haven't done ash x steven in a long time! enjoy children :)

(serena is not the only pokegirl i have a problem with. hint hint)

i feel like i'm about to be slightly controversial so. wish me luck guys. and if you disagree with me, that's alright, i'd love to hear what you think, as long as you present your opinions respectfully (tldr: please don't type in all caps lIKE THIS)

--PLEASE READ THE DISCLAIMERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE BEFORE COMMENTING--

TW: ab*se, mental illness

Kalos was shining in the eyes of Champion Steven Stone today. The newly rebuilt Prism Tower and other structures had looked as if they weren't sprawling with sharp red vines just a few weeks ago. People and Pokemon's happy faces brightened up as they did before when they saw him, as if they were never frozen in fear of the world ending right before their eyes. The sky was clear blue with a perfect number of clouds, not that cursed maroon color he didn't want to be reminded of, where the washed-out-pink clouds were thrown all over the place.

No, it wasn't like that anymore. And hopefully, thanks to himself, the Gym Leaders, he-with-the-blue-scarf-who-shall-not-be-named, those three young trainers, and the best of all...Ash. It would never be like that again.

Even thinking about the young boy's name snatched the weight out of his chest. He'd only seen him a few times in Hoenn and just recently in Kalos, but he couldn't deny how he felt when he saw the boy smile, or heard his laugh. If things went as he planned, soon enough, he would be the reason for those smiles and laughs. 

Coincidentally, as he was thinking about him, he happened to see Ash in an alleyway as he was passing by. Except he wasn't smiling. And he definitely wasn't laughing.

In fact, he wasn't even moving.

A man with a punk-like appearance, spiky red hair, silver earrings and dark, jagged clothes came into view. But it wasn't his hair or clothes Steven was focusing on. His entire face was contorted into a wrinkled rage, eyes squinting in frustration, teeth grinding each other to shreds. It gave Steven an idea of what his face should look like when he got to murdering this man for laying a hand on his beloved.

"You...said...you...would...win! You p-...you promised!", the man grunted, pausing in between words to throw another punch. 

Steven was expecting himself to intervene, he was sure he wan't scared. He was more shocked. He never thought someone like Ash would get beaten up by anyone who wasn't part of a Team, although this guy did look like he could belong to Team Skull, he was just another Trainer in the Kalos Region who must've misinterpreted his words. Ash would never knowingly break a promise. Even if he'd made two promises that contradicted each other, he would figure out how to do both at once to his best ability. That's the kind of person he was.

His eyes shifted their focus to a shiny object emerging from the guy's pocket, and that's when he came to his senses.

"You pathetic little shi--"

The guy was about to strike the raven-haired boy when he felt an intimidatingly firm hand catch his own. He wished he never turned around when he saw the Champion of Hoenn in his face with a glare promising death.

"I won't kill you, but I'll make you beg for it if you don't run for your life at this second"

The punk disappeared from his sight before he could utter another word, stupidly leaving the knife behind in his hurry to escape Steven's wrath. But that didn't make him any happier. The damage had already been done; Ash was unconscious, but he could probably still feel the bruises and grazes covering every inch of his body.

He swiped an arm under his legs to carry him to a hospital, when he noticed his eyes fluttering open.

"Mnh...", Ash groaned almost silently.

Steven gently placed him back against the wall and patiently waited for him to regain enough consciousness.

"Are you alright?"

Ash was more than half-awake now, but still didn't respond. He had an empty look in his eyes, as if his mind was somewhere else. Steven wanted to assume he was just finding it hard processing the situation, but to his concerned surprise, he processed it a bit too well.

"Of course. This happens every day, and I'm always fine. Why wouldn't I be now?"

"This guy has been doing this to you every day?", Steven asked desperately, clinging onto the younger boy.

"Yeah, he..."

Ash's explanation was cut off when he realized he was somewhere else than wherever he was seemingly dreaming about. He perceived the man in front of him, although he wasn't sure why he was in front of him.

"O-...Oh! It's you! S-Steven Stone! The Champion!"

Usually Steven would be flattered to be recognized and would run a hand through his hair to ready it for a picture, but those things couldn't matter less to him now.

"Yeah, whatever. Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Steven was taken aback by how unaware the poor boy was about his own situation. Had he still not processed what had happened? But he had to have understood by now, because he answered his question earlier, saying it was happening every day. He wasn't showing any signs of acknowledging his pain either.

