For those who are wondering why I'm doing this, the reason is simple. After the success that this story was met with, I felt a little bad. I had rushed to get this story out and updated as fast as possible and only did one round of edits on each chapter. With as many fans as this story got, I felt bad about the quality that I had published and decided I owed it to all of you to go through and do some more serious editing. Hopefully you guys appreciate this.

Well, this is the second chapter with my edits. Hopefully this makes the story a little better.

Chapter 2

Before you read this story, let me tell you something unrelated to this story. I have a poll up on my profile so that you guys can help decide the pairing for any future story I may write. If you have a preference, make yourself heard and vote. Now, back to this story.

Well, hopefully you enjoyed the first chapter. Hopefully, this chapter manages to build upon what I started earlier and expand it into a bigger and better story. I have a few surprises in store for you for this story, so look forward to it and yeah. That kind of good stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

-Indigo Plateau-

A man is seen walking into a Pokémon Center with a Houndoom at his side and a Pikachu on his shoulder. When he enters the building, everyone temporarily stops what they are doing to look at the man and his Pokémon. The man and his Pikachu ignore the looks they are being given, however the Houndoom is not so friendly. He proceeds to glare at everyone and even gives off a faint growl.

The people in the center watch the Pokémon in fear but the man simply places his hand on the dogs head and rubs it affectionately. "Calm down Houndoom. None of these people are here to threaten us. Just relax. If you can't behave yourself I will put you back in your ball."

The threat made the dog instantly stop growling. He refocused his eyes in front of him and walked along side his trainer to the front desk. As they walked up, the people slowly went back to doing what they had been doing before the man walked in. A select few of them opted instead to follow the man and catch his name so they could look him up and learn of his accomplishments. These were the trainers who were the most intimidated by the man or the ones who had the most hunger for knowledge of the enemy.

Once the man got to the front desk he spoke to those who had followed him. Without turning around he said, "If you are hoping for information on me, you won't get much. All you will find is that I qualified for this tournament and that I have a Houndoom and a Pikachu. What you won't find is that I do not battle with my Pikachu due to an accident a few years back. Now, kindly leave me in peace so that I may get checked in."

As the people left as fast as they could, the nurse Joy at the counter looked at the man and his Pokémon. She immediately spotted the problem with Pikachu and frowned. "Hello sir, I understand you are here for the tournament, may I have your Pokedex so that I can verify you are registered?"

The man smiled at the nurse. In a quiet tone that no one except for the nurse could hear he said, "I am the newest Frontier Brain. Scott registered me. He also told me he left special instructions for my registration that would prevent me from having to hand over my Pokedex. My name is Five."

The nurse frowned before going through her papers to see if what the man said was true. When she got to the Frontier Brain papers, she saw that the man hadn't been lying. The paper said the man travelled with a Houndoom and a scarred Pikachu. He was to be entered in without turning in his Pokedex in order to keep his true identity a mystery.

The nurse looked up at the man, "It's a pleasure to have you here, Five. I take it from your tone of voice you don't want me revealing anything about your rank and position?" The man nodded his head and the nurse smiled, "No worries, I will keep all of that a secret from everyone else here."

Before the nurse could continue, the man had one thing to say, "Don't tell the other brains about me either. Only one of them knows who I am and the boss wants the rest of them to be kept in the dark until the end of the tournament."

The nurse nodded her head, "Okay, I will make sure to not let them know. Before I give you your room key, may I ask what happened to your Pikachu? He looks incredibly powerful, but that wound on his stomach is keeping him from fighting. Why?"

The man sighed, "There was an unfortunate accident involving a knife. Pikachu has almost completely healed physically, but not enough to regain his speed. Without his speed he cannot dodge the attacks he needs to dodge in order to battle effectively. Since he doesn't have high defenses like some Pokémon, the lack of dodging makes battling with him too dangerous for my liking."

Nurse Joy frowned at this information, "Hmm, if it has been several years, then Pikachu should be able to regain the speed he lost, he just needs the right doctor. If you could find a personal doctor to work with you and Pikachu you could probably have him battling again in a few weeks time. I would like to help but I am responsible for running the healing of Pokémon for this tournament."

The man sighed, "It's okay Nurse Joy. It would be nice to battle with Pikachu during this tournament but I understand your dilemma. Hopefully after this tournament you can help Pikachu get back to fighting condition again."

After a few seconds, the nurse brightened up considerably, "WAIT!" She exclaimed. "I head a rumor that one of the most famous Pokémon doctors is going to be here at the tournament with some friends. His name is Brock and if you find him, maybe you can get him to help you with your Pikachu."

Ash smiled at the thought of his old friend and the fame he seemed to have in the Pokémon doctor community. "I will do just that Nurse Joy, thank you for the suggestion. Now, can I get a room to stay in for the tournament?"

Nurse Joy blushed, "Oops, I completely forgot about that, sorry Five." She then reached under the desk and brought out a room key. "Here you go, room number 225. You'll be on the second floor. Enjoy your stay and good luck in the tournament, I'll be rooting for you."

Ash smiled at the nurse before heading off to go relax in his room. Once he got to his room and locked the door, he released all of his Pokémon to relax with him. None of them were fond of being in Pokeballs for long periods of time, but none of them hated them as much as Houndoom and Pikachu did.

As he sat down on his bed, he smiled at his best friends for the past three years, or in Porygon-Z's case, one year. Houndoom lay down at his feet while Lucario sat in a chair a little ways off to the side. Staraptor made himself comfortable over by the window to the outside. Empoleon went and sat down against the wall next to Lucario while Jolteon jumped onto the bed and curled up next to Ash and Pikachu.

