Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon
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Far away in Kanto a few days later, on the roof of the Battle Frontier HQ in Saffron City, the person who was once Ash, but now known as Red, tilted his head when he heard the ringing of his WristCom. He had wild black hair which covered his right eye and was wearing his signature red cap over it. He wore a simply blue vest with a grey shirt underneath it and black pants. He also wore casual sneakers.
"Aren't you going to pick it up?" Pikachu asked. Thanks to is aura, Red managed to understand him.
"It's probably updates on the challenger." Red shrugged, taking his time to answer it. "Did you guys beat the challenger?"
"No, he already beat Reika. And it would do you good to answer our calls immediately instead of taking your time." Arata growled as his face appeared on the screen. In the background, Red could make out a scoff from Daimen and spotted Reika rolling her eyes in the corner of the screen.
Internally, Red also rolled his eyes. Sure, Arata is a great trainer and a good friend ever since he stepped foot onto the Heiwa region. But his strictness was annoying at times. Nevertheless, Red respected him for it for his strictness in training and conduct which made them one of the strongest Pokemon Leagues.
"So, if you don't mind, please make your way back here in case the challenger by some miracle or skill get pass me. You have two weeks, tops." Arata continued.
"Who is this challenger that managed to get pass Reika and the others?" Red frowned curiously.
"Unsurprisingly, a former champion and one whom you might personally know, Steven Stone."
Red jerked his head up. "Steven? I didn't think that he would come all the way to Heiwa to take on the league."
"Don't know, don't care. All I know is that even with my type advantage, he's smart enough to overcome that so I have to step up my game." Arata shrugged. "And I expect you to be back, whether he reaches you or not."
"Alright, alright. I'll be back as soon as I finish the negotiations with Scott." Red sighed and hung up. "Man, of all people…"
"At least it's not one of the traitors." Pikachu snide. Red clenched his fist and nodded in agreement. It has been five years since he was betrayed by his 'friends' and 'family', but it always seemed to be just like yesterday.
"Man, we lost again." Ash sighed as he walked through Pallet Town to get to his house. Pikachu was perched on his shoulder like usual and nodded sadly. They had been very close to winning this time around for they had reached the finals of a Pokemon League for the first time. Even so, Alain was too strong for them. However, they lost, fair and square, so they did not hold it against Alain, especially since it was an intense yet fun match.
"We're back!" Ash called once he stepped into his home.
"Ash!" Delia greeted him and Pikachu with a hug. "You're back! Your friends are waiting for you in the dining room." She said, pushing him in the direction of said room. Inside, he was surprise to see Brock, Misty, Tracey, Max, May and Dawn.
"Guys! What brings you here?" Ash greeted them warmly. But strangely, they were quiet and had forced smiles. "Guys?"
"Ash, I asked them to come here for a purpose." Delia said quietly as she stood behind Brock's chair, struggling to pick her next words.
Sensing this, Brock helped her by starting. "Ash, we saw your performance at the Lumiose Conference. And it's hard for us to say this, but we have come to a similar conclusion."
"What's that?" Ash asked carefully, dreading what was about to come.
"Well, you see." Delia took over, rubbing her hands together nervously, knowing that her son would not take this well. "After all this time, you only managed to get to the finals of a pokemon league after years of trying. So I think…" She took a deep breath to calm herself for her next words. "I think it's best that you give up your dream and stay home with me."
Ash and Pikachu stood shell shocked at her words. Here was his mother, his biggest supporter all this time, telling him to give up on his dreams…
"She's right, Ash." Brock continued. "Look, I know that this is hard for you to listen, but you have to face reality."
"Even if you challenge another league, you'll only fail." Misty sniffed, turning up her nose at him and Pikachu.
"Best that you quit and allow those who are truly strong take their place at the top, weakling. That way, we can stop pretending that you are strong when all you are is a failed trainer." Max sneered.
Ash and Pikachu could only stare at them in shock, not wanting to believe what they were saying but apparently they were not done for May continued the triad.
"Ash, please listen to them. I for one am thankful that you helped me stand on my feet when I first started out on my journey, but even I think you'll be better off being at home with Ms. Ketchum. Stop kidding yourself with your fantasy of being a Pokemon Master."
Dawn did not say anything but nodded in agreement with May's words.
