Wanted Dead or Alive

by Wayfinder823

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Author's note: This story is set directly after Battle Frontier when May and Max leave and Ash and Brock return to their homes. Generation IV onward never happens, but does exists.... if that makes sense.

I don't really understand why people in Pokemon don't age, so for the sake of a little reality, the characters are going to be aged a bit.

Ash and all other never-aging ten-year-olds - 18

Brock - 24

Just note, that chapters after this one will be long. This will remain rated T, containing language, blood, violence, and romance (no lemon.) (A bit of Pokeshipping to be specific.)

The Prologue starts off in the middle of the story, and then will go back to the beginning and show how everything came to transpire.

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Prologue

A Moment of Impulse

A moment of impulse: the moment when split second decisions based off one's heart change the entire course of a person's life and others around them. Ash Ketchum had no idea why he shoved the dark fanny pack into the girl's arms. All he knew was everything he witnessed—the screaming, the crying, the Pidgeot longing for its life, and the girl holding a dagger, covered in feathers and blood.

The thing about moments like these, is that no one expects to find a picture of their face posted all over Kanto and Johto with the four bolded words nobody wants to see beside their face: WANTED. Dead or Alive.

Ash ripped the poster off one of the trees, his heart struck with fear. Certainly, his mother would not be proud if she found out her son was running around with a world pronounced murderer and thief. What would Professor Oak think? What about his friends, or even worse: what would Misty think of him?

"I told you not to follow me..." the girl said softly, limping passed him.

Ash crumpled the poster and tossed it behind him. He ducked under the girl's arm, placing it around his shoulders, and his other hand held her waist, supporting her as they continued to walk. "No. I'm glad I did."

The limping pink haired girl looked at him weird. "Why?"

Ash looked down at the girl's fanny pack, knowing that there was at least a dozen of stolen Pokemon in there. He found it ironic how ever since he was ten and set off on his very first journey, he and his friends constantly found themselves in predicaments of preventing thugs from stealing other's Pokemon. So how could a boy like that turn and help this girl commit serious larceny?

A moment of impulse.

Wow. Nice job!

Chapter 1

The Blonde named Patsy

Ash held the sleeping thief in his arms. It was not every day a person could say that they slept next to Kanto's Most Wanted and not mean it in a joking or promiscuous matter. He could feel her rapid breathing, her muscles tightening under her cold olive skin, and her wrists pushing against his, which he carefully kept restrained by her side. For someone that is widely known for her quick silent touch and soundless breaths, she was a horribly loud and violent sleeper. She warned him beforehand, listing it as one of the reasons why he shouldn't keep following her, but at the time, Ash thought it was only one of her many excuses. It made sense.

As Ash held her in his arms, trying to calm her down through one of her many night terrors, he couldn't help but think how easy it would be to turn her in. He had the direct number to the main police force tracking her down in his pocket. He could send his Swellow out to the local town and wait for his bird to return with an army of police and possibly even an angry mob. Pikachu could give her a big enough shock, knocking her out cold and drag her limp body to the police. He practically did it all once before. He could do it all without Candice knowing. Sleep had to be her most vulnerable time of day.

Candice's teeth chattered and she moaned softly under her breath. Candice never slept with a cover or even a sleeping bag; she just slept on the ground behind some bushes for protection, right next to her Pokémon. She always talked about storage space, and when all you travel with is a fanny pack that is loaded with a dozen pokeballs, a knife, some berries, and a mountain of notes and drawings, and having the constant fear of waking up in the middle of the night to run, Ash would not want to deal with the troubles of a sleeping bag either.

He pulled a small blanket from his backpack and draped it over her, startling himself as he got a good look at her arm in the dim firelight. He never noticed it before, but perhaps that was because this was the first time he allowed himself to be this close to her, and the first time she wore short enough sleeves.

Her arms bore tiny cuts, scrapes, scars, and bruises. He could feel the slight indents of where she had lost chunks of skin, and the rise of the small bruise bumps. He now did not blame her for being such a lousy sleeper. If his body was scuffed up as bad as hers, and saw the things her eyes have seen and what her hands have done, he'd have enough nightmares for the rest of his life.

