Author's Note: As a Pokemon enthusiast who has been with the franchise since Blue and Red and the original anime series, I have always been a bit miffed (read as terribly furious) with the fact that Ash never aged up. From the franchise's perspective, I can see why they do it; the target audience needs to find a protagonist familiar and so he stays ten. Having his and Pikachu's power and skill reset after every fucking region makes me a little more than miffed (read as thunderous rage).

So, I decided to age Ash up after his Kalos run and have him catch a seven-year case of Heroic BSOD. I have no clue what's going to happen with Team Flare and Ash, I just took some artistic license and did what I felt was necessary for the plot I had in mind to work.

Therefore, here's this thing that I hope will make a few people happy. If not, I'm still happy writing it, so that's all that really matters in the end. I'm uploading it today because it's my birthday and I have nothing better to do.

Disclaimer: The Pokemon franchise is owned and operated by Nintendo and a few others. I'm not one of those few others, nor am I Nintendo. If I did own any part of Pokemon, Arcanine would've gotten a Mega Evolution, because if a totally broken 'mon like Garchomp gets one, then the fucking Legendary Pokemon should get one, too!


Chapter 1: Decisions, Decisions


The town of Pallet in the region of the Home Islands known as Kanto is not exceptionally well-known, even in its own country. People throughout the islands will speak of Floaroma's enchanting gardens, or mention the grand lights of Goldenrod, or wax eloquent about Lilycove's sparkling harbor, but hardly will one hear talk of quaint little Pallet by the sea.

If anyone does talk about the small town in southwest Kanto, they will more than likely be discussing the latest theories or breakthroughs of the Professors Oak, Samuel and his grandson Gary. One is a pillar of the scientific community, having almost single-handedly pioneered the study of Pokemon. He has either taught or worked with the greatest minds in the world, and was even the Kanto region's Champion for a time in his younger days. The other is a rising star who has traveled the world prodding and poking at the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything. And while he never worked in the same levels as his grandfather, Gary had once taken part in several notable tournaments as well.

But there are a fair few all across the islands (and several around the world) who will recall fondly their memories of a certain Pallet native who once competed in top-tier, region-wide tournaments and held his own while still a child, a young man more stubborn than a herd of Tauros and more lively than an Electivire's tail, who had faced down Legends and gods with only his friends and determination to back him.

But something happened to this son of Pallet along the way. None who knew him ever managed a straight answer from him, but it was the general consensus that he lost sight of his lifelong dream of becoming a Master-class Pokemon Trainer. So he returned to his home, and there he has remained for seven long years.


It was a peaceful spring evening on Samuel Oak's ranch, and the many Pokemon who took residence there were either getting ready for the night or settling down to a restful sleep as the sun set behind the hills. Except they all knew nothing about this particular evening would be either peaceful or restful.

"WHAT!?" a horrified voice shouted from within the small guesthouse near the edge of the ranch's boundary fence. Most of the Pokemon living there already had expected the Uproar, and thankfully there was a very powerful Bulbasaur acting as a peacekeeper who had prepared little bags of soporific powder for the diurnal pocket monsters.

The source of the sonic attack was, of course, Ash Ketchum, who lived in the little house. After his homecoming, Ash had begun to spend more and more time at Oak's ranch until the aging researcher had jokingly told the boy he should just move there. Ash and his Pokemon had everything but the wiring set within the week, and a defeated Samuel Oak helped them finish the circuitry by the end of the next.

Which isn't to say that Ash had become a freeloader in the seven years he'd been home. The Pokemon Prof. was getting on in years, and try as he might old Sammy just wasn't as spry as he had once been. His assistant, Tracey, did all that he could, but the young artist could only do so much. Luckily, Ash and all his Pokemon took to the management of the ranch like a Seaking to a waterfall, and soon everyone simply fell into a routine that lasted half a decade.

And one of the most important points of that routine was that, for the transitional week between Spring and Summer, Ash Ketchum went absolutely Aipom-shit over the Silver League tournament.

"Oh for the love of Pokemon, don't use Psychic moves! Spiritomb's got a Dark sub-type! Use your Pokedex once in a while!"

The electric mouse laying on the sofa's armrest gave a long-suffering sigh as he studied his oldest friend. No matter how long he lived, Pikachu would never, ever understand the physiology of the species known as Human. The differences between individuals could be so similar you couldn't tell which was which, or they could be so different, you'd think they were different species altogether.

