Chapter 10 "Goodnight Silvermane." Ash had let his pokemon partner out about an hour after the argument. Ash had cooled down a lot by then and was in a better mood. After a few hours of walking and goofing off, Ash went to the Pokemon Center and asked to stay the night. "Growl." Ash had been admitted and was sleeping peacefully in bed. Ash woke up to the sound of an electric crackle. Ash snapped his eyes open to see his alarm clock dead. Someone had cut the power from outside. "Wake up Silvermane," Ash urged. "We've got company." The sleepy pokemon shook himself awake and yawned. Ash got dressed and crept out of his room. 'Security cameras are down. That means whoever is trying to sneak in doesn't want to be seen.' Ash walked as silent as a panther in the night, which surprised Silvermane greatly. Humans weren't supposed to see this well in the dark were they? As Ash neared the recovery room, he heard voices. "Hurry up Butch," Cassidy whispered. "We're late as it is." It was a usual Pokemon Center raid for the two; get in, nab the rare pokemon, get out. "I'm coming," Butch whispered back. Ash recognized the voices, but just barely. Ash tried to remember what the recovery room looked like: no windows, no skylight, and no adjacent rooms. 'They're trapped.' Ash took out his handcuffs and motioned to Silvermane. Cassidy and Butch didn't know what hit them. "Flamethrower!" a voice suddenly yelled. Butch and Cassidy turned around to see a massive fireball exploding towards them. Then all was darkness. As the sun rose again on the Aqua City Pokemon Center, it was a scene of reporters, wailing sirens and a semi-awake Ash. "Is that him?" asked an unknown voice. "Is it true that he's the Cherry Canyon Hero?" asked another. "Did he just apprehend two of Team Rocket's best by himself?" "Is that his pokemon partner?" Reporters swamped Ash the moment he set foot out of the Pokemon Center. Luckily for Ash, the Aqua City Officer Jenny came to his rescue. "Nothing to see here, move along people." Ash was exhausted. Ash had around six hours sleep before Team Rocket broke into the center. Ash had been up for around three hours straight answering questions, apologizing for the mess and doing annoying official duties like paper work. "Thanks, " Ash said with a yawn as he entered the police car. "I don't think I can spare any energy for the news." The Aqua City Officer Jenny smiled. "Just try to get some sleep. I'll drive you to the stadium for the test." Ash was so tired he slept the entire drive there. 'If only all cadets were that close to their pokemon,' Officer Jenny thought as she watched the pair sleep in the back. Ash was stretched out on the back seat with Silvermane nestled on his stomach. Officer Jenny absentmindedly caressed the pokeball that held her own Growlithe partner. "Wake up Ash, we're here." There was a snort and a yawn from the back. Officer Jenny watched Ash sit up and smiled. "What time is it?" Ash asked, eager to get started. Officer Jenny glanced at her watch. "9:30. Just enough time to register and get your seat for the test… What's wrong?" Ash's face scowled all of a sudden. "The reason I was at the Pokemon Center was that I had a fight with my cadet group. I'm not looking forward to sitting next to them during a test," Ash said curtly. Officer Jenny saw his point. "I don't think Cherry Canyon is arriving for the next two hours. If you hurry, you can register and be well on your way to being done before they arrive." 'Things are looking up after all!' Ash registered right away and was sat down for the test. Around an hour and a half later, Ash watched as the Cherry Canyon cadets received their tests. 'Shoot! I was on the last question too.' His fellow cadets noticed Ash immediately. "Ash is here." Boomer whispered to Nick. Nick scanned the row of faces and saw Ash's hat staring down at a paper. Ash was aware of their eyes but decided to ignore them. The Cherry Canyon cadets were shown their individual seats around Ash and were instructed to work. Ash was about to circle the last question on the answer when he was passed a note. 'What do they mean 'Do you work at the junkyard'? They could've waited to ask me this!' Ash scribbled his reply and tossed the paper behind him. Before anyone else could pester him, Ash circled his answer and walked up to the front. "Done already?" asked the supervisor. Ash nodded and set his paper down on the desk, the first of many to come. Ash was a free man for four hours until the first of the tournaments activities. Today would be the test of strength; tomorrow the obstacle course and pokemon battles and the third day would be the ceremonies. 