Ash looked at his Pokémon and spoke, "Well guys, we are finally here. We have about a week until the preliminaries start, so for now we will train in the surrounding areas while avoiding revealing you to anybody. Before any of you go out though, there are a few things I need to let you know. There will be many different trainers here, some of who may be psychic. That means some of them may be able to communicate with you telepathically. If that happens, you must address me as Five, not Ash. Until the end of this tournament, or at least for the beginning of it, I will not be going by Ash because I do not want to be recognized. Is that clear?"

All of the Pokémon spoke up in agreement with him so he continued, "Now for the part that most of you won't like. For the initial set of battles at least, Houndoom will be the only Pokémon I use."

Immediately protests were made and the other Pokémon complained. After a while, Ash finally calmed them all down. "Now, there is a simple reason as to why that is: I don't want my opponents to know what to expect from me and my Pokémon until absolutely necessary. This will give us an advantage in battle in the later stages as not all of my Pokémon will be known so my opponents will have to be prepared for anything, not specific Pokémon. Do you guys understand?"

The Pokémon all grumbled their agreement, not happy about having to wait for a while in order to battle while Houndoom got all the fun. Ash sighed, at least they had accepted his idea without attacking him for it.

With the decision about who was going to battle in the beginning out of the way, Ash had to think about what his plans were now that he was registered and checked in. It was nice being in a hotel again after spending so much time in the outdoors. He liked the outdoors a lot, but having true climate control and safety from the elements was a nice little change of pace for him. He decided that for the time being, he would stick to his room but starting the next day he would get back to his training. Having a day off would be good for both him and his Pokémon.

-Back in the lobby of the Pokémon Center-

A group of eight people had just walked through the doors. Seven of them were formidable battlers, highly gifted individuals with strong Pokémon and a love of battling. The eighth was a rather round man named Scott. The group walked up the Nurse Joy who was currently running the place in order to check in to the tournament.

The nurse looked at the group and smiled, "Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center. I take it you wish to check-in now?"

After the Battle Brains had checked in and gotten their rooms, Scott asked the nurse a question, "Nurse Joy, it is wonderful being here for such a prestigious competition. By any chance, has my newest Battle Brain checked in yet?"

That question got the seven brains currently in the lobby to look around and listen for the answer. Nurse Joy smiled at Scott, "Yes he is. He registered about an hour ago. He seems to be a wonderful young man with a deep love for his Pokémon. From what I could tell, even though I'm no expert on the matter, his Pokémon appeared to be quite powerful as well. I'm sure he's going to make a few headlines at this tournament."

Scott grinned back at the nurse, "Oh, he is a wonderful guy. His love of Pokémon is at a level I have never seen before while his battle skills are at a level I haven't been able to truly see. I have only seen him battle once in the last several years and it was quite the impressive battle. I can't wait to see how he does here. Now, can you give me his room number? I have some things to discuss with him."

Looking around, the nurse could see that the other brains were eagerly looking for any information they could get on the man and Nurse Joy remembered her promise to keep his identity secret from everyone, especially the brains. She smiled at the brains before writing something down on a piece of paper and handing it to Scott. "Here you go. He told me to keep as much information as possible about him a secret from everyone, so I trust you can figure out my clue's in order to find him."

The Battle Brains let out a small groan at the secrecy, but weren't overly surprised by it. At the same time, Scott gave out a small chuckle. "Thanks Nurse Joy and good luck with your job. With a tournament of this caliber, you are going to have quite a bit of work to do."

Scott then turned around and told the brains to get themselves comfortable in their rooms while he went to find his newest brain.

The seven brains proceeded to split up into smaller groups. Brandon went back outside to his Battle Pyramid because why stay in a measly hotel room when he could stay in his flying fortress? The rest of the brains went off to drop their stuff off in their rooms until only Anabel remained.

The nurse looked at the young girl questioningly, "Anabel, is there something I can do for you?" The nurse asked.

Anabel turned to the nurse and let out a sigh, "No, thanks though. I was just wondering about the competition and who all would be here for it. It's supposed to be the best trainers from around the world, but there is one in particular I am hoping to come across and battle. Anyway, I'm going to go check out my room."

Before she could turn to leave though, the nurse asked her a question, "Maybe I can help you, who is this trainer you are hoping to battle? I can scan the list of entrants and see if this trainer is on the list."

Anabel smiled, "Really? Thanks Nurse Joy. I was wondering if Ash Ketchum was going to be here."

The nurse gave a little smile towards Anabel, "Any reason in particular you're looking for that young man? If I recall right, he's about your age and quite accomplished as well."

Anabel blushed a little, "N- no reason. It's just that he's one of the trainers that have beaten me before and since I haven't heard anything about him the last few years, I was hoping to see if he is still the same guy he was when we battled. Anyways, can you tell me if he is on the list of entrants?"

The nurse smiled, "Of course that's all it is. And I guess I can understand your curiosity. He was an incredibly gifted and talented trainer with a love of Pokémon but he hasn't competed in any competition in nearly three years. I don't follow too many trainers, but many of my cousins and relatives had wonderful experiences with the boy and his friends, so we took an interest in his doings. I know that no one really knows what he has been up to the last few years, but I heard a rumor a couple years back that he was busy trying to destroy Team Rocket. Since no details were released about how they were destroyed, I can't help but wonder if Ash played a role in it.

"Anyways," the nurse continued, completely missing the surprised look on Anabel's face at that information, "you wanted to see if he was in this competition? Okay, wait just a sec for me to look through my list here."

