The Trade

By TwistedReality

Ages for this fic are as follows:
Ash-12
Scott-12
Misty-13
Brock-17


A/N Ash and co. will be in the next chapter

Chapter One "Something Brewing"

This chapter doesn't feature Ash and co, but they'll be there in
chapter two. This is just a chapter to meet Scott.

***

The curtains were closed, only allowing a thin beam of light to
escape from behind the massive folds of dull colored cloth. The room
seemed untouched by any light, as a darkness showed with every aspect
of the room.

There was a lamp on the dresser next to the bed, but it was covered
with a thick layer of dust. A few cobwebs were even covering the base
of the lamp.

The room seemed to have no life in it, but at the center of the room,
a pale and sickly boy lay in his bed, coughing. His black hair went
all the way to his shoulders, uncut and untended, until it was just a
large mass of tangles.

The boy didn't really care much about his appearence though, because
it was a rare occurence if he ever left the bed, and an even rarer
occurence if he even looked at the mirror.

Softly, he stirred as he tried to sit up slowly. It was almost time
for dinner, and he needed to sit up enough to be able to eat his
food without choking. His sense of timing without a clock had been
fine tuned by two years of staying in bed.

The action of sitting up caused pain to shoot through his whole body
as he reajusted his body to sitting posistion, but he didn't cry out.
The pain had become a part of his life through to constant reoccurance
of it.

There was a swift knock on the door as an old woman came in through
the door. She was large, and was rather strong for a woman her age.
In fact, she looked to be in her fifties, even though she had
certainly surpassed her sixties.

"Hello, grandmother." he said stiffly, without carrying the affection
that was supposed to come with the word.

The old lady just silently placed the tray of food in the boy's lap.
For a second, the boy just looked up at the old lady, as though he
needed instruction on what he was supposed to do.

"Eat, Scott." the woman said irratably, very annoyed. She knew the
boy did this on purpose as a small act of rebellion.

Scott obeyed, eating silently, as he slowly brought the ramen to his
lips.

"Eat faster." the old woman said with a sharp edge to her voice.

Scott knew that he had pushed the woman too far, as he started to
obey her, without leaving any essence of rebellion.

After ten minutes, Scott had finally finished his dinner, and the
woman left, after staying silent for the whole ten minutes.

***

Boredom was one of the biggest problems in Scott's life. He had often
asked his grandmother (How he shuddered to think of that..woman..as
his grandmother!) to bring books to his room, but she would never
comply with his wishes, argueing that reading books would only bring
"foolish and unattainable dreams" in his head. He never recieved any
reading material besides the news magazine he occasionally recieved as
a way to appease him somewhat.

It seemed to work because after he recieved the first issue of the
magazine, he stopped begging for books to read, although he still
wished for them just as strongly.

Scott sighed as he picked up the latest issue from the nightstand
next to him. He had just recieved it, so he hadn't read through it
again and again as he always did by the end of the week.

He randomly flipped through the articles, trying to see if any
interesting ones would catch his attention. He almost immediately
came to a photo of a deleriously happy boy. Under the photo was the
caption: "Ash Ketchum becomes the Youngest Trainer to Win Both the
Johto and Orange Leagues."

Scott wasn't paying much attention to the caption, after he read it,
or even the article. The photo did hold his interest, however.
Scott's hands shook as he almost dropped the magazine. "Oh my God.."
he whispered, "he looks just like..me.." His voiced quivered at the
last word.

Ignoring his sleepiness, Scott began to read through the article
feverishly. He couldn't believe it as he continued to read through
the article for the second time.

He felt nearly overwhelmed when he read the article over and over.
*It's like his life is a complete..opposite..from mine* he thought,
trembling.

It seemed like almost a paradox to him that somebody who looked like
him could enjoy the wonderful life that he could only dream of.

After two hours of being fully immersed in the article, Scott
silently put down the magazine.

He felt curiousity and...something else..but he couldn't put his
finger on it.

He took one last glance at the photo in the magazine and grinned to
himself in satisfaction. *I will find out more information on this Ash
Ketchum*

That was his last thought as he slid under the covers and fell asleep
instantly, not even noticing the pain for the first time in a long
while.

***

Ugh!! I finally finsished this part! Whew..! Well, there'll be more
of Ash and Co in the next chapter..which is posted um...now..