Seeking Freedom: 1: Criminal
Aaand we're ready for take-off. Welcome back to Seeking Freedom. I'm hoping to make the most famous 'Ash Betrayed' Story here, and to do so, I need readers and reviewers to support me and my writing.
Disclaimer: Do I look like I own Pokemon? No. I'm just an addict to the series...
Rooted deep into the criminal underworld, Ash Ketchum became an apostle of hope to Pokemon across the world.
There were many Pokemon indebted to him: they owed him their very lives, their very existence, and everything they stood for, because it was Ash Ketchum and his Pokemon who had given them this new hope.
Ash Ketchum- a man forced into his own primitive exile.
By the vicious judgement of the world above, Ash Ketchum was abandoned by those he held dear to him. It was a turbulent nightmare that only got worse and worse.
Everything started when he returned home from one day from his long Pokemon journey in Kalos, having lost to his rival Sawyer in the final round of the competition.
His friends slandered him and his name, mocking him for never reaching the same level as them. May Maple and Dawn Berlitz became Top Coordinators in their second years of contests, Misty had made the Kanto Elite Four, Iris had become Oppelucid City's Gym Leader, and Serena made the title of Kalos Queen.
'We just don't want to be seen with you, because we've hit the big time,' Serena told him one day. He felt his heart break as his own friends told him these things.
Cilan, the Striaton City Gym Leader, thought that Ash was a weak battler with no real strategies or 'recipes' that made him stand out. Dawn spat in the face of their friendship by globally announcing that she thought he was a loser.
Some friends. Ash was disgusted that they renounced his friendship, but he was also torn apart by the fact that they would do something like that.
Ash began to have doubts about his career as a trainer. He wanted to see if he was really worthy of the title 'Pride of Pallet Town'.
He challenged the Indigo League again, and reached the finals, where he met Damien Michaels, the man who had abandoned his Charizard as a Charmander all those years ago.
To his surprise, all of his friends knew Damien: he was a big, famous trainer. A very popular man. His friends had all met him before, and were now rooting for him to win.
Ash was hurt gravely by this, so much so that it weakened him for an already one-sided battle.
Ash realised how vastly powerful Damien's Pokemon were. Ash brought his six strongest Pokemon, but even they had the floor wiped with them: Pikachu, Sceptile, Feraligatr, Staraptor, Noivern, and Charizard.
Ash lost six to none.
Damien laughed at him throughout the match, demeaning him, breaking him down, and hurting his feelings. He laughed when the broken Ash sent out his last Pokemon. Charizard.
What disgusted him was how little Damien cared about his Pokemon. He ordered high-power recoil moves that would surely hurt them just so he could make a fool out of Ash.
He completely thrashed Ash: all six of his Pokemon were hospitalised. All of Charizard's limbs were shattered. Damien laughed at Charizard, saying he was still weak as ever. Feraligatr's entire jawline was smashed. Noivern was almost frozen to death.
The face of his broken Pikachu made him cry, seeing the steely determination Sceptile clung onto was crushing, and witnessing Staraptor's body slumped over in pure defeat made him lose his will to fight again.
He was shocked to get a message from the Pokemon League telling him that his Pokemon Trainer's license might be suspended for pushing his Pokemon too hard. It made no sense to him, and he couldn't see why the League would say such a thing.
Ash gave up his trainer's license that day. He forfeited Pokemon training and opted to just live a quiet life until he could figure out what to do. He saw his Pokemon, from time-to-time, and the ones who were in the battle were his most trusted allies as well. He was allowed to keep those six with him. Using that loophole became the basis of how he ended up becoming a mastermind.
Two months later there was an assault on Professor Oak's lab and Ash was blamed for it.
The Pokemon League took an interest in the situation. Damien, the current Kanto Champion, had gotten himself involved with it and it became a globally discussed topic.
The League sent for lawyers and detectives to make sure Ash was sent to court. The papers started printing biased stories against Ash. People across the globe made Ash feel ashamed.
Ash's mother didn't know what to believe anymore and was in a state of shock for a long time, and all of Ash's friends were against him. Whilst waiting for the hearing, he grew thin and pale. He became sickly and frightened. His eyes lost all their past lustre, now a dull amber.
It was after a second hearing was announced by the courts when, his old friend Brock brushed past him one day and handed him a discreet letter.
The letter was the first trace of hope he had seen in a long time.
'Dear Ash, we are all truly sorry for what happened to you. Know that we had no part in this and although we can't do anything to help you, if we could we'd do it in a heartbeat, we can still tell you what is really happening. Sincerely, your loving friend Brock.' The first paragraph of the letter said.
'This whole trial is set up for your arrest, and so was the incident that got you here, by the guys up at the Pokemon League Association. I don't know what they want but it sounds like they want you out of the picture. You need to keep whatever Pokemon you have left somewhere safe, where they won't be found, and collect them when it is safe to do so. You'll know when that time is, I have that much faith in you, my son.' Ash gasped. It was his father's hand writing. He had made the title of Kanto Champion before, within Ash's lifetime, and now he was saying the Pokemon League had framed him?
They had also suspended his license after his match with Damien. Now he saw there was something up.
'Never give up Ash! Keep fighting!- Max.'
Ash smiled as he saw the little boy's writing.
It filled his heart, which had been bleeding hope.
The next lines read, 'Don't get arrested yet, you owe me a rematch. Paul.'