"Because some lowlife was about to stab you like a minute ago", Steven explained, bewildered, holding up Ash's arms to show him, "Where do you think these bruises came from?"

Ash still didn't seem disturbed, but his face showed that he understood what had happened. 

"Aren't you shocked?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, y-yeah. Thanks for saving me"

"No, not that. I'd save you any day. But you just got beaten up, and you almost died just now. You should be scared! Not that I'd ever want you to be scared, but normally you would feel..."

Steven's words trailed off into disbelief after seeing the boy's face didn't change.

"No. The only thing I feel right now is hungry"

Perhaps he still wasn't fully awake yet. 

"Alright, we'll talk about this later, but for now we need to get you to a hospital"

"A what? I-I don't think I need--"

"Yes you do! Let's go--"

Steven forgot how to speak when something heavy collided and brought a sharp pain to his head. He stumbled to the ground, holding his head and wincing.

"Hey, watch where you're going! I'm a Champion, you know!"

"Yeah, so am I"

Steven's eyes squinted at the introduction. Was it Diantha? No, her voice wasn't that deep, and the strange familiarity of this guy's voice obliged him to think he was annoying. Diantha was always very graceful, she hardly ever ran and bumped into people like this idiot just did.

"Alain!", he heard from a much prettier voice.

He looked up and, to his dismay, this idiot was in fact the newest Champion of the Kalos Region. Why did he have that worried, angry look on his face?

"What are you doing--"

"Looking for Ash...", Alain said, sounding horrified, pushing past Steven and kneeling down to the youngest.

Oh, he found Ash alright. But he wasn't on his own, and out of everyone in the entire Region, he just had to be accompanied by Steven.

"Wh-What did you do?! Even if this wasn't you, you didn't protect him? How could you--Ash? Ash! Are you okay? Who did this to you?"

Alain fussed over him as if he was his guardian, checking him arms and legs and holding his face so he could look at him closely.

"Me?! I saved him! If it wasn't for me, he would've been stabbed"

"You couldn't have been fast enough to stop him from being stabbed after just seeing him; your reflexes aren't that great. You must've saw him before that, which means you didn't save him immediately. He probably would've been able to protect himself"

"He was unconscious!"

"Unconscious?", Alain screeched, getting to his feet to be face-to-face with Steven, and pulling Ash up by the hand with him, "And you still didn't save him straight away?!"

Ash wasn't alarmed whatsoever before, but he was panicking a little right now. Everything was spinning, and his senses were limited to these men coming at each other's throats.

"Guys--"

"How do you know, you weren't even there! For all I know, you could've seen it too, that's why you appeared here so suddenly"

"Alain--"

"Hold on, Ash", Alain interrupted as he faced Steven, "So you're accusing me now? You were the first at the scene. If anything, not stopping it right away makes you an accomplice"

"Why you--"

His vision started to fizz, and everything was beginning to sound like he was underwater. He felt a heavy weight on his chest trying to suffocate him, and a ring that made its way into his head from nowhere.

"Y...You guys...", he pleaded, holding his hands up to try to separate them.

But they continued to scream, like wild, ruthless Pokemon, arguing about his situation and not even paying attention to the boy himself.

"You only became Champion, what, like a month ago? So don't be acting all high and mighty--what was that noise?"

"Oh, don't try to distract me"

"No, I'm not. It was quiet, sounded like something light fell"

Alain took his word for just a second to see if it had anything to do with Ash, but ignored it once he saw him lying on the ground.

Oh, wait. Ash was lying on the ground.

Ash was lying on the ground.

"Ash!"

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Ash thought that when he woke up, maybe he'd be able to see lines and shapes like normal. He knew with experience that that wouldn't always be the case.

He was able to make out a dark room, with dirty, ruptured walls and a ceiling, and a slightly open door letting some light in, illuminating a broken green bottle and a red liquid inside of it spilling out onto the rusty wooden floor from which nails could be seen peeking out of.

This room was a very familiar one, but that didn't reassure him in the least. In fact, he was sick of seeing it.

"I didn't make it out...", he whispered to himself, "I wanted to see one, just one drop of sunlight today"

That ringing sound slipped back into his head, and his vision started to morph into something else. Suddenly the walls became clean, the room was bright, and there were two people in front of him.

