Chapter 2 "Ash!" Mark burst into Ash's room. The look of concern and worry were unmistakable. Mark did care for Ash but rarely showed his feelings. When Mark saw no immediate danger he relaxed. "Nightmare?" "Yeah," Ash moaned. Mark sat down on Ash's navy blue blankets in his Cherry Canyon bedroom. "Want to talk about it?" Ash shook his head. Mark smiled and ruffled his hair. "Try to get some sleep champ." Mark got up and left Ash alone. "Whatever happened to boy?" Ash said in a whisper. It was true Ash had changed in the three months he had been in Cherry Canyon. A town he had totally forgotten about. **** "Here we are Ash," Mark said as he pulled into the Cherry Canyon town limits. A three year old Ash Ketchum had drank in the scenery ever since leaving Pallet Town. "What's the sign say dad?" Ash asked. Mark smiled at the sight of Ash's nose leaving an imprint on the glass. Ash hadn't moved since the last stop they had made. "It's welcoming you to Cherry Canyon," Mark said in a gentle tone. Ash recognized the title and smiled. "My home? My new home?" Ash asked excited bouncing on the seat. Mark laughed at his son's enthusiasm. The second time Ash saw Cherry Canyon for the first time, he wasn't as enthusiastic. "We're here!" Mark crowed. Ash hadn't moved from his position in the truck ever since they got in the truck. Mark wanted some reaction from Ash. "Where's here?" Ash asked half-heartedly. Mark frowned. It was hard for him to accept that Ash had total amnesia about his life with him in Cherry Canyon. "Cherry Canyon," Mark said a bit hurt. Ash uncurled his legs out from under him and looked out the window. When Ash saw something that stirred forgotten memories, he straightened up. **** "Morning Raina." Ash was nervous about his first trip into town. Mark was almost laughing because of the death grip on his hand. Ash was holding onto Marks hand and he wasn't letting go. "Ohhh! How sweet! Is this your famous little boy I've been hearing so much about?" Raina giggled Ash was in the flower shop getting seeds for the greenhouse. The woman his father called Raina kneeled down to get a better look at Ash. "Sure is. Say hello, Ashura." Ash blushed furiously and fidgeted. "Hello," Ash said shyly. Mark noticed his boy's obvious discomfort and laughed. "Looks like you made a friend. Ash doesn't blush for just anyone." With that, Ash blushed even harder. "Have you met my niece young man? Oh Candy! Can you come here for a moment?" Ash couldn't believe his good fortune! Ash hadn't played with anyone since he left Pallet town. Ash watched with interest as the young girl came from the back. "Yes Auntie R? Oh!" Candy was a girl with pink hair and blue eyes. When she noticed Ash, her eyes lit up like lights. "Hello my name is Candy." Ash let go of his father's hand and walked up to her. "I'm Ash. You know, the only Candy I've ever met have sugar all over them." Mark groaned at his son's humor. However, Candy laughed. "The only Ash I know is in a fireplace. Do you want to see the back?" Ash looked up at his father for approval and Mark nodded. "I don't believe it! There's two of them!" Mark joked as soon as the kids were out of sight. **** "Huh?" Ash gasped. The flower shop in his memory was now a Candy store. Ash could have sworn he had seen a girl with pink hair serving a toddler. "Something wrong?" Mark asked. Ash shook off the memory. Ash looked back at the store and memorized the location. **** Ash couldn't get back to sleep. It bothered him that his father had finally called him champ, not boy. Ash threw off his covers and got up. Ash's room had a few personal items in it. There was a bed in the corner and a closet for his uniforms, work clothes and street ware. The only thing he had from Pallet was his backpack. Ash put on his clothes and grabbed his backpack. "Dad? You awake?" Ash whispered out into the hallway. All he heard was snoring from the bedroom adjacent to his. Ash tiptoed out of the house and into the night. Ash ran like a shadow in the darkness. Human eyes weren't meant to see in the dark but that didn't matter to Ash. 'How long have I been doing this?' Ash asked himself. Ash could see the lay of the land before him in his mind. Ash decided it was the first time he entered the forbidden grove. Cherry's forbidden grove was famous for being on of the most dangerous forests in the world. **** "I wanna go home!" A three and a half year old Ash Ketchum cried. Ash was lost in a place he didn't know. The bully Justin Trump chased him until he was at the very edge of the forest. Ash ducked, or rather dove, into a bush and watched him run by. 