Welcome one and all to another chapter of Ash's Reason.

I'm quite surprised with the feedback I've been getting from this story, and I've got something to say… If you like my story, please leave a review.

This chapter is mainly going to focus on Clyde, but there will be times where Ash and the others will appear.

I've noticed that people are started to complain about Pikachu's absence in this story, well I'm going to put an end to your misery and have Pikachu in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Think about it, if I did own Pokémon, would I be writing Fanfiction?

-*X*x*X*-

"Dawn you were absolutely amazing!" May almost screamed as she crushed Dawn with a hug.

"Yeah you were congratulations Dawn." Dawn's newest friend Nora said.

"May I know you're happy, but maybe you can allow Dawn to breathe a little?" A chartreuse haired boy said behind her. May realized what he meant and released her.

"Thanks Drew." Dawn wheezed out as she caught her breath. She had just changed out of her contest dress and was now in her casual dress. A blue cardigan over a white t-shirt with jeans and some black heeled boots, she no longer wore a beanie on her head, just a hairband to keep her hair back, which was long enough to reach her lower back.

She was currently with her three best friends, May, Drew and Nora. All three were fellow coordinators from Hoenn. She still kept in touch with the others, but these three she always kept close to.

May still wore her green and orange outfit from when she visited Ash and Dawn during the Wallace Cup, but her hair was styled in a long low ponytail.

Drew still had the same hairstyle that he could flip, and it still drove girls crazy, but since word got out that he had a girlfriend; May. His group of fan girls eventually died down. With his fan girls gone, combined with his relationship with May; Drew had actually become less conceited and prideful, in fact he had become quite a selfless person. But it still didn't mean that his attitude wasn't much different, he would still flip his hair from time to time, and sometimes he couldn't help but make an obnoxious comment. His outfit was currently a black polo shirt with the top new buttons undone, with dark colored jeans and navy blue sneakers.

Then there's Nora, she met Dawn while she was doing the contest circuit in Hoenn. She still had her hair in a ponytail with the rose in it, but she was wearing a black skirt, a red, sleeveless blouse with a flower patter on it, with silver heels and a bracelet on her wrist.

"I just can't believe you went up against Clyde and won!" May explained.

"I know, how do you think he's feeling about the loss?" Dawn asked sounding a little concerned.

Drew shrugged, "Who knows what goes on in that boy's head."

"I agree; he can be rather mysterious." A new voice said.

They turned around and saw a boy around their age or a year or two older looking at them. He was mainly in the shadows so they couldn't see his face. He stepped out into the light and they saw he had long, neat, ebony black hair. His eyes were the color of a dark amethyst; his skin was tanned and marked with several scars. He had a dark silver scarf around his neck, a partially unzipped hoodie with the sleeves pushed up a little, a t-shirt, pants, shoes, and a cap on his head; all were colored black.

The mysterious teen smiled at the group, and they noticed there was some dirt on both of his cheeks. "Hello everyone," His voice was low and dark sounding, "It's been a long time Drew."

Drew gritted his teeth, "Yes it has Jacob." The three girls around him widen their eyes.

Dawn was the first to speak "Wait, Jacob Pine?"

Ash nodded his head at the mention of his fake name, "So you've heard of me?"

May nodded her head, "Only that you're a coordinator and a Pokémon trainer."

Nora, who was a little nervous talking to Ash because of her shy behavior around strangers, asked, "Do you have her with you?"

Ash removed a pokeball from his belt and threw it into the air, From the pokeball emerged a heart made of white a pink flames, when the heart vanished a Pokémon was left in its place, "Ninetales," the Fox Pokémon cried with an angelic roar. The Pokémon was gorgeous and breathtaking, for this Ninetales wasn't like any other Ninetales. Her fur was the color of freshly fallen show, and the fur on the ends of her tails and the fur that came up between her ears were a shimmering gold. On all four of her legs there were gold patterns of fur going up her legs that looked like flames. Her eyes glittered like yellow diamonds on her flawless face.

