Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Friend or Foe? ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 5

present time

"Are you OK?" Misty asked in concern.

Ash looked down and after a while he finally spoke. "Misty, do you
think Gary hates me?"

Misty squeezed Ash's hand gently. "No." she said softly.

"What did the doctor say?" he asked.

Misty looked at the floor also. "The doctor said that Gary.. won't..
Be able to walk again."

Ash turned away. His face was knitted in concentration. "This is all
my fault.." he murmured.

"No," Misty disagreed, "you remember what Brock said. There's nothing
anyone could have done to stop it!"

"But I let it get too far."

"Ash, if it hadn't been for you, we'd all be dead now, including
Gary." She stood up, still holding Ash's hand. "Just get some sleep.
We can talk about it in the morning.."

Ash nodded and she left. He didn't realize how tired he was until he
curled up under the covers and immediately fell asleep.


Misty had made her way into the workshop, but decided in a split
second to go to bed. She couldn't summon up the energy to even think
of watching TV. Still the shock of the recent news about Gary had
played a significant in sapping her energy. She was the last person in
the house to finally drift off into sleep.

<<Flashback>>

Brock had noticed a change in Ash's demeanor.

First, he seemed more reserved and quiet. He didn't spend as much time
Training his pokemon.

Most of the time, he would sleep the whole day away.

Misty had noticed that the light was always on in the living room
at night. Of course, Brock took this into consideration and decided
to check this out.

That night, the light was on as usual. Brock, who had taken it upon
himself to stay up all night, crept quietly into the training hall.
He heard a remote clattering to the ground and a strangled gasp.

"Ash?" he asked, wondering what the other boy was doing.

"Oh, it's just you," Ash sighed in relief, while picking up the
remote that he had threw behind the couch in his terror.

Brock had noticed that he limped very noticeably. "What did he do to
you?" Brock asked sharply.

"Oh, you mean this..?" Ash asked pointing to his right leg, with a
fake smile. " I just accidentally.."

"Ash, please let us help."

Ash looked at Brock with an uncertain look. He saw red marks
on both of Ash's cheeks. He saw a pensive expression on his face
as a flash of terror glimmered in his eyes. "I'll be OK." Ash said,
trying to sound strong. Then he started to feel a bout of dizziness.
Leaning his weight on Brock, Ash waited for it to pass.

"Did Gary hit you on the head?" Brock's voice sounded so angry, Ash
didn't even try to cover it up. "Y-yes.." he whispered.

"You.. you.. could've been killed!" Brock cried.

"I..I'm fine.." Ash continued watching television
Brock sighed. *I wish that was true* he thought to himself.



Misty was eating breakfast, when she saw Gary and Ash walking in.
She saw Ash's injuries and tried to act natural. Still, it took a
lot of restraint. "Good morning!" she said, looking at Ash.

Ash gave her a tiny smile. When was the last time he did that? Still,
she was glad he was smiling now.

Ash started to sit next to her, but Gary tripped him, and slid next
to her. "Oops! How clumsy of you!" Gary mocked.

Brock scowled and Misty rose from her seat to help Ash up. He gave
Her a grateful look as he sat next to Brock.

Gary's reaction from the recent events was far from positive. He
kicked Ash hard. Ash began to yelp in surprise but he stifled it.
Brock yawned to make the position of his legs between Gary and Ash
inadvertent. Gary saw through the act and scowled at Brock.

Gary slumped down in his seat. He didn't like how things were going.
First, everyone was scowling at him and Misty wasn't paying any
attention to him at all. In fact, she was staring at Ash the whole
entire span of breakfast.

When everyone was done eating, Gary insisted that it was Ash's turn
to wash the dishes. When Ash was carrying everyone's plates in a
stack, Gary pushed Ash to the counter hard. Dishes flew all over the
place and shattered.

Still, nobody cared about the dishes. They were worried about Ash,
who was wincing in pain. One shard of glass had embedded itself in
Ash's arm.

Brock was experienced with injuries and he carefully pulled out the
glass shard, while Misty bandaged his arm. Gary sighed, while he
watched for cases on TV.