'If it wasn't for that stupid bully, I wouldn't be in this mess.' Ash thought. Ash wandered around the forest, trying to find a way out. The day grew long and Ash was still lost. "Dad is going to be so mad!" Ash said aloud. Then Ash heard something behind him. Ash turned around to see a small clearing behind him. When Ash peered through the bushes, he saw something digging up the clearing. "Lar-lar, vi-tar tar," a voice came from a hole. Ash, being a curious child, went over to the hole. When he tried to peer in, he was rewarded with a face full of dirt. "Pah! Yuck!" Ash said suddenly spitting out the dirt. The pokemon making the hole was alarmed someone was up at the entrance. Charging up to challenge the intruder, Larvitar met with a shocking sight. "A pokemon!" Ash giggled in surprise. "LAR?!?" The small pokemon was caught off guard by the young boy's fierce embrace. The wild pokemon had never confronted a human child before. "I have never seen a live pokemon before. Can you help me?" Larvitar didn't know what to do with a human boy so he squirmed. Ash let go suddenly to take a look at the pokemon. "Lar!" The pokemon gulped in fresh air. Ash had never seen a pokemon like this before. "Do you want to play with me?" Ash asked the young pokemon. The Larvitar gave a questioning look and went back into the hole. "Lar-vi-tar." Ash poked his head in the hole and saw that the entrance was small but the inside was big. Larvitar began to dig again and Ash laughed. "That looks like fun. Wait for me!" Ash spent the next few hours digging with his new friend whom he named Digger. **** Ash walked around Cherry Canyon for what seemed like hours. Ash had just finished another doldrums day at the scrap yard. It had been about a week since he moved to the crevasse and wasn't enjoying his newfound homeland. 'I can't believe dad made me get two jobs,' Ash growled in his head. 'And to top it all off, I haven't made one friend since I got here.' "I wonder what happened back there," Ash whispered to himself. Bruce, his boss, had dismissed Ash from the junkyard early today. All Ash had been doing was sorting junk. Ash was halfway down the pile when he heard his boss's voice above him, telling him to knock it off and to go home. What Ash failed to realize was that the junk pile he was halfway down should have lasted him the week, not just a few hours. 'He seemed more angry at Jake and Manny that me.' Ash had just figured it out when someone he knew only as Justin popped around a corner with his two lackeys Mike and Trevor. "This could be trouble," Ash thought when they spotted him. "New Kid," whispered Mike to Trevor. Trevor nodded and laughed, knowing what was about to happen. Ash's memory had been returning at a surprising rate over the last few weeks and began remembering these three jerks the moment he saw Justin. Justin was the one that got Ash into trouble all the time and chased him into the forbidden grove. 'What could these jerks want?' Ash thought when they walked up to him. He then caught flashes his first meeting with the three boys. Justin applied his best grin, the one meant to intimidate people. Ash thought the smile reminded him of the time a pet Meowth ate a Pidgey. Ash inwardly shuddered. "Sooo-you new around here?" asked Justin. Ash decided to play along with Mr. Intimidator and lowered his eyes. "Er-yeah," Ash mumbled. Justin glanced to Mike and Trevor and winked. Ash pretended to be really nervous and it made the three all the more brazen. "New in town, huh? Well then, let's give this guy a tour shall we?" Justin suggested to his companions. "Let's," they said in unison. Ash knew what the routine was: show him a dumpster full of trash from the inside, end of tour. "Not right now. I've got to get back home before my father comes looking for me," Ash said with a slight change in attitude. Mike and Trevor moved in beside Ash and both took a shoulder. "Oh, but we insist," Justin growled. Before they could try and force Ash into the alley, Ash tripped Mike and squirmed away from Trevor. Ash then turned on his heels and ran for dear life. 'What a way to start out,' Ash thought to himself. He ran through the streets at a minimum speed. 'Minimum!' Ash thought to himself when he realized how fast the buildings were whizzing by, or rather he was whizzing by them. Ash was speeding down streets as if the Devil himself was chasing him and what was really strange was that he seemed to know exactly where he was going. Ash ducked into an alley and heard voices behind him. "Where'd he go?" demanded Justin. "Who cares. Rocket propelled runts like that are beneath the garbage initiation anyway," sighed Mike. **** Ash snapped out of another memory sequence and back to the present. Ash was halfway to the tree house. Ash glided down a cliff face in a bucket attached to a pulley system. Ash had fixed up all of his old gadgets so he could get around the forest again. "It's good to remember," Ash sighed. Indeed, it was good to remember that you actually had a brain and used it for something for something good. Ash's memories all came back to him in the first month that Ash was back in Cherry Canyon, and with the memories came tons of knowledge; old friends, achievements, general knowledge and special secrets. 