A/N: before I say anything else, I'm sorry to anyone still interested in this story for the ridiculous amount of time since I have updated. I've been wanting to work on this for a long time, but between work, moving and two computers crashing on me, it kind of died off for a while. I am still planning to keep working on this, though it might be fairly inconsistent with uploads, though I hope not to have another two year gap between chapters.

this chapter is not been beta'd so please be nice on the grammar please.

"Insert words here" normal voice

'Insert words here' thinking

"Insert words here" machine voice

"Insert words here" telepathy

Disclaimer: even with a couple of years of ideas, I still have no creative ways to say I don't own Pokemon.

Ch. 10: Reconciliation and Revelation

"Ah!" Ash exclaimed as he finished taking a drink of water. Looking up at the sky, he saw the sun hanging high above the road, bathing the ground in light and heat. Almost immediately he felt the heat starting to get to him again and let out a sigh, a sound many people would make these past few days.

The majority of the week since He and Cynthia left cerulean city had been consumed with a surprising heat wave, though his blonde haired companion seemed to be doing well in spite of this, much to the shock of everyone they passed on the road. At one point Ash had simply dropped any pretense of subtlety and simple spoken up.

Flashback:

"how do you do that?!" Ash yelled, jumping from the bench they had stopped to rest at when the heat got to be to much, pointing an accusing finger at the puzzled face of his friend.

"do…what?" Cynthia asked as she mentally listed off anything she was currently doing, with a growing sweatdrop. 'did the heat finally roast his brain or something' she thought as she eventually came up with nothing out of the ordinary.

Ash's eye twitched as he gestured to her sitting calmly in the sun, "this!" he yelled, "how can you just sit there in that heavy black coat and not be dying in this heat?!" by this point everyone that was nearby was staring at Ash, before they looked at the girl in front of him and all began wondering the same thing.

Cynthia's eyes widened a bit at this before she gained a surprised expression, "but it's really not that bad…" she started before Ash, as well as several other heat exhausted bystanders all interrupted her. "LIAR!" they all yelled, causing several nearby pokemon to scatter and flee from the sudden noise.

Cynthia glanced around at all the people staring and flushed as she looked down at her coat. Ash simply gave a sigh as he just stepped over to his bag and grabbed his water bottle for yet another drink to cool him down. "but it really isn't that bad" she mumbled under her breath.

Alongside her on the bench, Pikachu patted her leg with a small sigh of his own. "I don't get it either" he said, she didn't understand he knew, though she offered a grateful smile nevertheless.

Flashback end:

Taking his hat off and shaking his head, he turned to see Cynthia leaning back with her eyes closed, simply laying in the sun. they had been resting at this particular point for roughly 20 minutes at this point.

Reaching over and lightly shaking his friend, Ash decided to speak up, "I think I'm ready to move again now" he said, with a faint grimace at the thought of the number of stops they had made because of his own exhaustion. He was startled when he felt something lightly smack his forehead.

"it's fine to rest you know" Cynthia said as she stood up and stretched. "you haven't been traveling that long, and even then one of us would have called for a break eventually" she continued.

"I guess so" Ash said, knowing that, as usual, the older girl's experience was shining through. He sometimes forgot that Cynthia had been traveling longer than him, in spite of the fact she was older than he was.

Standing up and putting away what little he had out for the short rest stop, Ash gently nudged pikachu awake from his little curled up ball on the bench, receiving a somewhat annoyed yawn from the tiny mouse. Holding out his arm, Ash waited for pikachu to stretch before he took his place up on his shoulder.

With their rest break over, the two trainers walked back onto the road and resumed their trip down the sun baked road.

Half an hour later…

Cynthia glanced at the map she had pulled out in the time since their last rest break, "well we're almost to the pokemon center…" she began, before a cheer from her friend cut her off.

Rounding a slight bend in the road, the two caught sight of the pokemon center that was sitting at the base of the hill alongside the road. They also caught sight of a small figure rushing towards them, followed by the sounds of someone calling to them.

"stop that pokemon!" the voice urgently called, causing both trainers to quickly move to grab the pokemon. Following a short struggle, the two now dirt covered trainers held a small red lizard in their hands. A pokemon both of them immediately recognized.

