Now the time has come ladies and gentleman. The story that I have been working for one full year has come to fruition. I give to you, "The Lake House". Now then, for the brief story explanation, I recommend reading the final chapter of "Eternal Darkness", the notes page. In that I gave a slight description of this story. I hope that this will soon be the best story I have ever written. But I digress, here it is, please enjoy! -EVAN AAML

"We find our heroes yet again at the Ketchum residence, packing up for yet another journey. But little do they know that this adventure will be more than they bargained for"

"Ergh, is this it for the bags?", a young boy asked carrying a duffel bag towards his friend Brock. They were loading a large van with various items and bags. Brock took the bag from the young boy, a boy named Ash.

"Uh...not really, close to it though. Good thing Prof. Oak lent us his van, its got loads of space", Brock said as he placed the duffel bag into the trunk. "Alright, we should have plenty of space left for the remaining stuff. We've got a couple more bags, a cooler, my mini grill, and all of the sleeping bags yet to go. You might want to tell the others to get ready to leave". Ash nodded and ran inside his house. While traveling through the Sinnoh region, Ash, Brock, Pikachu, and their newest friend Dawn stopped in at a Pokemon Center to rest for the night. While there, Ash contacted his mother, Delia, to catch up on what was going on in Kanto. Coincidentally, Delia had been trying to contact him for the last few days. Apparently, Prof. Oak had construction done to his lab to make more room the the incoming Pokemon. After the construction, the build team told Prof. Oak about a contest that their company was hosting. Prof. Oak decided to enter and asked Delia if she was interested as well. After entering, Delia expected to never hear from the company again; but instead they called and informed her that she had actually won the contest. The prize was to stay at a newly constructed camp made by their company on the side of a lake in Northern Kanto. However, Delia was far too busy with work to the house, so she asked Ash to go in her place and to invite his friend for the trip. Ash was shocked at the news but excited to have a chance to see his friends again. After telling Brock and Dawn the news, he contacted his friend Misty, May, Max, Tracy, and Gary and told them of the news. Needless to say they were all excited and couldn't wait for the trip. Ash told them all to meet at his house in Pallet Town and get ready for the trip. Soon, Ash, Brock, Dawn, and Pikachu found themselves on a ferry to return to Kanto. By the time they had reached Pallet Town, Tracy and Misty were already there. Gary arrived shortly afterwards and the gang stayed at the Ketchum residence to reminisce about old times. The next day, May and Max arrived with Drew, whom Ash had allowed May to invite. Which brings us back to today. As Ash entered the house, he noticed May, Max, Drew, Gary, and Prof. Oak sitting on the couches talking while Delia, Misty, Tracy, and Pikachu were showing Dawn the house and the things in it. Delia picked up a small photo frame and smiled, handing it to Dawn to view.

"Oh, this is when Ash finished the Johto Silver Conference, he is so handsome in this picture!", Delia said happily. Misty looked at the picture as Dawn held it. A smile crossed her face.

"I remember this, it was right before me and Brock left. He wanted a photo for the memories. Those were good times then...good times", Misty said. As she gazed at the picture, she remembered that fateful day. A lone tear slid down her cheek. Realizing what she was doing, she quickly wipped it away, but not before Dawn noticed. She was unaware of why she reacted in this way, but kept it to herself. Her attention to it however was short lived as Ash approached them.

"Alright guys, we're almost ready!", Ash said excited. Pikachu quickly jumped onto Ash and took his usual spot on Ash's shoulder. "Well then, what are we waiting for! LET'S GO!", Ash yelled, throwing a fist into the air. Pikachu copied the action.

"Pika!", Pikachu yelled. As they all left the house, Brock had loaded the last of the bags. He closed the trunk door and then approached the side door closest to the gang.

"Alright everyone, we're all packed. So let's hit the road!", Brock exclaimed as he grabbed the handle to the side door and slid it open. Delia quickly grabbed onto Ash and hugged him.

