Day 24 of Frontier training...

Ash and Anabel are both very strong trainers for their age. However, none of that would be very true if it wasn't for their care for Pokemon as a whole. They loved training their Pokemon, but none of that was truely like experiencing wild Pokemon in their natural habitat.

Ash and Anabel were in the forest outside Anabel's home, and were looking through all the different wild Pokemon that Anabel knew of in this area and studying their habits. Anabel called this an excersize that helped them with dealing with potentially dangerous Pokemon, and that reading their habits and noticing what they could do was important, but really they just wanted to do some Pokemon watching.

Who wouldn't though?

Ash was studying some Hoothoots in the area, which were surprisingly interesting to watch considering they used only their one leg to stand up, which often resulted in the younger ones to fall over from lack of balance. Whereas, Anabel was observing a Butterfree that was flying around a group of Metapods. The story here is that this Butterfree was the first in it's group to evolve, so he was flying around to see if his friends would also evolve any time soon. Though there was really no telling exactly when they would evolve, but one could hope to see it themselves.

Ash smiled towards the Salon Maiden. "This never gets old for me."

Anabel turned to Ash, who looked back towards the Hoothoot while still talking. "You see, I used to do this back at Oak's lab in Pallet town. Sometimes when I did that, Oak always caught me because I wasn't supposed to be in there. But even then, Oak sometimes forgave me, and watched the Pokemon with me along with his grandson, Gary."

Ash layed down on the grass. "You know, I can't thank Oak enough for all he did for me. Sometimes I felt like I drove him crazy, but he was important in my life when growing up."

Anabel moved over towards Ash and layed down right next to him. "You know, I envy you Ash."

Ash turned his head towards his teacher. "How so?"

Anabel turned her head towards Ash, which showed that their faces were merely a few inches apart frome each other, though neither were aware of how close they were. "Well, you seemed to have so many privilages and awesome times when you were younger. Even the Professor, who you said wasn't really your dad, was so much like a father figure. I never really experienced some of that when I was younger."

Ash grew a curious look. "What did you experience?"

Anabel looked away from him and seemed hesitant to answer his question. It was then that Ash realized that these memories must be bad for Anabel. Ash had figured out that the Salon Maiden was pretty hesitant to mention much about what was before the Frontier for her, so Ash was quick to correct his mistake.

He turned away from her. "You don't have to tell me right now. You can tell me when you're ready. I can tell these memories aren't really plesant."

Anabel looked back up at him. "You sure?"

Ash grinned at her. "Positive."

Silence overtook the pair as they continued to lay in the grass and relax for a change compared to the heavy focus-requiring training that they have been doing for the past few weeks. Both of them just stared at the sky and thought about... well, nothing.

Anabel sighed. "You at least deserve an explanation to a few things."

Ash turned over to face her. "You don't have to you know."

She turned her head towards him. "But I want to."

She said nothing for a moment, then turned towards the bright blue sky of the afternoon. "You see, my family isn't exactly something I am comfortable to mention to others. The main reason is because... my family isn't exactly perfect."

Ash sat up. "Well nobody's family is perfect."

She sat up also. "Well then mine would be far from it. My family origionally comes from Unova. Namely, Castelia City: the Buisness district of Unova. I grew up in an apartment from that area with my mother, a Real-Estate Agent, my father, a Telemarketer, and my sister, who developed heavy Psychic powers, a trend in our family."

Ash's thoughts drifted towards Sabrina, the Saffron Gym Leader. Though the experience he had wasn't all too pleasant, he remembered how she had neglected her family for a time as she developed her powers until Ash defeated her. It brought the question if perhaps they were related, or if this had happened to any of Anabel's other family members.

Before he could delve further into this fragment of his past, Anabel continued. "My mom and dad were nice people once you met them, but they never really liked me. It was like... after I became around 7, they started neglecting me. Even my sister neglected me a lot over the course of my childhood."

She started stroking Espeon to calm her nerves. "I could never even make any friends because my neighborhood never really shared my interests. The only friends I made were with the Pokémon in the city center, where there is a nesting spot for some wild Pokémon, which was where I met my Espeon, but as an Eevee. Because of spending practically every day and even some nights with them, it helped develop my empathetic skills toward Pokémon to where I understood them easily, and I became less... social towards most people."

"Wow. Sounds a bit like my childhood. The friends part especially." The Pallet trainer sympathized with the Salon Maiden as he remembered the two years prior to his journey starting.