"cha, char!" the now identified Charmander cried as it struggled to escape Ash's grasp, before it stopped and began sulking in his arms. The person who had called them now came close enough to be identified as the local nurse, she stopped in front of them before she began gasping for air.

"th-thank you" she managed to get out once she had her breathing under control. "he's been trying to run off for the last couple of days now, ever since someone brought him in from that rock out on the countryside." she explained as she carefully took the still sulking fire pokemon from Ash's arms.

" a young man came in early this week and was carrying Charmander. The poor thing was collapsed and gasping for air." she explained sadly as they walked back to the center. The traces of tears in her eyes told both trainers there was more to the story, but they left it be.

"It turns out one of the people staying at the center was Charmander's trainer, and he abandoned him out there" at this the nurse's expression changed from said to absolutely furious, and expression mirrored by both of the trainers beside her. "he was arrested thankfully, but the state his pokemon were in was horrible, though thankfully better than Charmander." she finished her explanation as the doors opened to allow them into the center.

"miss Sarah, did you find him?!" someone shouted to them as they entered the center. Seeing the puzzled looks on her two companion's faces, the nurse chuckled. "yes, two young trainers caught him before he made it to far" she called back, "and I told you, just Sarah, miss makes me feel old" she added as the owner of the voice came running into the main hall.

Both Ash and Cynthia's eyes widened in surprise as the young man stopped in front of them. "BROCK?!" they exclaimed in surprise, causing him to turn to face them.

"um…Ash and uh.. Cynthia, right?" he asked, hoping he remember correctly. Receiving a nod, he let out a sigh of relief. " how's it going?" he added as the now named Sarah took Charmander into the back, no doubt to put him in one of the rooms to rest.

"uh…fine, but what…" Ash started to ask before Brock cut him off with a cheerful laugh.

"what am I doing here?" he finished for the younger boy, receiving a nod he gestured to one of the waiting tables to sit down. "well, it turns out that my dad overheard our conversation after our match." he started as they sat down.

Flashback…

Brock waited a few moments as he watched his most recent challenger walk down the road before he put down the hand he had been waving with. With a sigh he began to walk back to the gym.

With an ease only born of habit, eventually he made it to the gym. Standing in front of the gym was a man with a worn stocking hat and a thick and poorly trimmed beard. "sorry but the gym is closed for the day" he said to the man after he closed the distance.

"that's fine" the man simply replied as he made no move to leave.

"is there something I can help you with?" Brock offered, seeing the man had no intention of leaving.

The man gave a light chuckle and thought for a moment before he replied, "I haven't seen this place in a long time" he said glancing at the gym. Seeing that he puzzled the young man who stood beside him he sighed, "I'm sorry" he said suddenly.

Brock's attention immediately turned towards the man, "for wh…" his question died as he saw the man remove both the hat and the fake beard from his head. Standing there with a look of shame covering his face, was the spitting image of himself, and the face could only belong to one man, his father. "dad?" he whispered, struggling to get his thoughts together.

"yeah, it's me" Flint replied in a low tone of voice as he looked down at his feet, unable to bring himself to meet his son's gaze.

Finally managing to bring his thoughts to some measure of order, Brock took the first step towards reconciling with his estranged father. He watched as his father's eyes shot open in surprise as his son's fist met the side of his face.

Toppling over with a grunt, flint quickly pulled himself up and lightly rubbed at his aching jaw, "is that the only one or should I wait to speak?" he asked, waiting in case he had another fist coming. When he received a nod he let out a light sigh and opened his mouth to begin the awkward conversation before his son did so for him.

"why didn't you come home?" Brock asked, skipping right to the heart of the problem.

"I left saying I'd become a pokemon master, but I was just a washout who could barely make average" Flint started with a self loathing chuckle, "I was to ashamed to show my face in town, let alone to my family." his mind flashed with images of his children and wife looking at him in awe or admiration.

"that's no excuse, mom left to look for you years ago, you should have known that we wouldn't have cared" Brock yelled angrily, feeling cheated after hearing such a petty reason for his family losing both parents because of such a petty excuse. He was surprised when his father spun around to face him with a glare, tears staining both sides of his face.