'I think I'll go and make a phone call.' Ash had been planning this ever since he learned that his father couldn't trace calls from another city. Ash found a terminal and dialed up his Pallet Town residence. "Ring, ring…" Ash hung up the phone in frustration. Ash had let it ring for at least five minutes. 'What rotten luck! Mom's not home and forgot to turn on the answering machine.' Ash hesitated before dialing another number in Pallet Town. The person who answered the phone wasn't the one that he expected. "Hell, Oak residence. Gary spe-" Ash stared at the screen. Gary had stopped mid-sentence when he realized who it was. "Well, well. If it isn't loser boy." "I want to talk to Professor Oak. Is he in?" Ash asked, trying not to lose his temper. Gary stuck his nose up in the air. "Now why would you want to talk to my gramps? Only real pokemon trainers should bother his so I'm just going to hang up now." "Gary! Wait" Ash pleaded. Too late. "Click…" Ash sat for a few seconds in shock. 'Why that arrogant, stuffed-up spoiled brat!' Ash slammed down the receiver. Three hours later found Ash in his training gear at his first match at the test of strength. "The first match is between Rico of Vermillion City and Ash Ketchum of Cherry Canyon. Would the contestants please report to the ring." Ash was sitting aside from the Cherry cadets on purpose. "Careful Rico, this guy looks dangerous," warned a fellow Vermillion cadet. Rico thought his friend was right, besides being separate from his fellow cadets; he had anger in his eyes. "I will, don't worry about me." Rico wasn't afraid of being hurt. He would just be cautious. Rico was the best Vermillion City had to offer. Ash walked into the ring calm and cool. The judge came in and went into the middle of the ring. "Go Rico!" Rico smiled and waved at his friends. Rico turned to face his opponent when he realized something. 'Why aren't his cadets cheering him on?' Rico didn't have time to figure out why because the match started. "Come out fighting. Begin!" Rico charged at the sound of the bell and opened with a mighty left punch. Ash didn't move. 'Wha?' Rico thought in surprise. Rico's punch hit nothing but air and Rico went flying out of the ring. 'Where did that come from,' he wondered. "Match goes to Ash Ketchum of Cherry Canyon." The Cherry Canyon cadets were just as surprised as the competition. Ash never moved this fast before in a sparring match, but no one could remember Ash ever losing either. 'I don't believe it!' Officer Jenny thought, startled. 'I've never seen a move like that before. Where did Ash learn to fight like this?' Ash walked out of the ring and sat back down, all eyes following him. 'And that's just the beginning.' Ash could feel everyone's eyes on him but chose to ignore it. Ash smiled to himself. Ash's anger was taken out on all the poor cadets Ash was pitted against. Not one person lasted more than one minute against Ash. Some didn't even get as far as Rico. Soon it was the last match of the day for Ash and he KO'ed the cadet in two moves. "T- that's all for now folks. The winner of this match is Ash Ketchum." There was a huge roar from the crowd as Ash left for the locker area. Normally, there would have been joyful congratulations from the rest of the cadet in Ash's group. None came. Ash walked out alone. 'Tomorrow is another day. I just hope no one bugs me until then.' Ash was too tired to defend any verbal attacks from the rest of the cadets' but none came. When Cherry Canyon headed back to the hotel, they received a surprise as they boarded their bus. "Hey, am I that tired that I'm seeing things or is that Ash?" asked Nick. When the entire squad boarded the bus, they all saw Ash passed out in the front seat. Some smiled, some frowned, and some ignored Ash when they took their seats. Ash was woken up and steered to his bed at the hotel by Nick. "Poor guy needed a break," was all Nick's would say when the cadets asked him about helping Ash. The next morning was miserable weather so the pokemon battle was rescheduled for to go first. Ash and Silvermane whizzed through the competition like a hurricane. Ash's final battle was tougher than most because it was against Nick. "You battle well, Nick." Ash held out his hand to Nick who had picked up his partner Forest Fire. Nick stared at the outstretched hand for a moment before taking it. "You know, I was good, but I never really had a chance did I?" Ash stared at Nick, puzzled for a moment and before Ash could ask what he meant, a bell rang. "Lunch! You hungry Ashura? The guys are getting together and we were wondering if you would join us." Ash bit on his tongue to keep from saying yes. "I'm sorry, but I have to phone someone right now." Ash turned around and started to walk away. "I'll catch up with you later," Ash added over his shoulder. Ash walked through a throng of people to the phones and dialed home in Pallet again to get the same response as last time. 