"I'm gonna miss you so much! It seems that whenever you're here, you're gone the next day! Stay out of trouble, and don't forget to change your you know whats every single day!", Delia told her son. Ash blushed and pulled away from her abruptly

"MOM!", Ash yelled embarrassed. Trying to hide from the snickers of his friends, he walked over to say goodbye to Prof. Oak. While he did this, Delia leaned in towards Misty and whispered in her ear.

"I know I can trust you to watch over my little Ash", Delia whispered, smiling as she did so. Misty smiled back and nodded.

"Of course, you can count on me", Misty whispered back. Delia then gave Misty a hug.

"Thank you deary, I consider you the daughter that I never had. I know you'll do a good job", Delia said. Misty blushed slightly at the compliment.

"Thank you", Misty replied. Delia then released her from the embrace and hurried her towards the van with the others. The van had 4 levels of seats, the driver and front seat, 2 rows of double seats, and a final 3 person seat in the back near the trunk. Prof. Oak had made sure to lend them a van where everyone could fit in. Brock took the driver's seat and started the car. Gary took the front seat besides Brock, (something he and Ash had argued over. But since it was his grandfather's van, he won out in the end). Behind them were May and Drew, then Dawn and Misty, and in the back row of seats were Ash, Tracy, and Max. Pikachu sat on Ash's lap. May, being the one closest to the open door, put her hand on the handle. She then looked out to Delia and Prof. Oak.

"See you later!", May yelled.

"Take care!", Prof. Oak said.

"Watch yourselves!", Delia added. May then closed the sliding door. Brock honked the horn goodbye and started to drive. Everyone in the large van smiled and waved goodbye to the two adults as they began to disappear from sight. After they were gone, May looked towards Brock.

"So Brock, where exactly is the lake house?", May asked. Brock held out a map of the Kanto region and pointed to a lake near the top corner.

"It's in the Northern part of Kanto, past the Indigo Plateau", Brock said as he drove. Dawn turned around to face Ash.

"Hey Ash, why did your mom have us take her place, she was the one that won the contest", Dawn asked. Ash shrugged.

"Mom said that she was too busy with the house. But considering she lives by herself most of the time with Mr. Mime, the house should be in top condition. I think personally that she wanted to give it to us so that we could all spend the week together", Ash explained. Misty looked back at Ash as well.

"Just like old times huh Ash?", Misty brought up. Ash chuckled slightly and smiled.

"Just like old times", Ash replied.

"I can't wait to get there, I heard that the scenery's beautiful", Tracy said as he sketched the outside of the van into his sketchbook. Ash then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a brochure. It was a paper on the contest Delia had won. He opened it up and began reading from it.

"Enter for your chance to win a free trip to our newly constructed lake house in Northern Kanto. Experience the outdoors with many activities both on land and in the crystal clear lake", Ash read out loud. "Hmm, looks like a great place for a vacation!". Ash placed the brochure back into his pocket.

"Hey Brock, how much farther to the camp?", Drew asked.

"Oh, we've got a ways to go yet", Brock answered. Drew then laid back in his seat and placed his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes.

"Well then in that case, I'm going to sleep", Drew stated. May looked at him confused.

"Don't you want to talk?", May asked.

"I'm on vacation, which means I'm on break from contests, training, traveling, and especially your mouth", Drew replied coolly, not moving an inch. May glared at the green haired boy.

"What did you say!" May yelled angrily. Drew didn't reply, he was already asleep. May was about to yell again but figured it was pointless. She huffed out heavily and crossed her arms in disgust. "Hmph, men!". Meanwhile, in the back of the van, Ash had already begun to get bored. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind and he began to smile mischievously. He leaned over to Tracy and began to whisper in his ear.

