Chapter One
"N-no, please, have mercy!" The man in question was whimpering on the ground, both legs and all his fingers broken. The source of his pain was shrouded in a black cloak, showing no emotion to the pain he had caused. The man, or the Wraith as he was sometimes called by the locals, brought his hand torwards the cowering man's face. As the man looked a blue sphere the size of a basketball came into existence.
The wraith knelt."You already had your chance, but you chose to waste it on rape and poaching," the wraith spoke very softly, like he was trying not to wake a baby.
"P-p-please, I-I'll change!"
The wraith stood."No." He released the blue orb which floated torwards the frightened man and was absorbed inside of him. The man convulsed for a few seconds as if he was electocuted. The wraith spat at the body before he turned and headed back up the mountain.
As he arrived at the cave where he lived, a blue and black jackal walked up to him." Master, did you really have to go so far?"
"I thought I told you not to question me, Lucario"
"Yes, but you are losing your humanity!"
The man let out a short, cold bark of laughter."If that is humanity, then I think I'm better off," he said as he walked into the cave.
A large orarge dragon and a smaller green lizard walked up behind the jackal, both concerned for the three's mutual friend."He needs help," whispered the jackal so that the man wouldn't overhear. The lizards just nodded in agreement.
As months went by, Lucario, Charizard, and Sceptile continued to grow more worried about their trainer. He was cold and distant to all of his Pokémon except for Greninja. Greninja was Ash's powerhouse enforcer, doing whatever he asked. His personality had also changed, matching Ash's. He had become so strong that know one dared challenge him. He was able to beat Charizard, Sceptile, Lucario, and Infernape all at once in a handicap battle. Because of this he became Ash's right-hand man, the only one to ever go on missions with him.
All of this started during the Kalos League...
Nine years prior...
"Absol is unable to battle! Ash Ketchum is the winner!"
"And there you have it folks! The veteran Ash manages to scrape a narrow quarterfinal win!"
Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He only beat his opponent's Mega Absol because of Ash-Greninja. "Good match. You almost had me there at the end!" he said as he shook his opponent's hand. His opponent just gave him a respectful nod.
As he walked to the pokémon center he received a call on his xtranceiver. Curious, since he wasn't expecting a call, he picked up.
"Oh, professor, how- Professor Oak what's wrong?" he said as he noticed the professor. He was clearly distraught and was covered in soot, making his lab coat dark gray, almost black.
"Ash, my boy, I have some terrible news. You may want to sit down," the professor said clearly looking uncomfortable.
Ash obeyed and sat down."Professor, what's all this about?" he asked getting quite worried.
"Ash... there was a fire in Pallet. Something about a stray Draco Meteor in a practice battle. A few houses caught fire. In one though a girl's eevee got trapped because the wall fell in. Delia went inside with Mimey to try and get her out b-but the house collapsed before they were even inside for a m-m-minute," at this the professor started sobbing uncontrollably. Ash was shocked as he'd never seen him lose his composure before."None of...made...Delia...SHE'S GONE!"
Ash was speechless. It wasn't possible. How could his kind, caring, sweet mother be gone? The one who made him whatever he wanted to eat, completely supported his journey, teased him about girls and changing his underwear, and taught him about everything he knew? "No..."
Ash was in shock. He slowly hung up as the professor was still crying. He walked out the pokémon center with no idea where he was going. He passed his friends without them noticing, ironically, as they were actively looking for him. He reached the edge of Lumiose City and released Talonflame. "Take me home buddy..."