"you think I don't know that?!" Flint choked out with a light sob as he fell onto one of the benches that lined the street in front of the gym. Calming down, he put his face in his hands and refused to look up, "I'm ashamed of myself for what happened to all of you because of my pride more than anything" he quietly said, just loud enough for Brock to hear.

"dad" Brock had trouble seeing the man in front of him in the same light, hearing him tear himself down while crying into his hands. "I…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say, it was harder to hate the man knowing what he really meant when he said why he wouldn't come home, "because I'm a failure as a father and as a man". making a decision, Brock walked up to his father.

Flint expected to be subjected to another punch to the face, and he would take it as many times as necessary for the sake of the son he failed, as his son dragged him to his feet. He couldn't hide his gasp of shock as his son pulled him into an embrace. He shakily returned it as he struggled to compose himself.

"I still love you dad" Brock said as he held his father for the first time in years.

Flashback end…

Ash and Cynthia shared a somewhat awkward glance after Brock finished his story, unsure if they really deserved to hear something so personal from someone they barely knew. They were startled out of their thoughts as the teen let out a sudden laugh and returned their attention to find him giving them a knowing look.

"I don't mind sharing a story like this, it's something I'm happy to tell people about." Brock said with an overjoyed smile. "my dad took over the gym again, and my mom is finally coming home too" he paused for a moment before he laughed again as a thought occurred to him, "I wonder how she'll react when she sees him again" he said with a mischievous smirk, causing both his companions to wince at the thought.

Ash spoke up first, "so you're traveling now?" he asked, happy for the young man before him.

Brock gave a "so-so" gesture, drawing puzzled looks from both of the younger trainers in front of him. "like I said back at the gym, I've always wanted to learn pokemon care" he said, "so instead of just traveling from town to town, I've been volunteering at the different pokemon centers to learn as I go." he finished.

Cynthia couldn't help but look at Brock with a good deal of respect, since she knew that his dream was anything but a simple, or easy, one to accomplish. A thought than struck her, "Is that why you're here?" she asked. As Brock nodded his head in affirmation, she connected the dots to something that nurse Sarah had said earlier, "you were the one who found Charmander" she said.

Ash looked at Cynthia, than back at Brock, before he thought about it. It made sense after all, the nurse had said that someone had recently brought the little fire pokemon into the center.

The mood at their table suddenly soured as the memory of the little pokemon was now fresh in their minds.

"yeah, I found Charmander just waiting on a rock, poor guy was barely breathing when I got him here." Brock said, "at first they thought he was mine before I showed them all my pokemon." he continued.

"the nurse said that they caught the guy that did it" Cynthia said without much emotion to her voice, if only to keep the anger out of it.

Nodding Brock continued his explanation, "after they found out Charmander wasn't mine, Sarah and the police ran a check on Charmander and found out his trainer was some cocky brat named Damien." he spat the name with disgust. "when they questioned him, the bastard had the nerve to claim he didn't do anything wrong" at this all three trainers scowled.

"people like that are the worst" Ash mumbled, growing up with Professor Oak had instilled a love of pokemon in him from the first time he met one. While he was thinking on this he reached up and lightly scratched pikachu behind the ears, drawing a smile from both Brock and Cynthia.

"thankfully the police agree with you on that" Brock said with a vindictive chuckle. "they hauled him off to jail, and from what I heard, have revoked his Trainer's license and confiscated all his pokemon." he finished with a glance at the back room.

"miss Sarah told us about that when we were helping bring Charmander back" Cynthia said, and was about to continue before a sudden voice behind her startled all three of them.

"I believe I said to just call me Sarah dear, miss makes me feel old" the aforementioned nurse said, having seemingly appeared at the mention of her name.

All three of them turned to look at the young woman who was standing beside their table, smiling sweetly. The smile was not helped by the ominous feeling one would get walking through a minefield, and all three laughed awkwardly and nodded.

After she received the nods, Sarah walked off to tend to other trainers that were starting to flood the counter, either signing in to stay the night, or signing out to go on their way.

"well I guess I'd better get to work than" Brock said as he made his way over to the counter to help where he could. Receiving a goodbye from both younger trainers, he left the two sitting at the table alone.

