Chapter4 "See you tomorrow Bruce," Ash called out over his shoulder. Ash had a few days work before the project had to be completed. It was pretty much done already, but there were just a few additions that Ash wanted to make. Just for Team Rocket. 'They try anything here!' Ash let the thought hang in his mind. Ash secretly enjoyed getting the chance to make Team Rocket blast off again. "Hey!" Ash heard a voice calling him from behind. Ash didn't worry too much because of what happened this morning with Officer Jenny and the terrible trio. "Someone call me?" Ash asked turning around, expecting to see Justin and the rest of the pests. To Ash's surprise, it was Ken. Ken had a big grin on his face as he held something to Ash. Ash recognized his trademark card as Little A: a dart with a thunderbolt down each side. "I could always recognize you no matter how you tried to hide yourself," Ken said simply. Ash felt a tear fall down his cheek. "You're the only one that remembers," Ash said, trying not to cry. Ken leapt forward and grabbed Ash in a fierce hug. The street was deserted so Ash let his tears out. After a couple of seconds Ash realized that Ken was crying too! "You stubborn mule! Why didn't you say anything?" Ken asked once they had separated. Ash looked around and grabbed Ken's hand. "Not here. Let's go on a walkabout." Ash dragged Ken to the edge of the town and sat down. "You seem quieter than normal. I something wrong?" Ash sighed and put an arm on his neck. Ken watched Ash struggle to find the words to tell him what had happened to him. "Don't think. Just start from what you did once you got back." "That's the problem. It doesn't start from when I got back. Do you remember why I left?" Ash asked Ken. Ken nodded. "I've stayed with my mother in Pallet Town since then. More or less, anyway." "What?!" gasped Ken. Ken always assumed that Ash had gone to stay with family, but his mother? "Just listen. When I was ten, she let me go on a pokemon journey." Ken's eyes got as big as dish plates. "She did what!?" Ken nearly yelled. "Your father…" "Wasn't around to stop her," Ash interrupted. "I started out terribly but rose to the challenge. I was still on my journey when father returned." "Right!" Ken said, a bit skeptical. "So what happened?" Ash's eyes shaded a bit. "He made me leave my pokemon with my mother and I came back. Boy, was he ever angry with me. I'm working in the junkyard and becoming a cadet as well." Ken fell over at this news. "Wha-what? Where do you have any time for yourself? Sheri's going to blow a gasket when she finds out that you can't return to piano lessons!" "That's not the half of it. Dad is giving me the lessons again." Ken went quiet and serious in less than a nano second. Ken had heard from Ash what these lessons were and what they entailed. Ken could remember the horror stories that Ash had told him as a kid concerning Mark's lessons. "No wonder you haven't been saying anything. Are you alright?" Ash adverted his eyes for a moment. "Ash?" "Fine. If you must know, no! I'm not alright! I'm stressed, I'm tired and I'm lonesome!" Ash yelled. In the whole time Ash had been in Cherry Canyon, he never admitted it to himself. "Whoah! Chill out!" Ken said as soon as Ash was finished. As just realized what he said and blushed. "I-I'm sorry," Ash muttered. To Ash's surprise, Ken shrugged it off. "Not a prob! I can see why you're stressed. I would be too in your situation. Two jobs? Small wonder you're not collapsed on the ground with fatigue. As for the lonesome part.." Ash could all ready see the wheels turning in Ken's head. "I don't have time for a girlfriend!" Ash growled good-naturedly. Ken put on a smile that reminded Ash of a car salesman. "Riiigght. You just got promoted to second, right?" Ash nodded. "You have the best marks in your cadet class, correct?" "How'd you know about that?" Ash asked surprised. Ken just rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease! Everything you go out for, you totally dominate in." "Am I that predictable?" Ash sputtered. Ken laughed hard. "Th-that's the only thing that is predictable about you. That and that you're unpredictable." Ash was not amused. "So why don't we go to Candy's and announce that Little A is back in town?" Ash sighed deeply. "Can't. Dad's put me on a short leash. I have a curfew. Besides, I don't want anyone to know I'm Little A just yet." Ash received a look of disbelief from Ken. "Why not? It would make your life so much easier. Not to mention make you Mr. Popular with the ladies around here." Ash gave Ken a death glare. "Enough with the dating junk!" Ash nearly shouted. Ken gave Ash his