'Hah! If I ever come across Misty or Brock again, they'll never believe it was me,' Ash thought dreamily. Many of his talents, natural and otherwise, had returned. Ash remembered he was musically inclined. Ash broke into a huge grin at the memory of Sheri. **** "Little A!" cried a girl in a while dress and sandals. Sheri was a girl Ash met a few days ago and made and instant friend. Sheri was Ash's total opposite, golden locks of hair, aqua eyes, and rarely smiled. 'I like her smile,' a four-year old Ash thought. Sheri was the daughter of the mayor, Ms Cherrywinkle; that left Sheri with a lot of free time so Ash decided to come over every Tuesday and Thursday. "Little S," was Ash's reply. Sheri laughed and launched herself from the steps and gave Ash a hug. "So what're we doing today?" Ash asked. Sheri's face fell and Ash knew something was wrong. "I can't come out and play. Mommy wants me to take something called piano lessons." Ash thought he knew what a piano was and realized that she might not be able to play with him anymore. Ash had other friends like Gizmo, Ken, Candy, and Robert, but he really wanted to get to know Sheri. Then Ash had a thought strike him. "Can I learn too?" **** Ash began to giggle as he remembered the look on Sheri's face when he asked that question. Sheri had not expected that at all. Ash was in the process of jumping onto a stump that he expected to launch him high into the air so he could grab at the hidden branches above. That's not what happened. "Whoah!" Ash yelped in surprise. Ash's foot went strait through the top of the log. Ash tumbled over the log onto some moss below. Ash silently cursed himself and unhooked the spring from around his leg. "Well this is great," Ash muttered to himself. "What do you expect? It's been years and wood does rot," he chastised himself. "Good thing no one saw that. Ouch! I think my pride is what hurts the most right now." "Draaaa! Draaaa! Tiiinii!" laughed a voice beside him. Ash felt his ears go hot and he turned his head slightly. Blue was almost literally killing itself laughing. "And what do you think you're doing? Spying on me? Or is this your fault?" Ash accused with as much dignity as he could with a spring tangled around his feet. Ash thought it was probably both so he made an effort to grab Blue. "Dra!" Blue squeaked in surprise. Ash caught Blue off guard and began to tickle the unprepared pokemon. "Dra! Dra! Dra!" Blue squirmed away from Ash's grasp. Ash couldn't help but laugh at Blue, when the dragon tumbled into a patch of icy weed in an attempt to flee. 'Kinda like the first time we met,' Ash thought with a grin, 'only last time, I had to help Blue get out.' Ash unraveled the spring and put in his backpack. "Dra!" cam an annoyed voice from behind Ash. Ash turned to see Blue still caught up in the icy weed. Ash stifled his laughter at Blue's obvious frustration and unhooked Blue from the bush. "There you go," Ash said as soon as Blue was free. Blue showed his appreciation by wrapping around Ash's head like a tiara. Ash could breath just fine but… "Do I look like a bus to you?" "Dra, tini." Blue wanted a ride back to the tree house. Ash jumped up when he realized that the Dratini was growling, "Draa." "Something the matter?" Ash asked. Blue stared at the direction Ash had come through and growled again. This time the growl was answered in kind. "Grrrr." It was barely audible but Ash heard it and recognized it. "Silver!" Ash exclaimed in surprise. Ash was astonished to see that his cadet pokemon partner followed him. The Growlith timidly stepped out of the bushes looking ashamed. Blue however looked up at Ash. "Dra-tini-dra?" Ash sighed loudly at the obvious question. "Yes, I know this pokemon. Blue, meet Silvermane of the Growlithe cadet training and my assigned partner. Silver, this is Blue, he's and old friend." Both pokemon seemed to size one another up. "Growlithe?" queried Silvermane. "Dra-tini-dra, dra-tini-tini," responded Blue. Both pokemon seemed to relax. Ash promptly decided to ask Silvermane a question. "And just what do you think you're doing?" Ash asked eying his partner. Silvermane lowered his ears. "You're supposed to be in the kennel. When Officer Jenny finds out about this, we're both toast." "Growwlll," the puppy pokemon replied. Ash shook his head. Officer Jenny prided herself