'Not this again!' Ash hung up the phone and sighed heavily. 'This is not my day." Unknown to Ash, he was watched every step of the way. Ash made his way to the cafeteria to find no one there. 'Figures.' Ash sat down alone and ate his lunch in peace. However, some whispers on the other side of the room weren't peaceful. 'Who do you think he was trying to phone?' A harsh whisper growled. 'I checked the booth afterwards and it called up a place called Pallet Town.' An all to familiar voice said. 'Pallet Town? Never heard of it.' Another voice whispered. 'Why would he be calling that place anyway?' Wondered one of the voices. 'Well, at least we weren't caught spying on him. Come on, there's a pizzeria down the street.' Growled the harsh whisper again. 'I wonder where everyone went?' Ash pondered the disappearance of his fellow cadets while eating. Soon, Ash was instructed to go to the course outside for his speed test. Ash and Silvermane ran with twenty other cadets and their pokemon that Ash didn't recognize. Ash had to go all out to leave the crew in his dust. Meaning Ash was a good twenty feet ahead of everyone else. 'I don't believe it!' Officer Jenny of Goldenrod City thought as she examined her stopwatch. Ash Ketchum had broken the record for the last 100 years for the running obstacle course. Ash and his pokemon partner panted in exhaustion after the race. "Think we did it?" Ash asked his pokemon friend. Silvermane didn't say anything but walked over to Ash and recalled himself into the pokeball. 'I thought so too.' Ash didn't bother getting up for a while. 'Well, dad, I did my best. I just hope it was enough.' Ash dragged himself off the ground and wandered over to the bus. "Hey, is that Ash?" Boomer asked in a shocked tone. Nick looked out the window to see a shocking sight. Ash was almost dragging his feet, carrying his bag and jacket haphazardly. Ash looked terrible. "Whoa!" Nick said in a low whistle. "He was a bit tired after the pokemon battles but this is ridiculous!" Ash walked onto the bus and collapsed in the seat. There was a silence that lasted until snoring could be heard. "How do you think he did?" whispered Frank. "Dunno. We'll find our tomorrow I guess," replied Nick. Ash slept the whole way back to the hotel. Officer Jenny had to shake Ash awake so he could get to his room. Ash was barely able of make the long walk to his room. Late that night… "We got a perfect score!" A read head woman had burst through some large doors into a private meeting. The woman's excitement was uncontainable. "We got a perfect score!" "Test scores are done," sighed the Azelia Officer Jenny. "Really, Miriem, every year you claim to have the perfect test score, but every year you miss something," the Lavender City Officer Jenny said in an annoyed tone. Miriem scowled at her fifth cousin. "Check it if you don't believe me." Miriem slammed the paper down on the big conference room table and stormed out of the room. The Officer Jenny of Goldenrod glanced at the paper and let out a startled shriek. "Something the matter?" asked the Officer Jenny of New Bark Town. "Yes!" the Officer Jenny of Goldenrod squeaked. "Do you remember why I was so excited this evening?" "Yeah, you said someone broke the record for the obstacle course," answered Azelia's Officer Jenny. "And his name is on this paper!" All of the Jenny's in the room were suddenly interested. "Let me see that," the Celadon City's Officer Jenny said. When she saw the name, she dropped the paper like it had bit her. "T-that's the name of the boy who won the test of strength." Viridian City's Officer Jenny let out a slow whistle. "He's also the one that won the pokemon battles." The room had gone totally silent. All the other Officers hadn't seen the name yet, so… "What's his name?" asked Aqua City's Officer Jenny. Once the name had been uttered, all the women