Hey guys, I really have no excuse this time. I kind of kept forgetting about this and I kind of got bored of writing and it got swept to the back of my mind. Really sorry about that! But this time, I swear I'm back. Seriously. I'll be shooting for one chapter a week at the very least. The weekly chapter will be posted on Sunday, unless I'm too busy and miss a week, upon which it will be posted on the Wednesday after. Anyways, you may have noticed I kind of deleted everything. Before I was editing the old story, but this time I think I'll rewrite it. Anyways, really sorry for disappearing again, I'm here to stay this time! Unless I get eaten by some sort of giant dragon or something.

Also you may have noticed I changed my Pen Name. Rest assured, I'm the same person, it's just that that old name was from ages ago, and I generally use a different name now. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

-Snow Cloak

"Four years now, and there's still no sign of him. None at all."

The voice came from a spiky-haired man, lying on top of a grassy hill, staring up at the night sky, gazing at the stars. Along with him, doing the same thing, were his friends, Max, May and Dawn. Instead of sitting around the campfire, they were instead simply lying on the ground, with their backs to the grass. It was surprisingly comfortable, and it gave them time to think.

And they had been thinking peacefully, each in their own little private bubble, until Brock burst them all with his statement.

"Please don't bring him that back up… Even now, it's still painful, just thinking about it," One of the others lying around said, in a tired voice. It was evident that it was quite late at night, and all four of them were tired. But there was more to it… Almost as if the speaker had gotten tired of answering the same thing, over and over again…

"I know what you mean, Max. I feel just as you guys do, believe me. But do you really think that Ash would want us to be like this? Do you really think he would want his friends to mope about him, instead of moving on?" Brock said again, in a more serious voice. The rest of the group flinched and looked away when he said, 'Ash', but Brock tried to push his point onward.

"No. He wouldn't want this. I know this, and you guys know this, because we travelled with him, shared adventures with him. He wouldn't want us to mope about him; he would want us to remember him fondly."

His words hung in the air for a few minutes, with no one wanting to reply. Brock sighed dejectedly, as if this had happened many times before and gave up, resolving to go back to thinking to himself.

'I wish I could see him again, just to know if he's safe. And I wish the rest of his friends could see why we should remember him fondly… Ash would hate to see them all so sad like they are now.' The spiky-haired Pokémon Breeder thought.

He sighed again, and shifted a little to the side.

'You shouldn't have left Ash… Or if you had to, you could have at least told us why, and let us wish you farewell. Instead, now we're left without knowing where you are, what you're doing, or even if you're safe or not.'

What was interesting about the group, however, was that they weren't simply hanging out or catching up with each other. No, they were travelling, travelling to the Indigo Plateau, to participate in a grand tournament that they had been informed of the day before.

The whole group of friends had been at Pallet the day before, to celebrate Gary's victory over the Orange League, when Professor Oak had announced the Tournament.

It was so huge, that all of them decided they would participate in it, even the ones that didn't generally participate in Pokémon battles.

Gary, who, while still learning to be a Pokémon Professor, still battled a fair bit, had some things to sort out at the lab, and with his Pokémon before he was able to leave to the Indigo Plateau. It wasn't very far from Pallet anyways, so it wasn't like they were in a rush.

Misty still needed to visit Cerulean City and get the gym all sorted out before she would be able to leave for the Tournament.

Max was probably the most serious trainer in the group, with Misty as a close second. He had done quite well in his journeys as a Pokémon trainer so far. He had started in Hoenn of course, and after a long series of adventurers along with Brock, he had managed to place in the top 32 in the Hoenn League, after beating his father to obtain his last necessary badge.

He then managed to place in the top 16 in the Kanto League, and top 8 in the Johto League. Max had then been planning to visit Sinnoh, and was also planning to reach the top, and win it.

Of course, he probably wouldn't have achieved any of this without Ash. He most likely would have ended up as an amateur trainer, just like so many others, without the influence of the energetic, raven-haired trainer.

The Tournament that they were currently traveling towards was a very special tournament indeed. Known as the Tournament of Arceus (ToA from now on), it was a tournament held once every 50 years, to bring together the greatest trainers of the generation for a grand spectacle. There were no requirements for entering, so one would be able to see many different levels of trainers, from brand new rookies, to legendary champions, to average-ranked trainers.

Meanwhile

On an island in the Orange Archipelago, far away from human civilization, stood a raven-haired boy, watching a group of very powerful-looking Pokémon spar and train with each other.