"She's even more beautiful in person." Dawn said the Ninetales looked away as if she was embarrassed.

Ash chuckled, "Yes she is, behold my most beautiful Pokémon; Belle." He walked forward and stroked her neck. "You've seen her in person before Drew."

"Yes, twice," Drew replied the girls looked at drew in confusion, "Last year when I was in the Johto contest circuit, I beat Jacob here in the Wallace Cup, only to have him completely school me in the Johto Grand Festival."

"Yeah you should've seen the look on his face. His face went so red I swear his head was replaced with a tomato with a very bushy stem." Drew blushed as everybody laughed.

May eventually stopped laughing and walked toward him, "Don't worry Drew, it doesn't matter if you look like a tomato," She wrapped her arms around his neck, "Because I'll love you just the same." Drew smiled sweetly at May before pulling her in for a kiss.

Ash rolled his eyes at the scene, "Oh brother, Drew why don't you just propose to her already and get a room!"

Both Drew and May separated with blushes on their faces. Belle seemed to smile at the display of affection and walked forward and nuzzled the couple, and as she did it, her gold fur, along with her eyes, turned pink. "What was that?"

Ash looked at Belle's color change, "Oh that?" they nodded, "Well along with her being a different color than the rest of her race, her gold fur can change color when she senses romance and love. The color changes depending on the strength of the love, and judging by the strong, yet gentle, shade of pink May and Drew have a perfectly steady and loving relationship." The group continued to talk, but little did they know, they were being watched.

Clyde looked and the group of five and Belle and nodded, "Yes she is special, just like the rest of your Pokémon." He said to himself as he remembered what Ash has gone through as he's trained.

Flashback

Ash released from the handshake and looked at Clyde and Paul. "Okay, where do we start?"

Paul turned toward Clyde, "That's for Clyde to decide."

Clyde's stoic expression never changed, 'Ash needs a team… a very 'special' team.' A voice echoed in their heads.

Ash looked in around in surprise, "Where did that come from?!" he asked in astonishment.

'It came from me; Clyde.' Ash looked at Clyde in amazement, 'I have the ability to project my thoughts into peoples' minds, which explains why I don't talk very much.'

Ash nodded, "Okay, but it's going to take some time to getting used to." Paul chuckled, "So what did you mean by a 'special team'?"

Clyde simply walked out the door with Paul and Ash following him. When they got out side, Clyde proceeded to walk into the woods, they kept walking until Clyde gestured them to stop. Then Clyde grabbed something around his neck and closed his eyes. After a few minutes a swirling pink vortex appeared in front of them.

Clyde quickly jumped through without a second thought, when Clyde landed he looked at what his friend had given them. In front of him was a large white house and surrounding it was a large reserve filled with several different environments for various types of Pokémon.

Clyde heard two people land on the ground behind him, so he turned around and saw Ash on top of Paul in a head on the ground. Ash got up first, "Where are we?"

Clyde made a motion with his hand, 'This is where you will earn your new teams, and build up your strength to become the most powerful trainers in all of history.'

Paul got up, "But my team is already good enough, so why am I here?"

'To train Ash while I get his Pokémon.'

Ash was confused, "Wait isn't this supposed to be my team? And why does Paul need to train me if I don't have any Pokémon?"

'Yes it will be your team, but I will determine who is worthy to be on your team, I will need to find five specific types; strength, beauty, speed, a neutral party, and terrifying.'

"But I already have two Pokémon with me, Pikachu and the Pokémon in this egg."

Clyde nodded in agreement, 'I know, but you are going to need a spare Pokémon on hand if one of your Pokémon is unable to fight, and Paul needs to train you physically and mentally to become a better trainer'

Ash's confused expression faded, "Okay that makes sense, so who's going to be on my team?"

Clyde shrugged, 'I don't know. I have a special test to determine who will be on your team. I will put all the young Pokémon who believe they are worthy of you in a specific environment. The goal there; is to survive for two to three months, those who do survive I will split into different groups depending on what Pokémon I'm looking for, then my Pokémon will decide who's the best of those Pokémon. Those Pokémon they choose will be your new team.'

