Nowhere to Hide

4: Memories in the Wind.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it buddy."

"pikachuuuu"

"I know Buddy, I know." 

Luckily, my nostalgia attack was broken by familiar voices behind me.

"Hey Ash!" Elio shouted, as Selene gave me a brief hug- like a sisterly hug. 

Meanwhile, Zinnia just meandered slowly, clearly amused at the little fiasco that just happened. Something seemed off about her though, something I only noticed while greeting her.

I smiled, "Hey Selene, Elio, and... ZINNIA?"

Zinnia herself hadn't changed, but her outfit had. Her cape was gone and left only her black tank top. Her short jeans hadn't changed, but her white socks were substituted with red stockings, and her weird boots were gone and replaced with slate-grey slippers.

"what's wrong, like what you see?" she winked.

"I see you ditched the 'homeless' aesthetic," I remarked.

She huffed. "You're no fun."

I chuckled, ignoring her. "looks like the gang's back together!"

"pikachu!"

"whismur!"

"no Aster, don't agree with him~"

I cleared my throat. "Actually, can you two go on ahead? I need to talk to you tomorrow about something, but Zinnia and I have important trainer things to talk about."

"Yeah." Zinnia added, "Listen to Mr. I-was-a-champion."

I stifled a laugh. "Not..funny...just go."

"It's probably for the best..." Selene admitted, "I wanted to go on ahead anyway to get a good hotel room."

"There are bad hotel rooms?" asked Elio. 

"Yes," Selene answered.

The two left, leaving me and Zinnia slowly meandering northwards towards the tournament grounds. We walked in silence for a couple of seconds, but she quickly tried to break the ice.

"They're cute together, aren't they~"

"yeah... but they're too immature to admit it."

We walked in silence, mostly just savouring each other's presence. It'd been a long few months since we'd last seen each other.

Suddenly I stopped, remembering why I shooed the two younger trainers away for.

"On a more serious note, your cape..."

She gazed curiously up at me. She knew what I was thinking, she was just wondering if I would say it. I knew that, and she knew that I knew that.

"Zinnia..."

"Ash, the cape's in my bag."

"You know, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here, and I always will be."

"I know... Thank you." She mouthed, tears welling in her eyes.

I stuffed my hand in my bag, pulling out an object I haven't seen in forever. "Need a handkerchief?"

"No no- I can't!"

"Zinnia. Take the handkerchief."

She sighed, taking the handkerchief, immediately wiping her face. After which she smiled.

Seeing her beautiful smile made me feel like I had taken a massive weight off her shoulders.

Literally. She dumped her backpack on me.

"Ow- how do you even carry this thing?"

"I'm a strong girl."

"A short one too." I chuckled, her cheeks turning red.

"Gimme my backpack back!" She shouted, half giggling while doing so, trying to snatch it from me. I, however, just sidestepped.

"Nuh-uh, it's mine now!" I teased, holding it just too high for her to reach.

"C'mon, give it back!"

"no."

Suddenly, she jumped. High. She snatched the backpack from me, though she obviously didn't think the landing through very well.

Seeing her... you know... barreling towards the pavement, I did the service of extending out my arms and catching her.

"Th-thanks..." she uttered, still shell-shocked from nearly becoming a red stain on the floor.

"No problem, actually you're lighter than I thought. It's like you live in the jungle or something..."

She rolled her eyes at my offhand comment. "Being a nomad doesn't mean I live in the jungle. Ash, you yourself are a nomad."

I chuckled, "I'd rather tell people that I was living in the wild than tell people about consensual homelessness."

She sighed under her breath. "Alright, Tarzan, but what exactly are you going to do when we get to the tournament?"

I looked at her with a questioning eye. The truth is, I've been thinking about that same question for quite a while now, and I still couldn't find myself an answer that convinced me.

"I'll win the tournament and investigate the Rocket-"

"you're avoiding." she interrupted, I wanted to argue, but she was right. She always was.

"you know me too we-"

"avoiding again!"

"you look gorgeous toda-"

"Ash!" She clutched my wrist. "You will have to face the people from your past."

I tilted my head downwards towards her. "I am not scared of that."

She rolled her eyes. "You play with your fingers when you lie." I looked down to see that I was, in fact, playing with my fingers.

"Fine, but of course I'm scared. I left for three years without so much as a goodbye! They probably hate me or think I'm dead. Well, if I meet them, I will be."

She shrugged. "If you're that scared of meeting them, but why don't you make a new persona."

I scratched my head. "So like... a disguise?"

"Not exactly, make a fake identity for yourself. You certainly look different than you did three years ago."

I still wasn't convinced.

"C'mon, with that face, you'll never win the Tournament, future champion!"

"Can't wait till I become world champion as Ashton Ketamine."

"I hope your water types aren't as dry as your sense of humour."

I shook my head, "Thanks though, I needed that..."

"Anytime" she giggled, looking down to see Aster and Pikachu in a heated argument about Ice-Cream vs Ketchup.

I did a double-take. "You said I'm gonna win?"

She poked her tongue out. "Only to make you feel better, oh I'm winning for sure!"

"I could beat you eyes closed. Ears too!"

She sighed. "That sounds like something you'd try. Emphasis on try"

"HEY what does that mean!?"

I felt her let go of my hand. "race ya to the tournament!"

"oh, you're on!"