Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

Please follow, favorite or review.

I did not expect to complete a new chapter so quickly. But once I get to the Millennium Tournament, I'm going to need more time to think up of how the battles will go. So, updates might be slower then.


As soon as he could, Red fled from the Pokemon Center from all the reporters and fans back to the stadium where his Elites were waiting.

"Hey Red." Daimen greeted with his Salamance and Pidgeot beside him. Arata and Muraku had their Charizard and Hydregon out as well. Like every year, after the Mt. Harmony Conference ends, they would gather back at the stadium to head back to Red's secret hideout at the other side of the mountain. Reika hopped on Charizard with Arata while Red got on Salamance. Daimen and Muraku hopped on their respective rides.

They flew off and circled around the mountain to a small cavern in the wall. The cavern was actually an entrance to a massive cave. There was a bar on one side of the cave and a meeting table in the middle as well as a TV on the wall. Red's personal living quarters was a room far off on the other side of the cave. Beside it was several other guest room for his Elites in case they wished to crash there instead of heading back to their respective areas they are in charge of. Further into the cave was a natural forest which makes a great training and resting ground for the pokemon.

The group sent out the rest of their pokemon to head off into the forest to rest while they headed to the bar.

"To Red!" Arata called out a toast with his Champaign. "For winning the Champion's Challenge and retaining his title for another year!"

"To Red!" The rest cheered.

"Thanks guys." Red grinned. He winked at Pikachu who winked back and reached behind a cupboard. "But, if you guys remember, there is always something we do to the Elites who lost against the challenger."

There was an elicit of groans but they could not go against the tradition they started when Red became the Champion. Pikachu soon reemerged with the bottle of strong brandy Red kept specially for this occasion.

"Do we have to?" Reika whined. Normally, she did not have to drink it because challengers usually do not get past Muraku. "And to remind you, we're underage."

"That did not stop you guys from making me drink this twice during Red's second and third year." Daimen joked as he poured out a glass for each of them.

"And that did not stop us from going up against Team Dawn when we were what? Ten, Eleven?" Muraku commented offhandedly as he took his glass.

"Muraku, please don't." Arata pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't want to go back there tonight."

"He's right." Red nudged the dark type specialist. "Look, I know that the Team Dawn era is not a good time for all of you, which is why, tonight will only be a night of celebrations and work."

Reika and Daimen groaned at that. "Why work?"

"It's still early, so we can work a bit on the Millennium Tournament's outsider trainers' invitation. That way, we don't have to rush it once we are done with the post conference paperwork." Red pointed out and nodded at the glasses in their hands. "Now guys?"

They sighed and looked at their glasses reluctantly but rules were rules. They drank it down in one gulp. Reika instantly gagged while Arata had to lean on the bar to steady himself from the onslaught of the taste of the brandy. Daimen had little trouble swallowing it down while Muraku closed his eyes and rubbed his head.

"See, that wasn't so hard." Red said cheerfully. After a few more glasses of the milder Champaign, they gathered at the meeting table. Red took out some of the documents relating to the tournament and distributed it among the Elites.

"Ok, so the League is going to handle the sub-stadiums and accommodations, so we only need to oversee the construction and the invitation of outside trainers." Red told them. Activating his laptop, he displayed the current list of participating League officials on the TV.

"I did not announce the full list just now though. Scott managed to get the Frontier Brains in and the Elite Four of Alola had the Trial Captains and Island Kahunas invited but there is no absolute confirmation that they will participate in the Tournament."

They read through it but Red froze at the Kanto Gym Leaders section. Pikachu saw what made his trainer freeze and sparks flew out of his cheek. Arata frowned and scanned through the list, stopping at the Cerulean City Gym Leader's name.

"Oh…that so called friend of yours will be there."

Reika let out a snort. "You mean that Water Master wannabe."

"Not just her." Daimen narrowed his eyes as he leaned in closer. "Look at who is the Pewter Gym Leader."