She hugged her knees to her chest. "I could never understand why it all happened like that..."

Ash looked at her as tears were forming. He decided that his friend needed some form of comfort to such a dark past. So what did he do?

He placed a hand on her shoulder for reassurance.

Anabel looked up at him. "Thanks. *sniff* I guess I needed that."

Ash nodded. "It must have been hard."

Ash let go as the Salon Maiden calmed down. "It was. I'm surprised I bounced up this far."

Ash smiled back. "At least you're here now. Just think about it like that."

Anabel looked at him. "You've gotten smarter since Sinnoh."

Ash chuckled. "Really? I don't think I am that much smarter."

Anabel wiped the last of the tears on her face away. "You've matured, Ash. Just look at yourself in the mirror a bit."

Ash nodded as they layed back down on the grass and continued to relax with nobody bothering them.

..........

It was only an hour and a half after they drifted off to sleep in the forest when they started waking to the sound of voices from around them. Both of them sat up groggily for a moment, but perked up when they could tell the voices were from someone they knew.

"Hey... Ash, Anabel, where are you?" The voice yelled out.

Both of them stood up and started moving in the direction of that voice. As they stepped closer to the voice, their suspicions were confirmed.

"There you guys are." Maron ran up to them. "Anabel, there is a couple of kids causing problems at the Battle Tower again."

Anabel sighed. "What is the issue this time?"

"One of the kids is demanding a battle with you, and whenever someone else tries to press him for a battle, he slugs them and states that they are not worth his time. The other one is silent, but he has a look on his face that demands a fight as well, and the last one is just picking on everyone. I tried to force them out, but they won't leave. So I decided to come get you."

Anabel shook her head in annoyance. "Newer trainers?"

"No. The loud one seems pretty experienced. The quiet one is also accompanied by a Golduck, which seems pretty strong as well. I can't get a read on the bullying one though."

Anabel nodded. "I see. Go grab Caleb. Ash and I will head over there."

Maron dashed off towards Tohjo Town while Ash and Anabel ran towards the lake, where they had all of their Pokémon at. Ash quickly grabbed Pikachu and Donphan while Anabel found Espeon and her Gallade. They made a mad dash for the Battle Tower where Maron already was surprisingly. He was leaning on the wall while huffing and puffing like crazy.

Anabel ran up to him. "Where is Caleb?"

Maron sounded out of breath. "Not... sure. Wasn't... at the... Center..."

Anabel sighed. "Looks like it's just us. Come on Ash."

"Right."

They moved inside the Tower with Maron right behind them. "Go... to... the Battlefields..."

They nodded as they started up the elevator in a hurry. They made it to the Battlefields floor, where they could pick out the individuals in a heartbeat. The Golduck kid was sitting on the bench alone while the loud kid wouldn't let anyone near them, threatening to sick his Arcanine on them. The last kid was picking up a smaller guy and making snide comments on his Lotad.

Maron took a seat while the others took in what was happening.

Anabel and Ash were baffled by the chaos that had been occurring in the room. Immediately they shared a quick glance where a silent exchange was formed. Their Pokémon did the same thing and jumped off their humans shoulders. Espeon picked up the loud kid and the bully with Psychic while Pikachu began sparking. The humans stepped near the kids with angry looks on their faces.

"What is going on in here?!" They stated at the same time.

Neither of the dangling kids said a word, as they knew the wrong word will earn them a very hard landing. The kid with the Golduck walked up to the pair and began looking at them with an interest. He then formed a smirk on his face as he realized the identity of Anabel.

"You're the Salon Maiden. Anabel, right? The three of us want to battle you."

Anabel huffed. "Picking on the trainers is no way to get the attention of me. You alone didn't do anything bad to my exact knowledge, but it sounds like you three are friends, and knew they would cause trouble. So I am sorry, but you must leave now."

The kid nodded. "We will. But first, we want a battle with you."

Anabel glared. "You shrugged off my assistant and disrupted the friendly nature of the tower. Why should I comply?"

The kid shook his head in a cocky manner. "My my my. Who knew the famous Salon Maiden would be so scared of us three. Alright, how about we make this interesting then." He pointed at the loud kid. "Me and him-" Then he pointed at Ash and Pikachu. "Versus you and that idiot with the rat. Unless you are just that much of a scared *****."

Everyone in the room was silent.