best winning smile. "I'm just teasing. Look, I'll keep it secret for now, but you have to promise me something." Ash looked up to see Ken moving toward him. "What?" Ash asked suspiciously. Ken stopped when he was just towering over Ash's sitting position. Before Ash could react, Ken put him in a headlock and was rubbing his hair fast and furious. "That you won't be a stranger." Ash was struggling against Ken and was feeling a bit better. "Say it!" "Alright! I won't be a stranger." Ken let Ash out from under his arm. Ken watched Ash walk out of sight and smiled. "That's a promise, Ashura, so don't you forget it!" "Acck!" Ash squawked when he realized that he wasn't going to make curfew. "Oh, great! Dad won't like this. I've been way too late lately." Ash sighed. "I'm so late already that I may as well go see Silver. Wait a minute! Officer Jenny didn't notice that he was missing today." Ash stopped running for a second. "That's odd," Ash mumbled to himself. "What would Officer Jenny be doing that she wouldn't have time to check up on her pokemon?" Then is hit Ash. "The tournament!" Officer Jenny was so busy with the arrangements for next week that she forgot. "Lucky for me and Silver." Ash whistled a tune on his way to the tree house, no longer in a hurry. This was Ash's favorite thing to do: whistle as loud and clear as he could where no one could hear him. "Whoops!" Ash said suddenly, remembering about the broken gadget he found earlier that day. It was on route so he fixed it on the way. Ash neared the tree house finally and heard a great commotion. "Raugh!" came a Gyarados' s growl. Ash sped into a nice fast run. "Please don't let it be concerned with Silver," Ash silently prayed. Sure enough, when Ash entered the clearing Silvermane was in the middle of it. "What's going on here?" demanded Ash. Magic, Arrow, Digger, and Blue were arguing with each other. Arrow, Ash's Areodactyle friend, was pinning Silvermane to the ground. When Ash's voice interrupted them, everyone grew silent. "Growl!" Silvermane shouted. Arrow released the fire pokemon reluctantly and Silvermane bolted for Ash. Ash was nearly knocked over by the pokemon's tackle. "Anyone care to explain?" Ash asked in neutral tones. When no one answered he sighed. "Both sides must be at fault for this fight. Oh well, the good must balance the bad." Ash walked into the group and sat down. "Come here guys." Digger jumped from his perch on a rock and sat next to Ash. Blue took the other side while Arrow took Ash's back. Magic, a very sheepish looking Gyarados, put his head on Ash's feet. Silver sat on Ash's lap, making Digger jealous. "Lar-vitar-lar-tar?" asked Digger. Ash decided it was time to tell the pokemon the truth. "I've been keeping a secret from you all," Ash began quietly. The pokemon exchanged glances. "Gyarr?" Magic asked. Ash understood Magic's worried look rather than the noise it made. Ash knew that this was going to be a shock to his pokemon. "When I disappeared when I was eight, there was a reason. You know that my father was kidnapped, right?" All the pokemon nodded. 'They know? Good, then I won't have to explain,' Ash thought before continuing. "Then you also know that my mother came and tool me to Pallet." The pokemon nodded again. Ash began to get nervous. 'This is the hard part.' Ash took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "What you don't know is that I was so down and depressed about it that my mother did her best to help me forget. I'm sorry to say that it worked. I forgot all about my life here in Cherry Canyon and become happy again." "Lar!?!" No other pokemon spoke for several moments. "It's called selective amnesia. I chose to forget, but that didn't last forever. When I was ten she sent me on a pokemon journey to keep me occupied. I was still on it when my father escaped and came home." "Dra-tini-dra-ti-ni-dra?" Ash smiled at the question. "Yes I was taken home." Ash chuckled at the memories. "I remembered everything I had forgotten within two weeks." Ash felt a trickle of water fall down his cheeks. "And that's what hurts." "Rauggh" Ash looked up to met Magic's fierce mug. Magic had tears in his eyes too. Silvermane, still parked on Ash's lap, jumped up and licked Ash's tears away. Ash looked to see that all his pokemon were crying. "I'm sorry," Ash said horrified. "I didn't mean to upset all of you. I'm-mphf?" Ash was cut off by a dragon pokemon wrapping its body around Ash's mouth. Blue shook his head at Ash and then released Ash's mouth. "Lar-vitar!" Ash was suddenly in the middle of big group hug. "You guys are the best!" Ash sobbed. Then a clap of thunder interrupted the touching moment. Ash looked up to see a storm brewing. 