AN: I do not own anything by Nintendo or any other companies involved, otherwise I would've done a few tweaks. So, yeah, I own nothing that is related in any way to Pokémon except the characters I own, which this time around will not be involved. This is basically an attempt to do a battle of opposites. Also, you must have read "Champion of the Past" to understand what is going on, otherwise you'll wind up being confused a little.

Pokémon
Champion of the Past
The Rematch

Prologue: Rematch Call

One week following the Indigo Plateau's League Tournament, the small town of Pallet was once again beginning to a new day, but an unexpected ship had made its way to the small port. On board, aside from various trainers and some creatures called Pokemon, some even from the various regions scattered across the world, one trainer stood out from the rest. Believe it or not, he was a local to Kanto, and Pallet happened to be his home town also, for the longest time. Only a handful of individuals knew him by name, but many knew him for his skills with Pokémon Training, and more especially of his resemblance almost sharing that of Kanto's newest Champion.

This trainer wore a white shirt underneath a red vest, black fingerless gloves and blue jeans. As well as that, he wore some fairly decent looking shoes. He also wore a belt that held five orbs, all with a white lower half, but the tops all varied in color, mainly from the different capsules, called Pokeballs, he found the most useful. Up until three years ago, this trainer always carried the same five Pokemon around in normal red and white Pokeballs. But it was evident here that this trainer decided to diverse these caught Pokemon so he'd know exactly which Pokemon were in each capsule.

On his shoulder was a just over a foot-tall, yellow mouse-like creature with a lightning bolt-shaped tail and two red cheeks. It was a Pokemon native to Kanto, but even more especially, it was the only Pokemon he absolutely refused to be parted with, as did it; a Pikachu was what it was called. It was wearing this young man's cap, mainly red with a white face with no specific markings on it. This trainer looked up at a speaker as he could hear the captain soon speak on the PA.

"This is your captain speaking; we have made dock in the small town of Pallet, and home to Kanto's most recent champion. We will be staying here for a while as passengers get a feel for the place before we press on to the city of Vermillion, home to…" The captain went on, but this trainer in particular was not going to be aboard the ship again, as his ticket had been print for Pallet to be his final stop. But the reason why this trainer had chosen to get off here is simple; he had a promise to fulfill. Also, he had to see the Pokemon he had, and always will consider as his brothers and sisters, just to ensure they were in okay condition.

He had stepped out on the deck, and for the first time in a long time, this trainer was able to see the sun rise in his home town. "Pika pi." His Pikachu responded, watching out there as well, it too seeing the sunrise also with its trainer. This lasted for a minute or so before the trainer regained his composure, and got off the ship through a loading ramp, stepping foot into the town. Of course, not very many people recognized him, heck, some even called him "Ash", though that was not his name. It was obvious to him though, that Ash had finally achieved his goal of becoming Champion.

Before this trainer would go in and see the Pokemon Professor Oak, he decided to at least stop at home and at least see how his mom was doing. He had only seen his mom three years ago, and hardly got in contact with her since. As he approached a building, the trainer looked at the Letter Box for a last name, which wasn't too evident. In its place, scratched on the mailbox instead of the worn name, was "Red's House". He thanked that the letter box hadn't been removed, which meant his mom was still here surely. He walked to the front door of the two-story building, gave a light knock upon the wooden surface before reaching out to open the door, pushing it open.

Immediately after the door opened, is Pikachu leaped off his shoulder and ran into the house, and more importantly onto the table. Red had walked in after, and turned to see a woman with long, naturally flowing black hair with a few red ribbons in a few spots keeping a symmetrical look to it at the same time. The dress she wore was a lighter shade of red, as if almost going pink from the number of cleans she probably put into it. She was in the kitchen, sitting at the table, and she appeared to have looked towards him when he stepped in, and after closing the door behind him, the woman, who is actually his mom more specifically, got up and was walking towards him.

"Welcome home, Red. You don't know how much I was concerned that something bad had happened to you for these last three years…" She spoke, and she sounded like she was about to burst into tears at any given moment. In reaction, the boy named Red walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, embracing his mother in a hug for the first time in a long time. "You don't have to say a word… You're basically telling me that I shouldn't have to worry about you, Kanto's greatest, unrecorded trainer, right…?" His mother spoke, calming down a little, as they pulled away from the hug.