Anabel shrugged off the insult and frowned. "Not with an attitude like-"

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Following the outline, she traced it back to Ash who was staring right into her eyes. She was frightened with what fire she saw out of those Auburn eyes of his. It was a look that she never thought she would see in him, knowing Ash for over two weeks now.

Rage. Pure rage.

Ash stepped up while straightening out his glove, with his hat covering his eyes. "You know, I can stand it if you make fun of me. Heck, even my Pokémon could deal with your comments. We could take more insults than when I first started battling, but there is one thing I cannot stand for."

Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. "Nobody insults the people I care about. Anabel is my friend. She is more calm than I am, but if someone insults my friends," He looked up with a stare that could kill a Mew. They all jumped back. "...they have to fight me."

Anabel walked up to Ash and put a hand on his shoulder. "You sure?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

Anabel then signaled Espeon to set down the two boys to let the tag battle start. They moved over to one of the larger battlefields on the floor where both teams of trainers set up in the Trainers Box for the battle. Ash and Anabel nodded as they understood what they had to do to win this battle.

The other two were wearing big smirks on their faces as they seemed really cocky. The bully kid was sitting on the bench by their side, and Maron stood up on the referee box.

"Alright. This will be a tag battle between Salon Maiden Anabel and her apprentice, Ash-"

Ash looked at him. "Was that really necessary to mention?"

Maron chuckled lightly. "Just felt like it. Anyways it is them against these two trainers. Can you state your names?"

The loud kid spoke up. "Name's Nick."

The cocky one smirked. "I'm Sam. The other guy is Daniel."

Maron nodded. "Alright. Release your Pokémon."

Anabel sent out Gallade while Ash sent out his Donphan. Seeing this, Sam sent Golduck Forward while Nick sent out a Gengar. "Battle begin."

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball on Gallade."

"Gallade, dodge it and use Psycho Cut."

"Golduck, use Hydro Pump."

"Donphan, make a wall with Stone Edge."

The Shadow Ball was cut in half by the Psycho Cut, which caused a brief explosion. The Hydro Pump, which was for assurance to land a hit on Gallade, was stopped in it's tracks by a wall from Stone Edge.

"Gallade, use Close Combat on Golduck."

Nick smirked. "Get in front of Gallade and use Shadow Ball."

Anabel nodded at Ash. "Donphan, Defense Curl, then Rollout on Gengar."

"Golduck, use Hydro Pump on Donphan."

Hydro Pump hit head on, but due to the Defense Curl, lacked a significant effect, which led to a straight hit on Gengar. While Sam was distracted, Golduck was hit hard by Close Combat.

Both Pokémon collapsed on the ground with defeat. "Gengar and Golduck are unable to battle. Make your substitutions now."

"Well that was... umm..." Ash struggled to find the word.

"Anticlimactic." Anabel finished for him.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. Let's use Pikachu and Espeon for the next match."

They put their partners up front in the battle after recalling Gallade and Donphan. In response, Nick sent out a Charizard while Sam sent out a Venasaur."

Ash took a look at Anabel. "Are they serious? They know we have the advantage. I mean they are using their starters, but still."

Anabel frowned. "This won't be hard regardless. Have you seen what the problem has been the whole time?"

Ash thought back to how much damage they did compared to what their opponents dealt. "They don't really train their Pokémon. Either that, or they came in because they were overconfident in their abilities as trainers."

Anabel nodded. "Exactly. These two don't know what they are up against. Yet their stupidity led them to face trainers way beyond their level."

Ash sighed. "I don't understand what the big idea is."

Nick scowled. "Hey! We can hear you!"

Anabel ignored them. "Well you will have to face people similar to them when you start up your facility later on. Just don't let your emotions cloud your judgement. Bad emotions can lead to terrible battling skills."

Ash nodded, but before they could continue the conversation, they heard someone yell out and command a Leaf Storm while the other called out a Flamethrower. Ash and Anabel swiftly ordered their Pokémon to dodge the attack. Once they turned around, they saw the furious looks of Sam and Nick staring at them.

"Talk about cheap shots." Ash scoffed.

Nick sneered. "Then maybe you should focus on the battle. How did an idiot like you end up training under Anabel?"

This time, it was Anabel who shot a death glare at the pair. "Alright. You really want no holds barred? Then you got it. It's time you see what you're really facing."

She nodded at Ash, who rose an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I don't think we need it."

