Destiny Rebirth

Back from the Dead

Ash managed to dodge the reporters that congregated in front of his locker room. He knew that they would be there after his crushing victory against Iris. He planned ahead and hid all of his stuff in a supply closet that was on the opposite side of the corridor, which housed his locker room. He chuckled as he heard the pounding on the door. He imagined all the work and energy the reporters were putting in, just for the attention of an empty room.

"That was a nice trick, Ashy-boy."

Ash felt chills go up against his spine. No! There was no freaking way that he figure it out!

Ash didn't turn to the owner of the voice, but instead, attempted to make his way to the stairs with Pikachu and Lucario in tow. He was about at the stairs; when suddenly, he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder.

"Listen, we need to talk, Ash." Ash turned as he saw Gary standing behind him, with his hand still on Ash's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm Aaron Tajiri," he stated as he was hoping Gary would believe his lie, but even himself didn't believe it.

Gary responded, "You can't-fool me, Ash. I know it's you. I have been waiting five years for this conversation and I'm not going to let you walk out of this arena without answers!"

Ash could see the determination in Gary's eyes. He wasn't getting out of this one.

"There's nothing to say," Ash said slowly, lowering his head to look at the ground. "The friend, you knew, died five years ago, and he isn't coming back."

"Lies!" Gary shouted. "I saw the look in your eyes when you fought Iris. I saw the way you looked at Serena back on the battlefield. You may have become a better trainer and strategist, but you're still Ash Ketchum."

"Gary, look at me. Tell me if you see the same old Ash." Ash stated as he took off his mask and the hood.

Gary gasped, as he began to notice the weary and tired look on his friend's face. The look in Ash's eyes didn't radiate the same joy he had remembered. He saw turmoil, not peace, anxiety, not passion.

"What happened to you?" were all the words that Gary could mutter.

"Five years happened to me, Gary!" Ash spat back coldly.

Gary suddenly remembered why he had come down in the first place.

He questioned Ash, "Where have you been? Why didn't you come back to Pallet Town, to your mom, to your friends, to me after that incident? Why are you now just showing up?" Gary's voice started to change its tone to anger. "Now, after five years of damage caused by your death! Five years of the blame because we saw one of our best friends die! You owe me an explanation! You owe everyone, who ever cared about you, an explanation!"

"I owe you nothing!" Ash shouted rebelliously.

Gary looked at Ash. He chose his words very carefully, this time. "Do you know why I'm the only down here? Why I'm the only one that has put two and two together?"

"No, enlighten me," Ash responded sarcastically.

"I'm the only one who has seen the videotape," Gary stated as Ash is puzzled by his words.

"What tape?" he asked wanting to know what Gary meant.

"A month after you died, there was a break in at Grandpa's laboratory. The only thing that was taken was your Pokéball," Ash froze; he knew where Gary was going with this. "The only thing that remained on the shelf, where your Pokémon used to sit, was a spray painted, R, in bright red. The incident nearly destroyed my Grandfather. Everyone thought it was the last stab at you, for taking down Team Rocket. We believed that it was done by a group of grunts that had somehow avoided capture. What the intruder didn't know was that we set up cameras in the lab and surrounding areas, after Team Rocket tried to kidnap my Grandpa and his Pokémon years earlier," Gary glanced up to see Ash staring off into the distance. "I was the first one there that day. It was my turn to let the Pokémon out of their Pokéball. When I saw what happened, I rushed to the video screen, to see the tape. That's when I saw you sneak in and stealing back your own Pokémon. Pikachu was right at your side. I didn't know what to do, who to tell or how to react. So I did some editing and made it look like the robbers tampered with the security footage. I knew there was a reason you didn't come back. I wanted to protect my friend from whatever he was hiding from, but now, now I want some answers, Ash!"