Well! *Waves* Welcome to another chapter!

Disclaimer: Don’t own pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. I only have my own characters, pokemon, and things, which are mine under the copyright law.

And we have… <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics in case a pokemon talks.

Prepare to be confused.

Chapter 6: Foxfire

The match against Blaine was actually quite easy. Wartortle finished off all three pokemon, even the ludicrously hard to beat magmar.

However, it got a lot harder.

Not the battling… he didn’t know how it had happened. It was a big platform. Maybe he was too excited. In any case, he fell off the platform and into the lava.

When he had woken up, he saw that there was a boy with spiky red hair taking care of him.

“You okay?”

“Where am I? Where’s Catelyn!” Ash immediately asked, bolting up.

“Calm down, the girl’s fine.” Lance said, hiding a smile. “But you need to rest.”

Ash looked at the bandages on his arms and legs.

“After all, you did fall into the lava.” Lance reprimanded. “But don’t worry. A few days and you should be back to normal. Now drink this.”

Ash took the bowl of pale green herb mixture and slowly drank it, wincing at the bitter taste.

He felt himself falling asleep again and thus succumbed to the dream.

Seeing as he was asleep, Lance shifted back into Catelyn temporarily. She dialed her parents to tell them she was all right, and not to worry about Ash, he would be all healed soon.

When Ash woke up again, Lance was changing the bandages. He wanted to ask where Catelyn was, but to his shock, his voice was gone.

“Must be the smoke…” Lance said, noticing his frantic gestures. “But don’t worry, your voice will be back soon.”

Ash nodded slowly. He still felt worried, but something told him to trust this stranger, so he did.

He stayed with Lance for at least three more weeks, until he was completely healed and the trainer bid him goodbye.

He never did catch the name of the trainer.

Ash found Catelyn waiting for him at the Pokemon Center. Glad to see she was all right, he squashed any questions he might have had about his disappearance.

He was just happy to be alive.

Yes… although he still wondered who that strange boy was.

“Catelyn?”

“Hmm?”

“Who brought me here?”

Catelyn blinked expressively, showing her puzzlement. “What do you mean? I found you passed out in a tree yesterday and brought you here to recover.”

“What?! Where’d he go!”

“Who?”

“Er, um, him…” Ash stopped. “My voice is back!”

Catelyn looked at him worriedly. “Ash, are you all right?”

“I can talk! When I was with… him, I couldn’t talk at all!”
Catelyn blinked some more.

“You know how I fell into the volcano? What happened then?”
“Ah…” Catelyn scrunched up her brow in thought. “Well, immediately there was a really bright light, and the lava parted. When it cleared, you were gone. Blaine and I immediately began looking for you, but we had no luck until I found you in that tree yesterday. Why were you up in a tree?”

“No idea.” Ash said humbly.

“Never mind, I’m just very happy you’re okay.’ Catelyn said, giving him a hug.

Ash blushed. “Ah…”

Well, being back in the company of a fairly attractive female specimen after spending nearly a month with only a boy who hardly talked for company was… nice.

Strange though…

“Should we be off then? You’ll want the Earth Badge now, right?”

Ash nodded. “But the league’s not for a little while longer.”

“I guess that’s good.” Catelyn said, as her Dratini yawned.

“Do you train anything besides dragons?”

“Of course I do. I just like dragons the best.” Catelyn grinned.

“I see.”

“What about you? Anything that crosses your path is fair game?”

“Why not, if it’s a wild pokemon.”

“I see your point.”

Pikachu and Pichu hugged Ash tightly. You’re back!

We missed you!

Where were you?

“Calm down,” Ash placated. “After I fell into the lava a wandering trainer took care of me until I was healed.’

Oh?

Strange! Pretty?

Ash blinked. “Uh… no, he was a boy…” * But he was kind of cool-looking… yes, I think that’s the right word… *

Catelyn noticed Ash’s blushing and hid a smile.

< Looks like you have somewhat of a hero worship for my other side. >

< Interesting, isn’t it? >

< Yes, Lugia. >

< I’m a tad worried though. What if he falls in love with both of you? >
Catelyn blinked. < I don’t think so. >

< You never know, my Chosen. >

< I see… >

End Chapter