Anabel nodded. "They need to learn before one of those decisions destroys them."

Ash then focused really fast, and his eyes began to glow blue. As for Anabel, she just refrained from speaking out loud. The two looked like they ran into a Machamp in a dark alley, because they had their jaws dropped when they saw Ash change his eye color. Their Pokémon took a slight step back in hesitation.

Ash then called out a max power Thunderbolt on Charizard, while Anabel ordered a full strength Psychic on Venusaur without speaking. Both attacks landed on their targets, knocking them out instantly. Both trainers were astounded with the pure power of the pair that they didn't know what to do. They looked for Daniel, but surprisingly, he was nowhere to be seen.

Ash reverted his eyes back to normal and gave Anabel a smile. In return, she smiled back at the raven-haired trainer. However, neither of them heard the sound of a Pokeball opening up, nor did they hear power charging up. But they did hear a kid giving a command.

"Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam."

Ash didn't need to think to do what he did next. In hopes of protecting her, he made a decision. But that choice had it's own repercussions.

Anabel widened her eyes as she fell to the ground. "ASH!"

An explosion rang around the field.

.........

Silence ensued the entire area. Smoke covered where Ash stood, so they couldn't think of what to do. They couldn't tell if he was alive... or if there was anything left of the trainer. They were all just staring and hoping something would come out of the smoke. As for Daniel, who was in a corner that shrouded him in darkness, he simply scoffed.

"We missed. Tyranitar, do it again while she is stunned." The bully whispered.

Tyranitar began silently charging up energy once again. Nobody heard the energy charging in front of them. In their defense, there was something else that nobody heard either.

"Leaf Blade."

Before the energy finished, a very fast Pokémon quickly dislodged the massive Tyranitar. Leaf Blade made contact, which fainted the powerful Pokémon instantly. Nobody even knew this was occurring.

"What the- OWWW!" Daniel couldn't even react, as a guy in complete blue quickly gave him an uppercut and knocked him down to the floor.

Caleb sighed. "I will never understand people like you. First you try to pick on kids that are newer trainers than you, and then you blatantly try to eliminate a Frontier Brain. On top of that, you may have just killed her apprentice."

The bully tried to reach for a Pokeball, but felt he had none. Caleb held up the Pokémon belt while shaking his head at Daniel. "You are that blind that you couldn't even see me take your other Pokémon. Now that's embarrassing."

Daniel tried to move towards Caleb, but the Hoenn trainer held up a finger. "Ah ah ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you. I am their trainer, but even I can't tell you what they will do."

He pointed behind Daniel, who saw a Leafeon and Glaceon right behind him. They were tensed up for any form of movement. As soon as Daniel turned around, Caleb grabbed him by the collar of the shirt.

"Anabel is my friend. By association, so is Ash. If you caused any permanent damage to him, I don't plan on letting the police touch you. So you better hope he is alive." Caleb whispered in a low, though very threatening tone.

Daniel gulped as he could tell this guy was serious. Caleb set the guy down, but made sure he was being watched by Leafeon and Glaceon. He took a glance and sighed.

"We know you're stubborn Ash. Let's hope that trait will pay off." He muttered under his breath.

.........

Anabel stood up with her hand clenched over her chest as fear took over her. It wasn't like she was afraid of what the others he knew would think, as that was the last thing on her mind. Upon instinct she took a few steps forward, but froze when she heard a moan coming from the smoke.

The smoke dissipated to reveal an Ash that was lying down in the crater. He had cuts and blood and burn marks all over him. His clothes were tattered with many holes in them, which only revealed more bloody spots underneath.

Anabel ran forward and cradled his head in her arms as she felt for a pulse. When she did, she let out a sigh of relief, but she didn't stop there. "Maron, help me get him to the doctor."

Maron ran forward and picked up the trainer gently. Pikachu hopped up on Maron's shoulder and began to look at his trainer with fear and concern. Maron moved to the elevator while Anabel looked around. "Whoever did it, I will find you. And you will not get away."

As she ran for the elevator, nobody noticed two men and two eeveeloutions taking the backup staircase down as one of them mumbled about an interrogation and unrelenting associates...

Well that sounds terrifying. But what did you expect? I liked messing with this chapter, albeit this took a bit. But what did you all think? Let me know. Comment Question: What is your favorite Dark type? I would take Zoroark. I just like it a lot. But regardless, have a great day.

-Bl0t0rch