'Make it out of this alive and I can get you a job in the Battle Frontier. Scott.'
He laughed a little bit as well. He didn't know Scott was serious about giving him that job. Ash knew that if all went well, he could become a Frontier Brain.
Attached to the letter were his six Pokemon that had been in the hospital. After a few months of resting, they had finally come home.
Ash followed the advice on the letter carefully. He hid the six Pokemon in Viridian Forest with his old Pidgeot who he had seen over the years, and went back for the others at the lab.
What happened was another betrayal. But this time it didn't make him sad or want to cry. It made him furious.
He saw all of his old Pokemon at the ranch. Some of them were tied up, like Meganium and Infernape, whilst others looked very smugly at each other. Very few of them looked guilty about what happened. He looked at them for a minute before seeing Professor Oak's face again, hardened with contempt. Gary was with him.
'What do you want?' Gary asked him contemptuously. Ash was taken aback by this. His old friend spoke to him with such malice.
'Don't you know how much damage you've done already? You're not allowed to step foot in this lab!' Professor Oak snapped at him.
'I'm... I'm here for my Pokemon. I know I'm not allowed here but it's okay, just give them to me over the fence.'
Some of the Pokemon in the binds heard and saw Ash and started cheering. They tried charging towards him, trying to break the binds. He saw Tracey near the lab's tattered entrance, eyeing him maliciously, tighten their binds with one hand.
'Sorry, Ashy-Boy, but these Pokemon don't belong to you anymore. You're a criminal. They've been distributed to us because they don't trust you anymore. You don't have a license, so these Pokemon are wild. The Pokemon League is putting a high price on some of them.' He said this, gesturing back to his Infernape, struggling.
Ash's face became clouded. Gary couldn't see his expression. He didn't want to know what Ash was feeling.
'And besides, Pikachu's not even here, he's already been taken. By Brock.'
Something clicked in Ash's head.
'So that's how Brock got my Pokemon...' He thought quietly. He looked on sadly, at the ranch, at the Pokemon who still cared for him. Donphan and Meganium were crying. Infernape looked murderous, and Snorlax looked defeated.
Guilt filled Ash's heart.
'Professor, you can't keep those Pokemon here, they want to leave as well!' Ash explained, leaning over the fence. He roared at his childhood friend: at the filthy traitor.
Gary punched him so hard that he fell on the ground. His hat fell off of his head and onto the dirt road. Blood fell from his cheek. The Pokemon who betrayed him came up to the fence and glared at him.
'These are OUR Pokemon, Ketchum! Get lost, you loser! We can do what we want with them. Well, What're you waiting for, huh? Want me to call the police?' Ash looked up with tears in his eyes. And then he ran away. From all his Pokemon.
He didn't want to be a Master anymore. The Pokemon League had betrayed him. He didn't want to be a Champion anymore. He was a thirteen year old boy who had saved the world so many times, and yet here he was, framed for a severe crime?
He thought about it: he wanted revenge. But that was wrong. He shook his head. Heroes didn't chase revenge, as his father had always said.
So what to do then? He didn't want to go to prison. He had no friends who could look after him. He was brooding deeply over where to go.
He thought for a minute: how come the Pokemon League allowed Damien to treat his Pokemon that way in the match and still end up suspending him? Ash thought it was unfair.
But lots of things were unfair. The constant Team Rocket attacks were unfair. The fact that Pokemon poachers hurt Pokemon was unfair.
Having thought about it, Ash came to a question: why? Why did these bad things happen, and why did he get punished for something he didn't do.
Where did those organisations like Team Galactic get money from? How did Team Rocket pay for their schemes? After all, nobody else constructed gargantuan robots that must have cost millions.
The Pokemon League supported a man who promoted the abuse of Pokemon.
Ash slowed his pace down to a crawl, he was deep in thought.
He realised. He made a fist. He growled. He roared. He punched the dirt in fury.
'It was the League!' He thought in realisation. In fury.
The League he had so dearly admired and followed, the League that he thought loved and cared for their world, his great role model, collapsed in front of him as he realised who the greatest villains in the Pokemon World were.
Then he grinned. So long as he could prove it, he could justify getting his revenge on them.
He thought about his friends, and cool anger came over him. Not sorrow.
His smile became a sharp smirk. His eyes glinted with conviction and hatred of people. He had become a new person. The scar Gary had given him became the mark of this new person. A person who was capable of cold, malicious acts.
He went back for his Pokemon. He saw his Pikachu, fully recovered, and once again the duo was back. Ash needed to change his general appearance, since nobody could no Ash still had Pokemon with him. With Pidgeot helping them, he took off and set out on a new adventure. An adventure unlike any other.
And on this adventure, he decided he would prove himself to the world. He would prove his innocence by taking down all the criminal organisations that plagued millions, and if the League had a damn thing to say about it, then he would be ready for revenge.
All under a new name. Ashura Satoshi Ketchum, was now Don Satoshi.
Chapter 2- Don Satoshi
Well. First chapter of the rewrite is DONE!
Let me tell you, this rewrite is better than the original by a bajillion times! Although it might look the same, the plot is different this time. Things have changed this time.
Next chapter will be slow at FIRST but will be very exciting by the end. You'll meet my favourite character in the entire Pokemon series. En. Joy.
I don't like having to stress this, but please remember to review. I started this rewrite because I was worried people thought it was bad. I really do enjoy criticism from my readers and to be a good writer I need to know what you guys like.