"Yes mom… Don't cry though, I'm back… And I'll be returning more frequently than before…" The usually silent Red spoke, knowing it was rude to be silent to his only birth mother, with his father disappearing a long time ago on a journey. Red was trying to ensure that he didn't have to leave his mother to be left without any family left to turn to. His thumb traced below her eye to wipe a tear away. "I promise mom… But I will be going away again, for… unsettled business with another trainer… It'll only be for a week though-" Red had added, but was cut off.

"You and Blue still have that rivalry going on about you beating him fair and square in the Pokemon League? I mean, I know that by now that you should've let go of that since…" His mother spoke, and Red knew she was jumping to conclusions again, and he immediately shook his head.

"This has nothing to do with Blue… He's gotten over it ever since he became Viridian City's Gym Leader again after the gym itself was destroyed due to a Pokemon freak accident four years following my Pokemon League triumph. This is more towards… another trainer I met with, let's just say…" Red added; he had no intentions to give out the name, which was Ash, the boy who he had battle three years before. Though Red won the battle, he had actually considered it more of a draw, because his Pikachu was on the verge of being incapable of battling as well.

Regardless, his Mom appeared to have calmed down, and in the end, nodded. "You promised it yourself that you're done with the traveling, and… I'm thankful for that, Red… Just promise to return home after this battle is over… I don't want to lose you also…" She spoke, walking with her son to the door, her son's Pikachu having finished the apple she had given it, and was now back on his shoulder, setting his hat on his head again. Red gave her a nod before he waved to her, before he began his long walk towards the Oak Research Lab…

-Meanwhile-

"…This looks like the end, folks; Lance's Dragonite against the trainer from Pallet Town, Ash's Pikachu. As you know, Dragon-types have a distinct advantage over many Pokemon, so it will take an unlikely miracle for Pikachu to pull off the victory of the past five years. This battle setup has not been seen for over ten years; a Pikachu versus Lance's Dragonite… Oh! Draginite has released a devastating Ice Beam from its mouth towards the electric mouse, but wait! Pikachu appears to be using its amazing agility to outrun the beam released from the dragon, and…! Pikachu just used its Iron Tail technique to deal a fairly harming strike to the dragon! Amazing!" The announcer yelled on the television, as the trainer watches from his bed the battle progressing between the two.

He wore a black shirt with black cargo pants, as well as white socks, since he was not going anywhere yet today. The rest of his clothes, which he'd put on if he does make that decision to go anywhere, consisted of a white and blue zip-up short-sleeved jacket, blue fingerless gloves, black and red shoes and a red cap with a white face, a blue symbol for a Pokeball on it. His hair, messy as it was, was jet black in color. Beside him on the bed was a yellow electric mouse, and really good friend and partner since he began his Pokemon journey eight years ago; Pikachu.

"An amazing Thunderbolt rattles the field from Pikachu; I can't even see from here because of the dust pick-up, folks! …Okay, the dust is settling… The Pokemon that's still standing… is Pikachu! Ash's Pikachu, though quite battered from the battle, has ultimately stood victorious over Lance's most cherished Dragon Pokémon! Put your hands together for Kanto's new Pokemon League Champion; Ash Ketchum!" The announcer proclaimed loudly, which was followed by a loud roar from the crowd that was watching the battling taking place. "Ash no doubt has trained very hard to make it this far, having facing many trainers on his long journey to become champion. Seven years folks; that is how long this trainer has been traveling, collecting, and battling Pokemon. After this short break, we will then award the Champion with his well-deserved trophy, and some words of accomplishment from Lance himself." The announcer added, which was then turned off quickly by the trainer on the bed.

"Pika pika?" The trainer's Pikachu asked, tilting its head while looking at him, which was then the trainer got up and approached one of two trophies in his small stand, and the most recent, which he received last year. On the gold plate, the one that was most recent, had the name, "Ash Ketchum", which was this trainer's name.

"We know how that ended; I wound up tripping getting up on the podium from the excitement, accidentally knocked over Dawn in the process, but… Well, the main reason why I turned it off Pikachu is because… It's hard to describe, but it doesn't feel the same without him around to know, you know?" Ash spoke, looking through the plates again, but most certainly, there was one place that looked as though a plate was removed rather forcefully, the only letter that remained was an "R", and the rest was gone. Nobody knew who "R" was except for Ash, who had battled him three years ago.

