Chapter 14

To answer a review, Ash doesn't remember the segment Mark is telling Brock 
and Misty in this segment.

Back in Cherry Canyon…

“I don’t know,” Mark said with a helpless sigh. “I haven’t had a fight with 
Ash since he was little. You have a better guess of what he’s doing than I 
do.” Misty shot Mark a look. You know, THE LOOK.

“In all the arguments I’ve had with Ash, he’s never run off or looked that 
angry,” Misty snapped.

“I think Pikachu saved out hides,” Brock said to no one in particular. 
“Ash’s heart just melts around any pokemon. If Pikachu didn’t show up just 
then, Ash would’ve chewed us up and spit us out.”

“I know. He looked angry enough to spit nails,” Misty added. Delilah had 
gone to sleep fifteen minuets ago and Brock, Misty and Mark had stayed awake 
to discuss the situation.

“He could you know,” Mark said with a snicker. Brock and Misty looked at him 
with confusion. “If Ash ever reverts to his old self, he could,” Mark 
insisted. Misty and Brock began to laugh.

“Yeah, right,” Misty giggled. “Mr. I-would-sleep-my-life-away-if-I-could 
Ketchum?” Mark sighed and arose from his seat.

“I said if he ever reverted back into his old self. Despite the Ash you 
think you know, he’s actually a well educated boy.” Misty and Brock laughed 
anew. Mark scowled.

“Now that is funny,” Brock roared. “When he started out training pokemon, 
all he was skilled at was eating and sleeping.” Mark finally let his pride 
get the best of him. Mark walked up to the laughing pair.

“Come with me,” Mark sneered. Mark led the still snickering pair upstairs. 
When they stopped in front of a wall, Misty and Brock got curious.

“Why did we stop here?” Misty asked in a whisper. Mark grabbed a chain from 
around his neck, which contained a key. Misty and Brock were shocked when 
Mark reached out and removed a fake light switch to reveal a keyhole. Mark 
put in the key and the wall moved in and rolled out of the way. Mark turned 
around to the most shocked faces he had seen on Misty and Brock.

“Ash has read every book in this library,” Mark said proudly. “And those 
trophies on the shelves are his. You wouldn’t have even met Ash if he didn’t 
have amnesia. You would have seen him on T.V. instead.”

“Whoa! Wait a sec. Are you telling us that Ash had amnesia?” Brock croaked. 
Mark turned a confused pair of eyes towards the pair.

“You mean you’ve been harping at me all this time without knowing the whole 
story”

“It depends on whose story you’re talking about,” Misty shot out. Mark 
sighed and began his story. He told them of Ash’s training and hard work 
over the last three months and how it closely mirrored his early childhood. 
When morning came, Misty and Brock had a new, healthy respect for Ash and a 
lot more sympathy for what he had gone through. When Delilah came down in 
the morning, Brock was cooking in the kitchen alone.

“Ash hasn’t come back yet,” Brock mumbled. Delilah took note of Brock’s 
tone, stance and his inability to make eye contact. She took a seat at the 
kitchen table, somehow knowing that Mark had told Misty and Brock about 
their friend.

“Brock? I want to share something about Ash with you.” Brock, unsure if he 
wanted to hear this, sat opposite Delilah.

“OK.” Brock gazed into the hurting eyes of Ash’s mother and couldn’t help 
but feel sorry for Ash once more.

“Ash was a happy little boy, he always did what his momma told him. We were 
perfectly happy for three sweet years, then everything changed with Mark.” 
Brock leaned closer to hear easier.

“Yeah, go on,” Brock urged.

“Mark is Ash’s father, what I didn’t know was that he really wanted a boy 
When Mark found out about Ash, he demanded visiting rights.”

“You never told Mark that you had his son?” Brock asked, unbelieving. 
Delilah looked away, ashamed.

“Yes. I did it to protect Ash. You still don’t know everything about Mark so 
listen. When Mark found out that he could take Ash for six months of the 
year, he did. Mark would milk as much time with Ash as he could.”

‘That surprises me,’ Brock thought. ‘Mark doesn’t seem the loving father 
type.’