Candice groaned, struggling against his wrists on tops of hers, her body breaking out into a sweat. "They're gonna catch us. They're gonna catch us…" Her knees kicked and her head moved back and forth, whipping her hair repeatedly in Ash's face. Her hair had a faint scent of sakura blossoms, which actually amazed him.

He knew it sounded gross, but he and Candice have not showered for almost a whole week—or at least, he hadn't showered. They've stayed in the forest around Celadon since the day they joined forces, running around, learning how to be a thief, training, and studying blueprints. They haven't stepped a foot in civilization or even seen a creek or pond to bathe in. Ash loosened his grip on the thief, growing very self-conscious of his own odor. He would have been fine knowing that both of them smelled like Spoinks in the mud, but after smelling Candice's hair… he craved for a long bath.

Hair…

Ash's eyes diverted to the dark green fanny pack sitting in-between a sleeping Flareon and Espeon. The black zipper on the pack flared open with folded pieces of paper sticking out every which way, entangled in short fake curly blond locks. A wig that Candice particularly liked to keep. She wore it the first time the two of them officially met, and went by the alias of "Patsy."

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THREE WEEKS AGO

Ash finally made it. Barely—but he still made it with seven minutes to spare. Today was the day Ash was truly steps away from obtaining ultimate glory—his lifelong dream since he was ten and left on his very first Pokemon journey. He received a letter in the mail inviting him to join a World Wide Competition being held in Celadon. It was said to be the ultimate tournament, where the best fight against the best for the acclaimed title: Pokemon World Champion.

He twirled his Trainers license in between his fingers, taking in the new Celadon City look. The city still retained its lush green forestry and natural floral decorations, but the streets looked completely remodeled and spruced up in the light of this new World Wide Tournament. The streets expanded, but the thick crowds didn't make it feel like much of a difference, as hundreds of people bumped into his shoulder, trying to get places. The walls to the Department Center were made of television screens, flashing colorful advertisements and broadcasting national news, but the biggest change was right in the center of town. A large oval white stadium with gold pillars modeled after the Romans sparkled under the sun. A tall and wide water fountain filled with different sized coins graced the entrance with its stunning carvings of a Milotic, Vaporeon, and a Marill looking tall and full of confidence as water poured from their mouths and the points of their body back into the pool below them. Ivy plants twisted around the golden columns at the stadium with carefully arranged flowers in the hanging pots between each pillar.

"That girl is a menace!" a woman dressed in pearls and navy said. She stood in front of Ash at the registration line, and pointed to the Celadon Department Store. The television walls were so large, that even though Ash was a good distance away, he could still see everything clearly. The screen showed a picture of a girl with rosy pink hair pulled into curly pony tails and big emerald eyes. Big bolded words spread across the top of her picture: Have You Seen Me? Her picture faded and new words slowly zoomed closer to the screen: Help Keep Kanto Safe.

Ash didn't need to question. Everyone in Kanto and even Johto knew who that girl was by now—she is Candice Pristin, Kanto's Most Wanted. A famous thief, stealing over two hundred Pokemon from their owners within the past six months, and just last week, she made her first official kill. burning a Shiftry to death and throwing his remains in a nearby canal. It was on the news for days.

"I'm surprised they decided to continue with this tournament with that girl still on the loose," the woman said, holding her bag closer to her body. "What if she plans on attacking Celadon?"

"She'd be stupid for trying," a young man said, completely covered in tight black clothing and piercings. The woman's face scrunched together, as if disgusted that a punk would dare speak to her. "Celadon's hosting the best trained Trainers in the entire world. Any one of us could kick her ass just for showing her face in these parts."

Ash looked back at one of the many WANTED posters hanging around town. He didn't get it. She didn't look like a typical average thief. There was something about her eyes… They didn't look normal, but they didn't look innocent, either. They looked… different. Maybe the rumors were right. No—they had to be right. Pristin is a sociopath. It was the only explanation for it.