Ash spoke up first, "that was surprising" he said, summing up the conversation they had in the fewest words either one of them needed to say. Cynthia simply nodded in agreement.

As people began sitting down, both Ash and Cynthia glanced back at the door they had seen mi… I mean Nurse Sarah take Charmander too and neither could suppress a sad sigh at the unfortunate pokemon. Anyone who had been to Kanto, could recognize one of the pokemon that Professor Oak had given to someone to start their journey.

The fact that someone could be so cruel to their first pokemon made both of them sick, but the fact that the same pokemon would still love someone who did such horrible thing to it was simply heartbreaking.

With a final glance at the back door, both Ash and Cynthia made their way to the counter to book their room for the night before they were all taken.

Next Morning…

After finishing getting ready for the day, Ash and Cynthia made their way downstairs where they saw a familiar shape running for the front door.

"Charmander stop!" Sarah's voice came across the room, though it did nothing to stop the little pokemon's mad dash for the exit.

Though a pair of Arms wrapping around him did.

It took a moment for Charmander to realize he was no longer on the ground, before he started thrashing around, before he finally gave up and began crying in the arms of whoever had picked him up.

"he's not worth this Charmander" the person holding him said, causing him to look up and see the one who brought him here looking at him with a sad, yet kind smile.

Charmander glared at him though tear filled eyes and growled, "who asked what you thought!?" he angrily yelled, wishing this man would just let him do what he needed to. He had to return or he would never see Damien again.

All around the hall, many trainers looked at the pokemon before they sadly turned away.

"I know you want to go back to Damien Charmander, but I can't let you just go and kill yourself for someone like that." Brock said quietly as he carried Charmander back inside.

Charmander couldn't help growling at him, how dare he talk like he knew so much, he knew Damien would come back for him. He wouldn't hear the name of his best friend slandered like this.

As he was carried, Charmander closed his eyes and toned out the words Brock was saying to him. While doing this he was reminded of why he had to return, even if he didn't know his friend wouldn't come back for him.

Flashback…

Professor Oak's lab, Pallet town

"Morning Professor!" a younger Damien shouted as he bounced on his feet, eager to meet the pokemon he would pick his starter from.

"Good morning to you too Damien" Oak returned the greeting with a smile as he gestured for Damien to follow him.

After walking up a flight of stairs, Damien saw a couple of the Professor's assistants/students taking notes on some experiment or another. However, his attention was immediately drawn to a small machine with three familiar shapes sitting in it.

"Now Damien, I'm sure you've thought long and hard about this, so it's time for you to choose the friend who you'll start your journey with" Oak said as he gestured to the pokeballs containing the three pokemon within.

With a wide grin and no hesitation, Damien grabbed a pokeball with a small flame on it's top half. "I pick Charmander of course, there's no contest!" he exclaimed with joy as he let the little fire pokemon out of his pokeball for the first time.

Looking around, Charmander saw the boy who he was going to travel, and see the world with. With a cry of joy matching his new trainer, he leapt into Damien's arms, both of them laughing.

Professor Oak simply waited for them with a smile on his face as the two new friends finished their first meeting.

Flashback end…

Charmander was brought out of his memory when he was set down on the bed. He Refused to believe that Damien would abandon him, he would always remember the look of joy when he first met him. There was no way that Damien would leave him behind. He paid little mind when the door was nudged open, or when a small form made it's way into the room.

Front room…

Brock sighed as he went back to helping at the counter. No matter what he said, Charmander refused to listen to anyone, no matter what they said, the pokemon was determined to return to Damien.

"you okay Brock?" Ash said as he walked up to the counter, drawing the teen from his thoughts.

"yeah, just worried about Charmander" Brock replied as he glanced back behind the counter to make sure there were no further escape attempts.

"I wish I could help" Ash said as he looked back as well. "I'm sure he'll come around someday." he said confidently.

Brock smiled, "yeah you're right" he said. Looking back he got the feeling that eventually it would work out, he just hoped it was soon.

Several hours later…

Ash and Cynthia hung around for the majority of the day, hoping to keep an eye on things in case Brock and Sarah needed their help again.

The activity at the counter was dying down as people were starting to leave for their destinations. It was currently hovering around noon and so far Charmander had made no further getaway attempts.

