Later that morning, Delia left the house unhappy, the incident that occurred that morning the only thing on her mind. She had attempted unsuccessfully to see Ash, but that had proven disastrous. Ash didn’t even want to look into his mother’s face much less talk to her. Despite what Misty had told him earlier, Ash’s grudge stuck, and a dejected Delia could do nothing about it. She said good-bye to Ash sweetly anyway, but when she tried to hug him, he had ducked out of her arms.

The house now all to themselves, Misty and Brock graciously and determinedly took on the duty of trying to cheer Ash up. It wasn’t going to be easy, they figured, but neither of them could stand to look at Ash’s melancholy face.

About a half an hour after Delia left, Misty came prancing down the stairs vivaciously, sporting her newly cleaned clothes and a smile. She skipped the last few steps and jumped to the landing, Togepi squealing partially out of fear and out of excitement. Almost immediately, she caught a glimpse of Ash’s spiky black hair poking out from behind the couch.

As she walked quietly over to him, she looked down curiously, finding him slumped over in a depressed fashion. He was dressed now -- thanks to Brock who had practically demanded that he got out of his pajamas and stop moping. His feet, bound up in his filthy sneakers, were propped on top of the coffee table, something Delia would have normally killed him for. But she wasn’t here, making Misty wonder what other rules Ash may had broken deliberately out of anger.

Ash looked up immediately when he felt Misty’s presence over him. His eyes met hers, and she instinctually smiled at him.

"Come on, Ash," she said cheerfully. "Let’s go do something!"

Ash turned back and slumped even more. "I don’t want to do anything. ‘Cept die, maybe."

"Oh, Ash! Stop talking like that!" Misty pleaded. She began to tug on Ash’s collar. "Come on, Brock wants to do something. It’s a beautiful day outside!"

"I don’t care!" Ash muttered loudly, stamping his feet angrily on the table.

Misty huffed. "Ash! I’m not gonna let you rot away like this when it’s so nice out! I know! Let’s go look for Pokémon! That’ll make you feel better."

"I’m not in the mood," Ash answered. "You and Brock go have fun without me."

"Pika pi! Chuuu!" Pikachu said, hopping onto Misty’s shoulder upon returning from the kitchen, looking sadly at Ash.

This time Misty sighed sadly. She stared down at Ash, who looked more depressed than she had ever seen him. Not that she blamed him, though; she just felt horrible that Ash was feeling this way.

Brock suddenly came into the room, and folded his arms in front of him. He shook his head and turned to Misty and Pikachu.

"Is he comin’ or what?" he asked, and Misty and the Pokémon shook their heads.

Brock stood over Ash, and nudged his legs with his own. "C’mon Ash. Get your feet off the coffee table and let’s go catch some Pokémon. Whaddah ya say?"

"Hmmf," Ash replied.

Brock looked up at Misty and they both exchanged a mischievous grin as plans flashed to each other’s minds.

"Ash, are we gonna hafta drag you outside?" Misty asked, rubbing Ash’s head.

Ash quickly shooed her hand away. "I won’t let you."

"I don’t know, Ash," Brock said a bit sarcastically. "Me ‘n’ Misty are pretty strong."

Ash slammed his fists down on the couch. "Geez! Leave me alone, guys!"

Instead, this only encouraged Misty and Brock more, and instantaneously they made grabs for Ash. Ash fought, but a smile couldn’t help but come to his face when Misty and Brock dragged him reluctantly to the back door, laughing hysterically. They got Ash outside, and pushed him ahead of them.

"Go get ‘em, Ash!" Misty sang. "There’s some Pokémon out there with your name on them!"

Ash smiled feebly. "Guys, I’m not in the mood!" he pouted softly.

Brock threw him an empty Pokéball. "Yes, you are."

Ash caught the Pokéball in his hands, and smiled weakly. The smooth feel of it seemed to stimulate him on contact, and a sudden rush of enthusiasm to play Pokémon rushed through him. With a wide grin, he looked up at Misty and Brock.

"C’mon, we ain’t gonna find any good Pokémon here," he said, causing his two friends to smile in relief. "Let’s go."

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu headed off away from the Ketchum house, but they didn’t quite get too far. In the scheme of things, the three trainers decided to let their Pokémon out, and soon the entire backyard was filling with the boisterous, rambunctious animals, running around and stretching their cramped-up limbs.

The activity of the Pokémon stirred the kids up, and soon they were jumping around and running with them, laughing zestfully in the pleasure of the moment. The animation seemed to bring Ash out of his depression as well, and Misty and Brock were more than pleased to see a huge smile on Ash’s face as he playfully chased Bulbasaur.

