It was a common misconception that Ash Ketchum only appreciated his pokémon.

This was true in some senses. There was never a day where he didn't think about every pokémon he'd ever caught, he spent hours playing and training with them, he went through great lengths to protect them from harm, and his focus always seemed to be what was the next big challenge to overcome with them. However, it wasn't all he cared about.

For one thing, he cared about his friends. He was certain that he'd probably be dead by now if it wasn't for his friends, and he was just as protective of them as he was of his pokémon.

He also greatly cared about his mother. He had a lot to be grateful to her for. She had done so much for him, and had made so many sacrifices for him. If any harm was going to come to her, he would give up anything to prevent it. Even if it meant never being born, or ever becoming a trainer.

The other thing he occasionally came to appreciate, although hardly anybody knew about it, was the Ferris wheel.

He stood before the Ferris wheel, and the only thing he could do was stare. He couldn't imagine a more spectacular site. The lights of the carts were glowing, being in perfect harmony with their counterpart of the dark night.

Pikachu just stood on his shoulder, amused at his trainer's state.

Iris and Cilan had gone off to play some carnival games, leaving him to do what he wanted. So far, doing what he wanted, involved standing there, looking at the wheel.

It was then that Pikachu's ears twitched, as something caught its attention.

"Pika?" It squeaked.

Ash took his mind off the Ferris wheel, to see what got its attention.

Standing near them was a girl. She had short lavender hair, slightly scattered around her face, and was wearing a white dress. He recognized her.

She turned their way, and her violet eyes met his. A smile crossed her face, and she turned their way.

"Ash!" She called out, and began walking towards him. As she walked, however, he noticed something. She held a cane in her right arm, and slightly walked with a limp.

He smiled at her. She was the Salon Maiden of the Battle Frontier: Anabel Liszt.

"Anabel!" He said as she got to him, "It's been a while."

"Indeed," she replied. She took him off guard, and embraced him with a hug, "To long, if you ask me."

"What have you been up to since I left the Battle Tower?" Ash asked. As he asked, he couldn't help but glance at the girl's leg and cane. He quickly looked away, not wanted to seem rude. Unfortunately for him, this was Anabel.

"By that, I take it you mean 'What happened to your leg'?"

Ash blushed.

"I'm so sorry Anabel. I didn't mean to be-"

"Don't be," she cut him off, a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "I don't mind. It's a perfectly normal human reaction to wonder about people's injuries."

Ash sighed, hoping she wasn't just saying that to be kind.

"Why don't we go on the Ferris wheel together?" She asked him, while adjusting her grip on her cane, "It's less noisy, and would give us some time to talk. Besides, it looks like there won't be much of a wait."

"That sounds great, Anabel."

"What a beautiful view," Anabel sighed, glancing out the window. Ash nodded in agreement.

All the lights of Nimbasa City seemed so small from the Ferris wheel, and they all glowed so brightly. They glowed of many different colors, and flashed at random times. However, it was all in perfect sync.

"I love Ferris wheels," he said, "I haven't been on one of these things in forever."

"To be perfectly honest, I never went on one before," Anabel said.

"Really?" Ash gasped, "How can you have not been on a Ferris wheel before?" Anabel giggled slightly at the statement, and Ash saw a cheeky smile from her reflection on the window.

"You know how I can understand the thoughts and feelings of things?" She asked.

"Yeah,"

"Although it's fine now, when I was younger, it used to be pretty harsh. I could pick up on just about anything, and it drove me insane," she said, "Any time we'd go to an amusement park, I just wanted to go on the fastest rides I could, because for those few minutes, it was silent. I had only my mind to worry about."

"I'm sorry," Ash said. Pikachu jumped off from Ash's shoulder, to the seat right next to Anabel. She smiled at the mouse, and petted it.

"No worries," Anabel turned her head back towards him, and brushed a stray hair out of her eye, "It's made me a stronger person, and I don't think I would be as close to my pokémon as I am. It was nice to go to those places where I could have my mind to myself."

"Was it only fast rides that gave you that?"

"Nope," she smiled, "Going to the theater was pretty good for that too. Especially the really intense show like MacBeth. MacBeth is one of my favorite shows, actually. I bet I was the only seven year old to have the entire sleepwalking scene memorized by heart."

"I've never seen it, so I have no idea what that is" Ash said. Anabel laughed, and looked him straight in his eyes. Suddenly, her face turned to one of confusion and shock.

"Out, damned spot! Out, I say!-One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do it.-Hell is murky!-Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him!"

As she recounted this, she rubbed her hands intensely, as if she was trying to wash them. She smiled at him.

"What do you think?"

"I'm going to assume that was part of this sleepwalking scene." Anabel smiled at his reaction.

"Pretty much, throughout the show, she's an evil woman, who, being power hungry, convinces her husband to kill a lot of people, and becomes insane and kills herself."

Ash nodded his head, a shrugged.

"I think I'll just have to watch it."

He looked out the window again, watching as they got closer to the top.

"So, I have to ask. Why do you love Ferris wheels so much?"

"What?" Ash was slightly stunned by the question, more then he should have been.

"Well, you give off the same type of affection for Ferris wheels as you do for your pokémon."

"I do?" Ash asked. Although he didn't expect to hear that particular statement, it didn't surprise him that much.