As the nurse checked her list, Anabel was deep in thought. Lucy thought that Scott was holding something back about the new brain and Scott told us that this new brain defeated Team Rocket alone. If Nurse Joy heard a rumor that Ash had been busy trying to defeat Team Rocket, is it possible that the new brain IS Ash? And even if it isn't, if Ash was working to destroy Team Rocket and this brain really did defeat Team Rocket, isn't it possible at the very least that this new brain knows something about Ash? I'm going to figure out who this new brain is and question him.

Anabel's thoughts were interrupted by the nurse clearing her throat. Anabel looked up and blushed, "Sorry, I got lost in thought about something, what were you saying?"

The nurse smiled at the young lady, "I was just saying that unfortunately there is no Ash Ketchum registered to this competition. On the other hand, with so many powerful trainers here, it stands to reason at least one of them must have seen him during the last few years and might know where he is right now. I hope you succeed in finding him and good luck during the tournament."

"Thanks Nurse Joy," Anabel said. "I hope I can find him as well. It's been too long since we last talked."

Anabel turned to walk to her room when a different voice interrupted her, "Hey Anabel, it's been a while, how are you doing?"

Anabel turned and saw a pair of familiar faces. She smiled at them, "Hey May. Hi Max. I'm doing pretty well, are you guys entering the tournament?"

The brunette coordinator smiled and shook her head, "I'm not entering, but my little brother is, so I'm here to support him."

Anabel turned to the boy, "Hey Max, how have you been? I take it that since you are in this tournament you started your journey and had some success in it so far?"

Max grinned, "Yup. It's been almost two years since I started. My first year I made the top 16 of the Hoenn Pokémon League competition and with this competition I'm going to show the world just how powerful my Pokémon are, as well as the bond I have with them."

Anabel smiled, "That is some determination you have there. It reminds me of your friend Ash's determination when he battled against the Battle Frontier."

"Well, I travelled with him for quite some time before I started my journey and I guess his attitude and beliefs rubbed off on me quite a bit. I don't think I would be the trainer I am today if it wasn't for him," Max said. "Speaking of Ash, I was wondering if you knew whether or not he had entered this competition? I really want to battle him."

Anabel couldn't help but let out a little laugh at the young trainers enthusiasm. "Max, calm down, I'm sure you will get to battle him someday. However, according to Nurse Joy, there is no Ash Ketchum sighed up in this tournament."

Max's face fell at the news, but before he could say anything, May spoke up, "I take it you were hoping to see him again as well since you asked the nurse whether he was here or not?"

"Well, he was always one of my favorite trainers once I saw his love and respect for all Pokémon, so I wanted to have a rematch with him to see if he had gotten any better or what he had been up to these last three years."

Before May could respond, Max spoke up, "Well, even without Ash here, I'm sure we will find him soon. He can't stay gone forever. Also I was wondering if I could challenge the Battle Frontier after this tournament."

Anabel smiled, "Well Max, you might be a little young, but I will talk to Scott about it. If you do well here, he will probably let you. Also, speaking of the Battle Frontier, Scott told me something about a month ago."

Max looked up, "What did he say?"

"Well, he held a meeting in Viridian City about a month ago and announced to all of the Battle Brains that an eighth battle Brain has been selected to join the Frontier."

A new voice spoke up from behind this small group, "A new Brain? Well that sounds exciting, who is it?"

The group turned and came face-to-face with two more people. One had purple hair while the other had long blue hair. Anabel didn't know them, but the others did. May spoke up, "Hey Dawn, how are you doing? And Paul, I take it you're entering this competition?"

The purple-haired boy, Paul, nodded his head, "Yes I am entering this competition. I'm going to beat everyone and claim my title as the greatest trainer. Now, what was this I heard about a new Frontier Brain? Scott gave me permission to challenge the Battle Frontier after this tournament, so I'd like to know all I can before I do that."

Anabel grinned at the trainer in front of her, "I take it you're a powerful trainer then. Scott only lets the best challenge us. I'm looking forward to the challenge. As for the new Brain, I don't know much. Scott wanted us to all be in the dark about it so we would suspect anyone and everyone as being the new brain. All I know is that the trainer is a male and supposedly a younger person. Beyond that I'm not really sure. Scott says the guy is powerful enough to probably claim the title of Final Brain of the Frontier, so there is that as well."

Paul seemed to enjoy hearing that there was going to be such a strong competitor at the tournament. He Looked at Anabel and asked one last question, "The only thing that would be better than winning this tournament against such opponents would be beating my old rival Ash. Do you know if he is here at the competition?"

"Wow, Ash seems to be quite the popular guy," Anabel stated. "Actually I asked Nurse Joy about that but she said that he wasn't registered for the competition. On the other hand, I have a hard time believing he would miss this opportunity to battle powerful opponents."

Paul sighed, "It's a shame he won't be around for me to beat, but I guess I'll just have to wait for him to show up again before beating him. Oh well. I'm off to go register, Dawn, you coming with me or do you want to hang out with some of your friends?"

Dawn contemplated the question, "I'll go with you, Paul. I can catch up with May and Max a little later."

As Dawn and Paul walked off to register, everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to a man walking down the stairs with a Pikachu on his shoulder and a Houndoom at his side. No one knew what it was exactly, but they all felt drawn to the man. It wasn't a threatening presence, but it was a powerful presence that nobody could ignore.

Two people in particular were fascinated by the man and his Pokémon and spoke up, "WOW! That is an impressive Houndoom, can I see it?" Questioned the young trainer named Max.

Meanwhile, a voice came from a man who had just entered the Pokémon Center, "That is an incredible looking Houndoom, do you mind if I examine him?"