on taking great care of her cadet training pokemon and Silvermane was the best. Jenny always checked the kennel in the evening before going home and first thing in the morning. Ash realized something and began to laugh. "You stayed out all night, didn't you? You jumped the gate, sniffed me out but couldn't find a way into my house." Ash laughed all that much harder. "Th-then you missed me coming out of my house so you've been following my scent." "Growl?" Silvermane asked. Ash waggled a finger in front of his pokemon pal. "How do I know? You look like something the Meowth brought in!" Silvermane was covered in stickle burrs, white ivy dust and –"Uh-Oh!" Ash gasped when he took a closer look at Silvermane's paws, -tainted brent mud. "Dra!" Blue shrieked in alarm. Before Silvermane could get nervous about the comment, Ash picked him up and ran as fast as he could toward the tree house. "Growl?" Tainted brent mud. That's the main reason that Cherry Grove was, is, forbidden. The mud was like a fads acting, and extremely fatal, acid. It could strip the flesh off of a person in seconds if at a high enough concentration. Ash let out a high pitch whistle. "Pheee!" The whistle seemed to echo all around the forest and in response, a large growl could be heard. Ash was still running when a pair of large talons plucked him mid-stride. "To the cavern and hurry!" Ash called out as soon as he was lightly gripped high in the air. Arrow replied in a loud roar to communicate that it had heard Ash. Ash looked down at Silvermane who didn't seem to be feeling too good. 'This is bad,' Ash thought, 'the concentration of acid is high, and that means the acid will act quicker.' Ash cringed involuntarily. Ash remembered that the first time he encountered tainted brent mud, Digger almost died. "Dra?" Blue asked Ash. Ash was snapped out of his thoughts. They were at the cavern. The cavern Ash had found by accident with his Larvitar friend went for miles underground. 'This is no time for a trip down memory lane,' Ash silently scolded himself. Riding now on his friend Arrow's back, Ash was ducking the familiar dips and obstacles of the cavern roof. Silvermane began to squirm. "At last!" Ash cheered in joy. Ash was set down in front of a table. Silvermane was carefully placed on the laboratory table and Ash dashed off to one of the cavern walls. "Blue, was off what you can with Watergun. Be careful not to hurt him, though." "Dra!" The Dratini went from Ash's head to the table in moments. A gentle Watergun washed what it could from the Growlithe's paws. Ash gathered what he needed and ran back to the table. 'We need a certain amount of base to counter the acid. Let's see…' Ash grabbed a solution that only he knew about and went to work calculating what he would need in order to neutralize the effects of the mud. Minutes later… "There you go," Ash soothed. Silvermane was on the road to recovery and was extremely exhausted. Ash had bandaged Silvermane's paws and leaned on a nearby rock of support. "LAR-VI-TAR," called a voice not too far away. Ash smiled and received a great big hug from Digger. "Lar?" Ash pointed to the table and Digger's eyes grew wide. "It was Silvermane," Ash sighed. "He tried to come with me last night. I guess he found more than he bargained for." "Dra-tini-dra-dra," snorted Blue. Digger gave Blue a stare that could melt ice. Blue wasn't even phased. "Dra-tini." "Cut that out you two. Since I have work today, I need you guys to keep and eye on Silver here." Both pokemon rolled their eyes. Ash set Digger down on the ground and picked up Silvermane. "Lar?" Digger followed Ash up through some pokemon made stairs to the surface, and the tree house. "Silvermane should sleep all day. I'm putting him in my hammock. I'll be back around nightfall." "Lar…" Sunlight lit up the tree house from the outside. Junk was strewn out across the planks that made a floor. Shelves were filled with plants, herb and lots of books. In the corner, there were two hammocks. The largest was Ash's and he set the fire pokemon in it. It would take him twenty minutes to get into town and he had things to do. "Gotta run. I'll be back buddy." Ash pat Digger on the head before jumping onto a pulley system of rope and gadgets. Ash was launched out into the darkness of the grove in no time. 'Heh. Gizmo would have a hissy if he saw this place.' Ash remembered the first time he met Gizmo as a kid. Gizmo was always a nerd but he was a smart nerd. Too bad bullies flocked to him like moths to a flame. Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or anything related to pokemon. Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo/Game Freak. This is a pokemon fanfic created by my mind only (however warped it is.).