Visions of the Past
The night air was cool and silent with the stars shining brightly. It was a rather perfect night, being as it wasn't really cold. Ash, Dawn and Brock sat around the camp fire while their pokemon lounged by their sides.
"
Hey, guys," Ash said, his face thoughtful. "Do you remember that kid in the pokemon center about a day back telling us about the Elemental League?"
Brock frowned. "Really? That's interesting."
"
What's interesting?" Dawn asked.
"
Just that there aren't a lot of trainers that know of that league as it's rather unpopular with its high failure rate," Brock explained. "But I don't believe I remember him. Go on, Ash."
Ash grinned. "Well, I was thinking of trying it out."
Dawn and Brock looked at each other hesitantly. "I don't know if that would be a good idea," Brock said. "There aren't any pokemon contests for Dawn and you know that I was going to study the various fighting pokemon once we reach Veilstone City for a while."
"Exactly!" Ash said excitedly. "For a while," he repeated slowly. "That will give me plenty of time to check out this Elemental League while you study the fighting types and Dawn wins a new ribbon! We could always meet up later at Pastoria City. You guys know how long we take when we spend time on only one particular thing at a time before moving onto the next thing before heading off to the next city. If we do this, we'll all have enough time and finish quicker."
Brock looked thoughtful while Dawn looked cheerful.
"
That's a great idea, actually! Not only will it give me time to do more girl shopping, but we can each focus completely on what we want."
Brock nodded in agreement. "It does seem like a good idea when you put it like that." Brock knocked a fist into his open palm. "I'm up for it. We can keep in contact and just meet up later."
"
Great!" Ash said excitedly. "Did you all hear that?" Ash asked the pokemon.
They gave excited cries, each one curious about their next adventure.
"
I hate to say this, you guys," Ash said, "but I'm not allowed any pokemon with me. They have strict rules and actually give you specific pokemon that can only be used."
There were outrageous cries and it took quite a few tries to get them to calm down. In the end they all agreed that they would do whatever would make their trainer happy.
"
I'm sorry, Pikachu," Ash said to the electrical mouse with a grim tone. "You'll need to go into a pokeball."
"
Pi!"
Ash sighed. "I know, buddy, but it'll only be for a minute, and I'm sure all our friends back at Professor Oak's will be excited to see you."
"
Chu puki," Pikachu sighed before giving a grim nod, though his narrowed eyes clearly expressed his irritation.
"
Thanks, buddy."
The rest of the vision was Ash, Dawn and Brock parting ways before everything went blank and Ash's eyes regained focus. He 'awoke' with a large gasp, his eyes wide as he stared at the floor in horror.
"They honestly… honest… don't…" he stuttered.
"They honestly have no idea what has truly happened," Atreus said as he watched Ash carefully, his foot already removed from Ash's tail.
Ash brought his knees to his chest and tucked his arms around them, his eyes vacant and his mind reeling with thoughts.
"You have no one but yourself, weapon," Atreus said coldly, breaking Ash away from his thoughts. "It won't be long for you to break and serve Team Rocket without question."
Ash narrowed his eyes, tightening himself up in his ball. "Don't call me that," he whispered dangerously.
Atreus smirked as he pulled out a rod. "I believe we shall begin again. You wasted your chance to heal in the tub."
Ash glared as he was sent rolling by the metallic rod. He didn't move as the rod landed on his body while, with each whack, Atreus repeatedly said, "Weapon, weapon, weapon…"
And each time Ash said, "I'm not a weapon, I'm not a weapon, I'm not a weapon…"
