Circumstances *OLD VERSION*

Circumstances Part 5

Chapter 4: Torn Part 2

EDIT: Sorry about the formatting error. No idea what happened there. It's fixed now.

"Come on Ash, let's go," called Bonnie as she rushed to the door.

"Coming Bonnie," said Ash as he put on his backpack. He knelt down and petted Riolu.

"You stay here, okay? Clemont's accepting gym challenges for today so watch carefully."

Riolu nodded. Clemont placed a hand on Bonnie's shoulder.

"Bonnie,you be good, okay? Do whatever Ash tells you."

"I know Clemont," said Bonnie rolling her eyes.

"We'll be fine Clemont," reassured Ash. "Promise."

With that Ash and Bonnie left the gym. Bonnie was way ahead as usual. Ashsmiled. She was always so full of energy. He doubted even he was thishyperactive at her age.

"HurryAsh, it's this way!" called Bonnie.

Ash nodded and jogged to catch up to her, not wanting to lose the young blonde in the crowd. About ten minutes later, they reached a small shop. Inside it smelled of lilacs and there were two sewing machines. A young woman with a Leavanny walked up to them. She wore a white blouse that had a name tag that said Annabelle pinned to it.

"Hello,what can I do for you today?"

Ash felt slightly awkward for some reason. Maybe because only his mother,and on one occasion, Serena ever fixed his clothes.

"I...ripped my shirt while training yesterday.

"Isee, well let's have a look." said the clerk as Ash handed her his shirt from his backpack. After looking it over she nodded.

"Looks like a ripped seam. It's an easy fix, so it shouldn't take too long."

"That's great, thanks," said Ash.

Ash and Bonnie sat down as Annabelle set up the sewing machine and started sewing. There were several magazines messily stacked on the table in front of them. Bonnie looked at the covers of some of them but couldn't seem to find anything that interested her, so she stopped and just played with Dedenne. Ash was never really a reading person so he didn't pay them much attention. Leavanny approached them with cups of tea and biscuits.

"Hey, thanks," said Ash gratefully.

"Thank you." piped Bonnie.

Ash broke his biscuit in half and gave one half to Pikachu. Bonnie did the same with Dedenne. A few minutes later the bell chimed as the door opened, and a middle-aged man walked in. He had mahogany hair and goatee. He wore a brown suit with a black tie and orange gloves.He looked more like he was going to a wedding than shopping.

"Leavanny could you take him?" asked Annabelle "I've still got a bit more to do."

Leavanny nodded and went to greet the new customer.

"Good day to you," he said elegantly. "I seem to have a loose button on my suit. I don't have the steady hands required for sewing,so I was hoping you could have a look?"

Leavanny gave quite an enthusiastic nod as it accepted the garment and went to a nearby table. The man looked over to Ash his silver eyes meeting Ash's brown ones. Ash couldn't place why but a shiver went down his spine. The man walked over and looked the teen over.

"May I sit down?" he asked.

"S...sure,"said Ash, as he moved over to give him room.

The man sat down not once taking his eyes of the teen. It made Ashincredibly uncomfortable.