"I guess my time volunteering is up now" Brock said as he finished with the last customer. He walked around the counter and went upstairs without much else being said. After a few minutes, he came back with his backpack, having finished gathering his belongings for his trip.

Walking over to the counter, which Sarah was now manning, Brock offered her a smile and a polite bow of thanks.

"don't worry about it Brock, it's nice when people actually are willing to help out around here, I'll be sure to give my recommendation to the other centers for you so you'll have a better chance with them." Sarah said with a smile as she checked Brock out of the center.

Brock walked over and met Ash and Cynthia, and the three were about to leave when a cry startled everyone still in the hall.

"Chaaarrrr!" the voice of the little fire pokemon that had everyone worried carried across the hall as he came running out of the back room.

"not again!" Sarah yelled as she ran around the counter to intercept the pokemon who swerved around her, before launching himself forward into Brock's arms, shocking everyone that had been there earlier in the day.

"don't leave, please, I'm sorry, please don't go" Charmander repeated, even though he wasn't understood, with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Brock" Sarah said as she moved to take Charmander back to his room, but he wouldn't let go of Brock. Sharing a glance with the young man, she made her way into the back, and come back out carrying a pokeball that most trainers would recognize in a heartbeat.

It had a small flame printed onto the top half of it.

Brock was stunned, he knew just what happened, Charmander was finally giving up on going back to Damien, and was trying to come with him. "A-are you sure you want to come with me? There's plenty of other people who would love to have you with them you know" he said, gesturing towards Ash and Cynthia as an example. Charmander immediately shook his head and buried it into his Jacket.

"I think he's made up his mind Brock" Sarah said with a relieved smile as she held out Charmander's pokeball to Brock, who slowly reached out and took the pokeball with his shock never leaving his face.

"I'll try my best" Brock quietly said to the little pokemon he held in his arms, who finally relaxed with his sobs dying down.

"congratulations Brock" Cynthia said with a smile at her friend as he held his new companion. Ash nodded beside her sharing the sentiment.

"uh thanks" Brock said nervously as he returned Charmander to his pokeball, seeing the pokemon falling asleep in his arms. Looking at the pokeball in his hand, he was deep in thought when Ash came up beside him and patted him on the back, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"I told you it would work out" Ash said as he smiled at the young man, drawing a nod from him.

"yeah, you were right I guess" the new trainer said as he finally was letting it sink in that Charmander trusted him enough to follow him.

"this is nice and all but shouldn't you get going by now?" Sarah spoke up with a grin on her face as she startled all of the teens out of their thoughts and conversation.

Sharing a glance with each other, all three trainers nodded as they stepped outside.

"well good luck with your journey Ash" Brock started off as they stepped to the side of the door so they didn't block it.

"thanks, And good luck with your dream Brock" Ash replied in kind. "and good luck with Charmander too" he added as he glanced at the pokeball in his friends hand, receiving a nod in turn.

Brock turned to Cynthia and thought for a moment "well, good luck keeping Ash out of trouble" he said with a smirk, getting an indignant "HEY" from the boy.

Cynthia chuckled before she replied "Thanks, but hopefully it won't be to hard to deal with" she said glancing at the now sulking boy beside her.

Inside the pokemon center, Sarah watched the three young friends exchange words, before Brock turned and went his own way, with the other two going theirs. She smiled as she greeted her next customers for the day.

It's taken WAY longer than I would ever have liked for anything to be, but here is Chapter 10. Once again, to those who are still interested in this story, I am so sorry about the delay on this, and I'm really hoping nothing like this ever happens again. That aside I will fully admit that I mostly had trouble figuring out how to approach the time between cerulean and vermillion, since there were a lot of events that happened that were both important and not so much. I had trouble deciding what I was gonna keep in from the original series, and that was a big part of what kept me from finishing this chapter outside of the things I mentioned at the start of the chapter.

As always, I appreciate any constructive criticism that you can offer, so long as you aren't just criticizing for the sake of it. Pokemon suggestions are very welcome, though if you have any, I'd prefer a pm so if I use them they won't be spoiled by reviews.

Thanks for reading (and your patience),

Akkeiton