"Red is still on his journey, no doubt trying to create a hard-to-beat team for when he does return and challenge me again. I hope you're ready to go face to face against his Pikachu when the time comes, right buddy?" Ash looked towards his partner, reaching for his jacket and putting it on, along with his cap and gloves. Since that concluded battle, Ash has did a bit of traveling himself to train his Pokemon; all of them. He even returned to the Orange Islands, remembering a promise he made to his Pidgeot to come back for it, but truth is, Ash knew the bird Pokemon was happy to be with the others, so he decided to let it stay. It knew where he lived though, and every summer for about a week since that encounter, his Pidgeot would fly in to see him along with the other Pidgey and Pidgeottos, and even a few other fully evolved Pidgeots, staying in Professor Oak's field.

It was recently that Ash had seen the P1 Grand Prix, that Anthony, a champion for a few years now in the series, had not only trained his own Hitmonchan, but also Ash's Primape, which both have won various titles. Ash had promised to take it back after Anthony said he'd make it a P1 champion, and Ash knew that it still had respect towards him over this long time being separated. Ash gave it the choice to either stay in training or to come back on his team, and in the end, Primape, because it had its trust towards Ash since that battle in the ring against that Machop, decided to return to Ash. Despite being a champion, Ash allowed Anthony to keep the belts that Primape had won over the duration it was in his care.

His Quilava and Bayleaf, both vital members of his team back in Johto, he gave them quite a bit of time training and gave his support for, which in tur did the same. Though his Bayleaf did not evolve, his Quilava however, did evolve into a Typhlosion, actually quite recently too, and is a fire-type powerhouse along with his Charizard (which had returned to training back in the Charicific Valley) and Infernape. It remembered many abilities back in its Quilava form, but had learned a few more tricks that Ash did not expect a fire-type would know. Thunderpunch is quite a useful ability that Ash found that would help Typhlosion stand up against many water-type Pokemon; that was one and there was a few more.

Overall though, most of Ash's Pokemon had retained their usual forms, his Pikachu had been in its usual state since he began with it. Ash had also caught few more Pokemon since that battle with Red, but overall, nothing had really changed. He looked at the trophy for a moment longer, and nodded before turning to face his Pikachu.

"What to do today…?" Ash asked himself, though part of it was aimed at Pikachu, which responded as it usually did and appeared in thought with its trainer. Both released a sigh of sorts in unison, as Ash kept on thinking about what Red's team would be, yet it would be difficult to think of it clearly…

-Back to Red-

"…I must say, Red, you have collected a surprising number of Pokemon, and your recent team has fewer flaws and could counter almost any force that comes at you." The Pokemon Professor Oak explained to the trainer, having recalled his last Pokemon aside from his Pikachu, which still sat on his shoulder. "But, it has been quite a long time since I saw you last, you've grown up quite a bit, like Blue, that makes the rare visit here himself. And he's still disappointed about losing to you in the semifinals all that time ago, yet regardless, he does enjoy fighting the challengers that come to his gym for a battle, though I can't say I'm too proud of him since." Oak added to the trainer, as the two walked through the large field behind the lab while looking at the various Pokemon that were staying there.

"But I know you're not really one for words since… well, your dad had disappeared, and only speak when it's necessary. I still don't know what happened to him, but… nonetheless, you shouldn't let the past trouble you so much; I say I'm getting too old to do the journeys, but that doesn't stop me from looking after the Pokemon the trainers send here, and even spend time to train Dragonite every once in a while also." Oak continued, looking up in the sky towards the clouds, where Red did the same, though the young man remained silent as always.

"…You're going to challenge Ash, aren't you? In comparison to you, he's practically the only other one who's even close to league as you are in training, if only four years separate the two of you in experience. And I cannot take sides on who'll emerge victorious, so from this point, I trust you two won't push things too far, will you?" Oak asked, which Red merely shook his head in response; Red never pushed his Pokemon further than needed, and was sure Ash did the same thing.

"But… to make things fair, Oak… I'd like you to make a most recommended team for Ash… I don't want him to go into battle and I gain the upper-hand the entire time if he didn't know. If anything, though… I would like permission for a key to the Indigo Plateau; I know it's closed and the Moltress flame has long since moved on, but… It's there I'd like to battle. If anything, I would like to get over battling publically…" Red said simply, and Oak appeared to have understood, reaching into his lab coat for a said key, and handed it to the trainer.