"What is he talking about...?"

"Are you stupid? He's probably just muttering while waking up"

"You are an ill-tempered trainer, and even worse as a Champion"

He could still recognize the room, through. He was sure he stayed here at least once before.

Alain stood over him and leaned close, worry soaking his face.

"Ash? Can you hear me?"

Ash gave a small, affirmative nod and a smile. Alain exhaled in relief, caressing Ash's hand with his own without realizing.

"Where am I?"

"This is Professor Sycamore's Lab, Ash. Before you start feeling bad, he wanted you to stay here, and so did I"

Steven jumped in, taking up the other half of Ash's vision with his face.

"Although you really should be at my house. It's a lot more comfortable, and unlike this shabby place, we have proper healthcare facilities"

Alain's eyes peered with temper at his rival.

"You do realize this is a lab? It's basically a hospital that does research"

"Sure, sure. Call it that if you want. But I heard Team Rocket broke into here more than once. Not so secure for a hospital, is it?"

"Guys!"

This time, they actually turned to Ash instead of ignoring him. He sat up slowly, which made them feel bad as he looked tired and weak, but they had just been arguing once again.

"It doesn't matter where I stay. I won't need to for long, anyway, right?"

"...The Professor was really worried about you, Ash", said Alain, anger replaced immediately with concern, "You're hurt. And you're too calm about it"

Ash faced down with guilt that he somehow managed once again to make people worry. And just a few days before leaving the Region, as well.

"Stay here for a little while longer. At least file a police report. I'll contact your parents and--"

"No!"

Even Ash was surprised at his own sudden outburst, lowering his hand shakily after, but those last few words struck an impenetrable fear into him.

"No?"

Steven furrowed an eyebrow. From what he'd seen so far, apart from losing his loved ones, there was nothing this kid could fear, even death itself. So why was he freaking out at the mention of his parents?

"I-I mean...I don't want them to worry. My mom gets really scared every time something happens to me. It's better if I sit her down and tell her when I go back"

That seems more like something he would do. But he still felt like something was off.

"...Alright", Alain agreed, "But still, stay here for a few more days, okay? You still haven't fully recovered from Team Flare yet, either"

"Also", Steven jumped in, "You can't resist an order from the Champion", he said, smirking.

"Thank you Steven"

"I meant me"

Stifling a giggle, Ash nodded hesitantly. He'd just have to keep it a secret, then. 

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Alain checked a second time to see if Ash was sleeping before carefully pulling his phone out of his pocket. 

What? Ash collapsed and he needed to make sure his belongings were safe...not like he stole his phone just so he could hold is knowing it had been in Ash's hands a thousand times. He thought back to the Crisis when Ash tried to take his hand, and he pulled it away. Why did he pull it away?!

It turned on for a split second and Alain saw notifications on the screen. Messages from Ash's mom. They were short and snappy, but he couldn't read them properly as he had to quickly hide the phone when Ash started fumbling around making adorable--I mean, quiet groaning sounds.

He didn't want to invade Ash's privacy, and he was planning on giving it back, but the image of those words that he never read haunted him into the idea that he should read them first. He would still give Ash back his phone afterwards. If they weren't too bad.

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Was it the moment he was dreading? Would he wake up in the exact same place he'd spent the last hundreds of mornings in?

No. Wait. The covers were too soft. He was too comfortable. His clothes were cosy and spotless. He felt too safe; this must've been somewhere else.

"Ash, are you awake?"

He almost jumped out of bed, alarmed by the random voice. But to his relief, it was just Alain, towering over him looking slightly worried.

"Ah, yeah, yeah, I am, thanks. What time is it?"

He looked to his right and grabbed his phone, except he didn't grab anything.

"Hm? Where's my phone?"

"It fell and broke when you collapsed yesterday. I took it to the shop for repairs"

"Oh. Thanks"

Alain found himself in a silence, wondering what to say next. Should he sit down and just start a friendly conversation with Ash? Or should he be honest and bring up the texts? He'd never felt this kind of awkwardness before.

"So how's being a Champion for ya?"

He sat down quickly, deciding once again not to be truthful.

"Kind of exhausting, as expected. I'm not sure how I feel about being recognized everywhere, and being asked for autographs. I never even expected to win in the first place. I only entered the Kalos League to battle you"

Might not want to start mentioning that, Alain.