The man sighed and placed a hand on the Houndooms head. "Calm down Houndoom, they aren't here to threaten us. Relax and come on."

The man then turned to the trainer named Max. The man smiled at him, "You look like a young trainer, if you want to look at my Houndoom, feel free, but be warned, if you do something my Houndoom doesn't like, he can be rather snappy with his jaws."

The warning intimidated Max a little, but it didn't diminish his excitement. The man then turned to the other voice that had spoken. He saw it came from another of his old friends, or more precisely, his old rival. "Hello, you seem to be a Pokémon trainer of sorts as well, but I don't get the same battle vibe from you. I will tell you the same thing I told the young trainer, this Houndoom is incredibly protective of me and my Pokémon, you can examine him, but be careful."

Before either of the two people who had been addressed could respond, Houndoom began growling and barking. The man sighed, "Houndoom, hush. I don't want to put you in your ball, but if you're just going to cause trouble I will have no choice."

The Houndoom barked a few more times and the man grinned. He looked around and saw a young purple-haired trainer looking at Houndoom in confusion. "You must be the Salon Maiden Anabel, am I correct?"

The young lady looked at the man before responding, "Yes I am. Your Houndoom doesn't seem to like me very much based on what he was just telling me."

The man sighed, "Houndoom, be nice to her. From what I have heard, she is a nice young lady who cares deeply for Pokémon; she is no threat. I know you don't like people other than me reading your thoughts, and feelings, but I'm sure Anabel meant no harm from it."

He then turned back to Anabel, "It's not that Houndoom doesn't like you, it's that he isn't the most social Pokémon in the world. He isn't fond of most people and insists on trying to protect me from people whenever I'm out in public. I'm sure that if you got to know Houndoom, he would like you more."

By this point, Ash was really nervous. He could see pretty much all of his old friends were gathered in the Pokémon center. Dawn was over with Paul registering while May and Max were with Anabel watching him quite closely. Meanwhile at the entrance of the center stood his old rival Gary hand-in-hand with Misty while Brock stood nearby. Ash mainly hoped that the people would be so focused on the Houndoom they wouldn't pay much attention to the Pikachu on his shoulder.

After a few seconds Max spoke up, "Hey, do you want to have a practice battle? I would love to see how powerful your Houndoom is."

Ash sighed, he did want to battle. The thought of a battle was getting him really excited, but battling his old friend could lead to them figuring out who he really was. At the same time, he had once promised to battle the boy. "Not today. I'm relaxing today, but maybe tomorrow we can have a little one-on-one battle. For now though, I was heading out to take a walk around. I suppose I will see you guys later."

With that, he walked out of the Pokémon center before anyone could say anything else to him. As soon as they were a safe distance away, Ash let out a deep breathe and sighed, he hoped it wouldn't be too hard to keep his identity a secret. He had expected Paul to be here, and maybe Misty as well, but the rest of them all surprised him. He couldn't believe that Max was already a good enough trainer to make it into this competition. He figured Misty was here because she was a gym leader and wanted to prove her superiority as a water trainer. When he saw her holding hands with Gary he had wanted to laugh, but that could have blown his cover so he held it in. He figured Brock, May, Dawn, and Gary were all there to support their friends and he sighed, remembering the days when he was one of the trainers they would have supported.

Another thing that had surprised him was that May was there with only Max. No Drew. He had thought the two were a couple still, they certainly had been before his current journey, otherwise he would have travelled with May. Seeing her at the competition and apparently single made Ash happy for some reason. Also seeing Anabel again for the first time in four years was a shock. He wasn't surprised she was here, but he was surprised at how she had grown. She was just as beautiful as May and he had a similar feeling for her as he did for May.

He sighed, of all the times to be affected by small crushes, why now? And why did it have to be two people instead of just one of them? This was just going to make everything more complicated.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the laughter coming from in front of him. He looked up and saw Scott grinning at him, "You, my boy, look like you are deep in thought about something. Is there anything I can do to help straighten out your thoughts?"

Ash shook his head, "No, it's nothing. I was just surprised to run into so many of my old friends in the Pokémon Center on my way to meet with you. It's strange seeing how much they have grown in three years. Especially Max. The fact that he is now a trainer, and not just any trainer but one strong enough to be allowed into this tournament is surprising."

Scott grinned, "It is amazing seeing young trainers grow up. From your expression though, I can't help but wonder if the growth of some of your lady friends has you a little surprised as well. Maybe you even took a fancy to one of them." At Ash's blush the man laughed again. "Well, it's good to see you are finally figuring out a thing or two about love. Hopefully it all works out for you. Anyways, I have some paperwork for you to fill out in order to finalize your becoming a Frontier Brain."

Ash took the papers and placed them into his backpack, "Thanks Scott. I will get these finished as soon as possible and return them to you. Is there anything else you need me to do in the meantime?"

Scott looked at Ash and clapped him on the back, "Five, you just need to go out there and show the people in this competition what you're made of. Have some fun and enjoy your battles. Also, it wouldn't hurt if you made friends with the other Frontier Brains and your old friends as well. I know you don't want them to know who you are, but that's okay. Keep your identity a secret and befriend them as Five. Then once the tournament is over and you announce to the world who you really are, you can really surprise them."

Ash grinned, "Okay, thanks Scott. Now I'm leaving before anyone see's us here. I don't want anyone knowing about me being a Battle Brain and if I'm seen talking with you too much, people will get suspicious."

With that, Ash walked back to the Pokémon Center to get some more rest and think about what he was going to do about his old friends at the competition. As he entered the center, he saw Brock confessing his undying love for Nurse Joy and the nurse looking rather sheepish and surprised by this.