“Every time Ash came home, he was a different boy. When he was five, Ash had 
developed his own stubborn attitude towards me. The next year, he wanted to 
be independent and refused to let me help him with anything. When he turned 
seven, he became a real wanderer. I hat to constantly keep an eye on him. 
That was the year that Mark got permanent custody of Ash.”

“He couldn’t have had permanent custody!” Brock exclaimed. “Ash was with you 
when he started his pokemon journey.” Delilah’s face turned serious.

“Ash was seven when it happened…

***

Crash! Ash was in the kitchen when he heard a commotion in the den. Ash 
raced to the den to find five lumbering rocket members and his father 
unconscious.

“Father!” Ash’s face was plastered with a look of horror. When the rockets 
noticed Ash, they all froze.

“No one said anything about a kid!” growled one of the members in black.

“Who cares? Catch him. We’ll take care of Mark.” The only two members in 
white collected his father as three members in black moved towards Ash.

“`Cmere kid.” Ash turned around and ran. There were curses and the crashing 
of bodies after Ash. He ran out the front door to find two more rockets in 
black at his doorstep.

“What?” One of them noticed the boy. Ash let out a yelp as the rockets 
behind caught up with him. Ash dodged the hands and squirmed under the deck.

“Daddy!” Ash finally caught himself. Ash had been too scared to thing 
clearly. When Ash finally found his wits, he realized that he was trapped 
for the moment, but safe.

“Come on out kid, we won’t hurt ya,” said a male voice. The voice wasn’t too 
convincing. A loud high pitch whistle blasted from under the deck that made 
the rockets cover their ears.

“Come out right now kid! You’re in really big trouble now,” snarled the 
voice.

“Like I didn’t know that already,” muttered Ash. Ash gasped when he heard 
something that he had only seen on T.V. or at the lab; a pokeball opened.

“We warned you! Sandshrew, go! There’s a kid underneath the deck, drag him 
out.” Ash had just enough room underneath the deck to sit up. When the 
pokemon had dug a hole under the deck, Ash was ready.

“Shrew!” The pokemon leapt straight at Ash. Ash simply round housed the 
pokemon mid air and sent it flying. Ash was surprised at how far the pokemon 
flew. There was a crash as the pokemon smashed into the side of the house.

“Go away!” Ash growled. The Sandshrew, seeing figurative stars, looked at 
the boy it was trying to catch.

“Shrew!” the rock pokemon growled, very annoyed. Ash simply got back in his 
defensive position.

“Serves you right. Attacking a kid like that! Where’s you conscience?” Ash 
said. The Sand shrew dusted itself off.

“Sand-shrew.” The Sandshrew growled back. Ash gave the pokemon a puzzled 
look as it advanced.

“You don’t have one? Nonsense. Everyone has a conscience. You know, it’s the 
little voice that tells you right from wrong.” The Sandshrew stopped 
advancing. “Yes, I can understand you. I have and affinity for most 
pokemon.”

“What’s going on down there?” snarled the trainer. The Sandshrew cringed and 
shivered.

“You don’t have to listen to him. You can stay with my friends and me. We 
would love to have you.” Ash pleaded with the pokemon. Sandshrew came closer 
and saw Ash’s sincere face and puppy dog eyes.

“Shrew!” Ash hugged the rock pokemon tightly and smiled.

“Welcome to the group. I’m Ash, what do I call you?” The pokemon didn’t have 
time to reply as the floorboards above were suddenly ripped from above. 
Rough hands grabbed Ash and pulled him up.

“Gotcha!” said a rocket. That opinion was changed when Ash stomped on his 
foot and bit his hand. “The rocked began to yell in pain. After that, the 
battle raged between Ash and Sandshrew versus the five rocket members. It 
was going well for Ash and Sandshrew. Sandshrew turned on it’s trainer as 
Ash was taking out three of the male members with the same shot, he was 
seven after all and of a perfect height… The last rocket was getting most 
angry.

“That does it!” the last grunt rocket pulled out a gun and aimed it at Ash. 
One rule Mark was always talking about ran through Ash’s mind; you can’t 
outrun a bullet. “No lose ends.”

“Flamethrower!” A voice cut in. The rocket was caught off guard and time 
seemed to slow. The flamethrower hit the rocket, the gun fired and Ash was 
in the way.