"I wanted to feel...that excitement. That rush of adrenaline that I feel when I'm with you. I wanted to look across the battlefield, knowing you were feeling the same thing"

Alain? Did you forget who you're talking to?

"I liked the idea of being able to communicate with you in that way. I liked the idea of us being friends, or maybe..."

Stick to the script! You're about to confess!

A vibration in his pocket interrupted his completely unexpected monologue, which I will be notifying the Director about, by the way, and he stopped to check his phone.

"Your phone's ready. I'm gonna go pick it up"

"Y-You don't have to--"

"It's okay", Alain reassured, putting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, "Stay here and sleep a little more, Ash, okay?"

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"That's twenty dollars"

Alain handed him the money as he took the phone with his other hand. He didn't mind giving up a simple twenty dollars as long as it was for Ash. Heck, he'd empty his whole bank account for him. But that wasn't important right now. Now was the moment of truth.

"By the way, man", the shop clerk started, giving him a half-sympathetic, half-pitiful face, "I dunno if I should tell you this, but you're in big trouble"

"What? Why?"

"Your mom kicked you out for her new boyfriend. She's disowned you and everythin', sayin' how you're a loser and a disappointment. Little weird, since, you know, you're the Champion, but whatever"

Contrary to what Alain had hoped, he was right. Now he was glad he never gave Ash his phone. He took the time to be thankful that his mom was nothing like this.

"But, on the upside, your apartment in Lumiose is ready, and you got those part-time jobs you applied for"

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Professor Sycamore was understandably concerned to find out that Ash was moving out of his home in Kanto. The boy was only 17 and didn't even look like it, so he kept asking him questions about why, where would he stay, how would he provide for himself.

"I've been wanting to move out for a while, anyway. I have an apartment in Kalos, and part-time jobs, too", Ash explained with a smile.

"Is that the only reason you're moving out?", the Professor asked, refusing not to doubt there was something below the surface. Not with the way Ash was acting, but because it just didn't make sense. A few days ago he was talking about going home and telling his mom everything!

"Mhm. My mom's completely fine with it, so there's no other problems, right?"

"Hm. I guess, but I still want you to stay here for a little bit, regardless that your apartment is in Lumiose. You don't have to pay me rent, or anything. Just until you recover fully, okay?"

Although Ash was indeed far from recovery, Professor Sycamore had another motive in mind. Ash was a good kid that he'd grown to care about over the last few months he knew him, and he knew how Alain felt as well, so he was going to get to the bottom of this.

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"So, why are you here?", asked the girl in the same work vest, taking the boxes from him and stacking them onto the shelves.

Ash thought for a moment. He might as well, everyone else would figure it out sooner or later.

"My mom kicked me out", he said, "For her new boyfriend. I was already here when she told me, so I figured I might as well stay here. I'm on my own, though. What about you?"

"Wow, that sucks. I'm just here for work experience to build up my resume. I've only been here for a few months, but I already know what the manager is like"

"What do you mean?"

The friendly girl scanned the area quickly to make sure they weren't in earshot, then leaned closer to the shorter boy, cupping her mouth with her hand.

"The manager here, Bea. She's evil, and not in a cool way at all. She makes us all work extra hours for no reason, and when she can't be bothered to do something, throws the job at us instead. As if our lives aren't hard enough already, that's why we're here in the first place. But we can't complain, 'cause she could fire us on the spot.

"You especially need to watch out for her. She super sexist"

Ash gulped at that thought. He was just starting to cope with being around women, being able to talk to them and being with them alone. It scared him that all that effort could go down the drain and his symptoms would immediately worsen just because of this one person. He'd already been having symptoms over the last few days, and it's not like he could do anything about it, now that he had no medical insurance.

"Is she that bad?"

"Oh, yeah. She always goes on about how men are trash, they should go extinct, women are the superior species, all that. I don't believe in that for a second, it's stupid, but one or two of the other workers here are just as ignorant as her. Maybe she got dumped or cheated on by her boyfriend or something like that, but that's no excuse--"

The door swung open, hitting the wall behind it, as a tall, muscular woman with a tense face stormed in.

