Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon it belongs to the rightful owners. I don't own anything in this story, not even any characters.
A/N: I decided to make this one-shot for the fun of it. Basically, it's what I think the characters of Pokemon (from seasons 1 - 17, a.k.a original series to X and Y) are up to five years in the future.
Ash Ketchum sat in his room. He'd recently returned to Pallet Town for a break before he continued his journey to be a Pokemon master - he didn't feel like he'd successfully become one yet and he'd been working towards this dream for five years now. He also still wanted to capture every Pokemon in his Pokedex meaning his travels were nowhere near over. Ash looked around the room, his mom had never touched it since he first left at the age of ten except to add some things like photographs of all his friends.
His favourite photograph was of himself, Misty and Brock back when they first travelled together around Kanto. The three of them had been such close friends. He knew Misty now ran the Cerulean City gym full time with her water type Pokemon while Brock had become a Pokemon Doctor. Ash missed those carefree days when he'd explored Kanto with his two best friends, now he was mostly just training with no time to really visit either Brock or Misty. Of course, Ash also thought about all the other friends he'd made over the years and regions.
Tracey was still helping Professor Oak at the Pokemon lab in Pallet Town, although he'd pretty much taken over running that lab now that the professor was becoming too old to do everything - the old man some days struggled to even move around the expanse garden without having to pause for breathe. Tracey enjoyed caring for the professor, and caring for all the Pokemon in that lab including many of Ash's Pokemon. Tracey still enjoyed drawing the Pokemon of the lab, and even gave Ash sketches of his Pokemon to keep.
May was a successful Pokemon Coordinator, known throughout the Hoenn region and even beyond thanks to her television appearances. The fifteen year old girl never let the fame get to her head, Ash recalled from his last trip to Hoenn. The girl had been just as sweet then as she was five years ago when Ash first met her. Her little brother Max, now a twelve year old boy, was still as knowledgeable about Pokemon as he had been when he was a kid. He'd also grown up a lot, not just age-wise but also because he no longer tended to act like a know-it-all around others. The boy had really grown up over five years, and Ash was proud of his friend.
Dawn was also a Pokemon Coordinator, who seemed to have become best friends with May since the last time Ash had seen the Sinnoh girl. Though it wasn't exactly hard to guess, since they were both Top Coordinators and had common interests - mostly their growing interest in boys and the girls would swap tips on how to make their Pokemon look amazing for contests. Ash hadn't seen Dawn for a few months now, but he knew she would be handling herself.
Iris was one of the best Dragon Masters in Unova, maybe even in the world. The girl trained her dragon type Pokemon to be strong, while also showering them with her love and affection. After all, Pokemon are more likely to enjoy training with someone that actually cares about them not just their powers. Of course, Cilan was still a A-class Pokemon Connoisseur and the grass gym leader of Striaton City. N, as far as Ash knew, was still wandering the world befriending every Pokemon he met. He'd never really heard from N since they parted ways all those years ago, after they met Reshiram and stopped it destroying the world.
Serena was still a Pokemon Performer, and a very good one at that. She wrote letters to Ash, delivered to his home in Pallet Town for him to read whenever he returned home. Clement was the full time gym leader in Lumiose City, having taken it back from Clembot who now helped with the running of the gym but didn't actually battle anyone. Bonnie was finally old enough to have her own Pokemon, and she and Dedenne were travelling the Kalos region together.
All in all, everyone was doing their own thing now. It didn't mean they wouldn't be friends, or that they couldn't meet up to discuss things just that they didn't travel together anymore.
Sometimes Ash missed the way Misty would scream when she saw a bug Pokemon. Or how Brock would flirt with every girl he saw. He missed watching Tracey sketch a Pokemon. And seeing May and Max argue in that beautiful sibling way, where they'd make up almost immediately. He missed watching Dawn celebrate when she won a contest. Or the way Iris used to call him a little kid. He especially missed the food both Brock and Cilan could cook. He missed the feeling of happiness that came from watching N talk to Pokemon or help them. Watching Serena training her Pokemon, or Clement blowing things up when his inventions had gone wrong. He even missed how Bonnie got excited over the smallest thing.
He missed being a child. Being innocent enough to think being a Pokemon Master meant defeating all the gyms and the Elite Four. Because being a Pokemon Master was a lot more work than that.
A/N: Hey guys. I know I basically said on my profile I'd update Berry Legacy yesterday but I had this stuck in my head all week so I figured if I finally write the damn thing maybe I can concentrate on my main Pokemon story. So here it is: The Memories of Ash Ketchum.