“Shrew!” the rock pokemon collapsed in front of Ash. A loud scream echoed 
throughout the area as Ash dropped to his knees and cradled the dead pokemon 
on his lap. Officer Jenny was of comfort to Ash.

***

“Ash came home in a traumatized state. It took me a week to get him to 
respond to me. After a year of therapy, Ash seemed to return to normal. He 
forgot all about that episode though. I kept him that way to spare him 
anymore pain,” Delilah finally concluded.

“That’s terrible!” The pair at the table turned to see a teary eyed Misty. 
“That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.” Brock walked over to Misty and 
gave her a hug.

“I know Mist, I know…” Brock let her cry on his shoulder for about three 
minutes before taking control of the situation. “I think it’s time we gave 
Ash some pleasant memories.”

Tree house…

Pikachu silently watched his trained, no his best friend, as he simply 
stared up at the clouds. Ash had woken an hour ago and watched the clouds 
through a skylight. Pikachu was getting more worried by the minute.

“Pikapi?” Pikachu asked, breaking the silence. Ash spoke for the first time 
that morning.

“What am I going to do Pikachu? I just told off everyone that I love in this 
world. I don’t know what came over me. I was just so frustrated.”

“Pika-chu-pi-pikachu,” Pikachu offered. Ash sighed. Pikachu was right; he 
could try apologizing. There was just one thing wrong with an apology.

“Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong. There were the ones 
arguing,” he spat out. Pikachu gave him a thundershock. “Whaa!” Ash dropped 
to the floor, extra crispy.

“Pika-chu-pika!” Ash moaned as he picked himself up and dusted himself off.

“Alright!  I’ll go home and day I’m sorry. Just don’t expect anything too 
sorrowful. I’m still angry with the lot of them.” Ash growled the end of 
that sentence. Ash got his things together and left the tree house early, 
again not noticing a heavy bag. A little while later, Ash was on the steps 
of his house, looking for any signs of life.

‘That’s odd, where is everyone?’ Ash reached out and grabbed the doorknob, 
it was almost like signaling for a fight to start.

“I’m not going!” Mark roared. “I have serious work to do!” Ash walked 
through the door into two arguing parents. They both stopped when Ash walked 
through the door.

“Good! Now we can leave. Misty, bring the basket! Ash is here.” Mark was 
shoved a bundle as Brock entered the room. Mark sighed and shook his head.

“Yo! Ash, ready to have some fun?” When Ash noticed that Brock was wearing 
his blue swim trunks, he paled.

“What’s going on here?” Ash asked in a squeak. Misty walked into the room in 
candles and a purple two-piece bathing suit.

“What does it look like? We’re all going down to the beach and taking the 
day off. Come on, or we’ll be late meeting up with your friends,” Misty said 
cheerfully.

“What?” Ash barked involuntarily. Brock tossed Ash a pair of green trunks 
and Ash tossed them back. “There is no way I am going swimming in this 
town!” Mark grabbed the trunks from Brock and handed them to Ash.

“If I have to suffer, so do you. Put them on!” After a lot of complaining, 
Ash was changed and being led out the door by the ear.

“Cut it out,” Ash whined to Misty. She had the lunch basket in one hand and 
Ash’s ear in the other.

“I wouldn’t have to do this if you just behaved yourself,” giggled Misty, 
completely enjoying herself.

“I’m behaving, I’m behaving! Leggo!” Ash whined again. Misty gave an 
exasperated look and released him.

“You know, you’re supposed to do that to Brock, not me,” Ash grumbled.

“Cheer up sweetie! You’re going to see your friends!” Mrs. Ketchum chimed 
in. Ash thought of something.

“Who did you invite?” Ash asked, slightly edgy. Brock, Misty and Delilah 
smiled.

“We phoned the girl at the sweet shop and she invited the people,” Brock 
said in a happy voice. “I wonder if she has and older friends?” That made 
Ash and Mark pale.

“Something the matter?” Misty asked, seeing Ash’s face. Ash lowered his hat 
over his face and moaned into it. Mark answered Misty with a question.

“How much food did we bring? I can guarantee it won’t be enough.” The place 
they were supposed to meet was right in front of the sweet shop. When Ash 
saw Candy and only Candy, he was relieved.