"What the hell are you two doing in here?! I'm not paying you to stand around. Avery, back to work! And you", she sneered, pointing at Ash, "Back to the till before I cut your paycheck in half, you little disease"

Ash understood what was happening, but found himself unable to move. That ringing sound found its way back into his head, making him panic more by the second. Why was he just standing there? And worse, he'd forgot to mention his condition to Avery.

"What are you doing? Get back to--"

Avery stood in front of him with her hands up, before Bea could strike him.

"Ash was just helping me finish up here"

"Are you trying to tell me that you needed a man's help to do your job?!"

"The fact that he's a boy doesn't matter. I needed help, and I asked Ash"

Scoffing, Bea turned away and stormed back out the door just as furiously.

Avery, noticing Ash had been stood still all this time and shaking slightly, went up to him gently and put a hand on his shoulder, startling him.

"Hey, you okay? Why'd you just stand still?"

Ash didn't want to go into detail. He didn't want to cause the girl anymore trouble.

"I-I'm ill...", he said, trying to summarize it.

Luckily, Avery somehow understood what he meant and patted him on the back, trying to make him feel safe.

"It's alright. We can help each other here. I won't let her lay a hand on you"

"Thank you..."

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Alain sighed with frustration as he threw himself back onto the couch. Professor Sycamore told him to get in touch with Ash's friends and notify them about the situation, but Clemont was too busy fixing Clembot, Bonnie was mulling over the fact that she couldn't keep Zygarde in her bag anymore, and Serena...well...was off limits. He didn't like the way she looked at and treated Ash, and Ash's friends were very protective of him, so he wasn't sure how they'd react finding out that Ash was there to recover. Recover from what? Why didn't you protect him? He could just imagine how many questions they'd ask. Then again, that's what he did to Steven.

"Any progress, Alain?"

Alain turned around to see the Professor standing behind him with his arms crossed.

"Oh, uh, no. Not yet. I got one call back from Bonnie, but she sounded really sad, and kinda hung up on me, so..."

"You'd think they'd be more concerned that they haven't seen Ash in a few weeks. Would they even care that about his sudden decision to move here? Do you happen to know the reason for that, by the way?"

"What?"

Alain hadn't really been paying attention to the Professor up until now, and looked up at him in a clueless manner. The Professor leaned closer, as if he was an interrogator, with firm eyes fixated on his assisstant.

"Do you know why Ash is moving out?"

Alain gulped. How would he get out of this? Lie? No. The Professor would find out eventually, and he assumed the Professor was already disappointed in him for the whole Team Flare debacle. He could sugarcoat it...but once the Professor heard it from someone else, or worse, saw the messages from Ash's mother, that might not go down smoothly.

He wasn't going to get out of this without telling the truth.

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Ash stumbled through the doorway, barely keeping a grip on his backpack handle over his shoulder with one hand, and fumbling around for the handle with another. He eventually gave up and relied on whatever weight he had to push the door closed.

Ash was used to being tired physically and mentally. But even a second that lacked alertness at work could cost him his job (or his life), thanks to his moody manager (and also the shady bandits that liked to visit the convenience store at night).

"Hey, Ash. You okay?", asked Steven, who was lazing about on the couch, but got up when he saw his crush too tired to walk.

"Mm? Oh, yeah, f...fine. Cool. Just, uh, need to use the sleep"

"Use the sleep?", Steven chuckled. Ash was so cu--I mean, comedic.

Alain didn't like that Steven reacted with suck joy, he would feel unoriginal if he reacted the same, but he laughed anyway, looking up for a second just to see if Ash was okay before looking back down at the trashcan to empty it, when he caught sight of something shiny. At that moment, Ash had went to wash his face.

Coming back out, Ash was feeling much more awake now, and was able to notice Alain staring at him as he pulled something out of the trashcan.

"Ash...", Alain began as his hand emerged from the trashcan with a red ribbon holding a golden medal attached to it, "...Why was this in the trash?"

"What? Is that not recyclable?"

Before any more words could be exchanged, Ash's phone went off. He put it to his ear and couldn't finish saying hello when he heard Avery's frantic voice, almost crying.

"Ash! Ash! Come quick! Something was stolen from the stockroom, and the manager's losing it, she's throwing stuff and--"

The line disconnected.

Dropping his phone back into his pocket, he desperately grabbed his bag and hurried out the door with a quick, "Gotta go to work, see you later"

Steven's finger slowly pointed towards the door as it slammed against the wall, echoing loud enough for the Professor to come racing in.