"Hey Trace, watch this", Ash said. Tracy watched curiously as Ash handed Pikachu to Misty, who reluctantly accepted the yellow mouse. He then looked towards the front of the van. "Hey Gary!", Ash called out. Gary turned around to to see Ash, waiting for a response. "Why didn't you invite your cheer leader friends!", Ash asked. Both Tracy and Misty knew where this was going to go. Tracy laughed very quietly as Misty shook her head in annoyance. Gary turned around and faced the front of the road once more.

"You know I don't hang out with them anymore", Gary replied. Ash started to snicker to himself.

"Why, did they get bored of you that quickly?", Ash asked. Tracy began to laugh more, but still trying to remain quiet. Gary still faced the front.

"Ash, I will beat you into submission!", Gary threatened. Ash laughed more.

"That's what she said!", Ash responded. Gary had enough. He reached for his seatbelt.

"That's it, I'm going to kill him!", Gary stated as he unclicked his seatbelt. After he did so he sat up and began to move. Brock shook his head in pity for Ash.

"No blood in the car please, I promised your grandfather that I would keep it clean!", Brock yelled out to Gary.

"Yeah yeah", Gary responded. He then made his way towards the back of the van with quick hast. Ash then unbuckled his seatbelt to prepare for the fight. As soon as Gary reached Dawn and Misty, he launched himself at Ash. As the two began to wrestle, Tracy started to laugh out loud. He took off his seatbelt to not get involved and moved. He soon sat down in-between May and the sleeping Drew to watch the fight unfold. May looked down to see Tracy watch the fight. She then looked to see Drew, still sleeping in his seat. As she did this, her own little mischievous thought ran through her mind. She then tapped Tracy on the shoulder. Tracy looked up at her, wondering why she would interrupt him watching the fight.

"Hey Tracy, could you do something for me?", May asked. Tracy nodded, always eager to help someone. As he wondered what it could be that she needed help with, May rummaged through her backpack. She then pulled out two small objects. "I've been saving these for when Drew fell asleep. Normally I wouldn't be this mean but now he deserves it", May explained. She then revealed in her hands a feather and shaving cream. Tracy looked at them and began to laugh. During this, Misty, Dawn, and Pikachu watched as Ash and Gary fooled around in the back seat. Also sitting in the back row, directly behind Dawn, was Max. Due to his small size, he was afraid of moving out of his seat like Tracy had and now was trying to not get involved in the fight with the two teens. He panicked as body part after body part flew by him. All of a sudden, one of Gary's feet kicked Max in the face. Although the kick itself was not a hard one, it was enough to cause Max to hit the window with his head. Dawn heard the bang and turned around to see Max holding the back of his head and rubbing it. Dawn gasped.

"Oh my! Are you alright!", Dawn asked worried. Max regained his composture and then looked up at Dawn. Immediatly, he noticed just how she looked. Max had only met Dawn briefly and had not gotten a good look at her. But now doing so, he realized just how cute she looked, especially when she was worried for him. Suddenly, he began to blush immensfully. He tried to fix his glasses on his face as a distraction.

"Oh, uh...yeah, I'm...I'm alright", Max said making sure not to make eye contact. Dawn smiled. Watching this, Misty and Pikachu looked at each other and smiled, they knew what it reminded them of. Meanwhile, Tracy had the feather in his hand and prepared to tickle Drew with it. Because his hands were behind his head, Tracy needed to make Drew move them. He tickled his cheek, causing Drew to involuntarily wipe it away. In doing so, his hands were free and Tracy quickly applied some of the shaving cream to one of them. After he did so, he looked at May and the two of them started giggling. Tracy focused on Drew again and tickled him once again with the feather. Drew at first tried to ignore the feeling, but soon it was too much for him to handle, and he wiped the tickle away; in the process wiping the shaving cream all over his face. May and Tracy burst into laughter as Drew slowly woke up. He felt something on his face and felt the shaving cream. He then looked at his hand.