When the nurse saw Ash enter, she interrupted Brock's confession, "Hey, Five. Welcome back. This is Brock and he might be able to help you with your problem."

Ash sighed; part of him didn't want to get Brock's help because it would involve Brock probably figuring out who he really is. On the other hand, he cared too much for Pikachu to let a small thing like an identity problem interfere with the Pokémon's well being.

Brock, who had been surprised to have his confession of love interrupted without him being hurt, glanced between the nurse and Ash. He looked at Ash and spoke, "Your name is Five? Unusual name, but okay. What do you need my help with?"

The people who had been with Brock seemed surprised as well. Ash, or Five as they now knew him, didn't seem like the kind of man who would need another's help. Ash Sighed, "Yes my name is Five. As for what I need, that is a private matter. Do you mind going for a short walk with me while I explain?"

Brock nodded and turned to his friends, "You guys go and get setup in your rooms, I will be there in a little bit, first I want to see if I can help Five with whatever his problem is."

His friends nodded and walked off to their rooms while Brock walked over to Ash. Ash smiled at his old friend, "Brock, I need your help, but everything I tell you, you must swear not to tell another soul. Not even your travelling companions and friends."

As they walked out of the center, Brock pondered these words, "Why does it need to be kept a secret from them? And just what is it you need my help with?"

Ash sighed, "As you have probably guessed, my real name isn't Five. In order for you to help me, you will probably figure out who I really am and I can't have word of my identity spreading around until the end of this tournament."

Brock thought about this before nodding, "Okay I promise not to tell anyone any of what you tell me. This will all be kept confidential. Now, what is your problem?"

As an answer to his question, Pikachu jumped onto Brock's shoulder. Brock was surprised by this action, but once he got a good look at Pikachu he gasped, "What happened to you? That is quite the scar you have."

Pikachu nodded, "Pika pi, chu pikachu."

Brock looked at the yellow mouse questioningly, "What was that? I don't really understand the Pokemon language too well.

Ash chuckled, "Give it time Brock, I'm sure you will figure it out eventually. As for what he said, he said that it's a knife wound from Team Rocket."

Brock gasped again, "WHAT? That's terrible!" He exclaimed.

Ash nodded, "That's why I personally destroyed Team Rocket. They pushed me too far and so I shut them down."

By now, Brock was getting used to surprises, but hearing this man claim that he had destroyed Team Rocket was still rather shocking. After several minutes, Brock spoke up, "If you don't mind me asking, why was Team Rocket after you in the first place?"

Ash let out a small smile before grimacing. "Team Rocket has always been after my Pikachu. Since practically the day I got him Team Rocket has wanted him. For years they failed to take him, but that was because of the incompetent members they had been using to pursue me. A few years ago, they decided on a different method to get him and it almost worked. In the end it failed, but they still managed to scar him and do serious damage to him with a knife."

When he finished talking, he noticed that Brock was no longer at his side. He turned around and saw Brock just standing there staring at him. Ash grinned, his old friend had figured out who he was.

Meanwhile, Brock was still frozen. After a small shock from Pikachu, who was also smiling, Brock spoke up. "Ash?"

Ash nodded and continued smiling, "It's been a while Brock. It's good to see that you've become such a famous Pokémon doctor so I was hoping you could help with the final stages of Pikachu's recovery."

Brock shook himself out of his daze and embraced his old friend. Ash returned the hug and smiled. After a little bit, the hug ended and Brock was grinning a huge grin, "It's been too long, Ash. Everyone has been worried about you, I can't wait until they find out who you are."

Ash interrupted him, "Don't forget your promise. You won't tell them anything about who I am. I want to surprise them later."

Brock sighed, "Okay, I won't tell them since I did promise, but you have to promise me you will let them know who you are by the end of the tournament. They all miss you."

Ash nodded, "I promise I will tell them. Don't worry."

Brock grinned, "Okay. Now, tell me what you have been doing for the past three years. I'm quite curious. Once you have done that, we can get to finishing Pikachu's recovery."

Ash nodded his head, "Well, I don't really want to go into details, if I did, we would be here for a few days. However, I will elaborate on the things I believe you care about the most. Namely, why I left alone without telling anyone and where exactly I have been."

Brock nodded, "That's reasonable, I suppose, but eventually I'm going to want to know all the details of your adventures the past three years."

"Yeah, yeah," Ash said, "I know. Anyways, the first point about why I left alone is simply because I had no one to travel with. You see, after the Sinnoh league, I began feeling some strange feelings that I began to believe were feelings of love, or more likely a small crush."

"Wait," Brock interrupted, "You fell in love? For all the time I travelled with you, you never showed any sign of such emotion!"

Ash sighed, "I know. And for the most part of the journey it's true that I couldn't have cared less about love. I was friends with my Pokémon as well as my companions, but I never had any desire for more than that. After the Sinnoh league though, that began to change. I developed a small crush on Dawn."

Brock looked like he was about to interrupt, but Ash just held up a hand to silence him. "I know this is surprising for you, but please try not to interrupt me." Brock nodded his head and Ash continued. "Anyways, I didn't really know anything about relationships or crushes or love or any of that because I had never given it much thought. I asked Dawn if she wanted to continue travelling with me with the hope that I could begin to understand my feelings better and maybe have it grow into a relationship. The problem was, I was a little too late. Dawn informed me that she had just begun a relationship with her childhood friend Kenny and wanted to travel alone with him to try and grow their relationship.

"I told her that was fine with me, although it did hurt a little. I decided to try and move on. I thought back to previous friends and gave May a call to see if she would travel with me. She, however, had the same problem as Dawn. May had just started a relationship with the coordinator named Drew and wanted to be alone with him to build their relationship.