He looked up at the sky briefly, and deciding it was time for a break, called out to his Pokémon.

"Alright guys. Let's take a break now."

And in that instant, all the Pokémon cried out happily and went to drink from the nearby river. Previous sparring opponents were suddenly great friends, as they took the moment to relax.

They didn't resent their trainer for pushing them all so hard, after all, a lot of the time he would train with them too, pushing himself just as hard. And all their hard work definitely showed. They were all very powerful Pokémon now.

Ash took the break time to look up at the sky and lose himself in his thoughts.

"Four years now… Four years." He said quietly to his partner, who had jumped up onto his shoulder a few moments earlier.

"It's been four years now, and I still regret leaving as much as I did when I first left. Many things have happened since then, and we've been through many adventures together… But I still regret it." He continued, his faithful companion listening carefully.

He and his Pokémon had travelled the world to train, having visited the rugged deserts of Orre, the snowstorm plagued peaks of Mt. Silver, visited islands so far from civilization that they had never been explored, and had visited many places underwater as well.

His only companions were his Pokémon. They were the only family he had left, after all. His father had taken his sister long ago and left, never to be heard of again. At least by him. And his mother?

Ash's train of thought ended as a loud sound could be heard, and a black shape was seen zooming towards their island. A voice spoke to him in his head through his aura, as the figure got closer.

'Master! A figure is approaching the island at rapid speeds. The aura signature of it is that of a human on top of a Pidgeot! Should we assume defensive or offensive positions?'

Ash replied through his aura as well, to his Lucario who was currently awaiting orders to give to the rest of his Pokémon, 'Defensive. Don't do anything until we find out who this mysterious figure is, and how they found us.'

As the figure landed and approached Ash, seemingly oblivious to the large amount of Pokémon glaring at it, all ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ash said threateningly, stepping forwards as he did.

"Hah, is that how you greet an old friend?" Came the cheerful response, from the figure, which could now be made out as Scott.

"...I know why you're here. I guess my past has finally caught up to me," Ash replied, making a hand signal for his Pokémon to return to their previous resting positions. They did so, but while still keeping a close eye on Scott, evidently not fully trusting his presence here.

"I will go. I shall participate in the Tournament of Arceus. That is, if you guys want to," He said, directing his second question to the Pokémon assembled before him. He didn't even need to wait for an answer, instead grinning as his Pokémon all cheered in the affirmative.

On Ash's shoulder, Pikachu grinned, seeing a look in his partner's face that he hadn't seen in a long time, and he realised that this would be the perfect opportunity for Ash.

Several days later

The group of Brock, May, Max and Dawn were currently near the end of their journey to the Indigo Plateau. At this point, Max was quite excited about the upcoming tournament.

"Time for me to win this!" He shouted, pumping his fist in the air energetically as he did so. Guess where he got the habit from?

"You aren't going to win Max. This tournament is going to have the best of the best from all the regions. The champions from the regions will likely be there," May said, always the one to burst her little brother's little bubble of overconfidence. This time, however, he was far too excited to take the bait.

"That's what you think, May! Me and my Pokémon have been training to be better than the best! The best of the best! There's no way we'll lose, now that we've come this far!" He shouted out, scaring several Pokémon into hiding.

"You know Max, you can be so stubborn sometimes! Even Ash wouldn't be this stubborn!" She shouted angrily at Max, tired of her brothers constant boasting. She then realised what she had said, and her face instantly calmed down.

Luckily she, and the rest of the group, were saved from an awkward moment, as the magnificent Indigo Plateau came into view just ahead of them as May finished talking.

The Plateau itself was a stunning sight to behold. In recent years, the Pokémon League had begun improving and adding to the facilities in preparation for the ToA. They had built more stadiums around, and had made the main stadium bigger and better. In anticipation of the large amount of participants, they also built more facilities to house trainers during their visit to the Indigo Plateau. But throughout all these changes, they still managed to keep the natural feel to it, with plenty of green mixed in.

They entered the main registration building, a huge building next to the Pokémon Centre, recently built by the Pokémon League as a sort of, 'Welcome to the new Indigo Plateau' sign, as it was the first building most trainers would see upon entering.

Upon entering, they were promptly shoved aside as a girl sprinted past them, obviously in a huge rush.

"Sorry!" She shouted quickly to them, turning her head around as she did, causing her to run right into the person in front of her.

Surprisingly, the person she had collided with was Gary, who had somehow arrived ahead of them. He stumbled forwards from the force, but recomposed himself and turned around to see who had collided with him.

