The real Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1: You really don’t want to know this

 

            As the narrator said before, Ash, Misty, and Brock were walking around Kanto, trying to get back to Pallet Town. They were, as usual, hopelessly lost. When were they not? So, as tradition demanded, they broke into a heated argument on the subject of who got them lost, which ended when Misty malleted Ash into the ground.

            Fortunately, or unfortunately, a wandering trainer heard Ash’s cry for help and came to investigate.

            As soon as he approached, Misty’s eyes popped out in little pink hearts. He was… a major hunk.

            “Are you all right?” The boy asked, as he helped Ash up.

            Ash’s eyes cleared slightly and he managed a feeble nod.

            “You sure? I can take you to the hospital.”

            “He’s fine.” Misty cut in with a simpering tone.

            Lance narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?”

           

            “Yes!” Misty snapped, before inadvertently covering her mouth. Lance sighed, picked Ash up, called out Dragonite, climbed on, and flew off to the nearest hospital.

            “WAIT! Come back here!” Misty yelled.

            “The nearest hospital is in Saffron.” Brock said helpfully.

            “Really? Let’s go then!”

            With that, Misty dragged Brock by the ear as she began running the marathon to Saffron.

 

            Unfortunately, Lance had taken Ash back to Indigo Plateau, not to the hospital as might have been suspected.

            Lorelei blinked as her cousin came in carrying an unconscious boy in her arms. “Lance?”

            “Trainer abuse via Misty Waterflower.” Lance said in a clipped tone.

            “Again?”

            Rumors had been trickling in, from different eyewitnesses, suggesting that perhaps the Cerulean Gym leader was not cut out for the position.

            Lance nodded.

 

            “Well, I’ll leave you two alone then.” Lorelei said, with a knowing wink as Lance sighed a little.

            “Yes, I know.”

            Lorelei immediately got on the phone with Claire to speculate.

 

            “You think?”

            “I know! I saw her eyes.” Lorelei winked into the videophone.

            “Oh!” Claire grinned. “So my older sister has finally decided to act.”

            “Hehehehe.”

            “That’s great! Maybe we’ll be bridesmaids…”

            “That soon?”

 

            “You never know.” Claire replied impishly. “So! If they do have a wedding, what color dresses should we get?”

            “I think we’ll be waiting for a while.’ Lorelei sighed. “Um… blue!”

            “Blue’s good! We could get light blue with this frothy lace that I saw in a shop window.”

            “That would be cool. Like ice.”

            The two girls chatted for a good while longer before hanging up. It was a good thing there were no charges for calls from official pokemon league buildings.

 

 

            “My poor little light…” Lance whispered as she gently rocked Ash, who was still knocked out, while humming.

            “If you had stayed with them any longer, your shadow magic would have started to develop. But don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” Lance whispered, as she began to chant a spell. “I should have been there, but this time, there will be no mistake…”

            Her eyes glowed silver as the kanji for ice again glowed on her forehead. The Dragon Master seemed to smile for a second.

            “I’ll always be with you.” Lance murmured, as she began to fade away. “I’ll never leave you alone. I’ll do anything for you, my little one. I promise.”

            When she finally vanished completely, Ash woke up to find a strange silver pendant lying around his neck. It dangled from a fine golden chain, simply a piece of round metal, slightly warm to the touch, with the kanji for ice on it.

            “…”

            He did not have time to say more as suddenly, a golden light surrounded him and he blacked out. And when he awoke, there was nothing to be remembered from this life.

 

****************CUT***********FIFTEEN YEARS LATER*******************

           

            Fourteen-year old Satoshi yawned as he glanced at his alarm clock. He had been dreaming of pokemon again, and a journey with two strange people.

            His mother passed it off as excitement. It was his third year at pokemon tech, and he was doing well. He was going to be promoted to Level 8, the last badge, soon. She was so proud of her son…

            Well, she couldn’t say that. He wasn’t technically hers. Kin had no idea how he had wound up at the orphanage she sometimes volunteered at, when she wasn’t working with the Devon scientists on government research projects, such as new types of poke balls and berry combinations to make better poketreats on the market.

            With her double major in biochemistry and biomechanics, she was an invaluable member of the eight-person team.

            Kin brushed back her dark brown hair, tinged lightly with pink, and smiled.

            “Time to get up, Satoshi!”

 

            A few minutes later, the boy ran downstairs in his black uniform. “Am I late? I’ll have to do a hundred pushups if I am!”

            “Don’t worry, Satoshi!” Kin told him. “You still have twenty-six minutes. And we live so close to the school.”

            Satoshi nodded as he began brushing back his black hair, tinged slightly with blue. “Hai, mom.”

            “And remember, Indigo Plateau is where you go next, unless you want to catch some more pokemon.”
            Satoshi nodded, as he quickly drank his milk and ate his cheerios, made sure his uniform was spotless, and released Espeon, before heading off to another school day.

 

End Chapter!

 

A/N: In case anyone didn’t know, Ash is Satoshi.

I decided to put a branch of Pokemon Tech in Houen, where Ash is now.

Created 1/21/04, completed 1/30/04