Author’s Note: I don’t know where I got the idea for this, but I think there’ll be more... I don’t own Pokémon, and please R&R! ^^

I’m sitting at my desk---

yet more papers---

and I see him come in---

with a package.

“Hello, Mr. Ketchum,”

I say.

(He’s been the champion for years

and he’s still younger

than the others...)

I recognize the package--

TM 29--

and I watch.

He goes into his office,

looks at all the papers,

sighs,

then looks at that photograph

the way he always does--

The picture that’s of him

and some girl

and some boy

and the legendary Pikachu--

all gone.

That one day...

The day that

should’ve been the best

of his life...

When he beat the League--

when the odds were so against him--

that exhilarating moment

when the crowd is hushed, you’ve won...

All shattered

in one moment

that one moment

when they came...

That poor guy, I think, as always,

most everyone he loves gone,

in one moment, in the moment

that should’ve been so bright...

But you can’t control fate--

or Team Rocket...

He puts down the photo

and blinks his tears away;

He can’t break down--

he’s the Master,

the leader of good,

commander of the forces,

heaven knows what would happen

if they ever saw him cry...

There he is, strong again,

and he sits down at his desk,

and he opens up the package

like he’s always done before.

There it is, on his desk,

a big tangle of wires,

and keyboards, and of switches,

to teach Pokémon moves.

He stares at it in awe,

almost reverence,

and it happens,

what I’ve been watching for.

Those chocolate-brown eyes light up,

lost in the tangle of wires,

freed for one moment

from that day ages before.

I see the boy so many remember,

the boy so good and happy,

innocent, incredible--

A true angel on earth.

Of course I’ve heard the stories--

so many people tell them,

stories of the small boy

who in essence saved their worlds.

The Chosen One, now Master,

and the greatest one ever,

everyone smiles and nods and says

they knew it all along...

Suddenly,

he remembers,

what that machine is for.

The machine will teach a move.

It will make Pokémon stronger,

stronger to beat Team Rocket,

stronger than before.

And just like that,

the boy is gone.

He’s locked back inside there--

Or maybe not, I see:

He’s still there, really,

just hidden there, and burdened

by the deaths, and war today.

He takes a Pokéball,

and calls out the Pokémon,

the Pokémon who’s been chosen

to learn this special move.

The Pokémon is happy--

he has a way with them,

he’s always had a way,

and somehow you can tell--

he has a gift.

(Though I think

he’ll never love again--

at least not the way he did that girl,

or his Pikachu.)

He boots up the machine,

and as it thrums with power,

he asks the Pokémon,

“Is it all right with you?”

That’s why he is a legend,

in a nutshell, I believe;

he knows Pokémon have souls,

and that they aren’t just things.

He uses the TM,

shows the Pokémon the move...

Then he recalls him,

and starts on the paperwork,

and I start typing again...

But I’m watching,

hours later,

when Ash Ketchum

picks up his photo again,

thinks that no one’s watching,

and remembers,

and remembering,

puts his head down...

And he cries......