"I tried to think about who else I might want to travel with, but no one I could think of would be able to. You had just started medical school to be a Pokémon doctor, so I wasn't going to ask you. Misty was a gym leader so I wasn't going to pull her away from her job to travel the world with me. Max still wasn't old enough to be a trainer and was instead busy studying up for when he could become one so I didn't want to bother him. Eventually I ran out of idea's and decided I would just travel alone, at least until I came across someone who wanted to join up with me.

"Then came my next problem: I had no clue where I wanted to go. I had travelled through the regions and collected gym badges as well as having taken part in the Pokémon League tournaments in them. I didn't really want to go on a repeat run of something I had already done, but I did want to do something. I eventually decided that I would just wander. I would start my adventure with just Pikachu and myself like I normally did and then go wherever my feet took me.

"I knew that my mother would never approve of such a plan, especially with no one to watch over me. I love my mother and all, but sometimes she can be a little too overprotective of me. Anyways, I decided to drop off my Pokémon and set out without telling her ahead of time. I left a note and promised to stay in contact with her. With Pikachu on my shoulder, I set out to start a new journey."

It was silent for a few minutes before Brock spoke up, "Okay, so then why didn't you ever contact us? I know you sent letters to your mother every month, but you never bothered contacting anyone."

Ash smiled, "Well actually I did contact Professor Oak once. I had just got my sixth new Pokémon and so it was sent to the professor, but that left me with only five Pokémon capable of battle, so I talked with Professor Oak and begged him to allow me to have seven Pokémon with me at a time. He finally relented and sent me back the Pokémon I had just caught. I asked him to keep the contact a secret."

Brock nodded, "That still doesn't answer my question."

Ash sighed, "Fine. At first, I didn't want to distract anyone from their journeys and goals. Then I got so involved in my own journey that everything else kind of just slipped my mind. By the time I looked up, two years had passed. At that point, I wanted to get back in contact with everyone, but I was afraid of how they would react to seeing me after I had just disappeared on them for two years. I was afraid they would be mad at me. I decided to live in the mountains and wait for a chance to reenter the world again and that is why I am here. This tournament is serving as the official end of my current journey."

Brock sighed, "Ash, we were never mad at you, we just missed you. You should have contacted us, but since you didn't, I guess this should serve as a good way to reintroduce yourself to everyone. On a related note, this thing that you got distracted in for two years, I take it that was the Team Rocket thing you mentioned?"

Ash nodded, "Yeah. About a month into my journey a large group of grunts and a few higher ups attacked me. Things happened and Pikachu ended up getting knifed. This Houndoom of mine saved both of our lives by getting help from a nearby Pokémon Center. Anyways, after that I decided Team Rocket had wronged me for the last time, so I delved into training and plotting to destroy them. Two years later, I accomplished just that by personally defeating Giovanni and turning him in to the police. It was around that time that I caught my most recent Pokémon and had my little conversation with Professor Oak."

Brock shook his head, "I still can't believe that you defeated Team Rocket. Regardless, I'm glad you did, with them out of the way the world has been a safer place. Now, can I take a look at Pikachu? Also, what exactly does he need to do to finish recovering? The wound looks like it is completely healed."

Ash sighed, "The wound was deep and although the wound healed, we were told it would be several years before Pikachu would be able to receive the final treatment and regain his lost mobility. The knife damaged several muscles and tendons thus limiting Pikachu's movements quite a bit. I could train Pikachu myself, but I don't want to hurt him any worse. I figured a skilled doctor like you would be able to help me out with the training to bring Pikachu back up to his old speed and then some."

Brock nodded, "Okay, I can help with that, but first I need to get some scans of Pikachu done, so lets go to the Pokémon Center and do them. I will look at them tonight and get back to you tomorrow to help you begin training your Pikachu again."

Ash nodded, "Thanks Brock, lets go."

-In a hotel room above the Pokémon Center-

Gathered together was a small group of people. There was Max and May as well as Anabel, Dawn, Gary, and Misty. The group was busy talking about how things had been since they had last seen each other. Anabel was feeling a little left out since she didn't know many of these people, but they had asked if she wanted to hang out with them and she had accepted. They were Ash's friends after all and she was hoping she could learn a little more about him and maybe get some clues as to where he had gone.

After talking for a while, the topic turned to the strange man with the Houndoom and Pikachu. Max spoke up, "He looks incredibly strong and I can't wait to have a battle with him tomorrow. Man, that Houndoom is impressive looking."

Gary nodded his agreement, "I have to agree with that. As a researcher, I have seen many Pokémon of every species, but that has to be one of the strongest if not the strongest Houndoom I have ever seen. It appeared to be in incredible shape."

Now it was May's turn to speak up, "It was beautiful. One of the most beautiful Pokémon I have ever seen. I don't know what the man feeds his Pokémon, but it seemed to work wonders for the Houndoom."

"I agree completely, and with the power it seemed to have as well, I'm glad it's a battling Pokémon and not a contest Pokémon. It would be an incredibly challenging Pokémon to defeat in a contest," Dawn gushed.

Next came a voice that hadn't spoken up too much, "Houndoom told me that he would always protect his trainer and fellow Pokémon. The bond between them is incredible. It has been years since I've seen a bond of such closeness between trainer and Pokémon."

The group looked over at Anabel. "What do you mean?" Misty asked. "Houndoom talked to you?"

Anabel nodded, "I suppose you don't know. I can feel Pokémon's emotions and communicate with them telepathically. When the man told his Houndoom to be nice to me, it was because I had tried to communicate with him mentally and the Houndoom didn't appreciate it. He said some not so nice things as well as telling me that he would always protect and serve his master."