"What the...", Drew said as he noticed the cream. He then wiped the remaining cream off of his face with his clean hand and removed it all with his shirt. After he did so, he glared at May and Tracy, who had not stopped laughing. In the back of the car, the fighting had ceased when Ash managed to sit on Gary's back Indian style.

"Ha! I did it! I won!", Ash eclaimed in excitement. Just then, the van started to bounce up and down violently, which was caused by Brock driving over a rough road. Tracy flew up in the air for a moment and crashed into the inside roof of the car before crashing into the floor with a thud. Ash flew forward off of Gary and landed in-between Dawn and Misty. Gary himself bounced up and the front half of his body landed in the trunk while his legs kicked the air near Max. When the bumping from the road stopped, Brock turned around briefly to see the carnage. He then faced the road and laughed.

"And that kids, is why we wear seatbelts", Brock said. May, Dawn, Misty, Brock, Max, and Pikachu all started to laugh while Drew wiped away the last of the shaving cream. When he was sure the cream was all gone, he looked down at Tracy.

"Tracy?", Drew said. Tracy sat up from the bumping. He was still very dizzy from the crash and had trouble looking at Drew, but he did. "You're an idiot", he stated. "And you?", he said directed towards May. She looked at him. "You're despicable", Drew stated. May made a sly smile and then turned her head to look out the window. At this time, Ash tried to sit himself up from landing on the floor. He put his hand on the closest thing he could find to help boost himself up. As soon as he touched this thing, he felt warmth and smoothness. He got goosebumps from the touch but ignored it as he brought himself to his knees. He then turned to see that his hand was resting on a bare leg, which was connected to Misty. Both her and Pikachu were giggling from the fall Ash had just endured.

"Nice of you to drop by!", Misty said smiling at Ash. Ash made a goofy grin.

"I aim to please!", Ash stated. Misty only giggled more. Gary managed to move himself out of the trunk and began to make his way to the front seat; stopping when Ash was in the way.

"Ash, stop flirting with your crush and get back to your seat before we go over more bumps", Gary said. He then stepped over Ash and made his way to Tracy. "And Tracy, you too", he said, not even stopping for him. Gary then managed to make his way to his seat, buckled up, and relaxed.

"Ok", Tracy said still dizzy. He bumbled his way back to his seat, nearly tripping over Ash in the process. Ash himself looked at Gary, and then back to Misty.

"I'm sorry crush, but my mother says I have to sit back in my seat. But don't worry, I'll be back to flirt with you later", Ash said with a sarcastic tone directed towards Gary.

"I look forward to it", Misty replied. Ash then stood up and sat back down in his seat. As he did, he helped Tracy put his seatbelt on, noticing that he was still dizzy and could not clip it in. After he did so, Brock spoke up.

"Alright guys, we've officially reached Northern Kanto. It will still be awhile before we reach the lake house though", Brock explained. Everyone looked out their window to see the many trees and wildlife, much like the forests they've traveled through on their journeys. On one side was a small river, where Seaking were jumping over rocks in the water to reach upstream. On the other side of the car were a herd of Stantler eating grass in a small field. "Uh oh", Brock suddenly said. Everyone turned their attention away from the windows towards Brock.

"What is it?", May asked. Brock looked around through the window, as if to look for something in particular.

"I don't recognize this area, we need to get some directions", Brock said. Gary looked out the window as well to help Brock. As he did, he noticed something.

"Well look at that, there's a small store, we can ask there", Gary said. Everyone looked and noticed a small store on the side of the road. It looked old, but sturdy. There many old signs around the building advertising for things inside. There was a cooler on the porch holding what appeared to be ice cream and baited worms according to the ads on it. Brock drove the van into the large gravel parking lot and stopped it. As he turned it off, he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to face everyone.

"I'll go ask for directions, be right back", Brock said. He then opened his door.

"Wait Brock, I'm coming too", Ash suddenly said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. Drew looked at Ash and did the same.