And they didn't evolve. Like, ever. Pikachu had even tried a few evolution stones on Ash while he was asleep in case that was holding him back, but none even sparked a reaction. Instead, humans just sort of...got bigger while staying mostly the same.

Pikachu recalled his time as a Pichu, back before he'd evolved and gotten caught, and he knew that there were some big differences in appearance. Meanwhile, Ash just gained about half a meter in height and a slight lengthening of his head-fur (and no matter how many times Ash said otherwise, there was no such word as "hair"). He also changed his clothing more often, but that was probably because he had a wider selection at home than the ones he carried with him while traveling.

"Get it with the heavy hitters! Your Venusaur knows Frenzy Plant!" Ash shouted at the screen in disgusted frustration. "How the heck did you get to the semi-finals!?"

"Well, you seemed to pull it off every other time we competed," the yellow mouse pointed out, reminding Ash that he'd managed the semis several different times on dumb luck alone.

"Okay, you've got me there," Ash relented, then jabbed his thumb at the screen. "But I was ten at the time. What's his excuse?"

Pikachu had to give Ash that one; the Trainer Ash was yelling at was on his second-to-last Pokemon, while his opponent's team was still fresh as a daisy. All because, since it looked like a Ghost, then it obviously was a Ghost, nevermind the fact that Psychic moves and other Ghost attacks weren't doing a lick of good.

"Oh? And you could do any better?" Pikachu asked skeptically, sitting up and crossing his arms.

"Of course I can do better!" Ash answered passionately. "We beat the Kanto Battle Frontier ages ago! We could take out both of these guys blindfolded."

Pikachu remained in the same pose, exuding smugness. It took Ash a moment to realize what his partner was trying to get at. "Not this again," he muttered, running a hand through his coal-colored hair. "We tried, and we couldn't make it work. You know that, Pi."

"Geez," the mouse grumbled, smacking his friend with a (very slightly) charged tail. "When are you going to get it through your thick skull that we tried that five years ago!" the Pokemon ranted. "All of us were a lot less experienced, a lot less powerful, and a hell of a lot stupider than we are now. Well," he amended, glancing sidelong at Ash, "you're still pretty stupid."

"Hey!" Ash began, then concluded after a moment's deliberation that he did resemble that remark. Vaguely. "Okay, so maybe it might be different if we were to compete again. If," he emphasized when Pikachu's face brightened. "Those days are behind us now." He waved his hands around the small, yet rather cozy home they'd made for themselves. "We've got this now, and responsibilities to the ranch that we can't just throw away on a whim."

"How is this happening?" Pikachu lamented, only half joking. "You know, once upon a time, I wouldn't have had to argue about going on another adventure. You would have already been halfway to Viridian by now."

"Yeah, well," Ash mumbled as he sank back into the sofa cushions, "Time changes people, you know?"

"I suppose so," Pikachu answered heavily as he settled back into his comfortable position and went back to watching the total curbstomping conclude onscreen.

The next semifinals battle was much more lively and interesting. As it turned out, Ash knew both of the Trainers quite well, and had been following their success throughout the conference. The six-on-six battle lasted well past the hour mark, but soon, each side was down to their last Pokemon.

Onscreen, an Empoleon went fin-and-beak to blade against a Gallade, neither side giving an inch. The Empoleon's Trainer leapt into the air and called for an icy counter-shield that just managed to block Gallade's incoming Power-Up Punch long enough to wind up a Drill Peck that finally took the powerful humanoid out.

"And that's it for the semifinals, folks!" the announcer's voice blared through the speakers. "After one of the most heated matches we've seen so far in this Silver Conference, Barry of Twinleaf has triumphed over Max from Petalburg."

The tall, blonde-haired man hopped over the railings and onto the field, and when Max tried to offer the traditional handshake usually shared by opponents, Barry grabbed Max and gave him a big noogie that knocked the younger Trainer's glasses askew.

"Man, that was a great battle, huh?" Ash stated, watching his two old friends waving at the screen.

"That's an understatement," Pikachu replied with a grin. "Gallade and Max must have spent the last month grinding non-stop to get that strong. They've certainly become a lot more confident in their power since winning the Evergrande Conference last year."

A thought occurred to Pikachu in that moment; had it perhaps been a blow to his confidence that forced Ash into an early retirement? Thinking back, the only significant loss he'd suffered around that time had been at the hands of Lysandre, the villainous head of Team Flare.

