Pokemon: Book One: The Dark Hearted

Chapter Eighteen ~ The Truth

Dare POV

We trekked through the woods where the Lucario had disappeared into. The others kept giving me weird looks, probably because it was my idea to follow the Lucario. I don't even know why I want to, but this Lucario gave me a feeling I couldn't explain.

"It left pawprints," Sapphire noted, pointing to the Lucario prints in the ground. They sprinted forward, slowed down, and walked in circles.

Strange.

As we went farther into the forest, I began to notice something glinting in the trees. I squinted and realized they were jewels. Pink, black, and white ones, strung throughout the branches.

Suddenly the Lucario prints swerved off of the path and went into the undergrowth. It was too uneven and covered in plants to make out any paw prints, so we gave up.

"Why did you care about that Lucario so much, anyways?" Julie asked me quietly.

I stared at my muddy paws. "I can't explain it," I murmured. Julie didn't press the subject anymore.

Suddenly everything became too quiet. The others had stopped walking, so I looked up.

And, standing about ten feet away, was the Lucario.

Her blue and black paws were soaked through in mud. She had a scratch on her arm, supposedly from thorns. Her bright brown eyes were staring at me, filled with sadness and caution.

"Hex," she whispered. "It was supposed to be just the two of us, forever. You said it yourself. Please remember me, Hex."

And suddenly it all came rushing back to me. The snowstorm, the silent Riolu named Asha, when we fell in love, the Hypno and his trainer.

I remembered everything.

"Asha," I whispered, my voice catching in my throat. "I remember you, Asha."

For a split second we stared at each other. Then we sprinted towards each other and hugged.

"I missed you," Asha rasped, and there were tears in her eyes. "I thought about you every day. Every. Single. Day."

Suddenly I was sobbing too, and I said, "the Hypno used Confusion, and I forgot about you for years. When we saw you in the field..."

"I love you, Hex," Asha said, stepping back and wiping the tears from her eyes. "For years I've loved you."

There was a pause. Then Sapphire said, "What- the heck-"

Asha and I glanced at each other.

"You explain," I said, sitting down. "You remember better than I do."

Shadow POV

After Asha finished her story, I was speechless.

Speechless, I tell you!

I never knew Dare had some secret girlfriend for years! He didn't even remember her... That's depressing. And she keeps calling him Hex...

"My name is Dare now," Dare said softly to her. "I'm not Hex anymore."

Asha seemed to freeze up. Then she said, "Do you- are you-"

"Spit it out," said Sapphire.

"Do you have a trainer?" Asha said.

Everyone fell dead silent.

Asha stood up, pointing and Julie. Julie looked alarmed. "It's her, isn't it? Is she your trainer?"

"Well, no..." Dare said testily.