The room was very cold. The young boy's footsteps echoed in the large, bare room. He was too anxious to feel the cold; nevertheless, he shivered violently as he walked, clutching his jacket close to him with gloved hands. A Pikachu crept by his side, trembling with fear. It eyed the simple arena etched into the icy floor apprehensively as they approached it. "Piiiii..." it murmured anxiously. "Don't worry, Pikachu." The boy smiled down at the Pokemon. "We can do this." A thin woman waited patiently at the far end of the room. The boy could barely make her out. As he stepped into the ring, she stood up straight and tilted her head curiously in his direction. "Lorelei!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "I challenge you to a battle!"
"Look at it!" Ash Ketchum exclaimed for about the fourth time that day. He admired the new badge proudly. "It's so shiny. . . and so round. . . look at it, Misty!" Misty sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, Ash. You showed me about half an hour ago." The ten year old tapped the Earth Badge with his finger, smiling contentedly. "You're just jealous, Misty, 'cause you don't have the last badge!" He let his jacket fall closed. "And I do!" The water gym leader closed her eyes and counted to ten, sorely tempted to smack her friend in the back of his head. "I don't really want one, Ash," she forced out between gritted teeth. "After all, I'm a gym leader. Gym leaders don't 'do' badges." Ash scoffed. "Yeah, right. Great excuse." "Actually, Ash, she's right," Brock added casually. "Why would we want to get badges? It would be kind of unfair." Ash glared at his older friend. "I didn't ask you, Brock," he muttered. Misty laughed despite herself. "Okay, so now you've got the eighth badge, Ash." She changed the subject artfully. "Where to now?"
The woman didn't even flinch as her Lapras gave one last, pain-filled roar and collapsed in the icy water, unconscious. The boy laughed and, holding out a Pokéball, called his Charizard back. "So much for you, Lorelei! I've beaten you!" The young woman nodded slightly. "So you have," she agreed quietly. "But I am only one of five. You have proved yourself once, Ash Ketchum. But you have not won yet." The boy laughed again. "Show me to my next challenger, Lorelei." The ice trainer smiled slightly. "Follow me."
"Indigo Plateau, of course!" Ash grinned. "Where else?" Misty exchanged an anxious look with Brock. "Uh, are you sure you want to go straight there, Ash?" the rock trainer asked hurriedly. "Yeah, I mean, you've only caught eleven Pokémon! Don't you think you should catch some more before you try on the Elite Four?" Misty added quickly. "And the Pokémon you've got currently. . .their levels are so low! You should probably train them a little more before you put them up against so many strong trainers," Brock nodded sagely, looking at his younger friend with a bit of desperation in his eyes. Ash didn't notice his two friends' strange behavior. "Don't worry! My Pokémon are the strongest around! If I could beat Giovanni, then I can beat the Elite Four!" He started down the road, his spirits high. The two gym leaders, after a moment, followed. An interesting somberness hung in the air between them.
The Onix crumpled to the dirt floor of the second arena without a sound. The second gym leader, a brawny, muscular man grunted, and called the fainted Pokémon back. "Well, you lucked out," he muttered. "But I doubt your luck'll carry ya past the third of us." The boy spritzed a Recover on his ailing Squirtle and smiled fearlessly. "We'll see about that, Bruno."
Indigo Plateau was more beautiful than he had ever imagined. He'd always dreamed of standing before it, but he'd never thought of it seriously. But now… "Look out, Elite Four!" he yelled dramatically. "You're about to meet your match!" He started for the door. "Ash?" He stopped, and turned back to his two friends. "Yeah?"
The ghost Pokémon didn't stand a chance. The boy had had one Pokémon faint during the battle, but, in the end, the result was clear: his five triumphed over the old woman's zero. She laughed, and the cackle chilled him at the back of his neck. "Well, well, well. Maybe you are something. Maybe you will beat us." Her eyes glinted in a not-friendly way. His eyes shone back defiance. "You bet I will."