Just recalling that whole catastrophe caused his ears to droop in shame, and Pikachu could definitely see where Ash was coming from if that was the case. All throughout their adventures and journeying, there had never been a darker moment than when Lysandre had unleashed his Ultimate Weapon on Geosenge Town. They had barely made it out by the skin of their teeth thanks to some quick thinking and a bit of help from a couple of the Gym Leaders of Kalos, but Lysandre, several dozen members of Team Flare, and their Pokemon hadn't been so lucky.

And of course, Ash must have shouldered the burden of their deaths and blamed himself for not being strong enough, or smart enough, or whatever damnfool notion that had gotten into his head.

It hit Pikachu like Zekrom's Fusion Bolt that he, the Pokemon who had stood by Ash longer than anyone except perhaps the Trainer's mother and mentor, hadn't understood just what poisonous thoughts had been eating away at the dark-haired young man until now. The Electric Mouse felt like smashing his head into Boldore's body repeatedly for such a stupid oversight.

"Ash," he began, unsure of how to put his revelation into words. His Trainer glanced up from the table, where he'd been cleaning up the empty snack wrappers they'd shared while watching the battles. "Are you...what do you think about what happened...that day seven years ago?"

Ash's face, which was normally so open and carefree, suddenly closed off completely. Turning away as he straightened up, Ash tried to play it off.

"What day is that?" he asked, dumping the trash into the waste bin in the kitchen.

"You know the one I'm talking about," Pikachu retorted stubbornly. If he had to drag his Trainer's dark thoughts out kicking and screaming, then he would, no matter how much it hurt both of them; they'd festered within Ash for too long as it was.

Ash gazed at Pikachu for a long moment, his thoughts churning in those amber eyes like a raging sea storm before his face seemed to crumple. "Pi, I can't talk about that right now. I just...I can't."

"Then when?" Pikachu persisted, trying to pour all his concern and worry for Ash into his eyes and voice. "Ash, you've been wallowing in your guilt for almost decade! When are you going to let it go?"

"Never," Ash answered in a tone so bitter, Pikachu couldn't even believe it had come from his Trainer's mouth. "I got those people killed, Pikachu. They didn't faint, they weren't knocked unconscious or anything that could be fixed up at a Pokemon Center or a hospital. They died, and it's my fault. I tried to talk Lysandre out of his stupid plans and it didn't work."

"And how many lives have you saved over the years, huh?" Pikachu challenged fiercely, world-killing storms and maddened deities floating to the forefront of his mind. "How many people have you helped, whose lives would be so much worse if you hadn't taken it upon yourself to lend a hand where you saw someone in need? You're one of the most incredible people I've ever known, human or Pokemon, and I can't just sit by and watch you beat yourself up for something you had no way of preventing. It tears my heart up seeing you like this."

Ash stood there in the kitchen, looking thunderstruck as Pikachu continued. "I'm not saying that we should just forget about those lives lost. It's a damn tragedy that they died, but they're dead. It happens. I'm not trying to sound callous or cold-hearted, but that's the way the world works. Before Oak caught me, I was a wild Pokemon, I could've been killed and eaten at any time. Half my littermates went that way before they even had the chance to evolve, but I didn't let that stop me from living my own life."

Pikachu watched as his words sank in, and Ash began to fidget. The human always got uncomfortable whenever Pikachu talked about his time as an 'uncivilized creature', and Pikachu felt bad for doing it, but he needed to hammer the point home.

"If I had let death get in the way of my life, I never would've been caught by the Professor, and I never would have gotten the chance to meet you. We never would've gone on all of our crazy, dangerous, incredible adventures, and I can't say that I regret any of it, even that day."

"Pi," Ash paused, not looking entirely sure of what to say.

"Just...just think about it, okay?" Pikachu said tiredly, feeling like he'd gone toe-to-toe with a Legendary. Emotions were exhausting. "I'm going to see where Bulbasaur's gone to."

And before Ash could say anything else, Pikachu leapt from the couch to a table near an open window and out into the cool night breeze, hoping that conversation might give Ash the traction he needed to get out this five-year rut.


The next day dawned bright and early on the Oak Ranch, but already there was a buzz of activity all throughout the large plot of land. Several winged Pokemon were flying hither and thither, some bearing smaller Pokemon on their backs and in their talons while others carried messages to those who were too large to be lifted off the ground.