"Oh. Hey Leaf, I haven't seen you in a while. Do you greet all your friends like that?"

"Hey! I didn't do it on purp-"She started, but stopped upon realising that Gary was grinning at her, and she grinned in return.

"Gary!" The group shouted, running towards him.

"Huh? Oh hey guys. This is Leaf; she's an old friend of mine." He said, pointing to the girl who had sprinted past the group moments earlier, "Leaf, this is Brock, May, Max and Dawn."

They exchanged greetings quickly, but the main question on their minds was shortly after asked by Brock.

"How did you beat us here? We started way ahead of you!"

"Oh, I just got my Alakazam to teleport me here. Simply, really." He said calmly, tapping a Pokeball on his belt as he did so.

"What! Why didn't you teleport us then? We had to trek through mud and dirt and trees and bushes and other disgusting places for days! My hair was completely ruined!" Dawn shouted at Gary angrily, although none of them could see anything wrong with her hair. Gary sweatdropped, taking a step back nervously as he did.

"Ah… ha ha… I guess I didn't think of it," He started to say but then when he saw that Dawn's look of anger seemed to be getting bigger, he amended his statement, "I mean uhh… Please don't kill me!"

He ran away screaming, out of the building and towards the main area of the Indigo Plateau.

The rest of the group sweatdropped at this, with Dawn grumbling angrily. Just then though, it seemed like Leaf remembered something and sprinted off to the registration counter.

A few moments later, the group heard a shout coming from her.

"WHAT? YOU MEAN I RAN ALL THIS WAY PANICKING BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE TOO LATE TO ENTER FOR NOTHING?"

Ash was currently in front of Professor Oak's lab in Pallet Town, having flown the long distance on one of his Pokémon in no time. He faltered for a moment at the door. He had been away for four years, returning now wasn't exactly easy. But he regathered himself and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer.

Professor Oak answered the door, surprised that Ash was here. He wasn't as surprised as one might be, as he had still been staying in touch with the boy, who regularly asked him various questions about different Pokémon, and various other Pokémon-related subjects, that Professor Oak was only too happy to answer. He had to swear to never tell anyone though, but the choice was Ash's to make, so he accepted it, hoping that one day he would come to his senses.

But he didn't expect it to be today.

"What are you doing here Ash? Wait a minute… I see… You're going to the tournament as well? Well if you were planning, you're in luck. The others left a few days ago," Professor Oak said.

Ash nodded, suddenly lost in thoughts. Pikachu, on his shoulder, poked him in the face, trying to get him to snap out of it, as Oak was still waiting for an answer.

"Huh? Oh, right. If you wouldn't mind Professor, could I stay at your place for the night? I would go back to my place for the night, but… well…" Ash said, unable to finish his sentence.

"Say no more, my boy! I'll be happy to have you stay here. Although… Can you show me your Pokémon? I'm sure they've grown much stronger, and I would like to see just how strong they've grown," Oak replied.

Ash nodded, seeing nothing wrong with the request.

"Sure, but let's go into your backyard first. There isn't enough space out here."

A minute or so later

Moments earlier, Ash had sent out all out his Pokémon, and now Professor Oak was checking each one, getting more impressed the more he looked.

Pikachu, Venosaur, Kingler, Muk, Tauros, Snorlax, Heracross, Meganium, Typhlosion, Totodile, Noctowl, Donphan, Swellow, Sceptile, Crawdaunt, Torkoal, Glalie, Staraptor, Torterra, Infernape, Floatzel, Garchomp, Primeape, Charizard, Blastoise, Gliscor, Butterfree, Pidgeot and Lapras. Ash certainly had an impressive group of Pokémon. All of his previous Pokémon had evolved, except Pikachu and Totodile.

Primeape, Charizard, Squirtle and Pidgeot had all returned to Ash, after he searched them out and asked if they wanted to join him in his self-exile and intense training spree. His Butterfree had also sought him out, after its mate had left him. The Lapras he had during his adventures in the Orange Islands also sought him out, after Team Rocket kidnapped the rest of its family.

Along with his previous Pokémon, he had two more – A Scizor and a Lucario.

"I see you still have one more Pokémon though." Professor Oak said, gesturing towards the Pokeball attached to a necklace around Ash's neck.

Ash grinned, unclipping the Pokeball from his necklace.

"I do. And this is my strongest Pokémon…"

He threw the ball up in the air, and in a flash of light, it revealed…

If you've read Four Years, I'm sure you know which Pokemon is coming out... :)