Clyde then walked away from the two trainers and disappeared into the house. He followed a few corridors before going into a secret room. In that room there were several large television screens, and in the center of the room was a pedestal, and on it, was a large pink pearl. Clyde walked towards it and put his hand on it, he could then feel the minds of every Pokémon in the reserve.

'Friends, your caretaker has returned and requires a favor. I have a friend who's in need of a very special Pokémon team. I need one of each of these categories; strength, beauty, a neutral party terrifying and speed. I need Pokémon I can be proud of! Can you give me that? If you think you're worthy, gather at the Arena of Bellators.' Clyde removed his hand from the pearl and watched the screen.

The Arena of Bellators wasn't an actual arena; it was just a cluster of the harshest environments of the entire reserve. It was where Pokémon came to prove their strength, if they couldn't survive for three months… well let's just say that they're now with Arceus in the Hall of Origins.

After half an hour of waiting the screen lit up and showed a picture of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Pokémon waiting to prove their worth. Clyde put his hand on the pearl again, 'A large group… good. Now it's time to see who is worthy to join the team of Ash Ketchum!' Then all of the Pokémon were teleported away to different part of the arena. Clyde took his hand off the pearl and pressed a button on a nearby keypad, a few minutes later a number appeared on the screen. '2,832' it read; which meant currently there were 2,832 Pokémon in the arena currently. Clyde closed his eyes and sighed mournfully, "Don't worry Clyde, it will be worth it in the end." He said to reassure himself.

Three months passed quickly, and during that time. Ash had grown physically and mentally. As Clyde was watching one of Ash's training sessions, Ash asked him, "So Clyde, how are Pikachu and the egg."

'They are well, pretty soon the egg will hatch, and you'll have another Pokémon to work with.' Clyde responded. Ash smiled and returned to his training. Clyde walked away and returned to his secret room. He put his hands on the pearls, 'It is over, you have survived.' He removed his hand and moved to the keypad and pressed the button. '143' it read.

Flashback end

A tear slid down Clyde's cheek, "So many lost," he muttered, Clyde allowed his usual stoic expression to become sad as more tears came out of his eyes as he remembered that day. He closed his eyes as more and more tears came. He could still feel how weak his heart felt that day.

Flashback

Clyde now stood in front of the screen that showed many of the Pokémon that didn't make it. "They died to prove themselves, they tried and that what matters." Clyde spent the next several hours gathering up the Pokémon, and arranging a ceremony for all the Pokémon who tried.

Clyde then looked at the 143 that had survived; most of them had a sad face. Clyde jumped from the balcony and landed on front of the group. He smiled at them, 'Don't be sad, they perished well and will be remembered… by us.' All the Pokémon looked up and nodded.

Clyde took out five pokeballs, "Come on out guys." And he released his Pokémon Blastoise, Ampharos, Weavile, Scolipede, and Rhydon. Clyde had a specific assignment for each of them. "I have a favor to ask each of you, train the Pokémon I assign to you, but in a few days. Choose one of them and only train them." They all nodded

Clyde projected his mind to a specific group of Pokémon, 47 stepped forward, "Rhydon, I need a Pokémon so strong he or she should be considered a legendary, these are the Pokémon you need to choose from, only one of them is the one I need." Rhydon nodded and walked away and the 47 followed him.

Clyde projected his mind, 23 Pokémon stepped forward, "Weavile, I need a Pokémon so fast he or she can be able to break the sound barrier without using Agility." Weavile sped off along with the other Pokémon.

Clyde did the same as before, this time 30 moved forward, "Scolipede, give me a Pokémon so terrifying, even Darkari would have nightmares after messing with him or her." Scolipede scuttled off and the others followed him.

23 steeped forward when Clyde called them, "Ampharos, give me the most beautiful Pokémon you can give me. One so beautiful, Garveviors and Milotics would look like Garbodors and Muks when compared to this beauty." Ampharos nodded and gracefully walked away and the others followed her.