"Yeah me too, I could use the stretch", Drew said. As Brock stepped out of the van, Drew slid his door open and he and Ash stepped out. Drew stretched his arms and legs and then shook it off briefly. He and Ash then met up with Brock and the three teens walked towards the store. As they approached the small building, they noticed an older man sitting in a chair right by the door, near where the cooler was. He had a thick red moustache and beard with hair to match. He wore a red and black plaid jacket which was open and revealed a black shirt. He also wore torn up jeans and hiking boots. By his side was a large and older looking Granbull. He looked at the boys with a curious yet helpful smile.

"Can I help you boys?", the man asked. He spoke with a deep husky voice.

"Uhm, are you the store clerk?", Brock asked curiously. The man shook his head.

"No I'm not, but I help out the owner alot, we're good friends, you all lost?", the man asked, noticing the van filled with teenagers. Brock nodded his head.

"Oh, yes, we're looking for this lake house around here", Brock explained. The man gave a slight chuckle.

"Well there's alot of those around here, might want to be more specific", the man said.

"Uhm, it's a newer one, just built I guess", Drew stated, hoping it might help. After he said this, Ash realized something.

"Oh...", Ash said. He then began to fumble in his jacket. He soon pulled out the pamphlet and showed the picture to the man. The hiker slowly moved his head closer to the picture to see the house. As soon as he got a good look at it, he understood.

"Oh that place! Yeah I've seen that from the lake while kayaking, beautiful looking camp. Yeah what you want to do is continue your way this road until you another road branching off to the left. Go down this road and it will lead you to the camp. It's the only one there and the road ends at its driveway", the hiker explained, using his hands for more detail. Ash put the pamphlet back into his jacket.

"Thank you!", Ash, Brock, and Drew said together. The hiker nodded.

"Anytime fellas", the hiker said. The boys then walked back to the van, waving goodbye to the hiker. He waved back as his Granbull yawned and laid down to sleep. The boys then got into the van and buckled up.

"Alright, let's buck", Brock said.

"You know where to go?", Dawn asked to be sure. Brock nodded.

"Yep, we're almost there!", Brock answered. He then started the van and began to drive off. He gave one final wave goodbye to the hiker and they were off.

"Oh I can't wait till we get to the cabin! First thing I'm gonna do is lay out in the sun!", May exclaimed. Dawn chimed in at the sound of tanning.

"Yeah! That sounds like a great idea!", Dawn replied.

"Now hold on girls, we have other things to do first. When we get there, we have to unpack. Now from what Ash's pamphlet says, there aren't enough rooms for all of us. So I suggest that we share a room by sex. All the girls get one room and all the guys get another; to save up space", Brock suggested. Everyone in the van nodded in agreement. "I would also like to get a look around, see where everything is inside and out of the camp". As he said this, he spotted the branching road on his left. He turned down the road and drove up a small hill. "We're getting closer, at the end of this road is our vacation spot", Brock said. Everyone watched anxiously as the van was driven up the hill getting closer and closer to their destination. When they reached the top of the hill, they saw the end of the road. Through the trees on the left they could see the lake shimmering from the bright sunlight. When they reached the end of the road, they looked and were amazed at what they saw. It was their destination, and the spot where they would all relax.

Well there it is! The first chapter to what hopefully will be a great story! Sorry for the length, I wanted to get the van ride there out of the way. Now the next chapter will have more of the actual lake house and possibly a surprise or two...or three. Please tel me what you think. I want reviews, favorites, and alerts galore! Now to finish this off, I shall do what I do best, (other than write), narrate! "Now that the gang have reached the lake house, what will happen? Will Ash and the gang be able to relax as anticipated, or will something happen to ruin their vacation? Find out in the next thrilling installment of "The Lake House"!". Ah, sweet reminiscing! Well until then, I bid you all farewell!

sincerely,
evan, a fan of aaml -EVAN AAML