At the mention of Pikachu, Christin snapped. She grabbed the strange boy's jacket collar and held him up with a tight grip. Her eyes had the look fiery rage.

"SO YOU'RE ITS TRAINER! YOU DID THIS! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD WORK IT THIS HARD! ABUSING IT! YOU SHOULD LEARN YOUR POKEMON'S LIMITS! THEY AREN'T JUST SOME TOOL FOR YOU TO USE! YOU..."

"W-wait I didn't do anything!" the boy interrupted.

"A likely story," Christin muttered feeling her grip tighten. She glared at the boy as a subtle snarl escaped her lips. "If that's true, then who did?" she spat through gritted teeth.

"Team Rocket," the boy gasped out. Sweat poured down his forehead as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Never heard of them," Christin responded skeptically. Her stare didn't falter for a moment as she looked deep into the young man's eyes.

"They're bad guys...from Kanto," he responded between gasps. "They...steal...Pokemon."

"And how do I know your telling the truth," Christin asked.

The raven haired boy seemed to squirm in her grip which was enough for him to wriggle out of it. He dropped on to his feet, but having lost his balance, ended up falling onto his bottom. He looked up at her his chocolate brown eyes shining, looking desperate. She wanted to believe him. She really did. One look and almost every part her wanted to let her guard down and trust him.

But she couldn't.

There was still that tiny part of her that remained wary of the stranger. The tiny part that would always and forever force feed her "what ifs". What if he was nothing but lies? What if he was part of this "Team Rocket"? What if he didn't even know the Pikachu; maybe he just wanted to sell it? What if he was simply a good actor?

What if she made a mistake here?

She felt her body tense as she looked the strange boy up and down. She balled her hands up into fists as she tried to control the raging emotions coursing through her.

Luckily, Aleya entered the room, saving Christin from her misery. "Christin, who's this?" she asked glancing at the boy, with hints of fear and suspicion evident in her voice. 

Before Christin could respond, the boy jumped to his feet anxiously with wide eyes. "You have a Pikachu here, right?" Ash asked. Christin opened her mouth to respond but realized that the question wasn't directed at her.

"Um, yes," Aleya replied looking the strange boy up and down. "Why?"

"I think he might be my friend," the boy explained in a quiet voice, still struggling to catch his breath. "My partner Pokemon."

Aleya and Christin exchanged a quick look. Aleya looked back at the boy with a pitying gaze. A small smile spread across her face. Meanwhile, Christin was stifling the evident scowl on her face. An air of suspicion surrounded her as she stared through the boy. Christin watched Aleya walk closer to the boy and ask for his Pokedex, most likely to check his information and credibility. A most excellent idea.

Aleya scrolled through the information on the Pokedex carefully and critically. "Ash Ketchum?"

"That's me," the boy said, slowly rising to his feet.

"It seems you've been to many regions. Caught many pokemon."

"Yeah. I've been through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos!" 

"Yes, that's what your pokedex says. Alright then," Aleya said, handing the boy, supposedly named Ash, the pokedex. "Come with me."

With that she turned and began walking briskly and professionally down a brightly lit hall. The the walls were a pale blue that provided a sense of peace in such a tense moment while the floors were made of oak wood. There wasn't much else to look at but several pictures on the walls. Some were of Professor Spruce, the region's renowned professor. Some were of Christin herself standing with him or Aleya playing with and observing Pokemon. Some were taken in or near the lab, and others were taken in fields or in the ocean or on the beach.

Ash stared at the pictures on the wall and noticed the girl who had attacked him present in many of the pictures. He noticed one where she was sitting in the woods with several Pokemon gathered around her. He noticed a Sewaddle, Caterpie, Polywhirl, and a Fletchling as well as a strange firery puppy Pokemon Ash had never seen before. Only it's face could be seen as it poked its head out from behind her. It had floppy puppy ears and fire-fur quiff on it's head. It had big dark brown eyes that glistened with youthful wonder and excitement. The girl smiled and seemed to be in mid laughter when the shot was taken, holding the Polywhirl in her arms as she sat criss-cross applesauce.

She looks like a completely different person, Ash noted. He turned back to the girl, who was glaring daggers at him. Ash gulped and quickly turned back around to follow the woman leading them both to Pikachu.

After what seemed like an endless walk to Ash, the young woman leading him suddenly stopped. Ash had been paying so much attention to his surroundings more so than where he was walking and nearly bumped into her. To his left was a large pane of glass in the wall like a window. Ash looked through and felt a combination of relief and worry wash over him. Pikachu was laid out, unconscious, on a bed with several sterile white machines situated about the room. Though none were hooked up to Pikachu at the moment, it still filled Ash with a feeling of dread.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Ash asked, not once taking his eyes off his partner.

"He'll be just fine," the young woman assured him and Ash felt her put a hand on his shoulder as he gazed at his unconscious friend. 