They followed his gaze and frowned. On it was Brock's name, not Forrest. It was not that they had anything against Forrest, but they were fairly certain that Forrest was supposed to be the official gym leader since Brock was supposedly studying to become a Pokemon Doctor.

"I wonder why it is Brock being the gym leader and not his brother. It's too suspicious." Muraku narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know and I don't care." Red suddenly spoke in a hard voice, startling most of them. "All I know is that I'm going to hit the whole group of the traitors here in this tournament."

The Elites exchanged glances and smirked. Arata gave Red a pat on his shoulder. "And we will help with that. It also helps that there will be a major Pokemon Contest and Showcase during the period of the tournament which I will be in charge of organizing. I am fairly certain that two particular coordinators will not be able to resist the opportunity."

"So I get to humiliate them?" Reika perked up.

"Sure." Red nodded with a sardonic grin.

"Guys, look at this." Muraku passed out the list of potential trainers the League is already planning to invite. "Max is on the list."

Red immediately snatched the list and smirked. "It says in his qualifications that he won the Ever Grand Conference but Sidney defeated him in a one-sided match during his Elite Challenge."

"No wonder." Daimen snorted as he recalled reading about it. "I remember reading up on the forums and some people said that Max was bragging too much about being the champion during the match that Sidney got fed up with him and defeated all of his Pokemon when he was bragging."

Red and Pikachu exchanged looks before bursting out laughing. Arata gave Daimen a thumbs up. He knew that he intentionally said that to take Red's mind off the awful memories of the betrayal that were surfacing.

"By the way, Red, you haven't told us the results of the negotiations with Scott." Muraku remembered.

"Oh, Scott is going to go ahead with the plan to set up a new branch of the Battle Frontier here in Heiwa. And Anabel will be transferring here."

Arata's head shot up in surprise. "Anabel? I didn't know about that."

"It was a last minute thing that he did not get a chance to discuss with me before. But I had no problems with it." Red sighed tiredly. Pikachu and Arata exchanged knowing looks while the others looked on in confusion until it clicked in Reika's mind.

"Is Anabel the lady who was travelling with Red a majority of the time when he was conquering the gyms here?"

"Yup." Arata nodded with sly grin. "She had to leave before the final confrontation against Team Dawn though. Pity because she missed out on seeing Red becoming the Champion."

"…Those two sound close." Daimen said awkwardly.

"Anyway," Red cleared his throat. "We will need to prepare the paperwork to approve the transfer. But that can be after the tournament. In the meantime, we only have to focus on our regular duties and the invitation list. Although, I think it will be fast. Our selection pool is smaller than other regions. We will also take turns monitoring the construction at Mt. Harmony while training to become stronger."

"Alright, boss." Daimen stretched from his seat. They continued discussing several trainers to be invited. After an hour or so, one by one, they got up and headed to their respective rooms to crash for the night. And so, only Muraku and Red were left.

"You should go to sleep." Red mentioned to him. "Professor Darcy would not be happy if she found out you were staying up late."

"I will." Muraku reassured him. "I just wanted to check on something." He scrolled through the current participant's list and paused at the Mahogany Town Gym Leader. "Mia."

Red smiled and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll see her at the tournament. I'm not surprise that she worked her way up to take Pryce's place when he retired."

Muraku nodded quietly as he stared at the profile photo of his twin sister. During Arata's time as Champion, she was originally the ice type specialist of the Elite Four. But shortly after Red became the champion, she and Muraku got into a major disagreement which led to her resignation from the Elite Four and left Heiwa. Hench, Arata had to step in and took her spot in the Elite Four.

Those who kept in contact with her knew that she had travelled all the way to Johto and was training under Pryce to become his successor. And apparently, she had.


In Pewter City, Kanto

"A toast! To Brock and Misty for being invited to the Millennium Tournament!" Tracey cheered as he, May, Dawn, and Max toasted for their two friends. They were currently celebrating the admission of the two said gym leaders to the Millennium Tournament at one of the restaurants of Pewter Cit.

