Hello Back for more:

Btw: I don't own pokemon! Wish I did. Ash might not be as dense.

And for those of you who say Paul is OOC, Well no friggin duh. Paul is a douchebag in the Anime, so if he's gonna be with Dawn he is gonna be nice.

Enjoy

Petalburg City - The Maples House

"But why did he have to act that way" May wailed into her friends shoulder. "I waited for him for 5 years and all I get is a grunt and him telling me that its for my own good." Her sadness was starting to turn to anger now. Dawn pulled her into a tight hug and rubbed her back to try and soothe her.

"Now Now May. Crying over it won't help anything" Dawn regretted the words immediately.

"And what WILL help! The only guy I have ever loved simply GRUNTED and turned his back on me. And he didn't just turn his back on me once. OH no. That wasn't enough for him. He had to do it TWICE!" May was standing up now her face full of rage, shouting at the top of her lungs. But immedietly collapsed again on the bed in a fit of tears. Dawn rubbing her back and feeling nothing but sorrow for her friend.

Unknown Location - Kanto Region

"Sir I have reports of Ketchum being at the Tournament"

The man behind the desk turned around slowly to face his grunt. "It is too be expected. He would go at great lengths to keep us from getting that egg. But never mind that how is our agent doing in the tournament. I would like this to be an easy in and out operation."

"She is doing well sir. She has advanced to the next round of the competition."

"Good. When will the chopper be ready to depart for the region?"

"Whenever you are ready sir!"

"Good. Tell the pilot I will be ready to depart tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM sharp."

"Sir!" The grunt gave a quick salute and walked out of the office through the door with a red R.

XxXxXxXxX

Lake outside of Petalburg city - Evening

"Don't worry buddy it was a great match" Brock gave his friend a pat on the back.

"If you say so Brock." Max pouted. The two had gone for a walk in the woods together as may and dawn had gone back to the maples and Max didn't really want to deal with the drama at the moment. Paul had excused him self to go "think" while Misty had gone to train and call her sisters back at the gym.

"Hey who's that." Max pointed through the trees to a person sitting on the shore in a meditative position. Next to him sat a Blue figure in the same position. A blue aura surrounded them both.

"Come on lets get closer" Max turned to whisper to his friend "Let's see who it -" He was cut off abruptly by brock pointing behind him. Max slowly turned around to see the same man standing over him with an emotionless face. The blue figure, now that it was turned around it looked to be a lucario, stood behind him, aura blazing preparing for a battle.

"How did you find me, what do you want." Max jumped at the voice.

"Ash?"

"What do you want." Ash repeated only more coldly.

"uhh nothing. " Max stammered. "We were just ...uhh.. on our ...uhh... way!"

"No we weren't" Brock said.

"What?" Max looked at him as if he was crazy "Um.. Yes we were."

"No. We weren't" Brock glared at Max and then at Ash. "We weren't on our way. We were going for a walk and we passed by you."

Ash's glare let up on them as we was surprised by the actions of his old friend. "Ok then." Ash turned to leave. He motioned downwards with his hand and Lucario instantly let his aura disperse.

Brock had seen only the end of the confrontation back in the city. But he saw enough to know that his friend had changed.

"What did you mean by its for her own good." Brock blurted out to the retreating figure.

Ash stopped and without turning around he said "I didn't mean just for her. It's for all of you." He continued walking but stopped one more time to say softly. "And I'm sorry."

Paul watched the encounter from the bushes and was just as surprised as Brock and Max by Ash's actions. The kid he had known in Sinnoh would have gone to great lengths to be by his friends sides, but now it seemed like that was all gone. Except for the last part. Paul was utterly confused by Ash's actions. Even though Brock and Max hadn't heard the last part, Paul had. Just as he thought he was figuring out Ash's new personality, the kid just had to throw in a curveball. Paul smirked, nothing had ever been straightforward with ash, and it just went to show that a person never completely changed. Paul was now closely following Ash along the lake side. Suddenly Ash stopped and turned towards the lake with his hands in his pockets. He called out just loud enough for Paul to hear.

"I know you are there. There is no one else around. Come out Paul." Paul jumped in surprise by slowly walked to his rival.

"What gave me away?" Was he mistaken, he thought ash grinned at his question.