Dumbstruck, Ash only stumbled backwards. "I need time to think." As soon as those words were out of his mouth, he ran upstairs, locking himself in his room.
"Pika?" Pikachu gazed at him sadly. He badly wanted to zap them in the dining room but he knew that he had to stay with Ash and be by his side.
"Pikachu, I'm going to prove them wrong." Ash suddenly said, filled with strong determination, startling his starter. "I lied to them just now when I said that I wanted to think. I've already made up my mind. I'm going to go out there and prove them wrong."
"Pika!" Pikachu pumped his fist in agreement.
"First thing's first, we need to get everything we need and get out of here with everyone." Ash mentioned as he began to change into darker clothes: a black hoodie jacket and dark pants. And by 'everyone' he meant all of his pokemon at Professor Oak's lab. He tossed a few things out of his bag, mainly Misty's lure and a few other mementoes from his so-called friends. In their place, he placed all of his money savings and remaining clothes.
"Come on Pikachu." Ash whispered as he opened up the window, jumping to the tree that grew just outside his window. Pikachu quickly followed him out. As soon as they climbed down the tree, they quietly ran towards the lab, thankful that it was already dark so no one saw them.
Once they arrived at the lab, Ash paused and turned to Pikachu. "Round up everyone for me. I'm going to try to convince Professor Oak of what my…" The words died in his throat. But Pikachu understood. He patted his trainer's shoulder comfortingly and ran off in the direction of the corral.
Taking a deep breath, Ash knocked on the door. However, much to his surprise, it was Gary who answered it, not Professor Oak.
"Ash?" Gary raised an eyebrow quizzically. "What are you doing here at this time of the day? Wait, never mind that." He suddenly held up his hands, forestalling the Pikachu trainer. He could tell that something was wrong with his childhood friend and rival so instead of questioning him now, he decided to wait for his grandfather to ask those questions.
"Sorry Gary." Ash rubbed the back of his head apologetically. "I need to see Professor Oak. It's urgent."
"Sure." Gary shrugged, letting him in.
"By the way, when did you come back to Pallet Town?" Ash asked curiously.
"Just this morning." Gary shrugged. "I knew that you'll be coming back today as well but Grandpa told me that you'll be back late so I figured coming over to visit you tomorrow. By the way, I saw the Lumiose Conference and read the reports of Team Flare. You were great in both instances."
Ash instantly froze in his steps and turned a glare at him. "Are you trying to sugarcoat my failures!? I know the truth, I'm a failed trainer and I will never become a Pokemon Master!"
Gary stood dumbstruck. What in the world made Ash think like that?
Apparently he was not the only one for Professor Oak, who was just around the corner, heard every word Ash said. Without warning, he went up to the trainer, startling both boys.
"Ash, my boy, why would you think like that?" He demanded. Left with no choice, Ash told them what transpired just now. Needless to say, both researchers were horrified and disbelieved at what he told them.
"I cannot believe it." Professor Oak shook his head sadly. He had known Delia for a very long time and to hear that she no longer wants to support her son's dream was a huge shock for him.
"Grandpa…" Gary trailed off, not sure of how to react. He had not known Ash's former travelling companions very well, but even so, he thought that they were always supportive of Ash's goal just as he was supportive of theirs. How wrong he was.
"So, I'm leaving." Ash sniffed. "I don't know where I'm going or if I'll ever come back here, but I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to prove them wrong. It may take years, but I don't care."
Professor Oak exchanged glances with his grandson and forced a smile. "Well, if that's what you want to do, then we won't stop you. Know that you at least have two people who are still behind you."
Professor Oak straightened up. "I presume that you're going to bring all of you pokemon?"
"That's the plan." Ash nodded. "Pikachu's rounding them all up now."
"Right." He nodded. "Then you're going to need it." He nodded at Gary who nodded and went inside one of the rooms to retrieve the thing his grandfather wanted.
"As you know that under the Pokemon League rules, all trainers are allowed to carry a maximum number of six pokemon. If you want to carry more than that, you're going to need a special certificate from an authorized personnel of the League like me to do so." Professor Oak explained. "I need your Pokedex."
Ash handed over said item just as Gary came back with a chip. Professor Oak inserted the chip into the Pokedex and did some configuration to it before giving it back. "There. You're all set. You can carry all of you pokemon without any legal problems now. Do you want to stay for the night before leaving?"
