Professor Rowan.

Feeling as having slept for too long Ashley drowsily opened her eyes with a lot of effort. They felt so heavy, it was almost as if she could hear small knispering sounds when she opened them, as if they had been sticking close with glue.

What greeted Ashley was an unknown white ceiling.

She rubbed her head as a painful headache throbbed at her solar plexus.

As she looked around she noticed she was at some kind of medical ward. All around her were white beds, heart rate monitors, a television, cabinets and something resembling a pager to call for the nurse.

Next to her was a curtain meant to give privacy to the patient.

As she looked around for Sylveon and Shaymin, she quickly spotted them at the end of her bed. Sylveon lay at her feet, while Shaymin was curled up on her stomach.

When she reached out to stroke his head, a pull at her arm prevented her from doing so. She followed the sight of a plastic tube towards a IV drip. This only raised question as she didn't know why she would be in a hospital.

deciding to get some aswers she poked Shaymin with the hand that didn't have the IV drip.

"Shaymin, wake up, Shaymin."

Shaymin yawned as he slowly woke up, his eyes blinking in confusion until he saw Ashley looking at him. He jumped straight into her arms as he could contain the joy he felt, followed by tears of worry.

He was so glad she woke up!

Ashley gently combed through Shaymin's fur, hoping to calm him down from his teary display. It didn't seem to work as it only began to cry harder until he finaly fell asleep again.

Ashley sighed as she saw him fall asleep again, this time out of exhaustion from the crying. When she looked up she saw Sylveon looking at her with tears in the eyes.

Fortunaltely, Sylveon quickly regained her bearing as it happily wrapped her feelers around Ashley's arm.

"Sylveon, do you know where I am?"

Sylveon gently explained what happened, ending with Ashley also being in tears. She firmly hugged Shaymin, trying to calm down.

The man she saw as her dad had wanted to use her for something evil. He wanted her to hurt others. She burried her face in shaymin's fur, pained from the betrayal. She breathed in Shaymin's pleasant forest-like smell hoping to calm down faster.

She didn't know what she was supposed to do now.

If it was true, her dad had lied to her caretaker too. Shera wouldn't know where she was, neither would Uncle Xern and Uncle Yvel. She had to get back.

The only problem was, she didn't know where to.

She didn't know where she'd lived before and even if she got back, who could promise they weren't as bad as her supposed dad. What if the research institute she'd been in before was the same as the castle?

She wouldn't risk it twice. She would try to find her Uncle Xern and Uncle Yvel, but before that she would need to get stronger, strong enough so that she could protect herself and the ones she held dear.

After that she would try to find her real father and mother, if they were still alive that is. Uncle Xern and Uncle Yvel would probably know what happened to them.

Having decided what she had to do, she laid back on the bed waiting for the man that brought her here.

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After the doctor had checked that everything was fine, he called the man that had brought her here. Ashley was currious of who this man might be, as Sylveon and Shaymin spoke highly of him, though they hadn't seen him often.

Ashley didn't have to wait long as he walked into the ward. The man was old, looking older than the Six Sages and Ghetsis.

She had decided not to call him dad anymore and remember him by his name.

The old man wore a lab coat while underneath he wore neat clothing consisting of a white shirt, a neck tie and white pants.

His hair, beard and moustache were already white with age. The way he looked at her seemed stern, but she could tell from his eyes he was a kind man.

The man walked towards her and sat down on a chair next to her bed. The IV drip had been removed when the doctor had decided she was healthy enough.

"You scared us a lot, young lady. Especially the doctor. But no matter, it's good to see you in good health. I am Professor Rowan, a Pokémon professor. Your Pokémon brought you to my research facillity in the hope for help. You should be gratefull for their quick thinking, otherwise the end results would be more severe."

Ashley nodded while she patted the heads of her dear family.

"I know, they've told me and I am very gratefull for their quick actions."

She smiled gently and lovingly at her Pokémon.

"Ah, I should introduce myself too shoudn't I? My name is Ashley, this is Shaymin and that is Sylveon."

Ashley pointed at her Pokémon in order as she introduced herself and her Pokémon.

"It seems I owe you a debt of gratitude too, Professor. Though I don't know how, I would like to repay it."

Ashley bowed, while silently whispering to Shaymin 'I've said it correctly, right?'

She'd never spoken so politely and such hard words, so she wasn't sure if she said it right. Shaymin nodded, while he praised her for saying it right.

"Then how about this, Young Ashley. If you don't have a place to go, you can stay at my lab and help me with my research."

Ashley looked up in confusion.

"It's true I don't have somewhere to go, but I don't know much about Pokémon, even less about taking care of them."

Professor Rowan smiled slightly, if one didn't looked hard enough one wouldn't see it.

"No need to worry, you are still young so you can learn. There is always a need in taking care of the Pokémon at the lab, so we would be delighted with your help."

Ashley smiled in happiness as she now had a place she could stay at, while also learning about and meeting new Pokémon.

"Then I'm delighted to be able to help you, Professor."

"Good, then if you are feeling fine, we can immediately depart for the lab. I'll speak to the doctor while you get ready to depart, Young Ashley."

Having said so, Professor Rowan immediatley left the hospital ward in search for the doctor.

Ashley quickly got off from the bed and got dressed in the clothes that were laying on the cabinet.

Luckily they were new, as the ones she had been wearing previously was apparantly only a thin shirt, jacket and pant. (A/N: Ofcourse the underwear is a given)

Quickly arriving outside the hospital she saw Professor Rowan already wainting in a Jeep.

"Come now, we can't wait all day." Professor Rowan said.

Climbing into the Jeep, Sylveon, Shaymin and Ashley buckled up and looked around as the Jeep sped across the road towards the Pokémon lab.