After an hour, Gary ran in excitedly. "I have a match tomorrow!" he
Cried out in excitement. Pokemon battles were always the highlight
Of his life. New challenges always gave him time to shine.

"What is it?" Misty asked, hoping Gary would calm down.

"Well, a lot of league winners from some of the other leagues want
to battle me." Gary said a bit more calmly.

A little of Ash's enthusiasm returned as he ran to the car.

"Where do you THINK your going?!" a voice yelled.

"To watch the battle." he replied innocently.

"You want to go watch the battle in your condition?" Gary scoffed.

Ash's smile faded as he turned around to go back to his room.

"Wait, Ash!" Misty cried.

Shocked at Misty's insistence, he turned around and gave her a
puzzled look. Misty didn't really notice.

"You are the one that got him hurt in the first place!! You have no
right to forbid him to at least go someplace!" she yelled in anger.

"I'm just worrying about his safety!" Gary cried in a defensive tone.

"If you cared about his safety, he wouldn't have been injured in the
first place!" she countered.

Gary glared at Ash and stalked off to the car. Ash silently
followed him.


As soon as they got to the stadium, Misty took out all her pokemon.
Of course Misty was giddy at watching Gary battle with his new dragon
Type that he had just caught. She had always wanted to see a dragonair
In battle. She was in an energetic mood and her enthusiasm caught on
with the others. Gary and Ash were falling all over themselves helping
Misty get the car ready for the trip back to Viridian.

Ash picked up Misty's CD player that had been left in the car, when a
foot shot out and tripped him. He fell to the ground while the
CD player flew from his hand.

Misty just gasped. Finally she picked up the object and sighed in
disappointment.

Ash looked down at the CD player. "I'm sorry, Misty." he said, in
sorrow.

Misty tried to restrain her disappointment and forced a smile.

Ash sighed in relief and didn't see the scowl Gary gave him.


When they got home from the battle, Gary slammed his fist on his bed.

*I can't believe they won the battle! They must've cheated!* he
thought in frustration. *and where is Ash?!* Gary thought, looking
around for the other boy.

"Ash!" he yelled, running up to the couch in front of the TV. Nobody
was there. Gary knew the one possible place Ash could be. He ran to
Misty's room.

"Hello Gary!" Misty said, smiling brightly.

"Have you seen Ash?" Gary asked, still hypnotized by her eyes.

"Well, he said he was going for a walk."

"Doesn't he know that it's a bit late to be going for walks?!" Gary
cried in annoyance.

Misty frowned. *Maybe he's just trying to keep scarce with Gary in
this mood.*

She still felt worried. "Why don't you wait until ten before looking
for him.." she trailed off, when he started to shake his head,
"besides, I need some help with my pokemon." she cut in. That did
it. In a second, he forgot all about Ash.

As Misty suspected, Ash came in at 9:30. All the rooms in the house
were dark, except for Misty's room. He could hear Gary's voice
and decided to sneak quietly back in.

Gary was really mad when he had left, so Ash wanted to avoid any
confrontation. Gary had caught sight of him and started to head towards
him.

"What did you think you were doing?!" Gary yelled in anger.

Ash just looked at the floor.

Finally Gary got tired of waiting for an answer and grabbed Ash by
the arm. He was pulled into his room and pushed him against the wall.
Gary slammed the door and locked it.

"Answer me!" Gary yelled.

Ash just shuddered. Gary grew angrier and slapped Ash on the face.

"Lately, you haven't treated me with respect..." he began.

"No," Ash said, shaking his head. "You haven't treated me with
respect."

For a moment, Gary's eyes were wide in shock, but quickly his
eyes narrowed in anger. He slapped Ash again and the angry spark
faded from Ash's eyes.

Gary pushed Ash against the wall, knocking his breath out. Before he
could catch his breathe, Gary already had a tight grip on his
shoulders. He pinned Ash to the wall.

With a rush of anger, Gary flung Ash into the nightstand.

Ash didn't move.

Misty ran in and gave a shocked cry. She looked at Gary and then
at Ash. Gary's face was a mixture of anguish and shock.

"Gary.." she said warily.

Finally he opened his mouth and screamed.