Clyde turned towards Blastoise and the remaining 20, "Give me a neutral party Blastoise; you'll know which one is the one I need." Then Clyde walked away from the group.

When Clyde returned to Ash, he was breathing heavily and soaked with sweat. 'Take a break Ash, your egg is about to hatch and I think you'll want to be there in order to see it.'

Clyde led Ash to where he was keeping the egg. When Ash got close to it, he picked it up. It then started to shake violently and it exploded in Ash's hands. Lying in the eggs place was a sleeping, baby Shaymin. Who soon yawned and opened his eyes as if he woke up from deep sleep, his emerald eyes dancing with cheerfulness.

When Ash turned to look at Clyde, he held out a pink scarf towards Ash, 'The scarf was made from the petals of a Gracidea Flower; this scarf will have the same affects as the actual flower.' Ash took the scarf and tied it around the Shaymin's neck, and then he converted into sky form. 'I'll give you some time with him, but soon he'll need to train, and I have just the Pokémon to do it.' Clyde watched as Ash ran off to play with his new friend.

Days past and Clyde was expecting news from his Pokémon any day now.

As Clyde was walking back to the house he sensed two presences near him, he turned and saw some of his Pokémon had returned. "Ampharos, Weavile, back already?" both Pokémon nodded. "Well since you're here, you might as well give me a status report." He reached for something attached to his ear and turned it on; he had it installed so he could understand his Pokémon.

"Weavile you first, then Ampharos can give he his report."

The Weavile nodded, 'Well for starters, all the Pokémon have proven to be very fast, sometimes my eyes can barely keep up with them, but there's one that stands out, and it's not because he's a Latios.'

Clyde's face didn't change, but he was surprised none the less, "A Latios you say?" the dark-ice type nodded, "Well, keep up the good work and keep an eye on that Latios." Weavile nodded and speed off in literally the blink of an eye.

Clyde turned his attention to the electric type, "So what news do you bring?"

Ampharos hesitated before answering, 'Well, I have three candidates that are both powerful, in skills, looks, and style. It's hard to choose, so I was thinking you could come with me to the training grounds and check them for yourself.'

Clyde thought for a minute before shrugging, "Might as well, I have nothing more important to do right now." Clyde followed Ampharos do the location where he's been training and judging the Pokémon who claim they're the most beautiful. Ampharos led Clyde to a special area where three Pokémon were playing with each other; a Ralts, a Petil, and a Vulpix. It was the Vulpix that caught Clyde's eye.

While most Vulpix were red orange, this one was cream colored like a Ninetales, and her tails, the fur on her head, and her eyes were a darker shade in comparison, looking more like caramel that cream. After observing the three, he formulated a plan.

Clyde walked forward and when he was a few yards he 'tripped' and fell to the ground. As he was getting up he heard the Ralts and the Petil were giggling at him falling. He got into a kneeling position and started to rub his shin, when he felt something warm nuzzle his leg; he looked over and saw the Vulpix.

He eyed her curiously and she shyly asked him, 'A-are you alright?' her voice was shy, but had the musical tone of an angel. Clyde smiled at the Vulpix and just softly stroked her back, after a few minutes he stood up and went back to Ampharos.

As they were walking back Ampharos asked, 'What was that all about?'

Clyde looked at Ampharos, "I have decided Vulpix is the one you'll train."

'Okay, but why?'

"Beauty comes from the outside and the outside." Ampharos only nodded and walked away.

Flashback end

"CLYDE!"

Clyde came back from his memories and turned to see Paul looking at him, 'What?'

Paul pointed a hand at Ash and the rest of them, "I think it's time we made our appearance. Didn't you?"

Clyde's mouth twitched, 'Yes, I think it's time we did.'

-*X*x*X*-

And there's Chapter 4.

I hope you enjoyed it, would've been up sooner, but I had school stuff and I was helping with this musical… but that's not important.

New Contest: Can anybody guess Clyde's sixth Pokémon?

This is W. R. Winters signing off.