"No." Ash shook his head. "It won't be long before they find out that I'm gone. I want to leave before they do so."
"Good luck Ashy boy." Gary smirked. "Your pokemon's pokeballs are in the third room to the left. If anyone asks, we'll say that your pokemon ran away and you did not come here."
"That's not a believable story." Ash raised an eyebrow.
"But if they can't prove we're lying, it will be believable." Gary's smirk only grew.
"Point taken." Ash said after some thought.
"Anyway, if you don't know where to go from here, you can ask Scott." Professor Oak suggested as Ash gathered up his Pokeballs. "He's asked for you a few times before and I think he mentioned once that he was hoping that you'll go to a region but I forgot what the region is called."
"That's fine. I'll check with him." Ash shrugged and went out to the corral. His pokemon were gathered, some of them sympathetic for him while others were clearly angry at what his former friends said to him. He offered a weak smile and recalled all of them except for Charizard.
"Good luck, Ash. May your future continue to be bright." Professor Oak wished him.
"Thank you Professor, for everything you and Gary did for me tonight." Ash nodded back and flew off on Charizard.
"…Which leads us to here." Red hummed as he and Pikachu headed back to the conference room in the building. "Scott recommended us to the Heiwa region, we travelled around, collecting badges and new friends, stopping Team Dawn from rising again and became the Champion. Little did we know that Scott intentionally sent us there because he and Brandon were also from Heiwa and wanted us to help stop the war from happening again."
"And we are grateful for that." Scott grinned as he came up to him, having heard what he said.
"Scott." Red smirked at him. "We may have to speed up the negotiations. We have a challenger that's wiping my Elites off their feet."
Scott only let out his jolly laugh and nodded. "Sure thing. We're just about done here." He pushed open the doors of the conference room, revealing the seven Frontier Brains of the Kanto branch and the six Frontier Brains of the Sinnoh branch. Yes, six. The final Frontier Brain of the Sinnoh branch is none other than Paul. Even Red had been surprised by the development.
But apparently, while he had been working on becoming Heiwa's Champion, Paul had conquered both the Sinnoh branch and the Kanto branch after defeating Brandon once and for all. After that, Scott offered him the position of Frontier Brain in the Sinnoh branch, having seen his potential and his change in attitude towards his pokemon. And unlike Ash, Paul accepted. So now, he commands the sixth facility of the Battle Frontier in Sinnoh, the Battle Stadium and the title Stadium Master.
"So, continuing where we left off, are we all in agreement of opening a new branch in Heiwa?" Scott asked his employees. "All those who are in agreement, raise your hand."
After counting the votes, he nodded. "All are in agreement to the proposal. And all those in agreement to have Anabel transferred to Heiwa, raise your hands!"
This proposal shocked Ash for this was the first he heard of it. Sure, he had no problem with it, especially since it was Anabel. During his journey in Heiwa, she had dropped by occasionally and was a great source of encouragement and comfort for him. They had grown closer as friends, but he had no idea that Scott and the rest were plotting to get them together. Even Paul had been roped into it but the only reason why he had agreed to the plan was because he knew that everyone would not leave him alone until he did.
"Well, we are all in agreement." Scott said too cheerfully and turned to Red. "Sorry we didn't run this pass you but this was a last minute arrangement. Anabel had requested to be transferred over to Heiwa since we might not be able to find any trainer strong enough to fit the criterial to become a frontier brain yet and since Heiwa is not the most desirable visitation place just yet."
Red turned to Anabel who nodded shyly. Red merely smiled and nodded. "I have no problems with that but I have to run it through my Elites first even though I'm sure they will agree. Officializing will take a while though since we did not discuss it beforehand."
"Take your time." Scott waved his hand dismissively, though inwardly, he was jumping for joy. He had finally found a way to get Ash and Anabel together despite Anabel ironically being the one to suggest the transfer in the first place. Anyone can see how much she cares for him and Scott was not one to stand in the way of their happiness even if they cannot see it yet.
"If that's all we have to discuss, I have to go now. My duties as Champion and all." Red sighed.
"We understand." Spencer answered for all of them. "We will see you and your friends at the Millennium Tournament."
"You better give us a good challenge if any of us come against you." Paul said sternly.
"You bet." Red smirked and left.