"Nothing gave you away, I knew you were there even when Brock and Max were around. It was your aura." Ash's eyes blazed blue. "It also tells me you are confused." He gave a small chuckle. "Seems I have succeeded then."

Paul stared at him like he was insane. "What?" But another question occurred to him. "If you keeping your distance between ALL of your old friends, why are you talking to me?"

"The short story is because, well, you and I never really saw eye to eye back in sinnoh. So I can risk it once or twice." Paul still looked confused. "It's because of rocket."

"But they fell more than 4 years ago. Now that I think about it, it was just after you dissa..." A look of sudden realization came across pauls face "You took them down."

Ash nodded. "Yes. I did. Have you heard any rumors of a person named Red Satoshi?"

Paul had infact, heard them. But he had never placed the different rumors he had heard about the so called "Team Killer" and the mysterious Red Satoshi together.

"So it was you" Paul looked at him.

"Yup." Ash nodded solemnly. "But it wasn't just Rocket."

Paul nodded. "Ya, You also took out Aqua, Magma, Galatic, and Plasma. I had heard about that. But if all the major teams in the five regions are taken out. Why are you still hiding?"

"Rocket is rising as I said." Ash was very solemn. "And I can't risk being seen with those I care about. They go after my loved ones, as they did with my mother."

"But what about me. I was seen with you numerous times between rocket. "

Ash shook his head. "Only with Jessie and James. Never with upper management. So they don't know who you are. And the only way they could find out would be to talk to Jessie and James which they can't cause they are dead."

Paul had expected something like this, only not as drastic. "So what about-"

Ash cut him off abruptly "No more questions. I need to train. This tournament isn't going to win itself." He turned to walk away, motioning for Lucario to follow. He turned back to paul to say one last warning. "I expect I don't need to tell you that if you tell anyone anything I told you, you will regret it." Aura blazed around him as he said it in a ferocious tone, making paul promise himself to never piss Ash off.

"But Ash" Paul called to the retreating figure. "I know you are dark to protect them, but it would mean more to them if you were friendlier to them. You don't have to become their friend all of a sudden. But at least don't be a douche. You saw how May looked at you. Do you really want to hurt her more then you already have?"

Paul's word stung Ash like a bedrill. He froze in his steps and felt the guilt wash over him. May. The only thing that Ash could think about was May's face when he showed no emotion to her.

He grunted to Paul "You think I didn't think about that everyday I was gone?" He wirrled around and faced his rival. "Everyday I was gone I thought of her. Everyday. The last person I saw before I left was her. The last thing she said to me was that she needed me. That she loved me. And everyday I was gone guilt stabbed me like a knife and slit my heart in two. I couldn't be there for her when she needed me most. When they all did. Thats why I did what I did. For them." He yelled this in a tone that seemed to belong to neither pokemon or human.

Paul regretted what he had said. Not even 30 seconds into his promise, and he had already broken it. Ash was very close to him now. Not yelling, but he said everything in a tone that would make most people want to run away and hide. But Paul stood his ground. Not Batting an eye. But he could feel the emotion coming off Ash. His aura was a dark blue haze floating around him. It followed him as he walked up to Paul. Lucario saw what was happening and ran up to his trainer and placed its paw on Ash's shoulder as it closed its eyes. After a few seconds ash's aura dispersed and his eyes returned to their normal color. Ash blinked and shook his head a couple of times before returning his gaze to Paul. He nodded apologetically, turned and left.

Paul stood there for a minute and let the words sink in. Ash had been sincere. He really did miss his friends. But he understood what Ash had to do. One final mission for the all but forgotten trainer. But For the love of Arceus, Paul couldn't figure out what the mission could be.

And Scene. Sorry it was a little be short. I am just trying to feed you guys stuff as quick as possible before school start and life becomes hell.

Also: At the moment of me writing this, the poll is in a three way tie. So go vote. It is on my Profile Page. And I need maybe 3 or 4 more OC submissions. Maybe add to the form on the previous chapter with: Have they met ash before in the last five years?

Any feedback you got put it in a review. Please no intense flames. If you have constructive feedback, lay it on me. But if you are just gonna be a jackass then go put a stick up your ass. I started writing this mainly for me as an enjoyment peace and i decided to share it with you so don't go be a idiot.

If you want to write a battle Message me and I can set you up with two characters and some pokemon. I am hoping to have the next battle in the next chapter or two.

~Sunblade16