"Good afternoon," Nurse Joy greeted with a smile. Ash paused. He knew Nurse Joy had countless identical sisters, nieces, and cousins, but he had never seen so many Joys located in one place. Six different Joys, each with a different colored cross on their hats, stood behind the tall white counter helping Trainers with registering their Pokemon for the tournament. Some Nurses even spoke in a different language.

The Nurse Joy with a purple cross pointed to a tray with six engraved holes in front of her, motioning for him to fill up the spots with his trusted team of Pokemon. He did so, and Pikachu sat promptly in one of the little holes, smiling. Nurse Joy laughed and handed the tray to a Chancey. "Here are the keys to your room. You'll be staying in Room 103, which is to your right. Please wait over here for your Pokémon to finish."

This stadium certainly had a different feeling than outside. He could feel the stress of winning the competition and the excitement building in the room. Trainers ran in and out of their check-in rooms, the lobby, and checking out the stadium. Most of them were looking for good areas to train. Some sat in the lobby, with their noses buried in books, reading up on the latest battling strategies. There was one thing that was odd. There were no pictures of Pristin anywhere, making it feel like she didn't even exist.

"Would you look at this, Bellossom?" A girl dressed in a bright yellow dress and short curly blond hair asked, looking all around the room. The petals on the Bellossom's skirt twirled as the flower Pokemon spun around to get a look of the place. "And I thought they said this was going to be a competition!"

Ash growled. He learned from a young age to at least get to know the person before you hate them, but hearing condescending remarks like that sure made it easier for him.

The blond girl approached the Nurse Joy with a purple cross behind the desk and started to play with the teal bracelet around her wrist. "The people outside said I needed to talk to some Nurse Joy… so…?"

Ash found her comment rather strange. How could a previous Tournament Winner not know who Nurse Joy was?

"I'm Nurse Joy, welcome!" The pink haired nurse greeted. "Please, place your Pokemon in this tray to get them registered—"

"Registered?" The girl questioned. "W—wh—why do we n-need to do that?"

"Every trainer needs to register their Pokémon; it gives trainers a chance to see who they are up against and to make sure the Pokémon are well balanced."

"Balance?" The girl extended her arms like wings as she lifted one leg up above her knee like a flamingo. She looked at her Bellossom who was trying to do the same. "That's not really fair to Bellossom, she doesn't have actual feet."

Nurse Joy paused, surprised that someone this stupid could have actually won a Championship before. "Not that kind of balance. Trainers sometimes give their Pokemon an extra boost, like steroids, to strengthen their Pokemon during a battle, which violates Tournament rules. We just want to make sure that the Pokemon are healthy before they enter." The blond girl still seemed a little confused. Nurse Joy forced a smile. "Just put your Pokemon on this tray."

"I don't understand why Pokemon need to cross a balanced beam in order to compete in this, but okay…" Ash chuckled to himself. This girl might think she's really good, but if she battles the way she acts, then blowing her out of the competition is going to be a breeze. The girl went through her white shoulder bag and pulled out six different Pokeballs, filling each spot on the tray. "These six should do it."

"You don't want your Bellossom in your party?" Nurse Joy asked, looking questionably between the full tray and the dancing flower Pokemon. The girl's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.

"Ooops!" She said, taking one the Pokeballs from her tray, and pulling out a different one. She returned Bellossom back into its capsule and put it in the empty spot. "I put an empty Pokeball there by accident…."

"That's okay." She swiped her trainers license in the computer. "Oh, you're from Ecruteak City? I have a twi—"

"Yeah, just like the color!" The girl said, beaming, twirling around in her short dress. "I tried to dress like it, you know, to represent my hometown."

Nurse Joy smiled awkwardly. Ecruteak isn't a color, and if it was, it certainly wouldn't be cutesy and yellow. Instead of finishing her sentence, she just told the girl to wait for her Pokemon to finish registration.

The blonde stood next to Ash, eyeing him up and down suspiciously, and then gasped.

"Cousin Danny!" She yelped, pulling Ash into a tight hug and rubbing her cheek against his. "I didn't know you were going to be here? Why didn't you tell me you were going to be here?"

Ash struggled against her surprisingly tight grip. On looking trainers chucked, some mocked the girl's high pitch voice and senseless behavior. Others looked embarrassed for him.