'Great. Now I have an excuse not to go home tonight. I'll blame it on the weather.' Ash smiled. This meant he could spend the night with his friends. "Inside! Quick!" Later Ash was in his designated hammock with his pokemon around him. Silver hat to bunk with Ash, Digger and Blue shared the other hammock, Magic slept beneath Ash on the floor while Arrow took the branches above. Ash fell asleep listening to the splatter of rain and the cooing of his pals. **** "Daddy! I got a bite!" a four-year old Ash giggled. Mark let out a sigh and walked over to Ash's perch beside the canyon river. "What do you have there boy?" Mark asked as he made his way over to his son. Ash was bouncing up and down with excitement. "He probably caught bottom again," Mark thought. When he neared Ash he gasped. As really did have something on his line! "Don't let go, guy!" Mark ran up to Ash. Before he could get there though, the young boy gave a mighty jerk on the line and something came up. "Carp-carp!" Mark was speechless. There was a pokemon at Ash's feet. "I GOT IT! I GOT IT!" Ash cried in excitement. Then Ash realized something. "Umm...Dad? What did I get?" Ash asked. Mark found his voice. "You caught a Magicarp," Mark said. "Yahh! I caught a Magicarp! Uuh..Dad? Now what do I do?" Ash asked staring down at the pokemon flopping on the ground. "Now we release it," Mark said with a splutter. Ash gave his father a confused look. "Why would we let it go if I worked so hard to catch it?" Mark gathered up the pokemon and sat Ash down. "It's time I told you about pokemon." Ash's eyes lit up at the mention of the popular animals. "You see pokemon are living breathing things like you and me. People catch them with pokeballs and train them." "They are called pokemon trainers!" Ash interrupted. Mark was a little surprised at what the boy knew about the topic. Ash blabbed on about pokemon for a few minutes. "…And they use pokemon to battle each other." "And that's why you're not becoming one," Mark stated. Ash stopped dead in his tracks. "Why not?" Ash whimpered. Mark sighed. This was going to be a long talk. "Ash, do you like to see people get hurt?" Ash's response was automatic. "No!" "That means that you don't like people hurting other people, right?" Ash nodded. "You see, when a person becomes a pokemon trainer they become friends with their pokemon. When that happens you force your friends to fight." Ash knew where his father was going. "And if my friends fight, they might get hurt," Ash finished for him. Mark was amazed at Ash's intelligence level. "That's right and that's why we have to release this Magicarp." Ash stopped Mark. "But why? I won't force him to fight. He can be my friend without having to battle." Mark thought for a moment. "Ash, do you like this pokemon?" Mark asked. Ash nodded. "When someone we like can't stay with us, you have to let them go. They wouldn't be happy if they were forced to stay. Do you want to see this pokemon sad?" "No," Ash responded sadly. Mark set the pokemon back in the water and let it go. Ash watched the pokemon leave. 'When I become a trainer, I won't let my pokemon get hurt or force them to battle. Then I can show the world that forcing pokemon to battle is wrong. Pokemon should only fight when they want to,' Ash thought to himself. Ash saw a sparkle of water as Magicarp jumped out of the water. Ash then was struck with another thought. "Daddy? Is that why you and mommy aren't together? Mommy couldn't stay with you so you let her go?" Taken aback by Ash's question, Mark managed a swift reply. "Something like that. Come on, time for your cooking lessons." Ash bounded back to the truck with his rod. 'Something like that,' Mark thought as he watched his son. **** "I want to take a book out on pokemon, please." Robert looked around for the voice that asked for the book. "Who said that?" Robert was surprised to see a small boy getting up on a chair to talk to him. "I did," Ash said with a smile. Robert was shocked to see someone so young ask for a pokemon book. "Do you want a picture book?" Robert asked the boy. Ash gave Robert a do-I-look-stupid-or-do-you-think-I'm-two type of look. "No, I want a book on pokemon," Ash insisted. Robert, not knowing what else to do, showed the young boy the pokemon section. Robert received a thank you from Ash and a big smile. 'Nice kid,' thought Robert. 