"Didn't he just come back from work?", asked Steven.

"Something's wrong", Alain panted as he grabbed his own bag and dipped a hand in his pocket for his keys, rushing towards the door, "Ash has been acting weird lately. Since we found him in that alleyway, he's being acting strange when he wakes up, talking like he doesn't know where he is. He's anxious all the time, that new job that's supposedly just at a convenience store is draining his energy, and now his Kalos League medal is at the bottom of the trash can?"

"Now that you mention it", Steven added, "He still hasn't reacted to being beaten by that guy"

"You think this might be something to do with being disowned by his mother?", Sycamore queried.

"We'll figure it out on the way--"

Alain wasn't usually one for breaking the law, Steven wouldn't dare risk his Champion status, and the Professor was a respectable middle-aged man that obeyed the rules. But I mean it when I say it's a miracle they didn't get pulled over, running every red light that shone their way and disrespecting the speed limit so bravely. They didn't get into an accident, either! Perhaps they were going too fast for the police to get them...

Making their way closer to the convenience store, they caught sight of a familiar, tiny boy in a convenience store vest and a woman of much larger stature looking as if she was about to slap him.

"Tell me!", she screamed, "Where did you hide them?! WHERE?! I know you stole them. You wanted to get revenge on me because I put you in your place. I'll show you who's the boss here--"

This time, before someone could lay a hand on Ash, it was Alain whose face appeared when they turned around to see who caught their hand. 

"You move that hand one inch closer to him, and it's the last time you'll see it"

The woman was not at all flustered to see two Champions and the Professor of the Region standing before her and, even more so, confronting her, but instead she scoffed at the mere sight of them.

"What do we have here? Three more?", she yelled almost insanely, "You're all just tiny little men to me right now. I could crush you all this instant if I wanted to. Surely you could see that"

She wasn't wrong there. You'd have to either be a bodybuilder of some sort, have extreme confidence or not care less about having your bones broken to not be intimidated by this woman. 

But Alain and Steven's fears disappeared the moment they realized Ash was in danger. 

"Not if we crush you first", Alain belted out, keeping his chin high.

The woman scoffed again, laughing in pity for them.

"Well, guess what? That's not happening. And you know why?"

No. Bestow us with your intelligence, O Wise One.

"'Cause all of you are men. You can't touch me. Who do you think they'd take more seriously, a woman reporting assault from a man or the other way around?"

The three backed down with the realization that although, morally, she was wrong, factually, she was right. She could hit them until their skin turned red and the most sympathetic response would probably be to 'man up'. But one act of self-defense could cost them their careers.

reminder from author-san: please read the disclaimers at the bottom of the page before commenting. thank you.

But wasn't that rule only a thing because of strength? If it's anything to do with etiquette, really, no one should slap anyone, and Bea's actions were far beyond any sense of etiquette as this point. But she was obviously much stronger than Ash, so what reasons were there that he shouldn't defend himself?

"Ha...now that you three are out of my way", she scorned, turning back to Ash, "Now it's time to give you a good--"

"Apologize to me"

Alain, Professor Sycamore and Steven's mouths dropped as they stared at him, wide-eyed. Even Bea was taken back by his sudden demand, lowering her hand a little before it swung down onto his face.

"W...W-What did you say?"

"I said...", Ash almost growled, raising his head to face Bea with his furious, teary eyes, "Apologize to me"

Once again, Bea scoffed, rolling her eyes and folding her arms in a sassy manner.

"Me, apologize to you? Me, a strong, beautiful, mature woman, apologize to a pathetic man who doesn't even look his age, and has the appearance of a child? You must be incredibly entitled to think that I owe YOU an apolo--"

"APOLOGIZE TO ME!"

Neither of the three men on the sidelines had ever seen Ash scream like that. He was enthusiastic when it came to battling, but that was good energy. They'd never seen him express frustration like he was now. 

"What did I ever do to you?! What did I do, to make you want to treat me like this? I was born a man. Is that it? And is that mY FUCKING FAULT?!"

One would think, merely from Ash's high-pitched voice, that it was a child having a tantrum. But if you saw him, if you saw his face, and the way his whole body trembled while trying to stand still, then you'd know it was one of the most mature things he'd ever done, to stand up for himself and not resort to violence.