By nine, a motley collection of 'mon were assembled before the young man with jet-black hair and a Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Okay, guys, I guess you're wondering why I called you out so early." He was interrupted by a colossal snore from their resident layabout, Snorlax, which drew some laughter from the crowd.

"Are you and the Professor going on another trip?" asked Torkoal in a trembling voice. "I just can't bear you leaving again!" Tears began forming at the edges of his eyes, but the waterworks were headed off preemptively by Corphish, who patted Torkoal's shell comfortingly.

"You know they're always back in a week or so, tops," Corphish reassured the tearful tortoise.

"Actually," Pikachu announced, wearing a grin that was almost too wide for his face, "Ash has decided to come out of retirement."

There was a moment's ringing silence, broken only by the distant rumbling of the Tauros herd in the distance (only the lead Tauros had been called to this particular meeting). Then, almost as one, Ash's Pokemon began chattering excitedly.

"Yes! We're back, baby!" crowed Swellow, taking off from his perch on Torterra's tree and wheeling in the sky along with Unfezant and Staraptor. All three dodged out of the way of Charizard's triumphant Flamethrower as he roared his own approval of Ash's decision.

Corphish and Kingler had begun their secret (and in Pikachu's opinion, needlessly complicated) clawshake, which Bulbasaur decided to get in on with his vines. Torkoal began crying great big tears of joy while Gilscor sat on her tail and patted him with a thoroughly amused look on her face.

The others weren't nearly as vocal or flamboyant in their enthusiasm, but Pikachu swore he saw even Sceptile and Snivy (usually the most reserved of Ash's 'mon) trade gleeful smirks. Eventually, Ash managed to calm them all down in order to continue.

"What Pikachu failed to mention," here he shot Pikachu a half-hearted glare, but the Electric-type returned with an unrepentant grin, "was that I'm not completely sure I'm going to enter the League."

Charizard took the opportunity to grumble, "Then why the hell did you spend so much money on this thing?" He pointed to the gleaming stone set into a gold circlet halfway down the Fire-type's tail. Just before that disastrous event five years ago, Ash had invested in Charizardite, which he'd received from Professor Sycamore. The cost of crafting a custom accessory for Charizard and having the Mega Stone set into it had been rather high, but Ash and Charizard had both agreed that it was pretty awesome to look at.

Unfortunately, that was all it was good for since Ash had lost all motivation for wanting to take Mega Evolution for a test drive when Geosenge had gone up in flames.

"Look, you guys," Ash appealed to the Pokemon with those soulful eyes of his, "What happened five years ago, it shook me up pretty badly. Hopefully, journeying around again like this will give me the boost I need. I just need you all to be a little patient with me." He chuckled and added, "You know how slow I am."

Bayleef came up and nuzzled Ash reassuringly. "Don't worry, Ash. You know that we've all got your back. Take your time to sort through your feelings, and when you decide that you want to go back to accomplishing your dream of becoming a Pokemon Master, then you can count on us to be with you a hundred percent!"

This garnered exclamations of agreement from the rest of the Pokemon, and they all gathered around Ash, who looked like he might just break down and cry from the amount of support and empathy he was receiving from his friends.

"Thanks, guys," Ash said tremulously after a moment. "I've got a feeling that next year's Indigo Conference won't know what hit 'em."


After-Action Report: There are lots of different theories as to what happened to Lysandre after he set off the Ultimate Weapon/Immortality Machine but I went down this route because Ash, being eleven or however old he is in Kalos, would have taken it really hard. I mean, can you imagine the person Ash is, a selfless, kind of clueless and naive, hero trying to help someone like Lysandre out and watching as he broke down and set off a weapon that killed who knew how many?

So yeah, Ash went home and started helping out Oak at the ranch; it's where most of his Pokemon are and it's within walking distance of his mom's house so I thought it would make sense.

As to the Pokemon speaking, the way I see it is that most Trainers have an inkling of what their Pokemon are saying, whether it's through body language, the tone of their voice, or some other means. Ash, as a confirmed aura user, just took it a step further unconsciously and now he can understand his Pokemon as though they were speaking plain English. His aura-manipulation powers will hopefully be explored later on.

For anything else that I didn't address here or in the story proper, you can review or PM me if you want an answer and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

And if there are any readers out there who are coming from one of my other stories, all I can say is I'm super, super sorry. I'm working on all of those other ones, but they're fighting me every step of the way. I'm sure I'll have something done but until then...er...enjoy this?