smiled. "Well then, let's take a look over this paper. We might have to bring out the old trophy tonight." The next morning… "He's trying to make a phone call," three people said at once. Officer Jenny looked in the direction of the phone booths and saw a red hat. "Ashura!" Ash sighed when he heard Officer Jenny call him. Ash still had no luck when calling his Pallet Town residence so he just hung up. "We're leaving." "Sorry ma`m," Ash apologized. And took his place in the group. They were all boarded onto the bus when Officer Jenny saw Ash's concerned face. "Something the matter?" Officer Jenny asked out of nowhere. A startled Ash just shook his head. "Nothing for you to worry about," Ash was secretly worried about his mom. Even if she went away for a few days, she would have turned on the answering machine. Coming off the bus, Cherry Canyon was confronted by a familiar red haired woman. "Excuse me, but is this the Cherry Canyon group?" asked the flaming haired woman. Officer Jenny's reply was edged with suspicion. "You know it is Miriem. What are you doing here?" Miriem glanced past her for a moment to look at the cadets. Ash couldn't help but feel like a toy in a store window. "Which one is Ash Ketchum?" Officer Jenny's eyes went wide in recognition of what was happening and Miriem winked. "Your third cousin on you father's side would like to speak to him about the Pokemon Center incident," she said loud enough for all the cadets to hear. "Ash." Ash walked up beside his cadet leader reluctantly. "Go with Miriem here." "Yes ma`m." Ash followed the woman he now knew as Mireim. Ash was led into a huge conference room where a lot of Officer Jenny's were seated. 'Brock would have gone nuts if he had seen this," Ash thought with a grin. There were wide eyes all around the room once the hat was recognized. "Where are Brock and Misty?" asked Officer Jenny of Celadon City. Ash lowered his eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it," Ash muttered, looking at his feet. All the Officers in the room were silent. "We have something for you Ash." Ash returned his eyes to the women at the table. They all were smiling and looking rather pleased. "What's this about?" Ash asked, very uncertain. All the women got up from the table and left by a side door. The only people remaining were Ash and the Aqua City's Officer Jenny. Officer Jenny walked over to a glass case to Ash's right, containing many trophies. "Your know Ash, not many people can go through cadet training." Ash walked up beside her. "There are few people who can even complete the entire course, let alone get a good grade. They either are too brainy or too brawny to pass the other part of the course. It is rare to have your abilities." "What are you getting at?" Ash asked nervously. Officer Jenny took a key out of her pocket and opened the trophy case. Ash was amazed when she grabbed the biggest trophy there and handed it to Ash. "You're the first to ever receive this trophy, Ash. It's the all around cadet winner trophy. You took the top in every event." The ceremonies were long and boring. Ash was put on a pedistle in front of the cadets and stadium. 'This is so boring.' Ash's feet were killing him. The Officers were all taking their turns speaking. Ash was searching the crowd for anyone he knew. Then Ash looked at the parent section he became very hurt. The Cherry Canyon section had two seats empty where his parents were supposed to be. Ash's father wasn't there. "For a guy who just won the entire tournament, he doesn't look too happy," Boomer whispered to Nick. Nick looked back at Ash and it was true. Ash looked more depressed than anyone he had ever seen. "I see what you mean," Nick whispered back to Boomer. Ash was furious. Ash was furious and sad and happy and…eergh. Ash didn't know what he was feeling. 'I'm angry that dad didn't show up. I'm happy I won the tournament. I'm sad that I don't have anyone to share my accomplishment with.' Ash found himself on the driveway of his home in Cherry Canyon three hours later, no less confused. "What do I say to him?" Ash said in a sigh. "If I get angry, he might go back on his word about my pokemon. If I don't, he might do it again." Ash walked on and then suddenly stopped in front of his house. 'Well, here goes nothing.' Disclaimer: Yada yada yada... So, Ash won the tournament but why wasn't Mark there? Find out next chapter (insert evil maniac laughter here). Believe me, it's something you don't want to miss! (huge grin)