Their fun took even a bigger step when Misty decided to get Ash even happier, her attempt to wipe his memory of the whole morning incident. During one of their circles around the yard, Misty purposely ran close to Ash, catching his shirt. The sudden pull brought Ash to the ground, and Misty leapt immediately onto him. Laughing insanely, the two wrestled prankishly on the ground, Brock joining in a moment later. Together, he and Misty playfully pushed Ash to the ground, leaving him pleading for mercy in between gasps for breath.

As the three frolicked on the grass, they didn’t notice that they had had a spectator for most of the time. He stood leaning on the fence, watching them with a grin on his face, never caring really whether or not they would see him.

It was Misty who first had, and she froze from torturing Ash. Brock was next, and he followed her eyes to where she was looking at their visitor.

"Hey guys? You finally give up?" Ash puffed, his face flushed from laughter. He noticed their stares immediately, and turned to look at the fence. His eyes rose suddenly.

"Gary?!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

Gary grinned and shrugged. "Took you long enough. Guess you were too busy with your strenuous Pokémon training, huh?"

Ash grumbled. "What are you doing here?"

Gary scowled. "What? I can’t take a break, too? Seeing how I do more than work than you, anyway, I should deserve one."

"We didn’t even know you were here," Misty replied. "And you shouldn’t sneak up on us like that, either. You scared the hell out of me!"

"Sorry," Gary said, although none of them knew it was sincere.

Misty and Brock’s bodies suddenly flinched. They knew that Gary’s unexpected visit might set Ash off again, and they decided that it was best to get rid of him as soon as possible. Before they could do anything, however, Ash stamped his way over to his rival, a glare of resentment displayed on his face.

"Gary, I’m not in the mood for you right now," Ash said calmly, looking Gary straight in the eye. "We’re kinda busy right now."

"Yeah, right," replied Gary, snickering. "You’re real busy."

Ash’s fists clenched, and Gary smiled at him. He looked over to Ash’s house, and sighed, shaking his head.

"So, I see your dad’s home," he interjected, folding his arms proudly in front of him, causing Ash’s eyes to widen. "What did you do this time?"

Ash’s blood rushed. "What are you talking about?" he growled angrily. "How do you know that?!"

"Easy, Ash," Misty warned gently, but Ash seemed to ignore her. Oh, great! she thought.

"Heh, my mom told me," Gary replied snyly. "Talk’s all over town, ya know."

Ash suddenly quivered, and his face fell in nervousness. "W-what?! What talk?"

Gary snickered again. "Oh, please, Ash! Everyone knows what’s going on at your place. It’s just the latest gossip going around!"

Brock started to tremble in ire, fearing to see the expression of Ash’s face. This was definitely something Ash didn’t need right now. "Get out of here, Gary!" he warned angrily. "I mean it!"

Ash was mad as ever, and his forehead was beginning to redden. "Don’t you dare talk about my parents!" Ash snarled viciously, stepping closer to Gary. "You don’t know anything about them!"

Gary backed away a little, but the grin on his face remained. The grin that made Ash, Misty, and Brock sick to their stomachs, but especially Ash, who had suddenly found himself in the fight to keep his emotions within him again. He could feel the wave of sadness and humiliation creeping into him again, and he desperately tried to keep down the sobs that were coming up his throat.

"Gee, I wouldn’t want to upset you or anything, Ash," Gary replied. "I know you want to keep this a secret and all. They really do pin on the trainers’ life stories during those important competitions, and I would hate to see them reveal to the world about your cheating, deadbeat father."

At that, Ash blood boiled to the extreme. His nerves snapped and his heart began to pump. He wanted his ears to be deceiving him, but he knew it wasn’t true. Suddenly, he leapt at Gary and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closely to his face. Misty and Brock jumped back, startled at both Gary’s comment and Ash’s sudden lunge.

"Don’t you dare talk about my dad that way, you asshole!" Ash spat into Gary’s face, who at the moment looked really surprised. "He not a deadbeat and he’s not a cheater! You take that back! Take it back now!"

Gary raised his arms in defense as he stared down into Ash’s seriously disturbed face. He could see angry tears forming in his eyes, but instead of succumbing to his unanticipated guilt, he grinned slyly at Ash.

"Fine, I take it back," he said. "Put me down now."

But that wasn’t enough for Ash. "Apologize!" he demanded. "Apologize now, goddamn you!"

Brock came up to the two, and grabbed a hold of Ash’s hands tenderly. "Ash, calm down now," he said gently, trying to pry Ash’s hands away from Gary. "C’mon, let’s go inside."

"No, Brock!" Ash wailed at his friend. He turned back to Gary and looked with pure loathing into his face. "Not until this rotten son of a bitch apologizes . . . to me . . ."

At that, Ash could take no more. Sobs coughed up from him suddenly, and he released Gary. Gary fell back and watched as Ash turned and ran towards his house. Misty and Brock shot one more hateful glance at Gary.

"I hope you rot in hell for this," Misty snarled, and she and Brock took off after Ash, leaving Gary abandoned at the Ketchum’s backyard fence.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .