Responsibilities Chapter One

This is a Pokéshipping fiction. The story is based around Ash and his new responsibilities as the new champion of Kanto, and taking responsibility for the huge 'mistake' he makes early on in the story.

Character ages: Ash – 20, Misty – 21, Brock – 25 etc, their adults.

Genre: Family, Romance, Humour (but not the focus).

The New Champion

When Ash started his journey at age 10 he had one dream, one goal which he swore to dedicate his life towards. This was of course the dream of becoming a Pokémon master. This was an impossible dream because there wasn't any way to distinguish a Pokémon Master from an ordinary trainer.

However if he had to sum it up, he'd admit he was now as close as he could possibly get to calling himself a Master. This is because; only two hours prior he had won the battle of his life against the champion of Kanto and in doing so became the champion of his home region.

Years of extreme effort, travelling and the occasional disappointment had culminated into his victory, but despite this he felt kind of underwhelmed. He always imagined when he defeated a champion that he'd be filled with pride, sure there was pride but he was left thinking the one vital question.

"What do I do next?" he whispered into his gloved hand as he sat in the room only known as 'the hall of fame' awaiting the president of the Pokémon League, Mr. Charles Goodshow to make an appearance.

"Two hours is a little too long don't you think?" he asked his partner who stood perched on his shoulder showing clear signs of exhaustion. It was he after all, along with all those who cheered for him from the stands who had pushed him over the finish line, allowing him to snatch victory out of the claws of defeat.

"Pika" was the only response, it was weak, making Ash feel sorry and for his best friend who had got roughed up quite seriously in the final battle against the opponent's Zapdos. Accompanying this feeling was pride, sure Pikachu had defeated legendaries in his time, but that Zapdos was famous for destroying all challengers' hopes, but as usual Pikachu delivered when it truly mattered.

"What's taking them so long?" he then asked, seemingly unable to control the amount of questions he was asking.

"PI-KA" Pikachu strained angrily, letting off a small amount of electricity from his cheeks, it was all he could manage after the hard fought battle.

"S-sorry" Ash replied, rubbing the back of his head before laughing slightly. "I guess I'm just nervous about all this, I mean come on Pikachu, I-no, we, along with all of our friends are champions of Kanto!" he said with enthusiasm in reference to all the Pokémon he had captured on his journey.

"Pi-ka Pi" the electric mouse replied in a more cheery manner, well as cheery as a weak and tired Pokémon could sound.

"We've been through so much, so many regions explored, so many friends made and now we've done it" Ash said with a touch of sentimentality in his voice, nearly overcome with emotion in doing so.

Minutes after he said this the room was filled with silence and once again impatience filled his thoughts, he didn't know why he had to wait so long nor did he understand why he had to sit in the hall of fame, he would of preferred to sit with his friends who came to watch, such as Brock, Misty, Dawn, May, Tracey, Max, Cilian and Iris, along with his mother, professor Oak and even Gary who had forced himself away from his research to watch.

As he continued to think of how bored he was, the automatic doors of the room opened wide, snapping him out of his internal rant as his head shot up and looked towards the door.

Standing there was Mr. Goodshow and the champion. "No, former champion" Ash thought proudly as they approached him slowly. Seeing this Ash got to his feet.

"Sorry to keep you waiting so long Ash" the elderly man apologised sincerely, bowing his head slightly. "We had to sort out some important business regarding your crowning as champion" he continued as he turned to the former champion who nodded and walked right in front of Ash.

"Ash" the man who was around 20-30 years older than Ash said with a deep voice. "On behalf of the Indigo League and the Kanto Trainer Association, I'd like to formally congratulate you for your victory today" he told the young man with pride in his tone, confusing the young Ketchum.

"Uh thank you... Red?" Ash replied unsurely, after all the name sounded fake, as if the man was hiding something, not just from him but the entire world. This made the older man laugh and fish something out his pocket.

"Here" he said handing him a laminated black and gold card, with golden stars circling a picture of his face, on the card was also some bold red letters and his trainer identification number.

"This is?" Ash asked as he looked at the card.

"Your official license to prove you are the champion of Kanto" the man said as he pulled out his own and showed it to Ash. "Don't worry you never lose it, so you'll always be a 'champion' even if you aren't the current one" he informed the man with a laugh.

"Um, thanks" Ash replied, unsure if he was being rude or just surprised. "Sorry, is this what took so long?" Ash asked as the two men in front of him turned to each other, before turning back and shaking their heads.

"Oh no sorry, we had to set something else up, it's something all champions go through, don't worry I went through it too" Red replied as he put a hand on Ash's shoulder before guiding him over to a machine. "Ah it's been over fifteen years since I saw this room" the man reminisced with a smile, his eyes not visible under his red cap.

"That long?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Yes, you were five at the time" he replied surprising Ash again, sure his age was public information, but he sounded so... familiar when saying it.

"What exactly does this machine do?" Ash asked as he looked at the monitor, which switched on suddenly revealing an image of himself, and his Pokémon from his battle, his name was in bold writing, and it revealed the words 'Champion of Kanto' leaving him slightly breathless.

"It records champions forever, your accomplishments will never be forgotten here" the man said as he looked down, only slightly to look at Ash. "Congratulations, I never thought, you would be the one to finally defeat me" he said with a smile before looking away "I'm glad it was you though" he finished.

Ash raised an eyebrow at this and turned to Mr. Goodshow who looked away. "What's all this about?" Ash thought as he examined the man known as 'Red'. "What do you mean, me being the one who defeated you?" Ash asked the man who turned back to look at him.

"Oh I've been following your career since your first Pokémon League" he said quickly, as if masking something. Ash who was too tired to particularly work this out just smiled.

"Thanks" he replied as he turned to Mr. Goodshow. "So what do I do now?" Ash asked the man who smiled.

"You're free to leave now Ash" he replied as he walked over to him and handed him four envelopes, three were white and the other was gold in colour. "Open the gold one when you want, don't open the other three" he informed Ash who spied the envelopes curiously. "That's all" he replied before reaching out his hand "congratulations again Ash, it feels like my own grandson won" he said with pride making Ash smile before shaking his hand.

"Thank you Mr. Goodshow" Ash replied as he turned his head to see Pikachu had fallen asleep "I guess that's why he wasn't so talkative" Ash thought as he picked up his friend.

"Thank you for the battle Red" Ash then added before walking out of the hall of fame leaving the two alone.

"Are you sure about this Derek?" Goodshow asked once he was sure Ash was out of sight. "That was your chance" he added making the former champion sigh deeply as he removed his red cap, revealing his black hair and brown eyes. His expression was calm but Goodshow could tell it was a mask.

"I'm just happy to see him again" Derek replied with a small smile, it was my fault it all came to this, I never took responsibility and because of that I am paying the price.

"I'm sure he'd understand if you just told him about it" the old man replied hesitantly, to be honest he wasn't so accepting of Derek's reasons, but he knew that he was a good man, and more importantly a close friend.

"Well regardless, I don't deserve to see him" the man replied, his voice illustrating the guilt and shame he felt. "I just hope he never goes down the same road as me" he added as he turned to the machine and looked at Ash's record smiling.

"And if he does?" Mr. Goodshow asked.

"He won't" Derek cut in. "Delia would have raised him much better than that" he finished, with a tinge of hope in his tone. "Anyway, it's unlikely, after all not many people would do what I did" Derek finished.

"Like father like son" Charles Goodshow said making the former champion turn and stare darkly at him.

"He'll never" Derek told him sharply.

"Never what? Derek?" Mr. Goodshow asked.

"End up like me, if worse comes to worse, I'd stop him myself... somehow" Derek 'Red' Ketchum said determinedly making Goodshow smile before laughing. "What is it?" Derek asked.

"Nothing, let's start preparing, it's been a long time since Kanto has celebrated a new champion" Charles said making Derek smile.

"Yeah let's go" he replied as he walked out of the room with him.

When Ash got into the main lobby of Indigo Plateau's main building he was met with a smaller crowd that he'd been expecting, much to his disappointment. Waiting for him was Delia, Brock, Professor Oak, Tracey and Gary.