Brock and Misty regarded him solemnly. Ash was taken aback. He'd never seen the two of them like this before. They were so…. serious. So melancholy. He suppressed a gasp. Was that a tear in Misty's eye? Why was Brock's jaw set like that? "Don't worry, guys!" he said, one last time. "I'll beat them! Everything will be fine. I'll meet you guys at the Pokémon Center tonight, okay?" They didn't answer his question.
He had beaten Lance. *Lance.* "Don't be so cocky yet, boy. You've still got one more to fight. You haven't won yet." But he had won. He knew he had.
"Goodbye, Ash," Misty said, and she turned away before he could reply. His other friend stepped forward and, after a moment's hesiattion, laid a hand on his shoulder. "You're the best, Ash," Brock said gruffly, and then he too walked resolutely away. Ash was in shock. "What are you doing?" he shouted shrilly to their backs. "What's the matter? I'm going to win! You know I'm going to win! Everything's going to be okay!"
He had always been able to beat Gary. Today was no exception. No exception, but this: his old rival, his old friend, the other boy from Pallet Town, he looked haggard. His face was puffy and his eyes were red. Gary Oak fought emotionlessly, and perhaps that is why Ash Ketchum won so easily. At any rate, he won. He had beaten the League. He had beaten the League. "Wait till I tell Misty and Brock! And Mom! And Professor Oak!" He was ecstatic. It was exhilarating. He was so happy, he failed to see them close the door behind him.
She couldn't stop the tears from coming, and so she turned away before he could see. As she walked away, she could hear him shouting after her: "I'm going to win! You know I'm going to win! Everything's going to be okay!" It was the last part that made her begin to sob, and she quickened her pace, hurrying away from the boy who had unintentionally ruined her life. She silently replied to his frantic cries. "You are going to win. I *do* know you're going to win. "And nothing is going to be okay. Never again."
The slam of the door broke through his euphoria. He turned. "Huh?" He blinked. He didn't understand. "What's going on?" Lance stood there, and Agatha, and Bruno, and Lorelei. Ash glanced at Gary, and the boy's eyes were haunted. "I'm sorry," his old rival said, and his voice was so broken, so utterly lost. "I'm sorry." Ash swallowed hard. He turned back to the Elite Four. "What-" he started to ask again, and Lance held up his hand for silence. "It is just *such* a shame," the Dragon Trainer said, his smile wry, "especially you being as young as you are. But you've beaten the Elite, and now you're at the top of the League." "So?" and his voice caught in his dry throat. Lorelei, Agatha, and Bruno chuckled, and Lance's smile grew even wider. "Why, my boy," he continued, "don't you understand? More people will come; more challengers will try to beat the League. And you, being the best, must help us fight them off." The door was locked, he knew it without even having to check. "Help?" he echoed. "It's our duty, as the Elite," and it was then that Ash could see that the eyes of the Four were completely blank, and he knew that they had long ago given up hope. It was then that he noticed their skin was pale, pale white, and he suddenly realized that none of them had seen the sun for a long long time. And it was then that he saw the arena etched on the cold floor, and it was then that he knew he was trapped. He looked back to Gary. "Why didn't you tell me?" he shrieked, eyes wild, eyes desperate, crying without realizing it, without caring about it. "I couldn't! None who knows can! They can't tell! If they told, no one would challenge the League. They can't tell!" His voice was high and frantic. "Who knows?" and Ash Ketchum could not see the Elite Four standing behind him, or the Pikachu whimpering and tugging at his pant leg, or at the tears coursing down his cheeks. He could only see the wild, lost face of Gary Oak, and it was on this which he focused. "Who couldn't tell? Who knew?" "The gym leaders. All of them," and Ash stopped hearing, though Gary continued feverishly, "You beat the Elite Four, and you join the Elite Four. And no one can tell. No one could have warned us!" And now Gary was crying, too. A funny emptiness filled Ash's mind, and the last thing he thought of before his former life and dreams and complete freedom were totally obliterated was of two friends who were not waiting for him outside in the sun that he would never see again, because they had known all along. They had both known. One conspiracy, and a number of individuals bound to keep its secret by solemn oath. One boy, and one trap, and two people who had loved him, but could not have saved him. Never again. *SNAP*