Now Gary spoke up, "Does this man have a name? I heard Nurse joy call him something before he left with Brock, but I didn't really catch it."

When no one spoke up, Anabel answered, "I don't think it's his real name, but the Houndoom referred to the man as Five. I believe that's a codename of sorts, but it is also probably the closest to a name we will get until he chooses to reveal his identity."

"Speaking of Brock," Dawn said, "where is he? Five, or whatever his name is, said he had a problem he needed Brock's help with and Brock said he would be gone for a little bit to help him with it, but he's been gone for quite some time."

May then spoke up, "I don't know where he is, but I'm sure he's fine. If he needed Brock's help and Nurse Joy recommended him, it's probably a medical issue that she can't deal with due to the current busyness of the center. Anyways, speaking of missing people, where did Paul go?"

"He took one look at the Houndoom and decided he wanted to get some last minute training in," Dawn responded. "He is taking this tournament incredibly seriously. He really wants to show the world how he has changed since he lost to Ash as well as prove how powerful he is. He was hoping Ash would be here, but it seems he isn't."

Max sighed, "Ash might not be here, but I agree with Paul about the Houndoom. Seeing it makes me think I still have to train if I want to do well in this competition. That Houndoom looks incredibly powerful."

Suddenly Anabel spoke up, "Hey, did you guys see the Pikachu the man had on his shoulder?"

Everyone stopped for a few seconds and thought about it. After a few seconds they were all nodding and Misty spoke up, "Now that you mention it, I do remember that. It didn't draw attention to itself the way the Houndoom did and we were all so distracted by the Houndoom we didn't pay the Pikachu much attention. Why?"

Anabel thought about it, "Well, the Pikachu said hello to me as if I was an old friend or something. He asked me how Espeon was doing. I was wondering how he knew about my Espeon. I have only met one trainer who travelled around with a Pikachu on his shoulder but I have met several trainers with Pikachu's. What really stood out to me about the Pikachu was the scar it had on its stomach. It looked like it had been stabbed or something."

"It has," spoke a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Brock standing there. After everyone had greeted him, Anabel asked Brock to explain what he had said. "Well, I can't tell you much because Five asked me to keep it a secret, but many years ago his Pikachu was involved in an unfortunate accident involving a knife. The Pikachu lost most of its mobility and Five was wondering if I could help Pikachu recover fully so he could battle again. That is all I'm telling you though, everything else I am sworn to secrecy about. This man takes his battles seriously and wishes to hold as many advantages as he can. He also said he is looking forward to his practice battle against Max tomorrow as it has been a month since his last trainer battle. After that, he went back to his room, so yeah."

After several minutes of thinking and silence, May spoke up. "Well guys, regardless of this strange man named Five, we are finally here at the Indigo Plateau. I say we commemorate our arrival with a shopping trip!" She exclaimed.

All the guys groaned at the thought, but since all the girls liked the idea and the girls outnumbered the guys, the girls won and were soon dragging all the guys on a shopping spree.

-Forest outside of the Pokémon Center-

A young man with purple hair was walking through the forest after having just finished a training session with his Pokémon. As he was walking, he caught sight of another man, this one happened to be walking by with a Pikachu on his shoulder and a Houndoom at his side.

Paul called out to the man, "Hey, I saw you at the Pokémon Center earlier, mind if I have a word with you?"

Ash gave a sigh, he had simply wanted to go on a simple walk and had the bad luck to run into someone he knew and who wanted to talk to him. Since it was Paul, Ash was hoping that at the very least it wouldn't be a long conversation. "Sure, what can I do for you?"

Paul looked at him, "Well earlier I saw your Houndoom and noticed that it appears to be quite strong. I was wondering if there was any chance you would like to have a practice battle before the competition starts?"

Ash was about to inform Paul that he was relaxing that day and that maybe the next day they could battle, but then Houndoom spoke up and barked a few times. Ash sighed, "Well, I had been planning on relaxing today, but my Houndoom seems to want to battle you so I suppose I can tolerate one battle."

Paul nodded, "Good, this will give me a chance to test my strength and beat someone now before everything starts. Maybe I can even scare you away."

Ash laughed, "I see you are rather confident. You also seem to be even more arrogant than that new trainer Max who also challenged me to a practice battle. I'm battling him tomorrow, but Houndoom seems more excited to battle you, so this should be fun."

Paul smirked before taking his place at one end of a clearing. "Before we begin, I have one question for you: What happened to your Pikachu? That's quite the scar it has."

Ash sighed, "He got knifed by a criminal organization. I retaliated by destroying said organization. That's all there is to it, now lets battle. Houndoom, take the field and prepare for battle."

Houndoom calmly walked onto the field, knowing that no matter what he did this opponent couldn't be intimidated. He settled for focusing his mind and preparing for a battle. Houndoom could tell that this trainer was no pushover.

Paul grabbed a pokeball and tossed it, "Ursaring, lets go." With that, a massive brown bear with a yellow circle on its chest appeared. The bear gave a mighty roar that Houndoom just smirked at. The bear then changed its intimidation idea to simply glaring at the dog.

Ash spoke up, "As the challenger, I give you the first move."

Paul smirked, "You shouldn't have done that, now I'm going to end this battle before you can even get a strike in. Ursaring, use earthquake and follow it up with a full power hammer arm."

As Ursaring was about to launch the attacks, Ash took a second to think. It was a good strategy, the earthquake would do lots of damage and prevent Houndoom from moving very well allowing Ursaring to get in close and land a super effective hammer arm as well. If both attacks managed to work at full power, Houndoom would take serious damage and possibly be out before he could launch any attacks.