"Thanks guys." Misty said, pretending to be humble about it. She then added airily. "Me being invited is natural, since I am a gym leader and all."

"Me too." Brock smirked. "I have to admit, this tournament will be a nice place to woe the ladies with my skills, especially since I don't have to compete with that gym leader wannabe brother of mine."

"Just be careful or Crogrunk would stick a Poison Jab at you." Max jested, leading everyone to burst out laughing.

"Very funny. I wonder why I never got rid of that meddling Pokemon." Brock grumbled.

"Anyway, all that aside, are you going to participate as well, Max?" Dawn enquired.

"Of course." Max bragged. "I won the Ever Grand Conference so I will definitely be invited. It's just that they haven't sent out the invitations. If only I won against Sidney, I would have become the Champion of Hoenn and automatically allowed to participate."

"Well, at least you won, unlike that weakling brat of a trainer." May sneered. This got everyone laughing.

"I bet he is still travelling around, trying to win leagues but failing all the time." Tracey laughed unkindly.

"I bet he's still failing that we won't even see him in the tournament." Max boasted.

"It's too bad that his Pokemon had to run away though." Misty grumbled, stuffing more food in her mouth. "Especially since I wanted Totodile since I was supposed to be its rightful owner. But they just vanished into thin air!"

"I'm sure that Professor Oak and Gary had something to do with it. The fact that the weakling's pokemon ran away with their Pokeballs is too unbelievable." Tracey fumed. When they had confronted the Oaks, they denied knowing anything. And despite him continuing to work for Professor Oak, he can tell that the professor and his grandson were acting more cool towards him. However, because he cannot prove anything, he could not confront them about it.

"Never mind that." Dawn clapped her hand in an attempt to cheer them up. "No need to worry, we won't see Ash Ketchum ever again! So cheers! We will never have to deal with his fantasy of becoming a Pokemon Master again!"

"Cheers!"

How wrong they were. For Ash Ketchum has been reborn as the Champion of Heiwa. And he is looking forward to his revenge at the Millennium Tournament.


In the Unova League HQ, Unova

"Champion Iris, there is someone wishing to see you." One of the guards of the league told her as he entered her office. Her Fraxure which was once the baby Axew was resting at the corner of the room

"Hm, who is it?" Iris grumbled. She was not in her best moods that day. Despite becoming the Champion of Unova in a surprising turn of events, she was dissatisfied with the amount of paperwork she has to do and she could no longer travel freely as before. Adding salt to the wound was the fact that a certain hot blooded kid trainer disappeared and no one knows where he is now and what was he doing.

"It's one of the Striaton City Gym Leaders, Cilan."

This made Iris look up, her bad mood disappearing quickly at the mention of her friend's name. "What are you waiting for? Send him in!"

The guard complied and soon enough, the green haired gym leader came inside with a smile.

"It's been a long time, Iris."

"Cilan!" Iris greeted her longtime friend happily. Fraxure came over and happily greeted him as well. "What brings you here, not that I'm not glad to see you."

"Oh, it's about the Millennium Tournament." Cilan whipped out an envelope containing his invitation. "I know that we are automatically allowed to participate, given our positions. But I was hoping that you have heard something about Ash participating as well."

Iris's face fell as she shook her head. "Not a word. I asked around, but while he was on top of the list to be one of the invited trainers, no one could find him after he disappeared five years ago. Initially, they were going to send the invitation to his mother in Pallet Town. But Professor Oak spoke to President Goodshow shortly after that and the invitation was given to him instead."

"That is a bit strange." Cilan mused. "I wonder if Professor Oak knows something about Ash that we don't."

Iris only let out a huff. "Maybe. But I'm mad that that kid didn't even bother to keep in contact with us. I wanted to invite him to watch me challenge Alder, but I just don't know where he is!"