The rest of what was said was drowned out by Ash's own worried thoughts. This is all my fault. I should've seen through Team Rockets disguise. I should've been able to stop them and save Pikachu. I...

"Helloooooo?" Ash heard a voice say as a hand waved in front of him. He turned to his left to see the girl from earlier, Christin, he believed, trying to get his attention. She sighed, "Did you hear anything we were just talking about?" she asked exasperatedly. 

"Uh, no sorry," Ash replied with a nervous chuckle.

Christin scowled at him in annoyance, but after a moment her expression seemed to soften...a little. There was still an obvious frown on her face as she grabbed him by the wrist and marched down the hall with him lagging behind.

"Aleya wants me to tend to your wounds while she takes care of Pikachu," Christin explained while they walked. She turned her head to look at him and looked up his arm. "Looks pretty rough," she muttered.

Ash looked down at the arm, Christin was focused on. To him, it didn't look too bad. There were some bruises and scratches here and there on that arm as well as the rest of him, but he wasn't too concerned. It was bad, but he had been through worse. "It's not that bad," he simply replied. "By the way, whose Aleya?"

"The woman you just met," Christin explained exasperatedly, turning back around towards where they were walking, "who just went in to take care of Pikachu."

"Oh."

"So why exactly are you here?" Christin asked. "My guess is you want to battle in the League, am I right?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna win and become a Pokemon Master!" Ash exclaimed, to which Christin stifled a laugh.

"What?" he asked innocently.

Christin tried her best to stop laughing and catch her breath. After a few deep breaths she replied, "I don't know. Maybe it's 'cause I haven't battled you, but I don't know how you'd become a 'master'. At least not nearly as quickly as you seem to think you will."

Ash's body stiffened and stopped walking. He planted his feet in the ground, unnmoving.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

Christin felt a tug as she tried to continue moving foward. She turned her head to see the boy staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer to his question. Christin sighed and let go of his wrist turning to face him completely. "Again, it's probably because I've never battled you, but you just don't seem...hmmm," Christin fumbled for the right word. She eventually just sighed and shrugged. "It's just a feeling I have," she replied with a quick glance behind them. She then turned back around and continued to lead them both down the hall. 

Ash followed along behind her, starting to put some of the pieces together. She doubted him because of his Pikachu. How hurt his buddy had been made her doubt his skill as a trainer. He couldn't help but wonder how long she'd been a trainer for though.

He was about to ask, but Christin spoke first. "We're here." She turned the knob on the door and they both stepped inside 

The room was practically identical to Pikachu's except there were less machines and a window in this room. One aspect Ash hadn't noticed earlier were the light gray counters and cabinets that lined the opposite walls of the room, out of sight, from the window at least.

Christin pointed to the white patient table in the center of the room and Ash took that as his cue to take a seat. He hoisted himself onto the table and waited for Christin, who returned with a handful of different little bottles. She carefully set each bottle on the table. Each was brightly colored and differed in size. She took a tiny bright blue bottle and and unscrewed the lid that sealed it shut and set said lid on the table amongst the dozens of tiny bottles. She grabbed Ash's wrist and held it out in front of her letting a few drops of the clear substance fall out of the bottle and onto Ash's wrist. Ash winced as he felt a slight stinging sensation, but it was only for a brief moment.

An awkward silence filled the air as Christin silently tended to Ash's wounds. Ash felt himself getting jittery and fidgety in the small pristine room. Ash was the type of boy who did not like to sit still. He tapped the fingers of his free hand against the white table he sat on as his eyes darted around the room.

"Getting antsy, are we?" Christin noted.

"Eh, sorry!" Ash scratched his cheek nervously. An apologetic smile spread across his face. "I just don't like sitting still."

Christin gave a small nod, not taking her eyes off the ointment bottle she was opening. 

Silence.

"So, er, are you a trainer too?" Ash asked, attempting to break the silence.

"Technically speaking, no. No I'm not," she responded, a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Technically?" Ash noted.

"I would be getting my first pokemon right now, but then all this happened," Christin bitterly spat. She grabbed cotton pad from in a cabinet under the table. She put it to the open bottle's top and turned the bottle upside down quickly a violently. She set the bottle to the side without giving it another glance and picked up Ash's hand to continue tending to it. She dabbed some of his smaller cuts with a surprisingly gentle touch before setting the cotton pad down. Ash did his best not to wince as the chemical liquid hit his open wounds. She reached under the table and pulled out a roll of gauze and went back for a box of bandaids. Carefully picking up his hand once again, she began covering the wounds on his fingers and hand with bandaids and wrapped wounds on his arm with large amounts of the gauze, tying it into a neat knot when done. She worked quickly and efficiently, finishing both arms withing minutes.

She gathered the two bottles she had used and thrust them into his palms. "You've seen how it's done. Now take care of the rest. I'll be in the hall if you need me." With that, she briskly walked out, with clenched fists. 

The door clicked shut, leaving Ash alone in the silent room.

"Well, that was... definitely something."