"Ash!" Delia shouted out first rushing over to him, hugging him tightly before he had a chance to speak. "Congratulations!" she praised as he struggled to breathe under the tightness of her embrace, noting in a moment of suffocation, that she had a mighty strong grip for someone so much smaller than himself.

When he managed to break away, he was met with congratulations by the rest of the group, making him smile broadly. In the midst of the praise he was asked where Pikachu was, to which he remarked that all his Pokémon were at the centre and that he visited it before coming to the lobby.

"So Ash what took so long?" Gary finally asked the question everyone had been thinking.

"Ah, Red and Mr. Goodshow introduced me into the hall of fame and gave me" he explained as he pulled out the envelopes and his new ID, "these" he finished showing it off with a hint of pride in his voice. Gary understood this even more than the rest, because he had shared the same dream with Ash when they were children.

"Impressive" Professor Oak piped up with a smile and once again he was showered with praise, finally overwhelming Ash who shielded his face momentarily, everyone in the room understood, his dream was accomplished after all.

After he had calmed down he turned to Delia. "Hey mum where did everyone else go?" he asked her curiously making her frown slightly.

"Max and May had to leave with Professor Birch who came to pick them up" Brock cut in, "Dawn has an important fashion event to be at tomorrow, Cilian and Iris well they just disappeared... I don't really know them much to understand what they were leaving for, but it sounded important" Brock informed him "but they all said their congratulations, they said they would text you" Brock added.

"What about Misty?" Ash asked making Brock grimace slightly.

"Oh, she had a date to attend..." Tracey said awkwardly.

"... But she said it was business only, Daisy forced her, I tried to stop her" Tracey continued nervously making Ash laugh confusing those present.

"It's okay guys, Misty can do what she likes" Ash told them, making his mother face palm uncharacteristically. "I'm just happy she attended" Ash finished softly with a smile, before he was interrupted by the sound of an excited Pikachu.

"Piii-ka!" the electric mouse shouted loudly as he crashed into Ash.

"Pikachu!" he exclaimed happily, hugging him with a broad smile on his face, "we did it buddy!" he informed the mouse to let it know he wasn't dreaming.

As the two continued to celebrate the group watched them with smiles on their faces, until Oak approached Delia and whispered into her ear. "He still hasn't noticed has he?" he asked Delia who sighed.

"There was no date" Delia mumbled "I told her jealousy wouldn't work" Delia said exasperatedly. "Though to be fair to Ash, she is also in denial, we all knew she didn't have a date, but she wouldn't admit it" Delia said in a downtrodden tone.

"It was still a good act" Oak whispered back. "Huge props to Brock and Tracey" Oak joked making Delia giggle. "They're still young, don't worry Delia" Oak said hoping to alleviate her worries, he knew why Delia was so apprehensive about Ash, but they never spoke about it.

"Yeah" Delia finished the conversation before turning to Ash. "Say let's return home, it's getting late and if we don't hurry I won't be able to make your favourite meal Ash" Delia told her son who asked Pikachu what his opinion was like he always did, when he got confirmation he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm also getting tired, let's return to Pallet Town!" he said enthusiastically gaining a roar of agreement from the group who left the lobby together.

As they walked to the car Ash stared at the envelopes curious as to what their contents were, what he didn't know was these letters were going to be the starting point of an event that would forever change his life, for better, or worse.

Damn what a slow start to a story, trust me you probably have no idea where I am going with this story, but I have showed hints already as to what is going to happen, the title is also a big hint.

Sorry if it was boring, but I need time to build a story, as for Ash's fathers name, I just thought Derek Ketchum had a ring to it, and as for the name 'Red' I thought it would be a nice shout out to the games, P.S. I love Zapdos and that is why he was Red's main Pokemon in this haha.

Oh by the way, a small shout out but I seriously have not watched Best Wishes yet, this is why Cilian and Iris are mentioned, Brock's own words help to express my own thoughts haha.

Anyway, I hope you did enjoy it.

-Aquilon