'Polite, quiet and curious.' Robert knew Ash needed a book somewhat less meaty on which to 'cut his teeth' so to speak. The problem was that they didn't have any pokemon beginner guides. Robert then watched Ash in fascination for weeks. Ash would walk in, sit down and seemed to devour one book after another. One day… "Robert?" came a small voice from below him. Robert was putting books away and was startled. "Whoa!" Robert yelped in surprise. Ash was nearly K.O.ed by a book Robert was trying to put on the shelve. Robert came down the ladder to retrieve the book and make sure that Ash was all right. "Here." Robert looked up to see the book being handed up to him. "Thank you Ash," Robert said kindly. Robert put the book away and came back down. "You needed something?" Ash smiled at Robert sadly and sighed. "I need your help. I can't find anymore books that I haven't already read on pokemon." Ash marched over to the 'P' section of the library; to Robert's surprise all the books were there. No one had any pokemon books out at all! "Ash you're not telling me that you could have possibly read all these books!" Robert exclaimed. "There're practically one hundred books here." Ash gave a small whistle and nodded anyway. That was the day that Robert and Little A, as most people called him, started Little A's reading program. Robert never thought he could possibly learn as much as he did by teaching someone else. As time went by, Ash and Robert grew close and Robert was inducted into the Little Society. **** "I hate this," Ash growled to himself. "Every time I have a lesson with father, I get knocked on my butt." Mark was sweaty and hot. Every time Ash had a lesson Mark was forced to take a long shower afterward. "Crimny! Where does he get all his energy from?" Mark growled to himself. "I'm not doing anything but teaching him and I'm exhausted." Ash stood up again. "Want to try that move again?" Mark asked. Ash nodded and got back in his fighting stance. "Now this time, predict what move I make and instinctively avoid it." "Right," Ash muttered. Mark faked a light left jab and brought right leg up. "Wooofff!" Ash yelped when his father gently hit him in the midsection. Mark sighed inwardly. "Use your instincts! Everyone has instinct boy and it's about time you started to use yours." Now Ash sighed inwardly. "Dad, how can I use my instincts when I don't exactly know what they are?" Ash said. Mark had not thought that his son wasn't in tune with his instincts. "Fish heads! You mean that all this time I've been teaching you to fight without your instincts! Maybe we had better have our lesson outside tomorrow." Ash gulped. Ash was doing something important tomorrow with his poke-pals. "Can't we have the remainder of today's lesson outside?" Ash asked quickly. Mark looked down to see Ash's now famous puppy dog eyes and groaned. 'Where did he learn to do that?' Mark thought in a grumble. ' I swear! You can never say no to eyes like that. I wonder if it works on his mother like it works on me…probably.' "Fine! Come along boy," Mark finally said. Ash's eyes seemed to brighten up. "Yaaay! Outside!" Ash bounded up the steps from the basement with Mark in tow. Mark was still amazed at the energy level Ash had. 'He must have gotten this energy from his mother because I'm exhausted!' Mark was dragged outside by Ash. "Alright, now what?" Ash asked excited. Ash never had his lesson outside before and was a little rambunctious. "Sit," Mark ordered. Ash sat down on the well-kept grass. "Now then, don't move and close your eyes." Ash did as he was told and closed his eyes. "Now, when you hear me hitting the side of the house with a rock, tell me where I am." "Why?" Ash asked, curious. Mark could have thought Ash was being flippant, but Ash was never flippant: especially during a lesson. "We're going to test how good your instincts are. You won't be able to see me and you won't be able to hear me. You'll solely be reaching out to find me with your instincts. Let's begin." 'Now where to first?' Mark asked himself. Ash was delighted in this new game his father had thought up. Ash waited on the ground for about three minutes before he heard it. "Thump!" Ash heard a rock hit the side of the house to his right. "Ummm your behind the water barrel?" Ash guessed. Mark shook his head. Mark was on the other side of the yard. The remainder of the day was spent Ash guessing and missing where his father was in the yard. "No more Ash, time to go eat." Ash opened his eyes and was startled. Mark was on the other side of the yard from where Ash had last guessed. 'Eeep!' Ash thought glumly. Ash was taken inside and shown how to cook chicken curry. That night Mark tucked Ash in, but he didn't go to sleep. 'Maybe I should work on trying to trust my instincts. Dad wasn't too pleased with me.' **** 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.