Adventure's Past

Chapter 4 - Incident

It was around five years ago, nearing an entire year that Ash had been on that island as a result of him flying away from his previous life. He hadn't yet acclimated to Samuel's training schedule and rigorous demands, so it didn't shock him that on this day particularly, he had slacked off big time whilst dealing with some major mental blockages.

Up until that point, he hadn't been able to trust Samuel at all, as he had restrained himself from asking why Samuel was helping him due to a fear of being ridiculed or scolded for asking in the first place. His lack of trust, however, had begun to bleed into his training, causing him to flinch more often at Samuel's attacks or fail to react altogether.

Around the twentieth time, Samuel had caught Ash off guard during defense training, Ash had brought himself to his feet and asked Samuel point-blank, "Why are you helping me? What do you get out of it? And how do you know everything about me?" His questions came out in a hurry, causing Samuel to lower his guard.

Ash had waited impatiently for a response, not wanting to continue any training until he got one. Samuel had walked over to a nearby log and sat down, signaling for Ash to do the same. Eventually doing so, Ash had begun waiting patiently as Samuel had stared out at the sunset. "I witnessed the death of my wife and son," Samuel had said blankly, shocking Ash so badly that he had stopped breathing for a good minute or two.

Samuel sighed and added, "Sorry for being so blunt, but telling you this is very important for the rest of the reasoning for why I am here." Ash had nodded his head shakily, gulping after hearing that horrible fact. Samuel had stood up and walked over to the sandy beach. "One year ago, you appeared on this island after an emotional turmoil within yourself. Am I correct?" Samuel had asked Ash whilst looking away from him.

"I-I don't know why you know this stuff, but yes," Ash had responded. "I guess you can call it that." Samuel nodded and frowned. "Only a few days prior, I had managed to attain a mental state that only the highest level of meditators hope to achieve," Samuel began explaining as he sat down on the beach. "A mental state?" Ash had asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"We lived in Sinnoh. I watched my wife and son die 20 years ago," Samuel had continued, ignoring Ash's question. "It was at the hands of Team Rocket, which I'm sure you know about." Ash had nodded his head. "I don't want to talk about what they did exactly, but it was enough to cause me to go crazy. I would've done anything to get them back at that moment," Samuel had continued, his voice quivering.

Ash had stared at the ground while Samuel spoke, unable to respond in any way. "So, I left my life behind and traveled far away, eventually ending up in the high mountains where not a single human resided," Samuel had explained. "I was living off of berries and river water with no interactions of any kind for days, until I stumbled across a group of Medicham deep in the snowy forest, all meditating and paying no bother to my presence."

Samuel had stood back up on the beach and stared at the calm ocean water. "My first instinct was to take out my anger upon these peaceful creatures, but something about the atmosphere there urged me to not do so," he had confessed. "One thing led to another, and those Medicham showed me how to find peace with what had happened." Ash's mouth had opened breathlessly by this point.

"A few months before you arrived here was nearing my twentieth year of meditating and living peacefully in the mountains. I knew my life was nearing its latter half, so I managed to meditate in a deeper state each day," Samuel had explained while walking back to the log. "Of course, you can understand what I'm about to say given the timeframe," he had said to Ash, who thought for a moment.

"That was around the time I was fighting against Giovanni and Mewtwo, wasn't it?" Ash had guessed, earning a slight nod from Samuel. "Correct. And if you recall, you were using your Lucario's Aura to gain strength during battle," he had added. Ash had suddenly understood. "You could feel the Aura, couldn't you?" Ash had asked, feeling confident in his answer.