"WHY IS THAT A BAD THING?! IS IT MY FAULT THAT YOU HAVE BAD TASTE, AND DATED A PIECE OF TRASH 3 YEARS AGO?!"

Even Avery, who no one had noticed in the background yet, put her hand over her mouth and raised her eyebrows in shock.

"...Because by that logic, even though I don't, I should hate women, too! My mom, one of the only women I've ever known in my entire life, she hurt me, she neglected me, and now she's disowned me!"

Alain's heart sunk down to his stomach. How did he know that? Did Ash read his mom's messages before he got the chance to take his phone away? He felt like a failure for not being able to protect him.

On the other hand, this was the first Steven was hearing of this. Ash's mom disowned him? Why? In fact, he didn't care about that. Why didn't Ash tell them?

"...And she never apologized once. I'm not even sure if she knows just what she did to me. But I still moved past that. Without treatment, I still tried to be myself around women, even though I felt terrified around them. I'm not going to deny it, I'm terrified right now. But that won't stop me defending myself. So, I'll ask you one more time", Ash concluded, taking a deep breath to try to stop shivering, "Please give me the money that I worked for. Please don't ever hit, scream, or discriminate against me again. And please apologize to me"

Although it wouldn't be much to others, they could tell this moment was inconceivably brave for Ash. Knowing he was scared, knowing his mind could give in at any time, he was able to look her in the eyes and calmly ask for an apology.

"I'm sorry", said Bea, facing down, "I'm sorry...that you're such a piece of--"

"Don't touch him", ordered Avery, restraining Bea's wrists in her hands, "Or I will call the police this time"

Admitting defeat, Bea shook herself out of Avery's grasp and stomped away, her employee trailing behind her, feeling quite empowered herself.

Ash felt it happening again. The world around him spinning, every sound distorted and echoing, his whole body feeling numb. But something was different. Although he knew at the moment he was losing himself, he felt safe. He felt safe, knowing he would wake up, not trapped yet again in a dark basement, but in a pleasantly familiar place surrounded by people he knew wouldn't hurt him.

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'Name: Ash Ketchum

Date Of Birth: 22/05/2004

Age: 17

Weight/Height: 43kg/5"4'

Diagnosis: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Schizophrenia'

'Name: Delia Ketchum

Date Of Birth: 23/01/1985

Age: 36

Weight/Height: 61kg/5"7'

Charge: Domestic Abuse, Illegal Confinement, Abandonment'

Ash didn't even need them to tell him where he was. He couldn't see it, and he couldn't hear anything that indicated he was at Professor Sycamore's lab, but the atmosphere around him felt warm and welcoming. Now all he needed to do was wait for his senses to catch up.

"Ash, are you awake?"

That was Professor Sycamore's voice. Alain and Steven weren't there? 

"You think he's still hallucinating?", asked Steven, earning a sharp nudge in the elbow by Alain.

"He might still be able to hear us, you know", Alain screeched.

That's where Alain was wrong.

"There's this guy...", Ash started rambling, "That I met in Kalos"

Alain and Steven leaned in in excitement. They were about to find out which one fo them won over Ash's heart (for now)!. 

"He's tall...has these blue eyes that look kinda like the ocean...and he's a Champion"

Tall, blue eyes, Champion. Did that target either of them in particular.

"My eyes look more like the ocean, so...", Alain murmured.

To be fair, his eyes were a bit darker. Steven's were more like platinum. Oh, hell, is there even any point negotiating? Are we ever going to know who Ash's true crush is?

We've had more than 100 guesses and no conclusion. Author-san is still basking in ideas :)

6000 words goddamn 

and they're all trash

--DISCLAIMERS--

-i am aware that not everyone has the sexist mentality against men defending themselves

-this is not to say that i believe Bea, the character, would act like this, but it is easier to bring issues to light using characters that i already don't like, this applies to all characters (hence making serena act in a way that isn't acceptable, etc.)

-if i have made any misconceptions with the mental illnesses made aware in this story, please let me know politely

-i do not have a vendetta against women or have the intention of making women look bad, i'd just like to point out and discuss the ways in which i have seen some women act which i believe is wrong. that is not to say that men are never wrong either. i have targeted sexist beliefs against women in stories like Ashley