It’s raining angst! Bucketfuls of it! *Hides under umbrella*
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
Chapter 2
“I don’t understand anything.” He looked at his face in the mirror. He could still pass for someone in his mid-twenties, only if one looked carefully could one spot the few gray hairs. His skin was smooth, unwrinkled, and darkly tanned.
It scared him.
He was alone in a large, rambling house that was meant for a family, with young children, and he was alone.
He remembered that Misty’s hair had turned frizzy gray almost overnight, and that her skin had become a mass of liver spots and folds of flab. Even then, he had loved her. Love was something mysterious and inexplicable, so he had never bothered to analyze why.
They had gone to all the famous doctors in Indigo, but no one had provided a cure. It just had to be one of those rare, incurable diseases…
Why Misty?
She shouldn’t have died so early. Their grandchildren were still young…
He sighed as he fixed himself canned soup mechanically, and let numbness overtake his feelings.
Three days later, he had to go to the Indigo Summit. A celebration was held every year in recognition of all the brave trainers who had died facing the Deoxys threat from space. Since he was one of the few who had lived, he had to go.
This year though, it was the thirtieth anniversary, and that was important.
There was another mural up on the wall, as he walked into the conference hall. They changed the pictures each year, and this year, it showed Lance.
The Dragon Master of the Elite Four was forever immortalized in shiny paint that glittered when the sun hit it just so. Barely into his thirties, with a devil may care smile and a Dragonair by his side, he looked pristinely heroic.
Lugia lurked in the background, an artist’s guess, though a fairly accurate one, if his old pokedex was correct.
With a sigh, he slid into the crowd and watched as vendors hawked dolls and cards and statues, and children tagged at his heels and begged for his autograph and pestered him with questions.
“You’re really the famous Ash Ketchum?”
“Of course he is dummy! He looks just like the old pictures!”
“Yeah, but it could be his son or something…”
Ash coughed. “I am Ash Ketchum, the original.”
“You don’t look old at all!”
“Guess I’m blessed with naturally youthful looks…”
“Hey, hey! Did you really know Lance?”
“Of course I did. I was the Champion of the Pokemon League.”
“So what was he like?”
“Well, he was brave, powerful, loved dragon pokemon. I didn’t know him that well.”
“But you were Champion for two years before the Deoxys attacked!”
“Well yes, but the Elite mostly kept to themselves… they were rather… shy, I suppose.” That sounded better than arrogant loners.
It was true that he couldn’t remember much about the Elite Four. Certainly, he had fought with them against the invading space pokemon, but other than that, had they interacted at all?
He could not remember, so he dismissed it as no interaction.
After all, you can’t remember what never happened.
“I know that this is hasty, but we have no time.”
“I take this to mean that the seals you put on him are cracking.”
“Not seals. I blanked his memory.”
“Then how is he to remember anything at all?”
“Well, Destiny will be breaking free of his cocoon soon… you can tell, can’t you?”
“Yes. It is not in his nature to lie inactive for long periods of time. I suppose we must face it then. I’m surprised he stayed sleeping this long.”
“But I erased all their memories.”
Charlotte sucked in a breath. “That means none of the Three will remember you.”
“Correct.”
“Why? That is much more risky than just suppressing Ash’s memories…”
“I had to do a thorough job. The others might have taken over, and I was not ready to face them… the grief was too fresh to fall in love again.”
“I see…”
“Do you pity me?”
“I would, but you don’t like pity.”
“Neither do you, Fire Guardian.”
“Should I…. Would you like my help? If needed, I can suppress Destiny a while longer.”
“Somehow, I feel as if that may not be necessary.” Lance closed his eyes, allowed his mind to wander, seeking the purple and black weave of the tapestry of fate. A faint smile touched his lips.
“No, it is all right. Destiny awakening may prove fortunate for me.”
“As you will…”
“I don’t understand.” Ash whimpered. The first changes had started after he had gotten home from the conference. His legs had suddenly felt weak, and for a second, they had faded out of existence, to be replaced by a pair of bird talons!
That was crazy! He was a human, not a pokemon!
He dismissed it as stress, but as the days went by, the flashes became more frequent.
Was he going mad?
He didn’t think so, but he was starting to believe it.
What was he going to do?
Maybe he really ought to see a psychiatrist… or at the very least, get counseling so he’d get over his grief at Misty’s death.
He’d lost almost thirty pounds and he could not afford it.
He wasn’t one to commit suicide, but dying of neglect was starting to look appealing… and he wouldn’t need to cry any more.
But he didn’t.
End Chapter
Completed 3/17/06
Conversation, and more talking… I’m sorry, the bunny’s not being good. *Chases plotbunny with giant pitchfork*
Ash is quite a selfish person, isn’t he? But he might be the most human of the three guardians….