Chapter 5:

Ash collapsed on his bed, sobbing, shaking. He couldn't believe what he had just done. First Mellanie tries to get him to do something he swore he would never do again, reminding him of all the times he had played before, which was not fair! That was blackmail (sort of), and then, Squishy did something which he didn't understand, but still felt. Under that scrutinizing gaze, he knew that Squishy could read him like a book. He felt that the little green blob knew all his secrets, which wasn't that impossible, because Squishy was probably some kind of legendary. He had studied legendaries after Sinnoh, but always acted like he had no idea what they were, and always hid the trauma that came with meeting one. The only time anyone could see the trauma would be when Ash wakes up in the middle of the night, breaking out into a cold sweat, tears running down his face. He could only thank Mew (not Arceus, that guy hates him, Mew was always nice, I mean, she did bring him back from those blobs in the thing that I won't talk about because I feel like that is one of the things that hit Ash the hardest, I mean, Lucario dies for Mew's sake!) that no one heard him sobbing in the night, always close to breaking completely, but never actually getting there, which he was definitely thankful for. He heard a knock on the door, and fruitlessly tried to wipe away the tears streaming down his face.

Ash? You there? Mellanies' voice sounded in his head.

Yeah. Um. . .c'mon in, I guess? Even in his head that sounded pathetic.

Mellanie opened his door and came in. Ash. . .if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm there.

Ash sucked in a breath. It had been a long time since he had cried in front of his friends. He didn't like to, because he was supposed to be strong, supposed to be the hero, not weak. But he had cried in front of his friends, and now he felt weak, afraid, which is stupid, because the hero is never afraid! But he was, and he couldn't help it, so he threw himself at Mellanie, who had seated herself on the edge of his bed and cried his heart out.

Mellanie's eyes widened, as her brother sobbed and sobbed, getting her skirt wet, but that didn't matter. She held him, rocked him, traced circled in his back. She didn't tell him to calm down, he needed this, to let out all of his bottled up emotions. He cried until he couldn't cry anymore, but he kept his head in Mellanie's lap, which she didn't mind, her brother needed her, she would be there for him anytime. And that's how their friends found them an hour later, Ash asleep in Mellanie's lap, with her rubbing his back.

1 hour earlier:

Bonnie was confused. First Squishy did something that she didn't understand, then Ash and his friends start singing, and then Ash runs into the Pokemon center crying, which was the weirdest part of all this. Ash had cried! She had never seen him cry before, not when releasing Goodra, or losing an important battle. She had no idea what was happening, but she intended to find out, kid or no kid.

She was about to march right over there and demand answers, when she saw Mellanie go inside the Pokemon Center, presumably to follow Ash.

Leaf and Gary exchanged a look and went to where Bonnie, Serena and Clemont were. Gary started to speak.

"I suppose we owe you guys an explanation."

Bonnie nodded. She wanted to know what was going on, and she wanted to know now!

Leaf took a deep breath.

"When we were kids," she began, looking at Gary, "Gary, Mellanie, Ash, and I were in a band together. We did everything together, from school to exploring the forest, and helping out Professor Oak at his lab. We were practically inseparable. One day, about nine years ago, on Ash's 7th birthday, Mellanie, Gary and I got Ash a gift that would soon become his most prized possession. It was a guitar, something Ash had always wanted. He played every day, making up music as he went along. He soon became the best musician in Pallet Town, even better than my mom, who was an amazing drum player. She also taught me how to play the drums, while Gary played the bass and Mellanie played the keytar. You have to understand, when we were younger, Ash was. . .kind of an outcast. No one really wanted to be friends with him except us. Gary and I were pretty popular, and Mellanie had a few friends outside us, but we were the only friends Ash had. When we were 9, Gary for some reason started to drift away. He hung out with the town bullies, and stopped hanging out with us as much. We didn't think much of it, he was still our friend, but one day, everything changed."

She stopped, looking at Gary for confidence, who in turn gave a sad smile and encouraged her to move on.

