Pokémon Academy: From Past To Present

Chapter 10: You Knew Each Other

Everyone looked towards the voice and saw Ash. He had dropped his invisibility. Next to him, Pikachu was sparking it's cheeks.

"Stop toying with them." Ash said. Matt and Carly looked towards him shocked and confused. Red smiled a bit. "So you figured it out?" "Figured what out?" Carly asked, a bit fiercely. "We were holding back. That was barely half our power." Silver replied. "What?! Why?!" Matt asked, shocked. "Because you couldn't stand our full power. We thought we'd amuse you." Silver said.

"And you did. Now stop. You've done enough." Ash said coldly. Silver raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose you've come to help your little friends? I'd have never imagined the league would stoop so low as to accept such weaklings." "Hey!" Matt exclaimed.

"Actually, I've come to stop you, not help them. I've also come to ask what exactly it is you want from in there?" Ash said. "I'm afraid that's confidential. But I'm sure you'll find out anyway." Red said. Ash looked at him in a strange way. "You could just save yourselves the time of hiding it and just tell me now." he responded.

Red chuckled. "That would take away the fun." He returned machamp and Silver returned ursaring. "Now I'm afraid we must go now."

Red turned around and walked away, Silver following. Ash watched them leave, and a small part of him wished they'd stayed. Then maybe he could've found out what they wanted. "Hey! Wait! Come back and fight!" Matt said heatedly. "I could've totally beaten them.." he muttered to himself. "No, you couldn't." Carly said, hitting her brother. Matt turned to Ash. "Why'd you let them go? We could've caught them and-"

"What were you thinking?" Ash said, turning on them. "They're ate least three times stronger than you! Did you even consider the health of your pokemon?" Ash said. Carly and Matt looked surprised, then turned to their pokemon, who were in critical condition.

Carly looked horrified. She returned cursola, followed by Matt returning obstagoon. "I didn't even realize.." she said. "Let that be a lesson to you. Stay out of things that don't concern you." Ash replied. "But, it does concern us! We're supposed to protect people and pokemon! Something tells me they were going to do the opposite of that." Matt said. "You weren't protecting your pokemon, were you?"

"We had to stop them!" Matt countered. "But you didn't. They could've destroyed you if they wanted to. You need to leave this alone. And never again confront Silver, much less Red, again." Ash said. "What if we had a plan?" Carly asked. "No plan could beat them."

Matt and Carly hung their heads. "But still..thank you for helping us." Carly said. "I didn't help you. I stopped them." Ash said, straightforward. "I know. But you still helped us, even if you didn't mean to. So, thanks."

"Look, just do what I told you. Stay out of things that don't concern you." Ash said, turning to leave. The two were silent. "You knew each other once. You and Red. You cared about each other." Carly finally said to Ash's retreating form. He froze.

Matt looked at Carly in confusion. "What did you just say?" Ash asked, turning to face her. "You-you knew him, right?" Carly said, losing the courage she just had when she made her bold statement. "And how, exactly, do you know that?" "I-I heard you. On the plane." she said. Ash faced her as realization hit. The sneeze. So it wasn't just a random stranger after all.

"Um, what happened that day? I heard you talking about and I've wondered ever since.." "And how is it your place to ask that?" Ash asked. "It's not really, but-" "So don't. Like I said, stay out of things that don't concern you. I'd advise you to just forget that ever happened."

With that, he turned and left. "Ok, you have a lot of explaining to do." Matt turned to his sister expectantly. "Well?"

Carly sighed. "You see..."