"Alright then; everything is set… The only thing needed is to have Ash get ready for the end of the week, the day you wish to have our match scheduled. All you need to do is have this letter sent to Ash as soon as possible…" Red spoke, and with a nod, Oak released a sharp whistle, which in turn, a Pidgey flew over and landed on the professor's shoulder. Red handed the letter in his pocket to the professor, which in turn gave it to the Pidgey to hold it in its beak, which it allowed. Red had already began to leve at this point, which Oak then ooked at the Pidgey.

"Send that to Ash Ketchum, and ensure to return with him, Pidgey, okay?" Oak asked the small bird, which it nodded. It flapped its wings quickly before taking off to the skies, heading towards its destination. Professor Oak was unsure how things were going to turn out, but hopefully, for the best, the two trainers will have fun in the end at least…

-Back to Ash-

Ash had left his room, and was gazing out the kitchen window, still unsure of how he'd spend his day. Pikachu had tried to help him come up with an idea, but with no avail. His mom was doing her usual day by cooking, while her Mr. Mime, which she had nicknamed Mimey, was doing some cleaning around the house. It was the only Pokemon his mom has, but even so his mom never battled or did anything like that, though Mimey did battle a few times, which all wound up being Team Rocket-related. Despite that, Mimey was a more passive Pokemon his mom mainly used around the house to keep things clean, especially if she went away somewhere.

Ash's train of thought came to a halt though as there was a tap on the window, which when he looked, he saw a Pidgey on the window sill, pecking against the window a little, a letter in the beak that Ash noticed. His mom had noticed as well, though Ash was the one who got up and walked to the door and opened it, which in response, the Pidgey flew into the house, more specifically, onto Ash's shoulder, holding the letter out.

"This is for me…?" Ash asked a little, received a nod from the bird, before lightly taking the letter and opened the envelope, taking the piece of paper out of it. He looked at the words, with his Pikachu still on his other shoulder gazing at the piece of paper as well.

"Well Ash, what does it say; is it from one of your female fans wanting to meet you in person?" His mom asked, causing Ash's cheeks to flare red with embarrassment and almost appeared to topple over at the comment, which he quickly recovered to.

"Mom! It has nothing to do with that!" Ash defended himself quite quickly, his Pikachu and the Pidgey both a little unimpressed by the action.

"Just read what it says then, silly." His mom said, giggling a little, causing a sigh to come from Ash's lips, before he read the words.

"To Ash… As you may know, I battled you three years ago in exactly one week's time, and by what I've heard, you've achieved your dream to become Champion of Kanto. So, basically, as you have already figured by now, I've returned, and I'll give you this one week to prepare. I will be waiting for you at Indigo Plateau. That will be the day in which we'll learn just who is the strongest trainer. Before you do your training, I recommend you see Professor Oak first hand, as only he really knows my Pokemon team. He will not be giving out names, but he will most definitely help you pick out a team that, from what you have now, will be the most useful against my team. And since this is at Pokemon League, you may bring as many friends as you desire to see our battle from the stands… Until that time though, train hard, and treat your Pokemon with love and respect… Red…" Ash read aloud, and his Pikachu then saw the small handprint that looked like a Pikachu's, which it knew that Red's partner had signed it also.

"So it's a challenge request, perhaps to take away your title as Champion? And you will bring me along, will you?" Ash's mom said, her hands on her hips while smiling at her son. Ash just sighed again, but he knew he wouldn't refuse his mother for coming.

"Of course you can, mom, I mean… The other times you stayed here and watched me battle on TV alongside Professor Oak, Tracey, and the other Pallet Town residents. Which reminds me, I better do some calling- Whoa!" Ash was about to head over to the phone, but the Pidgey immediately tugged on the back of his shirt, as if pulling him. It was then Ash remembered the letter.

"I'll deal with the calling, don't you worry Ash. You just go and see Professor Oak to see what he can do to help you out with the Pokemon selection. But most definitely, you want all of your friends to be there to watch, right, like Misty, Dawn, May, etc…?" His mom went on, and as usual, Ash noted she only mentioned the girls' names, but regardless, he stepped out of the house, and began the long run to Professor Oak's, following behind the Pidgey the entire way. In his mind, Ash was wondering what Red's new team will consist of, or even if he chose to use anything new against him during the long trek…