Chapter 4!

Disclaimer: No one reads this, but I don’t own pokemon.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks~!

Chapter 4

 

            “Do quit staring at me.” Lance said.

            Ash gulped and faded back into nothingness. He had a tendency to go incorporeal when he was embarrassed or afraid. This seemed to be one of the times. The Dragon Master withdrew a lock pick from his cape and began picking the door. Ash gaped.

            < Is this really necessary? >

            “Your mom has no good reason of locking you out of her house, does she?”

            < No. >

            “When was the last time you talked to her?”

            < A little more than a month ago. When I was in Saffron. >

            Lance nodded as the tumblers clicked open. He pushed the door open, and then ducked as what looked like a throwing spear soared overhead. Lightning crackled between his fingers. Thunderwave. How expedient…

 

            What fell down was most certainly not Ash’s mother. Ash blinked it was a man. He had greasy hair and piercing blue eyes frozen in a shocked look. He also had a bushy black beard and kind of green clothing; it seemed to be prismatic and kept changing color. Lance blinked.

            So did Ash.

 

            < Do you know him? Your father, perhaps? >

            < No! > Ash huffed. < My father died two months before I was born. >

            < Well, that’s interesting… > Lance said. He unclipped a small scanner from his belt and ran it over the man. It emitted a faint pink light, beeping periodically. A few moments later, he shook his head.

            “Well, he’s not registered as a trainer in Kanto or Johto….”

            “So who do you think he is?”

            “Could be anyone, I suppose, and he doesn’t have civilian ID. Perplexing… perhaps he’s from Houen? Or Cosmos? Or the other islands…”

            Lance unclipped his scanner, took out a small chip, and inserted it.

            The Houen registry passed by clean…

            And then a signal began beeping. A match had been found for the next chip. Cosmos. Lance flipped open a strange device that to Ash looked like a compact mirror and pressed a button.

            The image of a girl with gold eyes and black hair flickered onscreen. She looked surprised, but quickly composed herself

            “Charlotte.”

            “Lance? Nice to hear from you again”

            “Trainer Number 87765 of Cosmos, originally from Moonstone City, has been found in Pallet Town. He was also in Ash Ketchum’s house.” Lance said, typing in Ash’s trainer number at the same time. “Could you send me his record?”

            “Of course. Be there in a second.” The Cosmos Champion said, as she accessed her mainframe computer. Three minutes later, Lance’s compact lit up again and a piece of paper drifted out. Charlotte nodded as Lance took the paper.

           

            Trainer number 87765: Name: Blake Kim. Gender: Male.

            Level: Mars Badge. About the equivalent of Celadon’s Rainbow Badge, Lance remembered. He flipped to the next item. List of pokemon – two, they were listed as Ariados and Flareon.

            Well, what was a barely decent trainer – in his standards, in any case doing here?

            Ash’s house… was just a house. Despite the guardian, it was not a safe place. It could catch on fire, or be destroyed in an earthquake or typhoon just like any other place.

            Yet… neither could shake the feeling that something was off.

            Ash’s mother was nowhere to be found. Ash had gone inside to search and reported nothing. The walls had spoken, though, and said that this place had been empty of her presence for a long time…

            Confusing…

            Ash’s eyes glowed – Hypnosis or Dream Eater, Lance assumed. After a moment, the trainer pulled back, recoiling, disgusted.

            “Well?”

            “Mom,” Ash whispered, and then dashed for the back room. Lance followed. What followed was a scene of carnage that would have bumped this fic up a rating or two, so it will not be detailed. Suffice to say that Ash heaved up his breakfast and Lance had to quickly bury the evidence.

            Poor woman…

 

            But how could they have missed it earlier? Illusion? Or was it the fact that dead people had no aura anymore? Whatever it was, they called the police and as Blake Kim was still there, merely paralyzed, he was taken off to the Viridian Police Station and charged with the murder of one Delia Ketchum. The court Mr. Mime was more than happy to rifle through his memories and find the ones that marked him as guilty…

            And as the Mr. Mime was wearing a control mechanism that did not allow the presence of lies, the deed was sealed and settled rather quickly. Although Mr. Kim was entitled to a lawyer, none of the few lawyers that dealt with criminal cases felt obliged to represent him. He was already guilty after all…

            No need to waste time and resources…

 

            Ash didn’t see it quite that simple though. He had lost his mother! Now, he was only eleven – almost twelve and still counted as underage… so what could he do? He wasn’t allowed to live on his own until he was sixteen, or eighteen, or twenty-one, depending on region… and even though some trainers could take a test to prove they were worthy of independence, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

            He wanted a family…

            But he no longer had one.

            This was a bad situation, no beating ‘round the bush about it…

 

            “Ash?”

            Ash looked up. He had been escorted out of the courtroom – apparently, they did not want him to hear the proceedings that would determine his future. It was perfectly reasonable, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. He wanted to know what was going on!

            “Yes?”

            “Well,” Lance said hesitantly, “You’re too old for foster care, they think, and although it would be only short-term, there are many younger orphans who have yet to be placed and have higher priority. As you were already on your journey, the court has decided to appoint you a temporary guardian.”

            “Oh. Who? Agatha?” Ash wouldn’t mind her…

            “It actually gets a bit more complicated then that.” Lance sighed. “The court has decided that, in the interests of all concerned, you should get married.”

            “WHAT?”

            “Let me explain further. It’s a binding ceremony that would bind you to a suitable guardian for a few years, until you reached age fourteen or sixteen or passed the test for independent living… but they feel you should have a ‘home’ base, just not with a family. You’re too old for adoption, really…”

            Ash gulped. “So I have to get married? This makes no sense.”

            “I know.” Lance’s eyes narrowed. “Apparently it’s a very old law from eons ago, but I have no idea why they didn’t find another solution…”

            “Then… er…”

            “I don’t like it either, but until we can figure out a solution, would you like to stay with Karen?”

            “Karen?” Ash grinned. “Can I?”

            “She volunteered.”

            “Yay!”

            “Then it’s settled.” The Champion hid a smile. “We’ll just make the arrangements quickly then, shall we?”

 

End Chapter

Completed 8/31/05

Started 8/29/05

School is hard. There’s a lot of work just trying to stay afloat in class. I vow not to fail!