"I guess if I had to take a guess, it's all the good memories," his eyes glanced out the window to see the sites. They were at the very top now. He could now see the routes surrounding the town, as well as the Driftveil Bridge. It was a breathtaking site.

"When I was little, the Pallet town would have a spring festival and a harvest festival, and there would be a Ferris wheel every time. My mom would take me on it, it became somewhat of a tradition. Being up there, we knew that everything would be okay."

"I see."

Ash placed his hand on the glass, drawing out the shapes from down below his hand.

"Or, maybe it has to do with the fact I was born on one."

"Okay…wait. What?"

Her face was clearly shocked. He looked over to Pikachu, and saw that the electric mouse was stunned by the statement. Thinking about it, he realized he had never shared this information with anybody before.

"Sorry," he said, "I guess that is a bit of a random thing to say."

"Don't leave it at that!" Anabel snapped, "How did that happen?"

Ash smiled. This was the first time he had ever seen Anabel flustered about something. He didn't know why, but it made him smile, seeing her break out of her calm exterior.

"Well, when my mom was pregnant with me, she went on the Ferris wheel. Unfortunately, there was a huge power outage, and she was at the top," he said, "After about an hour up there, her water broke."

"Was she okay?"

"She got lucky," Ash smiled, "you see, in the wheel with her, was Professor Oak. What many people don't know is that he used to be a midwife," He laughed, "When my mom first told me that story, I actually thought that Professor Oak was my mom's wife."

He looked at her smile, and the twinkle in her eyes. There was something about the way she looked at him that made him feel warm inside. He couldn't explain it, but he felt comfortable with her. He had known her for less time than most of his other friends, but there was something about her.

"You remind me of my mom, a little bit," he said. He realized he had just said that, and gasped. That might have been the worst compliment ever.

"How so?" Anabel asked. She didn't seem offended by it. In fact, she seemed slightly pleased with it.

"You're both strong, confident, and I wouldn't want to get on the bad side of either of you," he said, choosing his words carefully. The last thing he wanted was to make her angry near the top of a Ferris wheel, "My mom is probably one of the bravest women I know, and she's done so much for me. I mean, her life probably would have gone so much differently, and probably much better, if I didn't come around."

He couldn't believe he just said that. Why did he saw that? It was as if his brain was on autopilot. He looked at Anabel and Pikachu, both a little displeased at that statement.

"Why would you say that?" Anabel asked. Ash rested his head back on the end of the wall, and sighed. He didn't lose eye-contact with her.

"I'm older then my mom was when I was born, by just about four months" he explained, "I turned sixteen a month ago."

"Oh," Anabel reached out her hand, and grabbed his. Her tough was so soft, almost as if it wasn't there at all. But her hands were cold. It gave him a tingly feeling.

"I'd say she did a pretty good job," she said.

"Thanks," Ash replied.

"So I bet you're wondering why I'm walking with a cane, huh?" She asked him.

"You don't have to-"

"I'll bug if you if I don't," she said. She looked down towards Pikachu, and gently stroked it on the top of his head. "To make a long story short, I was shot."

Ash clutched his fists at the statement. Did she really just say that? How could anybody shoot her?

"What…why? Who? When?"

"The body of someone I used to know," she said, a hint of sadness to her voice, "Team Rocket took away that man, though."

Ash felt anger build up inside of him. He couldn't feel emotion, but he could see it, and the pain it caused her.

"You see, they tried to make a deal with Scott about something, and he turned them down. It was probably to send a message to everybody in the Battle Frontier."

Ash suddenly stood up, adrenaline pumping throughout his body. Like he was going to let anybody get away with hurting his friend.

"What's his name?" He demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Anabel shrugged, "what's done is done, and there's nothing we can do to change that."

"But-"

"But nothing," She said forcefully, yet still calmly "Besides, it's not your place. Leave catching him to the police."

Ash crossed his arms. Although he wanted to protest and demand the name out of her, he couldn't.

"Fine," he grumbled.

"I do appreciate your chivalrousness about the whole thing, though," Anabel laughed, as she glanced out the window, "We're almost down, it looks like."

"Yeah, it looks like it," Ash sighed.

That's when it happened. Before he knew it, he felt something on his cheek. A kiss. Anabel just kissed him on the cheek.

It was like her touch. Soft, but cold. It gave him that weird tingly feeling inside.

"What was that for?" he asked. She shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

"It's a thank you for understanding kiss."

It was silent for the rest of the way down, neither of them saying much. They didn't need to. It was only when they got to the bottom, when one of them spoke again.

"Hey, Ash," Anabel said, "Thanks. It was a good time."

"Yeah, it was," Ash replied. It was then that he remembered something, "I have a gym battle with Elesa in two days. You should come watch it!"

"Maybe…"

The Ferris wheel reached the bottom, and the two slowly got off.

"Is there any other ride you would like to-" Ash started to say, but stopped. Anabel had disappeared.

"Anabel?" he called out, but his words were lost in the crowd, "Anabel!"

But she was gone.

The TV was on at the pokémon center, showing the news. Normally, Cilan was the only one who really cared about what was going on, but it was the news story they were playing that particularly caught his eye.

"The body of Frontier Brain Anabel Liszt was found today in her facility. Cause of death has been reported as a gunshot. No suspects have been named."