“Hi Candy!” Ash called. Candy’s head snapped up when she heard Ash’s voice. 
Candy spotted the group and smiled. Candy picked up her bag and ran towards 
Ash.

“Little A!” Ash was nearly flattened by an over excited Candy store clerk.

“Pika!” Pikachu jumped onto Mark just before Ash fell over.

“Hi Candy.” Everyone else greeted one another. Misty looked pretty miffed to 
Pikachu, but didn’t do anything. Candy was sprawled on Ash’s chest and Ash 
had spirals for eyes.

“What hit me?” Ash muttered. Candy got off of Ash and greeted Mark.

“Hello Mr. Ketchum, nice t see you again,” Candy said, sickeningly sweet. 
Pikachu then realized whose shoulder he was on. Pikachu put on a nervous 
smile and paw behind his neck.

“Pi-pi-pi-pika!” Pikachu said just as nervous. Candy then spotted the 
pokemon and squealed.

“Oh! Whatacutepikachu,canIholdit?” Before anyone could reply, Pikachu was 
swooped from Mark’s shoulder and being squeezed. Pikachu then suddenly 
whisked he was back on Mark’s shoulder….almost.

‘Same old Candy,’ Ash sighed. Ash dusted himself up from the ground. Ash 
felt so sorry for Pikachu as Candy squished the poor pokemon. If Ash and 
Mark’s hunch had been right, that would have been just the beginning.

“Oh A, your Pikachu is so sweet. Everyone’s going to love him.” Ash caught a 
very important part of that sentence.

“Who is everyone? I don’t see anyone else here,” Ash said, confused. Candy 
smiled and held Pikachu like Misty usually held Togepi. Pikachu tried to 
squirm out of her arms.

“Everyone already went ahead. It was such a perfect day that no one could 
wait to get down to the beach,” Candy said, in her own sweet way. “We should 
get going, follow me!” Candy began to skip down the street.

“Why do I have this feeling of impending doom?” Ash muttered to himself. Ash 
trailed behind the group as they headed towards Cherry Canyon’s beach. Along 
the way, Brock noticed Ash’s down turned hat and he frowned.

‘Something’s up.’ Brock slowed his pace and motioned for Misty to do the 
same. Ash’s eyes stayed on the road ahead of him until he noticed two other 
pairs of feet matching his. Ash looked up to see Brock and Misty on either 
side of him.

“Something wrong Ash?” Brock asked. “You haven’t said one word since we let 
the shop.” Ash blinked in surprise. He didn’t realize that he was moping.

“Uhh, nothing. It’s just I wasn’t expecting this today. That’s all!” Misty 
gave Ash the picnic basket in the stomach.

“You’re a bad liar, Ketchum! Fine, if you don’t want to tell us now, you can 
tell us later.” Ash gaped openly at Misty’s veiled accusation. Before Ash 
could react, there was a squeal ahead of them.

“He’s here!” Ash and company turned their attention to the person who 
squealed. Ash recognized the little girl as the one he had saved, err…found 
in the Forbidden Grove: little Mary.

“Hi kiddo!” Ash said with a grin. Mary jumped up and charged at Ash. Ash 
gave Brock the basket just before he was crawled all over by Mary.

“Hi Mary,” Candy greeted. Candy was firmly attached to Ash now. “Did you 
know that Ash had a Pikachu? He’s such a darling pokemon.” Mary, who was 
still hugging Ash, was instantly interested in the pokemon.

“Really? Can I hold him Ash? Pleeease?” Ash gave Candy a glance and saw 
Pikachu nodding his head wildly.

“Sure! Candy, would you mind?” Candy didn’t have time to respond because 
Pikachu was already squirming.

“Pika!” Pikachu jumped down from Candy only to be picked up by Mary. Mary 
was a little small, so she picked Pikachu up like a teddy bear.

“Come on! Everyone’s waiting for us.” Mary set down Pikachu and grabbed 
Ash’s hand. Ash couldn’t believe the energy Mary had. Mary was usually a 
sickly child.

“Where are we going?” Ash asked laughingly. Ash was led up the grassy bank 
overlooking the beach. They could here voice. Many voices. Ash froze once he 
was in sight. Mary was annoyed when Ash stopped walking.

