poke ball popped open, revealing a sleeping Charmander, only it was black and dark gray, and the last ball was a black pikachu.

“Woah…” Ash whispered. “Real dark type pokemon. But I thought they were illegal and restricted to breeding centers and hatcheries… oh well.”

Ash grinned and acquainted himself with all the dark pokemon. He found them affable and as well behaved, completely unlike the press’s claim that all dark pokemon were evil.

“Stupid bureaucrats don’t know a thing about pokemon.” Ash muttered. He buckled on his new poke belt and started packing for his journey.

Unfortunately, when he got to Oak’s lab, he was unpleasantly surprised.

“What the hell do you mean that you released my pokemon into the wild?!”
Professor Oak took a deep breath. “I had to do it. My reserve has a certain carrying capacity…”

“So you released my pokemon?!”

“Well, I assumed that since you had a champion title already, you weren’t going on your journey again.”

Ash glared at the old man with hate in his eyes. “You bastard….”

“I gave the rest of them to trainers, I only released the Tauros.”

Ash’s eyes filled with tears. “WHAT?! How could you?”

Oak shrugged. “I owe you nothing. You didn’t even help me complete my pokédex.”

And with that, he shut the door in Ash’s face.

Tears ran down the Pallet trainer’s eyes as the enormity of the man’s crime crashed into him.

He spent hours sitting on the steps with his knees tucked up to his chest, not speaking. Delilah finally called him inside when it got dark.

“Ash dear, what happened?”

Ash burst into tears, despite that it was unbecoming in a male, as he poured out his story into his mom’s sympathetic ear.

“Oh, my poor baby.” Delilah whispered, stroking his hair and offering her presence as a sort of comfort. “I didn’t’ know. If I had, I would have stopped him…”

Ash sniffled. “You couldn’t have known…”

Delilah could do nothing but hold him as he cried himself out.

For a few days afterwards, Ash sat in his room, dry-eyed, staring out of his window, still in a funk.

His new pokemon kept him company and dragged him to eat at regular intervals. Ash didn’t know why they cared about him, but he appreciated it, even though he never said a word.

And so, almost a month went by before Ash was calm and lucid enough to go downstairs and have a normal conversation with his mom.

His mom worriedly set his soup and sandwiches before him.

“Ash?” She questioned tentatively.

Ash sighed. “Nothing can change the past, right mom?”

“I’m afraid not.” Delilah told him sorrowfully.

“I…” Ash stopped.

“I can’t let this end my life, I have to keep going.”

A spark of resignation flared in his eyes as he sat up straighter. “I’m not going to let Professor Oak destroy my dream of becoming a master.”

“I’m not going to fall down and cry like a baby anymore.”

Delilah nodded to herself. * He’s become a man now… this has changed him and it will continue to do so… *

“Ash, you know I’ll be behind you one hundred percent no matter what, dear.”

Ash nodded again, and smiled. “I know mom. You’ve always been here to support me. And I’ve never bothered to say thank you. But now, I want to tell you how grateful I am.’

He stood up and hugged her tightly, not letting go.

“Thanks for everything, mom.”

Delilah watched as he finished eating and fed all of his pokemon. “You’re going back on the road again, aren’t you? Like you originally intended.”

“Yes, mom.”

“Okay, Ash.” Delilah said. “Just be careful and call home regularly. Go out there and chase that dream of yours like you were meant to.”

Ash’s eyes lit up and his face was one big smile as he quickly packed and bade his mother good-bye, before setting off on his journey, once again.

End Chapter 1