Good day to you all! ^_^ Just want to make sure you all realise: WaterViper (who I 
mentioned last chapter) is actually a girl! Felt a bit guilty when she told me that and I’d 
made her out to be a good ol’ male! :P

Chapter 7
Ash and Brock were alone.
    They both sat in the Gym spectator stands. They were closer than they had ever been 
for two years, yet so far apart.
    “So you’re saying you left because you wanted to save us?”
    “….. yes.”
    Brock was twiddling his thumbs, looking at his trainers. Ash was rubbing the back of 
his head with one hand while scratching the plaster on his knee with the other.
    “…. I wish you hadn’t.”
    Ash stopped scratching. “What?”
    “I said I wished you hadn’t done what you did.” Brock turned and looked Ash straight 
in the eye. “I promised, we all promised, that we would die for you Ash. And we meant 
it.”
    “I wasn’t going to consider my answer to Giovanni for a second, Brock. I would 
always save your life if I had to, and that’s what I did.”
    “But… was it really worth it?”
    Ash closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair. He knew what was coming.
    “Pikachu had only just died, then Misty went with you. I couldn’t believe it when 
Violet told me….”
    “Were they angry?” Ash asked in a whisper, his eyes still closed, though he had moved 
forward in his seat again.
    “Yeah. They said they’d kill you if they ever met you again.”
    Ash nodded slowly. He had expected that.
    They sat in silence for another five minutes. 
   Then-
   “I forgive you Ash.”
   And that was all he wanted to hear. He slowly got up, opened his eyes, and hugged his 
old friend
* * * *
    “So you’re looking for this tablet?” Brock asked, setting down a tray with mugs of 
coffee. He had an orange juice for Ash. “Still drinking that stuff, huh?” he asked, smiling.
   Ash picked up the glass and sipped slowly, nodding. Setting it down on the table, Ash 
said, “Yeah. It’s just difficult to try and get it, wherever it is here, considering my public 
image.”
   “I’ll say,” Delia said, taking her coffee and adding milk. She passed the sugar to Tracy 
and Oak and said to Brock, “The language was awful.”
   “Well, you can’t blame them.” Brock said.
   “No, you can’t.” Ash agreed. He looked at Brock as he sat down. “I don’t know what 
Team Rocket want with the tablets. That’s the only thing.”
   Brock raised an eyebrow. “And that’s going to encourage me potentially helping a 
criminal organization how?”
   “Not really going to, is it? I just wanted you to know.” Ash fished out his Pokenav from 
his pocket and accessed the Tracking System. The tablet was somewhere nearby…    
   After they finished their drinks, Oak and Tracy rose to leave.
   “We’ve got to get back to the lab.” Oak said.
   “You do?” Ash asked.
   “Yeah, and now.” Tracy said.
   “Wha- Now? How do you know?”
   “Buzzers.” Tracy and Oak revealed little black boxes on their belts, which were shaking 
violently.
   “We’re always prepared!” Oak said, giving Tracy a high five.
   “…… okay.” Ash muttered, his eyebrows raised. “See you later.”
   After they left, Brock gave Ash a hooded coat. 
   “It’ll cover most of your face.” he said, and Ash nodded, pulling off his own coat.
   “You sure you want to come with me?”
   “Positive. I’m going to help you no matter what.”
   Delia stood up from her chair and said, “Let’s get started.”
* * * *
   “I’m getting something….”
   “Really?” Brock asked hopefully.
   “…. Oh, wait…. No, sorry.”
   Delia and Brock sighed. Ash, his face in shadow, exclaimed, “You know I was never 
the most technical person!”
   They had been walking around Pewter for hours, trying to find Ash a signal for his 
tracker. People had stopped them while they walked, informing Brock of Ash’s sighting 
in the city, delaying them for an extra five minutes. Brock only just nodded and walked 
away. Ash always followed, amazed at how the hood actually worked.
   “A-ha!”
   “What?” Delia asked hopefully.
   “That’s how you take photos!” Ash smiled, taking a couple of his disgruntled 
companions. “Sorry, but I’ve wanted to find this for ages!”
   “Can we just focus? Please?” Brock asked.
   “I am foc-” A bleeping noise stopped Ash.
   “Is that-?”
   Ash nodded and pelted down the street, crossing the road at top speed, causing cars to 
screech to a halt. 
   “Watch it!” one of the drivers roared. Ash looked round, but didn’t stop running. His 
hood slipped backwards.
   “IT’S HIM!!!” 
   The cries soon multiplied, spawning a crowd which began to advance on Ash.
   Brock swore and Delia tried to hold people back, but they all got through.
   Ash backed into the wall of a building. He was encircled by very, very angry people.
   “You’re about to wish you’d never been born!” hissed an elderly woman, a rolling pin 
in her hand. “My son died in your war! And what did you do?”
   “Ran off with the enemy!” another yelled.
   Ash gave a sad smile.
   “Sorry guys. Gotta go.”
   A flash of red electricity blinded the mob and lit up the entire street, and when they 
could see again they realised Ash had disappeared.
   “What the-” Brock muttered.
   “Look!” Delia said, pointing to the sky.
   Ash and Charizard were flying away from the crowd.
   Up in the air, Ash grinned.
   “What a signal we get from this height, eh Charizard?”
   Charizard growled and landed in a deserted alleyway.
   “Great job. Return.” Ash pointed a Pokeball at Charizard and the dragon disappeared in 
a flash of red. He then looked at his Pokenav.
   “Said it was somewhere really near…”
   “Hello?”
   Ash looked round. 
   An old lady wearing sunglasses and holding a walking stick was behind him. 
   “Erm, hi.”
   “Who are you?”
   “What?” Ash looked the lady up and down. “Don’t you kno-” Then he realised. This 
lady was blind.
   “Oh, I’m no one.” 
   “Nobody’s no one.”
   “I’ve always been an exception.”
   “What’re you doing here?”
   Ash thought for a moment. It wouldn’t hurt. It might even help him.
   “I’m looking for something.”
   “Oh? And what that might that be?”
   “A stone tablet. Not too sure what it looks like, but I’d know if I saw it. Do you know 
anything about it?”
    The old lady smiled, her wrinkles deepening. “I see….”
    Feeling with her stick, she turned away and beckoned for him to follow her. “Come 
with me.”
    Puzzled, Ash did so. Maybe she did know something.
    In front of him, the old lady’s smile widened, her yellow teeth glistening.