‘Half the town must be here,’ Ash thought, completely shocked.  Ash had 
never seen a turnout like this before. When Ash had come over the rise, 
there was a quickening in the crowd.

“Just thought you would want people you know instead of a bunch of 
strangers,” Candy said as she neared Ash. Still stunned, Ash didn’t comment.

“Wow Ash! You know all these people?” Misty asked as soon as she caught up, 
having heard Candy’s statement. Ash came out of his daze at the sound of 
Misty’s voice. Ash felt himself go red in embarrassment.

“Sorta,” Ash mumbled. Ash recognized most of the people he saw. Ash was 
surprised to see most of the cadets present, there were various members of 
the community such as the head librarian Jean Clerk, and business managers 
like Tina Crunch, someone he had helped as a child. Ash saw people he worked 
with like Jack and the high societies, but what interested him the most was 
his group. Ken spotted Ash and had a wicked idea.

“Hey Ash!” Ken got everyone’s attention by yelling his name. “Come on the 
party’s just starting.” Robert and Ken walked up the bluff to collect Ash. 
Brock and Misty had the same idea however and got there first.

“Come on Ash.” Misty grabbed Ash’s free arm and Brock pushed on his 
shoulders.

“Hey! Quit shoving!” Ash said annoyed. Ash was dragged into the throng of 
people; slightly angry he was being pushed around. The people watching Ash 
and Pikachu lost them in the crowd.

“Drat!” Jessie growled, lowering the binoculars. “I can’t find the twerps in 
that crowd.” Meowth and James were putting the finishing touches on their 
net.

“Well you had better find them,” James growled. James tied another knot in 
the net.

“Or da boss will fire us for good!” Meowth growled. The entire group 
shuddered at the memory. The boss had contacted them in the very early hours 
of the morning. After the initial shock of being called by the boss, they 
were interrogated about…

“Ash?” Meowth echoed in disbelief.

“Why do you want to know about the twerp sir?” Jessie asked. Giovonni’s 
demeanor changed from annoyed to laughter. Giovonni gave a slight chuckle 
and shook his head.

“You’ll find out soon enough. I want you to give a full report about Ash to 
the retrievers. They’re already on their way to Cherry Canyon. You will meet 
them within the half hour at this point.” A map blipped on the screen.

“Th-th-th-THE RETRIEVERS?” James whimpered. Jessie and Meowth looked at 
James, confused.

“You will give them you full co-operation. Over and out!” Giovonni barked 
before hanging up the phone. The trio jumped and sweat dropped.

“What do yous two tink dat was all about?” Meowth asked in his heavy accent. 
James was quieter than normal on the way to the rendezvous point.

“So, do you know anything about these retrievers James?” Jessie asked off 
hand. James’ jaw dropped.

“You mean you haven’t heard about the retrieves?” James squeaked.

“Meowth has never heard of them either.” James gawked at his two partners in 
shock. They reached the meeting place and James began his story.

“I’ve heard about these guys ever since I was young. They’re the most feared 
team rocket duos in high society. They come to steal your valuables and your 
children.”

The screen fades out to two silhouettes in a posh setting. A well-dressed 
man and woman are huddled together on the floor with a small child.

“You’ve got what you came for, now leave!” The gentleman sputtered, 
appearing far braver than he felt. The black silhouette with blatantly spiky 
hair and cruel smile turned.

“Not quiet, old man,” said the cruel smile. The other black silhouette was 
unmistakably a woman and she turned towards the family.

“Come with me little one,” the woman said in an overly sweet voice. The 
mother screamed and held onto her boy harder. There was a click as a 
revolver was pointed towards her head.

“He’s insurance. You’ll get him back once we’re gone,” the first silhouette 
growled. The mother let go of her son for one second in shock. The young boy 
was grabbed by the female silhouette and vanished into her bag. That was the 
last the ever saw of her son.

“That’s what I’ve heard about them,” James finished, the world fading back 
in. Jessie and Meowth were wide-eyed and open mouthed.

“Why would da boss be pairing us up wit` dem?” Meowth gasped. There was a 
sound that the trio had rarely heard before. They all looked up to see a 
real helicopter landing. A pair jumped out and an unfamiliar motto was 
heard.

The motto will show up later.

Disclaimer. Blah blah blah