Ash quickly came up with a counter strategy to use. "Houndoom, use a full power flamethrower on the ground to keep Ursaring away. Once the earthquake ends, use dark pulse and iron tail."

As Ursaring slammed its feet into the ground creating a massive earthquake, Houndoom opened his mouth and blasted the ground with intense flames. Although the moving earth shook him around, he was able to keep the flames going and superheat the ground to immense temperatures. As Ursaring switched into his hammer arm charge, Houndoom began forming a ball of dark pulse in his mouth and waited for the massive bear to stop.

Paul watched in amazement as his opponents Houndoom superheated the ground. When he heard the counter strategy, he had smirked at the idea of it working, but after seeing the flamethrower at work, he had changed his mind. This truly was a formidable opponent. He watched as his Ursaring became unable to take the heat and jumped back. At the same time, Houndoom released its dark pulse, landing a direct hit while Ursaring was unable to dodge.

As Houndoom's tail began glowing white, Paul realized he needed to quickly come up with a counter of his own. "Ursaring, use focus blast to keep him away while you charge a focus punch."

Obediently, the bear launched a ball of focused energy at Houndoom, forcing him to jump out of the way and delay his strike. At the same time, the bear's fist began to glow white.

Ash saw this happening and already had a counter lined up. "Houndoom, keep it up and prepare to use it."

Houndoom agreed and began focusing his energy into his throat to build up a super powerful blast of fire.

Paul, who was unaware of what Houndoom was doing, sent his Ursaring to use focus punch on the hound.

Ash smirked, "Block it with iron tail and then use overheat."

Houndoom jumped and spun so that his tail would make contact with Ursaring's glowing fist. As the two made contact, they pushed back at each other. Paul called out, "Full power. Go full power and push that mutt back!"

Ash sighed, "Houndoom spin away and launch your overheat."

At the instant Ursaring increased his power, Houndoom backed off on his attack, spinning away. This caused Ursaring to overbalance and fall. Before he could pick himself back up, Houndoom unleashed a massive stream of intense flames. As the attack hit its mark, Ursaring called out in pain.

When the attack ended, Houndoom went back to stand by his master's side while Paul was left to look at his fainted Ursaring. Ash watched as Paul went over to his fallen Pokémon and thanked him for his work. Ash smiled at the sight and went to shake Paul's hand.

"Congratulations Paul, that Ursaring of yours is pretty strong. It's been a long time since Houndoom put that much effort into a battle. If he hadn't been going full out, you would have won."

Paul looked up with a triumphant look in his eyes, "Thanks, but I don't recall having introduced myself to you. How do you know my name?"

Ash groaned, he had gotten so caught up in everything he had forgotten that he wasn't supposed to know any of these people. Thinking quickly, he came up with something, "I saw you on TV. You are quite the gifted trainer."

Paul laughed, "You have a Pikachu on your shoulder and you know who I am. You are a powerful trainer who is obviously closely bonded with all of his Pokémon. Also, the way you battle, there is only one person who I have met that battles with that intensity. I don't know why you're hiding, but this should fun."

Ash laughed, "Of course you would figure out who I am. Well Paul, you have certainly improved. Anyways, until I tell other people who I am, I would appreciate it if you referred to me as Five."

Paul let out a mocking laugh, "That's your codename? That is lame. On a related note, you wouldn't happen to be the new Frontier Brain I've heard rumors about, would you?"

Ash smiled, "What do you think?"

Paul grinned, "Well, it's good seeing you again, but when we get to the tournament, I'm not going to hold anything back. Now that I know who you are, I can be prepared to beat you in our next battle. Anyways, I'm out, gotta get my Ursaring healed."

Before Paul had gone too far, Ash spoke up, "It's good to see you caring for your Pokémon. I'm glad you are treating them well now. Anyways, good luck in the tournament and hopefully we can battle each other in it. May the best trainer win."

Paul raised one hand and gave a short wave as he left the clearing to go back to the Pokémon Center. Ash then resumed his walk, preparing himself for the upcoming tournament.

Chapter two completed.

Still haven't decided on a pairing for Ash. However, since everyone seems quite curious about it, I will let you know that I have the first four chapters typed up and am currently leaning towards pairing him with Anabel.

The next chapter will have the battle with Max and Ash. I think you all know who is going to win, but it should still be a good battle. Also in the next chapter I will throw some more romance type scenes in.

The plan is for the next chapter to go up until the tournament begins, but I'm not sure yet. It depends on how much happens between now and the beginning of the tournament. It could take one chapter to reach the tournament; it could take two or three chapters to reach that point.

Also, I don't know if I'm going to keep my chapters this long or not. I find it easier to type chapter's closer to 5000 words normally. On the other hand, writing longer chapters such as these is rather fun. The longer the chapter, the longer it will be between updates, but for now at least, I'm not going to worry about that. I will type what I type and publish it as I see fit.

For those who believe Ash is overly powerful, eh, whatever. As the story progresses you will see him not seem as incredibly powerful. The point that I am trying to make with his early battles is to show that he is at the same level as the league champions and the trainers who are truly competing for the title of strongest trainer.

If you have anything to say to me regarding this story, whether it is a suggestion, comment, complaint, criticism, or whatever, let me know in a review or PM. The more you communicate with me, the stronger my motivation will be to keep this story going with faster updates.

Well, this chapter has also been edited now. Once again, not very much was changed, just a few grammatical/spelling errors. I actually like the first several chapters enough that I probably won't change anything dramatically yet. Who knows though.

Edited 6/26/2012