"Gary's parents died in a car crash, on their way back from Viridian City. Gary was devastated, as were all of us. But Gary took it to extremes. He stopped hanging out with Ash completely, instead resorting to bully and tease him. He still hung out with Mellanie and I, but we were disgusted by his behavior towards Ash. One day, he went too far. He started out by calling Ash an idiot, but soon started insulting his guitar playing, even going as far as to say he should have never got it for him."

Gary winced, unpleasant memories assaulting him, it was enough to give him a headache. Leaf shot him a worried glance, but continued.

"Finally, he ended with saying he wished he had never met Ash."

Her audience gasped, they had no idea! At that point, Gary stepped in and took over.

"I realized my mistake, but my 'friends' stopped me from following Ash, who had run into the forest. My 'friends' said I had made the right choice, and I couldn't do a thing, so I just went on teasing and belittling Ash." He gave a bittersweet smile. "From that day on, Ash swore never to play his guitar again, no matter how much he loved it and wanted to. He stopped going to school, he stopped doing anything with anyone, instead opting to go out into the forest and play with the local Pokemon. I wanted to stop, but I guess I had just gotten into the bad habit of teasing him, so whenever we met on our journeys I kept being an ass to him. I stopped, however, after Ash had beaten me at the Silver Conference. He said he didn't blame me, that he would be happy to be friends again, and slowly we began to rebuild our relationship. I guess. . .I never apologized, even after all these years. I want to, but Ash will just brush it off and say that it was all in the past, that it doesn't matter anymore. I wish he'd stop being so optimistic, that he'd let himself be sad for once. I don't get it, why is it always him that has to be the hero! Can't he just have a break!?"

At this, he broke off and started muttering angrily, until Leaf calmed him down. Bonnie just stood there, gaping, trying to digest what she had heard. Ash, her hero, her pseudo big brother, had been bullied? Had been teased, and taunted, and treated like dirt? Ash, always the optimistic one, had such a tragic backstory. She wanted to go back in time and stop them from doing that, but she couldn't. She wasn't able to time travel. But, there was something she could do.

"I'm going inside. I want to be there for Ash!"

"Denene!"

She went inside and up the stairs to Ash's room, her friends following. She was about to barge in, when Clemont shook his head and knocked. They heard soft footsteps, and Mellanie gently opened the door. She put a finger to her lips, and motioned to the bed, where Ash was fast asleep, tear tracks still visible on his face.

They trooped downstairs, and sat at a table. "How is he?" asked Serena worriedly. Mellanie gave a soft smile.

"He's all cried out."

"This is all my fault."

Everyone's head swiveled around to Gary, who had a frown on his face. Mellanie looked towards Leaf, who nodded. "And why is it your fault?" asked Mellanie.

"If I hadn't been such a jerk, Ash would still play guitar. He would have never had to go through what he did, and, and, ugh!"

Leaf laid a hand on Gary's arm. "It's not your fault," she said gently.

"Yes it is!" Gary burst out. "If I hadn't been such a dick, if I hadn't lashed out, if I had just stayed by his side-"

He was cut off by a ringing sound. He brought his hand slowly to his cheek, where a red mark was clearly visible.

Leaf dusted her hands.

"Snap out of it! Sure you were a little bastard when we were kids, but you changed. Yes, there are some things you could have done a little differently, but that's in the past. What happened happened. It's over, you can't change it. So shut up and instead of ranting how bad of a friend you were back then, maybe focus on being a good friend now!"

Leaf was breathing heavily by the end of her outburst. Everyone, including the Pokemon stared at her in amazement. She calmed down, looking embarrassed. "I-sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out like that."

"No, I'm sorry, I was being an idiot. Thanks."

Mellanie had enough. "Just kiss and make up already would ya?" she asked, annoyed. Leaf and Gary blushed. After that, the 6 of them talked until it was time for bed.

The next morning, Leaf, Gary and Mellanie said their goodbyes. Everyone was sad that they had to go, but they promised they'd meet up again. And so, Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena went on to the road of becoming a Pokemon Master, and the Kalos Queen. (they didn't mention what had happened the previous day, and Mellanie took Ash's guitar with her.)