"My… name's… not… Danny…!" Ash said in between needless shakes.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu launched himself from the registration counter, but stood in bewilderment toward his trainer.

"Pikachu, you finished," said Ash, finally pulling away from the strange girl's hold and knelt beside his Pikachu.

The girl gasped, kneeling down as well. "Aww Danny, I didn't know you caught a Pikachu. It's so cute! But not as cute as this one Pikachu I saw in this Pokemon Contest-now that was a cute Pikachu!" She shook Pikachu's tiny furry hand, but Pikachu didn't seem pleased to meet her. "Hiii! I'm Patsy, Danny's cousin. I'm sure he's mentioned a lot abou—"

"I'm not your cousin Danny!" confessed Ash. The blond named Patsy stared at him blankly. Ash stood back up and offered his hand for a shake.

"Sorry, but my name's Ash, I'm from Pallet Town."

Patsy's jaw hung slightly downwards, looking confused. Her mouth changed to a large smile as she ruffled her fingers through Ash's thick spiky raven hair, his signature red hat falling off in the process. "Oh, Cousin Danny, you're such a teaser! You do this to me all the time. Ha ha! You almost had me this time. Oh my—is this a new hat?"

"STOP IT! I'M NOT YOUR COUSIN DANNY!" Ash growled, snatching his hat from Patsy's hands. Patsy's bright green eyes widened and looked around awkwardly. Trainers whispered to each other as they passed, pointing and laughing at them.

Patsy cupped her hand around her mouth, hindering those surrounding them from hearing what she was about to say. "Danny, you're making a scene. It's embarrassing."

The red in Ash's face escalated like a thermometer on a hot summer day in July.

"Didn't your mom take you to those AA meetings?"

Ash shook his head. Where on earth did that come from? "I don't drink."

"Well duuhh!" Patsy lightly pushed against his shoulder. "I never said you did. Don't those classes help you with your anger? 'Cuz you have a lot of wrinkles around our eyes and even on your cheeks bones. It looks kind of bad. Anger does that to you, you know?"

Ash shook, never feeling so flustered before in his life. Usually when people irritated him, it had to deal with his battling skills, not so much something personal-and what was this girl talking about wrinkles? He was only eighteen! Did this girl not think before speaking?

"Patsy," Nurse Joy called, breaking up the tension. "Your Pokemon are fully registered."

Patsy gathered her Pokeballs from the tray. "Hey Danny, do you remember when you were younger we use to call you Squirtle, because you would always wet your pants?" She said it so loudly that he was sure everyone in lobby could hear her. A couple of female trainers passed by, staring at Ash with their eyebrows raised with questionable thought. Ash tried to assure them that the story was not true, and that he really did not know or was associated with Patsy in any way, all the while trying to keep his cool and refrain from strangling the careless idiot girl. Patsy covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh sorry, do you still wet the bed?"

"No! I-No!" Ash stammered, He couldn't believe what was happening. This girl was ruining his reputation! Now the people fighting against him in the tournament thought he was bed wetting wienie with a loud obnoxious cousin.

"Oh no… it happened again, didn't it?" Patsy opened her bag and started shuffling through some of her things.

"What?" asked Ash. Did she finally come to terms that he wasn't who she thought he was? That she had made a horrible mistake and should apologize.

That didn't seem likely. She pulled out a hairbrush, a can of tuna, and a journal of some sort.

"I think Skitty's been reading my dairy…" She groaned flipping quickly through the pages and then shoved the things back into her large purse. "I don't even know what to think to think of that…" She waved her hand in front of her face, as if she was wiping words away from her face. "No… I shouldn't do that, thinking scares me. I'm just gonna have to talk to her. It's been a huge problem lately." Patsy turned away from him and waved. "I'll see you for dinner, Cousin Danny!"

As she wadded her way through the crowded lobby, Patsy proceeded to stop everybody she passed, pointed back at Ash, and tell them that they were cousins, and that they should say 'hi' to him sometime to make him feel more friendly, because "Cousin Danny" apparently had an "anger problem."