Fraxure gave its trainer a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. It knew how much Iris missed Ash despite how much she vehemently denies it.

"We just have to wait and see." Cilan mused, looking out of the window of the office. "But, we know Ash. He'll definitely be at the tournament one way or another."

"Right…by the way, the tournament is going to be held in the Heiwa region. Have you heard about that region before?" Iris asked curiously.

"Oh, I did." Cilan answered but his face felled. "The region has a sad history behind it and the league."

Iris blinked at that. "What do you mean?"

"It is said that the Heiwa region was plunged into war with Team Dawn. Unlike most other teams, Team Dawn was far more dangerous. I heard that they would raid towns and cities, stealing food, medicine, other necessities, and worst of all, Pokemon to become test subjects for their experiments." Cilan explained sadly.

"What?!" Iris exclaimed in shock. "How could they do that? Ripping Pokemon away from their trainers all for their sick experiments!"

"I had pretty much the same reaction as you did when I first heard of it." Cilan sighed. "But that's not all. Once they raid a place, they will occupy it and terrorize the people in it."

"That really is sad." Iris frowned. "But, what happened after that? There must have been someone to stop them or the league would not have opened up a branch there."

"As a matter of fact, the current gym leaders and the Elite Four of the Heiwa League were the ones who stopped Team Dawn, earning them their positions once the Heiwa League was started up." Cilan concluded. "Ever since then, they have earned their reputation of being extremely strong despite having the smallest pool of challengers among all the other regional leagues."

"That would make them the wild card of the tournament." Iris mused and gained a determined look. "Right! Then we just have to work harder so that we can match up to them!"

"Right." Cilan shook her hand, affirming her words. But deep inside, the question of whether their missing friend would be there or not lingered.


In Prism Tower, Lumiose City, Kalos

"Luxray, use Swift!"

The Luxray swung its glowing tail, sending star shaped rays towards a target in the middle of the battle field. The Swift hit straight on the target, causing it to explode.

"Bulls eye. This is your 38th time." Clembot announced from the side of the field.

"Onii-chan is getting fired up. He really wants to do his best for the Millennium Tournament." Bonnie remarked to Dedenne. Now a certified trainer, Bonnie had gained ownership of Dedenne from her brother when she first started out her second journey around Kalos. But now, she was on a break to visit her brother and father and because the Millennium Tournament is coming up soon.

"Hey kids." Their father, Meyer, greeted them with a basket. "Dinner is served."

"Oh, thank you, papa!" Bonnie and Dedenne cheered as they went over to help.

Clemont glanced up and gestured at Luxray. "Luxray, let's take a break."

Luxray nodded in agreement and as soon as the dinner was set up, they dug into their food.

"So Clemont, how is the preparations for the Millennium Tournament going?" Meyer asked his son.

"It's going well. But, I'm not sure if I would match up to the trainers participating." Clemont said dispiritedly.

"Onii-chan, you're thinking too much." Bonnie chided him. "With our experience travelling with Ash and Serena, we became stronger!"

"Yeah." Clemont said quietly and turned his gaze up to the ceiling. "I wonder what Ash is doing now. I mean, we haven't heard from him in years and rumors are saying that he disappeared after returning back at Pallet Town."

Bonnie became somber at that. "I don't know. I miss him though."

Meyer looked at his downtrodden kids and sympathized with them. "Now kids, Ash is a strong trainer. I'm sure that wherever he is, he's working hard. And maybe you can find him at the tournament."

Both of his kids brightened up at that. Clemont clenched his fist. "You're right. I have to work harder. That way, I can one day battle Ash and show him how much stronger I have become."

"That's right, onii-chan! Do your best at the tournament!" Bonnie cheered.

With this newfound determination, Clemont summoned his Pokemon back to the field for more practice. 'I'm only going to get stronger until we see each other again Ash.'


This chapter is mainly showing what Red, his friends and enemies are doing now. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Serena. She will be making an appearance in here but not now.